Veteran Lead Artist for The Simpsons Brings Hollywood to Guatemala

    ORANGE COUNTY, CA, January 12, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Chavvo Animation Studios CEO Erick Tran has recently returned from Guatemala following strategic meetings to develop a creative alliance between the country and Hollywood. He met with key business, politicians and entertainment leaders, as well as 200 young, talented Guatemalans.

Tran was invited by co-founders of CREATEC, entrepreneur and congressional candidate Manal Massis, and Yennia Garcia, a businesswoman whose focus is on creating support groups for youth with drug addictions, alcoholism and child malnourishment.

"Guatemala is a Central American country with low levels of human development," said Massis. "Nearly half of the population lives in poverty and 25 percent live on less than U.S. $1 a day. CREATEC was created to promote creative, technology and entertainment industries in Guatemala."

Tran, a second generation Guatemalan, rose from humble roots to serve as lead artist on "The Simpsons" TV show for 19 years. With his passion for delivering appropriate content and positive messages to youth, he founded Chavvo Animation Studios. The studio has since developed "Urban Reggie," a primetime animated series encouraging Hispanic youth to fulfill their dreams, and "ZodiX," a lifestyle brand and series of comedic animated shorts featuring the ZodiX characters, in partnership with VAMN-TV.

"This latest endeavor of Erick's comes as no surprise," said Phil Roman, founder of Film Roman Studios, where The Simpsons is produced. "He has been a friend and valued member of The Simpsons' family for almost two decades. We enthusiastically support him in using his expertise and experience to fulfill his passion for developing positive messages and hope for young people."

During his visit to Central America, Tran met with politicians, business, entertainment and legislative leaders to promote the idea of developing young talent in Guatemala that can be exported to Hollywood. He addressed 120 young Guatemalans for AGEXPORT, the Guatemalan Exporters Association, which is a private non-profit entity established in 1982 that represents, promotes and develops non-traditional exports of Guatemalan companies.

He also visited Campus TEC, a state of the art technological campus in Central America founded by Juan Mini, which has excelled in promoting the mobile app industry and technology in the country, and is considered the Silicon Valley of Guatemala.

"I had the pleasure of meeting Maria Mercedes Zaghi, head of business development at Campus TEC and felt so inspired to see so many young talented people in the technology sector," said Tran. "Everyone there is hungry to succeed, to grow and to innovate. With the support of Jaun, Maria and the rest of the TEC staff, we have plans to build a division of Chavvo Studios at the TEC 2 Tower. Our goal is to motivate a new generation of animation professionals to a level of professionalism never seen before in Guatemala."

Tran held a five-day seminar for 50 eager film makers, TV producers, writers and university professors focused on practical approaches to "Designing on Principle," to equip them with "real world" applications in the entertainment industry. The workshops included: Story Development, Production Strategies, Film / Video Production, Animation Production and Graphic Design & Marketing Campaigns.

The aim of this collaboration is the creation of a training center for creative and entertainment industries in Guatemala. Nearly 70 percent of the population is under 30, with more than two hundred thousand young people added each year to the labor force. The opening of Chavvo Animation Studios in Guatemala will help promote the creation of new ventures that may outsource much of the digital animation in the world, and raise the quality standards to enhance the country's global competitiveness.

About Chavvo Animation Studios
Chavvo Studios is a transmedia production company with offices in Burbank and Orange County, headed by Erick Tran, a 19-year veteran as lead artist of "The Simpsons" TV show. Tran heads Chavvo thru the development of original animated intellectual property and product design. The company is staffed with top-level industry professional visual development artists, 2D & 3D animators, writers and directors.

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