By Dale Hoyt Palfrey
Guadalajara Reporter, March 19, 2010
Chapala is poised to become Mexico’s
answer to Hollywood
in the eyes of Jalisco Governor Emilio Gonzalez Marquez, leaders of the state’s
technology industry, local educators and some big name Mexican film stars. All
were on hand Monday for the grand opening of the Chapala Media
Park.
Recent University of Guadalajara
art school graduate Eduardo Perez is delighted with his new job as an animation
artist for Kaxan, the first high-tech production company located at Chapala Media Park.
The new multimedia production complex, located just off the
Libramiento bypass, is designed to house high-tech enterprises dedicated to the
fields of animation, special effects, 3-D imaging, audiovisuals, sound tracks
and dubbing, video games and applications for new generation telephones.
Speaking prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the governor said the new
facility promises to strengthen Jalisco’s position as a leader in information
and communication technology while boosting the economic dynamics of the state
and the region. He said it would generate hundreds of high-paying jobs for
techies and open up creative outlets for talented artists and writers, not to
mention bringing a new aura of glitz and glamor to the lakeside area.
Immediately afterwards, the governor and guest dignitaries spent an hour
touring the Media Park facilities, pausing to view clips from a 3-D
movie, a computer-generated cartoon and a video game related to Mexican
traditions called Fiesta
Town.
The entourage included Jalisco Economic Promotion Secretary Alonso Ulloa
Velez; Marina Stavenhagen, director of the Mexican Institute of Cinemotography;
Marcio Fonseca, head of Fox Latin American Channels; famed actors Jesus Ochoa
and Diana Bracho; Margarita Solis Hernandez, president of the Jalisco Institute
of Information Technology; and Ricardo Gomez Quiñonez, who as an officer of the
National Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology was
instrumental in promoting the Media Park project.
Jalisco Governor Emilio Gonzalez (second from right) and
guest dignitaries don special shades to view clips of the kind of hip and
trendy 3-D flicks that may soon be produced at the Chapala Media
Park.
Laid out on two hectares of land, with room to grow to
double that size, the complex currently comprises two large buildings set
behind the hot pink monolith marking the main entrance. To the left is the
glass-enclosed business center housing an audio recording studio, ample office
space and a cutting-edge data processing center. A fully equipped film studio
annex stands on the opposite side.
The first stage of the Media
Park development plan was
completed thanks to 40 million pesos from the private sector, close to 25.8
million from the National Council of Science and Technology and 30 million
kicked in by the state government. The next important step in expanding the
complex will be the construction of a concrete access road from the Libramiento.
The facility opened for business at the start of the week with the arrival
of a team of computer animation artists employed by Kaxan, a Jalisco-based
corporation that is currently involved in the production of several
feature-length animated films, a Mexican science fiction flick entitled “Noche
sin Cielo,” and the creation of video games designed for Wii, Playstation and
iPhone platforms.
Motorists traveling along the Libramiento bypass can
identity the location of Chapala
Media Park
by the hot pink monolith that marks the entrance to the multimedia production
complex.
According to Kaxan representative Carlos Gutierrez Medrano,
the company is now operating with a staff of 250, with expectations of filling
an additional 200 positions for steady employment through 2014.
Among several dozen young artists busily working the banks of computers at
Kaxan’s lakeside animation department was Eduardo Perez. His assignment
involved programming the movements of a drawing of President Francisco Madero
for one of the cartoon features the company is producing in conjunction with
the 2010 commemoration of the Mexican Revolution centennial. “I never imagined
I would end up with a great job like this rather than just eking out a living
as a painter,” remarked the recent graduate of the University of Guadalajara
Art School.
Morris Schwarzblat, director of Chapala’s Institute
of Technology, sees the Media Park
as a huge boon to the community. In addition to spawning lucrative careers for
the institution’s graduates, the facility will also open up new job
opportunities for carpenters, electricians and others skilled in trades
sustained by the film industry. “This is an extraordinary milestone, not only a
first step towards turning Chapala into a
technology community, but a city of culture and creativity.