When the co-founders of indie prodco Bang in Bangkok (BiB) present their original family feature film Up Chao to potential investors at Annecy next week, they’ll be leaning into an important differentiating factor: The project is one of the first globally produced animated movies set in modern Thailand, based on a concept from a Thai creative.

“This movie follows the [successful] trend of culture-based animated movies—like Coco, Wish Dragon, Vivo and Raya and the Last Dragon—resonating with global audiences,” says BiB co-founder and creative producer François Belot.

Based on artwork and an original idea developed by character designer and BiB co-founder Wanchana “Vic” Intrasombat (Wish Dragon), Up Chao tells the coming-of-age story of a teenage Thai boy named Fua, who sets off on an epic adventure after he magically paints eight ancient Chinese statues to life. On his journey to help the statues (known as “Up Chao”) find their way home, Fua discovers the true meaning of family.

This modern-day fairy tale is inspired by real Chinese stone statues that are housed in Bangkok’s Wat Poh and Wat Arun temples. Representing mystical creatures, ordinary people and animals, the statues originally arrived in the city during the ancient spice trading period between China and Thailand.

After Intrasombat fleshed out his original concept, Belot and BiB’s other two co-founders, Marty Knox and Antoine Heber-Suffrin, contributed to the story development, drawing on their collective experience working in animation in Thailand (Knox), Singapore (Belot) and France (Heber-Suffrin). BiB then teamed up with animation director/writer Chris Jenkins (Surf’s Up, Aladdin), who has completed a first draft of the script and will direct the feature.

Ultimately, Knox and Belot want the story of Up Chao to dispel myths in the Western world about Thailand being a third-world country. “I absolutely hope this brings some focus on modern Thailand because there are great stories and content creators here, plus beautiful art and good humor,” says Knox.

Recognizing some natural distribution opportunities tied to the Chinese history in the story, BiB has also struck a co-pro partnership with UK-based media company TAOST Entertainment. Headed up by film producer Rocky Shi—who also serves as MD of his family’s business, Beijing Topwin Investment Group—TAOST has signed a letter of intent to help finance the project through development (scripting) and presales.

“This partnership will allow us to ensure the script is culturally authentic,” says Knox. “Plus, TAOST will bring in some Chinese distribution deals that we estimate to be worth US$4 million.”

TAOST has also secured rights to run the film’s exclusive web3 community-building platform. Soft-launching during Annecy, it will let members—VFX artists, animators, digital artists, creators, writers, directors and studios—vote on development ideas for Up Chao and other animation projects in TAOST’s ecosystem, as well as connect and share content with each other. On top of operating as a traditional animation studio, TAOST is on a mission to democratize the animation production process by giving its platform members opportunities to develop properties alongside major industry players.

Emmy Award-winning animation producer Bill Schultz (The Simpsons, True and the Rainbow Kingdom) has also been tapped to support Up Chao‘s development and distribution phase, and DNEG Group’s VFX and animation studio ReDefine Originals (100% Wolf, Muppets Haunted Mansion) has come on board as a co-producer.

The film’s budget is set between US$25 million and US$35 million, and ReDefine has signed a letter of intent to put up an estimated US$4.5 million, on the condition that it will be the movie’s lead animation studio, says Belot.

Looking ahead, the biggest challenge will be getting the project fully financed. “The budget is ambitious for an indie animated movie, but we know we can deliver the visual style we want through the commitment of ReDefine,” Belot explains. “Plus, the potential for Chinese distribution deals and the eventual signing of a US sales agent that can provide pre-sale projections will put us in a good spot.”

Belot adds that there’s still lots of interest from potential partners, and the hope is to continue to build momentum at Annecy. “We have already been in talks with a US-based sales agent, but we want to have more options before signing anything,” he says. “Otherwise, according to our roadmap, we hope to start the movie’s development phase by the end of this year, with US$1 million to $2 million in development financing secured. Then pre-production would begin in Q2 2024.”