A few words about Tant Mieux Prod
Tant Mieux Prod was born with the goal of producing 13 short movies from young Directors who had just left school. Initially, only a single session was scheduled. But the success was so great that they were able to do it every year for ten years.
This led them to produce other movies with two criteria in mind: demanding and for children. They started with the Tobie Lolness series, one of the most acclaimed French productions. And, they now have two feature films and another series in pre-production.
Tant Mieux Prod and Kitsu
Tristan, Production Director, worked on the Tobie Lolness TV series, a 26x26' project with high-quality standards. It is a series based on the story of the eponymous novel where little characters living in a big tree fight to keep their host alive.
This three-year production involved four different studios and required tight collaboration between all stakeholders. This is why they chose Kitsu for their project. In this interview, Tristan will tell us how they used the solution to make tracking and collaboration as smooth as possible for Tobie Lolness.
What tools did you use before Kitsu?
Like many studios, we used Google Sheets or Excel spreadsheets at the beginning of production or for smaller productions. As soon as the number of artists increases or the production is outsourced to one or more studios, it becomes necessary to use a collaboration platform like Kitsu.
How did you hear about our solution?
I first discovered Kitsu at Cube Creative for tracking the series "De Gaulle à la plage." I quickly noticed that Kitsu had been adopted by the studios I was used to working with. I enjoyed it and notice the benefits brought by the solution. It sounded natural to use for Tobie Lolness.
Did you have any preconceived notions before using it?
Having used other asset managers or production tracking software, discovering a new tool naturally raised some questions. Performance, cost, and platform usability were the main concerns, but Kitsu proved to be up to our expectations.
What has changed in the way you work since using it?
Our internal communication and communication with remote studios have been simplified. We can discuss a specific asset or task without exchanging 10 emails. If we have any doubts, we can rely on what is indicated on the platform. It serves as a kind of history log.
We would likely find it hard to go back to more traditional production tracking methods.
What features have had the most impact on your workflow?
Personally, the feature I use the most is the filter on the asset page, which allows me to quickly get an overview of specific elements to adjust everyone's schedules.
What are the advantages of using Kitsu?
The concentration of information on a single platform is very useful for tracking the production of all visual elements.
With the rise of remote work and various studios operating remotely, there is a large volume of assets being moved from one server to another. Kitsu allows us to eliminate any doubt about who/when/where the latest version of an asset was made.
You’ve worked in multiple studios. How did you organize yourselves to facilitate collaboration?
For the series Tobie Lolness, in addition to the lead studio Tant Mieux Prod, Waooh!, Caribara Annecy, and Fost Angoulême also contributed to the creation of the series' visual elements. Each studio had its own needs and working habits. We agreed together on the steps, tasks, and statuses we would use in the production. The creation of statuses is customizable, and in addition to the common statuses shared by all studios, each one could customize its own tasks.
Do you think a tool like Kitsu was key in achieving your quality objectives?
I’m not sure if Kitsu helps us reach our goals, but it’s undeniably a great tool to track them.
Can you give us some metrics on the time you’ve saved using Kitsu?
This is a hard metric to quantify, but for production roles and heads of departments who validate shots or assets, it’s undeniably a great tool for everyone to gain a certain level of independence and speed.
Kitsu in two words?
Autonomy and collaboration!
Thank you Tristan for this customer story! It's great that you were able to share insights about your studio and your experience with Kitsu. At CGWire we are proud to have helped you with the Tobie Lolness project. We wish you the best for your next productions!
