Hongjoo Ahn, South Korean producer [PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY]

With its story set entirely in Shanghai, the English version features the voices of action superstar Jackie Chan and Constance Wu, who is best known for the 2018 US romcom Crazy Rich Asians.

South Korean producer Hongjoo Ahn, the creator of The Nub Job franchise and a speaker at the festival's master class, reveals that he is currently working on two animated films with strong connections to China.

One is Mean Margaret, a China-US production based on the novel of the same name by American writer Tor Seidler. The other is Songhua, an original story inspired by the annual ice festival in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province.

"We have been working closely with Chinese animation talents and studios for many years. We have seen an amazing pace of growth in this industry. The cultural and technological advancements are leading us into a golden age where we can create content based on Chinese stories that we feel can play globally," says Ahn.

Contact the writer at xufan@chinadaily.com.cn