Cristo Fernández has signed on to the Mexico-Brazil-France feature film co-production The Mark of the Jaguar: The Awakening of Fire, to voice the heroic young warrior Xilacatzin. The news was announced from the Annecy Festival, where the film participated in the “Meet the Producers – Gap Financing” event, and Fernández was in attendance to share the project with attendees and mingle at the cocktail hour. Mexico is the country of focus for this year’s festival.
“The selection in Meet the Producers is the best thing that has happened to the project, it has put us in the crosshairs of the big players in the industry, giving us the boost we have been looking for for years,” said director Victor Mayorga. For this we are grateful to Mikaël Marin, who has given us all the necessary support to take our project far.”
The beginning of a planned 2D-animated trilogy inspired by Mexican mythology, The Mark of the Jaguar relates the adventure of Xilacatzin, a young warrior with a strange mark on his chest Despite being marginalized by his community, he is marked by fate to save the entire town from the forces of evil.
“One of the things I connect with the project is the passion I have for indigenous communities and my country, Mexico,” Fernández shared. The actor is recognized for his role as Dani Rojas on the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso, now streaming three seasons. He also brings recording booth experience to the animated feature, having voiced the character Wheeljack in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
Producers Hugo Yeshiel, Perla Carpio and Jacobo Salomón shared their excitement to at last introduce Mark of the Jaguar to the international animation industry. Yeshiel said the opportunity was “a privilege to be able to represent Mexico with such an incredible project and in such an important forum as Annecy is. The team is full of talent, from the director, the producers and the participation of Cristo.”
Paul Vaca, executive producer, added that “The Mark of the Jaguar franchise is a good business opportunity for distribution companies who want to reach global audiences with well crafted stories filled by action, adventure, fantasy and lovely characters.”
The Mark of the Jaguar is a transatlantic collaboration. Producers in Mexico oversaw the preproduction — Mayorga (CEO, Ocelotl Co.), Carpio, Yeshiel and Salomon (Co-Founders, ByeBye Media House — with production taking place in Brazil under producer Ducca Rios (CEO, Origem Ltda.) and post-production in France with producer Chadi Abo (CEO, Hecat Studio).
Development artwork for ‘The Mark of the Jaguar’, c/o ByeBye Media House.
