Spanish Animation and New Platforms Awake!
This year's 18th Cartoon Forum animation event in Girona heralded the end of a siesta for Spanish animation production. The four-day event joined 250 potential investors and broadcasters and a total of 800 participants with fledgling projects from European producers, including eight local Catalan companies. But as well as strong local representation, the market also saw announcements of a financial commitment to the industry from regional government, the establishment of a new animation talent foundation in Barcelona and the presence for the first time of New Platforms of distribution. Antony Reeve-Crook (journalist at C21) reports for Cartoon on why many were looking beyond the walls of the auditorium at what the region itself was pitching.
If the recent Cartoon Forum event at Girona, Spain made one thing clear, it's that the animation crowd is besotted with technology. A record two-thirds of pitches were made with a genuine multi-platform clause. And standing around the guests' lounge or huddled outside the door of the next screening you could overhear producers bragging about the revolutionary new way in which they're reaching out to their audience, or dazzling them with cutting-edge on-screen trickery.
So it's fitting then that beyond the doors of the Forum, the region of Catalunya has been embraced by kids animation companies and broadcasters as the springboard for widespread regional dive into kids TV production.
At the time of writing, a regional bill is currently being pushed through parliament that will oblige Catalan public broadcasters to invest 1% of their annual revenue into animation. A similar bill is in the works at a national level. It is the first achievement of two new animation production groups created before the summer, Animats and Diboos, in a move get the Spanish animation industry officially supported by law.
"We setup Animats, which regroups Catalan region’s animation producers (comprising nine companies) last May and Diboos, which is the same at a Spanish level (about 85 companies), in March," explained Icon Animation MD Sergi Reitg, a member of the board for both associations.
He added that Spanish animation lacks regulated support, unlike countries such as France, which encourages development with such schemes as tax credit facilities. "Spanish animation experienced a crisis about four years ago, with Spanish originated original production dropping to just two or three shows per year. It has now climbed back to five or six series per year," he said.
The Spanish regulation will include an obligation for the private children channels, expected to represent investment of around EUR 15m or 20m per year.
So with Catalunya - and Spain at large - evolving into a more healthy place for animators to make a living, such as the eight Catalan companies pitching their new shows at this year's event, it's important for the industry to put its money where its mouth is.
And it is doing exactly that with the new Digitalent Foundation (Fundacio Digitalent), a group reaching out to find new creative talent from within the new mass media industry.
Catalan animation producer Cromosoma TV Productions used the Cartoon Forum event in Girona to announce the new creative initiative, aimed at bringing ideas to the TV industry from non-traditional sources such as video games companies.
Catalunya it seems, is poised to become a frequent destination for kids TV production companies.
The Cartoon Masters opened the doors
In fact both the matters of the financial involvement of the new media platforms (Google, Tiscali, Microsoft, Teléfonica, Orange…) and the multimedia strategies of the main European broadcasters (TF1, MTV, BBC, Super RTL…) and animation producers were already widely developed by their protagonists in the 2 previous Cartoon Masters held last March in Murcia (Spain) and last June in Freising (Germany).
The two information seminars gathered 200 European professionals and Cartoon is continuing its efforts to bring the new technological partners to the animation industry as can be seen at this year’s Cartoon Forum.
The search for success through technology and advanced techniques may be a risky one. It became abundantly clear from the questions that followed a number of companies' pitches, that while a flashy design might draw eyes and ears to a pilot, it wont hold a kid's interest for a series.
One need only look at Tiger Aspect's Tinga Tinga Tales – a stand out show at this year's market – to see that gadgetry and cutting edge technology is no substitute for a well-grounded story with the warmth and appeal that keeps kids glued to their screens, whatever size or shape they may be.
Most attended meetings
25 projects out of 60 had an attendance exceeding 100 people and the Irish project ‘Oops – Noah is Gone!’ which screened a hilarious trailer was the most popular with over 260 people.
In the Top 5, we can also find ‘Sally Bollywood’ (227 people), the ‘Indian’ project developed by Télé Images Kids (France), ‘How to Drive Everybody Crazy’ (226 people) by the French TeamTo, ‘Little J’ (220 people) from Aardman and ‘The Bunjies’ (213 people) from German Studio Film Bilder which crowded the smallest room with a very strong trailer.
TeamTo makes Crazy decision
Cake Entertainment has signed up as international distributor for French CGI studio TeamTo's 3D project How To Drive Everyone Crazy, after its pilot was presented at Cartoon Forum on Thursday.
The France 3-backed 52-episode shortform project, aimed at 6-9s, is about naughty angel-faced kid Angelo who drives his family crazy and is adapted from a children's book.
TeamTo is the new production company and CGI studio of Guillaume Hellouin and Corinne Kouper, both formerly of Sparx, who produced 3D series Zoe Kezako.
