Get ready to dive into the magical world of Thelma the Unicorn through the eyes of Aude Pépin, Production Coordinator.
From coordinating international teams to embracing the magic of unicorns, get ready for an insightful journey into the making of this whimsical tale.

• Can you introduce yourself and elaborate on your role in Thelma the Unicorn?

Hey everyone! I’m Aude, 30 years old, and I’ve been in the wonderful world of animation for a little over 3 years now, where even legends and myths come to life!

After starting out in documentary filmmaking, I had the opportunity to join the big Mikros family, first on Tiger’s Apprentice and then on Thelma the Unicorn.

As the coordinator of the animation department, my role was to take care of my team of 25 animators in Paris while ensuring production needs in terms of scheduling, quotas, and quality.

The complexity of this mission mainly lay in sharing the film’s production among Mikros’ 3 studios: Montreal, Bangalore, and Paris! But rest assured, we pulled it off and quite splendidly!

• Did you read the book before working on the film?

No, but out of curiosity, I think I’ll gift it to my goddaughter to read with her!

• What was the main challenges on the film?

For our department, I think the main challenge was harmonizing animation between the sites and respecting the character designs! With 3 sites and animators with different backgrounds, finding our balance was crucial, but we could rely on the support of our wonderful leads (hello Elise Bernateau, Sam Durand, and Céline Chotard) and animation directors (Guillaume Arantes and Denis Cochon).

Another important challenge to mention was the song sequences. As pivotal points in the narrative, these sequences are crucial, and to do them justice, we watched many live videos of Brittany Howard to best embody Thelma!

Every multi-site production encounters its technical challenges. With the time zone difference and an ongoing pipeline harmonization, we certainly didn’t get bored! But Thelma had two superb TDs, Roxane and Louise, big thanks to them. As a coordinator, what posed a technical challenge was mainly remotely tracking the departments’ schedules in advance.

• What were your references?

Among our animators, we have many talented actors, or at least some who aren’t afraid to be in front of the camera for the best and the funniest moments. Many videos of musicians were also exchanged because we did our best to make the characters’ performances as realistic as possible.

• What were the directors’ briefs?

“Have fun with the characters!” You could tell that Lynn and Jared really loved their characters, and they were very specific about each one’s personality traits.

• Do you believe in unicorns? 🙂

Absolutely, and even more so after working on Thelma! Unicorns are primarily a dream, but if you believe strongly enough, you can make them real.

• What is your favorite character and sequence?

Oh my god, how to choose! They’re all so unique in their own way. If I had to pick one, I’d say Otis because he represents loyalty and what it truly means to be a friend. He’s very endearing and funny. As for my favorite sequence, I have to go with the revelation of Thelma’s secret. The original song is superb, and the film teams really managed to create a powerful emotional moment. Special mention also goes to the “construction site grooming” sequences, which made me laugh a lot.

Thank you Aude – Don’t miss Thelma the Unicorn on Netflix!