Superheroes on the balcony

The inability to come together forces event companies to be creative. The founder ofAlinéa Productions, Julien Bauby, has found solutions so that his superheroes continue to entertain children while respecting social distancing.

Julien Bauby has been working in animation for ten years and founded his company Alinéa Productions a year ago. The major part of its activity consists in offering services of comedians disguised as superheroes to animate events such as children’s parties. Batman, Spiderman, Mickey, Olaf, Elsa, Ninja Turtle, Jasmine, Moana and the clown Pennywise are among the available characters.

“I have always liked to innovate and develop creative ideas, so the obstacles brought by the pandemic immediately seemed like a challenge. Deprived of school, daycare and activities, there was no question of depriving the children of the distraction offered by our superheroes, ”he explains.

Reinvented services

To brighten up the confinement of children and their parents, Alinéa Productions volunteered its disguised members to parade in the Hochelaga district during the spring confinement. This animation made many citizens smile and proved to Julien Bauby that services with physical distancing are possible.

A new service has been offered since the start of the summer: instead of going to customers to host their parties, superheroes come to distract them in front of their homes. This personalized animation costs a hundred dollars for about 30 minutes. The actors distract their audience without physical connection but interact with them through magic tricks, choreography and acrobatics.

“We make sure that our services have an educational component,” says Julien Bauby. Our superheroes explain to children why we must stay away, because they too want to fight the virus. When their favorite character reminds children to wash their hands well and stay positive despite confinement, the message really gets through. “

Other winter challenges

The company also offers services during public events. Several contracts are planned for but the uncertainty of the health context makes Julien Bauby fear his share of cancellations.

“The watchword is to adapt. We find it difficult to stay away from the public, or not to let a little boy with sparkling eyes give his favorite hero a hug, ”he says.

His concern grows with the approach of winter because it will be impossible to offer outdoor services when temperatures turn negative. “We are reinventing the way we party and I do not yet know if my character of Santa Claus will be able to meet the children, we will see what the end of the year 2020 has in store for us,” he said.