Varga has not only worked as a subcontractor

One of the most popular series created by Varga Studio that has won international acclaim as well was the Mr. Bean series, but the cartoon workshop that was launched in 1989 with minimal assets – a crew of five and 1 million forints – has received many international awards as well.  

In the local press, it was the Mr. Bean series modeled after Rowan Atkinson that received the most attention. According to Erkel, Mr. Bean is popular both in Hungary and abroad, so the fact that Varga Studio had won the tender to create the series could not be disregarded.   That is why the studio is known mostly for this series, while its other international successes were left without mention in Hungary.

It didn’t go unnoticed in Hungary, either

„We’ve had many other artistically acclaimed productions that received international recognition. All of our works completed between 1996 and 2003 won some sort of television or festival award – several BAFTAs and and an EMMY, among others.   Our 7-minute art project My Baby Left Me, directed by Milorad Krstic and scored by András Wahorn won a Silver Bear Berlin and the Best First Film award in Annecy. Or I could mention Beasts directed by Csaba Varga that won the Midem prize for the best video spot in Cannes and the critics’ award at   KAFF. The film is based on the visual universe of András Wahorn and other artists from the Szentendre circle including László feLugossy. This 7-minute film was to be scored by Frank Zappa, but he could not finish it due to his   grave illness, so we used his earlier works.

The list is long – the last two films produced by Erkel that won international recognition in 2004 included a popular Polish folk tale adaptation, Meg and Mog, and Best Friends (Kebelbarátok) (Annecy Television Grand Prize, 2004).”

Conflict between the new owners and the management

„In addition to our subcontract commissions we have produced many quality films with coproduction agreements and international financing. It is the acknowledgement of our work that on the 10th anniversary of the studio,   Warner Bros. Congratulated us in a paid advertisement.”

The works of Varga studio are much better known abroad than in Hungary. „ About 95% of our works have been screened in the UK and about one-third of them have been shown in the US.”

Directed by Milorad Krstic

Erkel, who now works as an independent producer, left the company a year and a half ago, so he cannot comment on the daily operations of the studio.   According to other sources, in 1999/2000 new owners bought into the company, who were initially in accord with the leaders of the animation team.   However, after the economic changes following Sept. 11, 2001 the owners and the management had a conflict.   The new investors wanted to steer the studio towards cheaper subcontract work that brings quick profit, while the managers of the studio did not want to renounce of their international recognition and creativity.

The management did not want to allow the studio to enter the ranks of cheaper studios by compromising its standards, which probably wouldn’t have worked anyway. With less money standards would have slipped, they would have lost their existing clients, which does not necessarily mean contracts from the other group of clients – those who do not demand the best but pay less. As a result, the divide between the owners and the management deepened further.

Finally, the conflict lead to a break between the owners and the managers, and Varga withdrew from daily operations.