Since its creation two years ago, TeamTo has taken over production of Zoe's second season, broadcast on TF1 and Rai, and currently produces Oasis (7x90'') with Nickelodeon International, Tuba in Korea and TF1 in France. It also worked as a facility studio on a number of series, including Adibou.
"With the How To Drive Everyone Crazy project we are trying to push the 3D technique's look further, focusing on capacity to generate emotions and taking inspiration from stop motion," said Hellouin.
The length of the episodes is not yet set and could be five, seven or 11 minutes. "We are waiting for some feedback on this," said Cake director and partner Tom Van Waveren. "The budget will be up to €6m (US$8.4m)."
"We are going to test the pilot among a group of children within the next couple of months," said France 3 director of children programming Julien Borde.
Cartoon Forum turns dial up to Maxx
German animation company Clixx.biz has unveiled a new children's property titled Maxx Science (26x26') to Forum delegates here in Girona in Spain.
The 3D animated series follows kids Max, Tim and Nelly and their chimpanzee-like robot pet Clixx, who together serve as an undercover action squad against Dr Scrunch and his evil plans.
The plot follows the teams attempts to foil Scrunch, disguised as a respectable scientist but secretly developing plans the investigative quartet seek to expose, by delving into scientific schemes in order to stop him.
The animation is a cross-media platform concept aimed at six- to nine-year-olds, and all international rights are currently available.
French pubcaster surfs Bollywood wave
New animated project Sally Bollywood is getting huge support from France Televisions, involving both France 3 and commercial arm France Televisions Distribution (FTD) for L&M rights.
Produced by Tele Images Kids, headed by Philippe Alessandri, Sally Bollywood (left, 52x13') is an action-comedy being developed by a Franco-British writing team, and was presented to Cartoon Forum delegates here on Thursday morning.
The toon is set in a detective agency, the SBI (Sally Bollywood Investigations), involving children. The two 12-year-old heroes, Sally and Dowee, use their own respective skills, instinct and intuition for the Indian girl and technology for the European boy, to sort out the various puzzles.
"We fell in love with Sally,” said France 3's director of children's programming Julien Borde. “We were attracted by the Bollywood style and this action-comedy project perfectly fits our new coproduction strategy. It is a true 360-degree project."
FTD, which picked up licensing and merchandising rights to the show, intends to release CDs as well as books and comics to help launch the property, in the same way it did with another Tele Images animation show, Street Football. "We believe this is potentially a strong licence," said FTD CEO Jean Paul Commin.
Tele Images International will be handling distribution and head of international sales Alexandre Piel said the Cartoon Forum presentation attracted solid interest from some European broadcasters.
Tele Images has put together 70% of the show's €7m budget, and expects to start production as soon as the end of the year, with French studio Je Suis Bien Content.
Animated 'reality' joins Big Bro house
UK production company Eggtoons has unveiled a new animated 'reality' series, with Big Brother broadcaster Channel 4 in tow.
Gilmerton Heights (13x7') is a 2D animated show aimed at a late-teen and adult market, set in a fictional town under the control and observation of a fictional network.
Throughout the series tasks are set by the omniscient network executives, as in Endemol-produced Big Bro, which provides the comedy as the town's multicultural set of families vie for a huge cash prize.
The zany storylines are recounted to the viewers by an animated incarnation of Columbo star Peter Falk, overseeing the daily events of the town on behalf of the network, and as with the Big Brother format, the families also speak directly to the viewers from a 'diary room'-esque chair.
Eggtoons has teamed up for the project with fellow Cornwall-based company Spider-Eye, the studio behind the preschool animated property Bouncy Castle, also being unveiled at Cartoon Forum this week.
As well as partnering with broadcaster Channel 4 in the UK, the multi-platform potential of the series has won interest from UK mobile network 3G, which has signed on to supplying the cartoon for mobile consumption.
The show's creator, James Chaytor, said the series could be produced on a budget of €650,000, and all right are currently available.
Neptuno goes wild in Girona
Spanish animation house Neptuno Films (King Arthur's Disasters) has unveiled a new preschool series based on a bunch of very young animals who attend a nursery school.
Megaminimals (104x6'), the latest series from the Barcelona-based Neptuno, is set in a nursery school for very young animals learning and playing together, sharing friendships and taking trips out together.
Each episode centres around a comedic plot, full of situations and characters that Neptuno claims will be easily identifiable for children aged 2-3. Spanish broadcaster Televisio de Catalunya (TVC) is attached as broadcaster for the local market.
SIP goes extreme fishing on fantasy island
French producer SIP Animation unveiled its latest animation project at Cartoon Forum over the weekend, a new tween series being developed as both a series and multiplayer online game.
Astaquana (26x22') centres around the sport of ‘extreme fishing’ on a fantasy island, where contenders known as ‘waders’ vie for a chance to learn how to fish with exalted master fishermen.
The new series, being developed in association with UK distributor Cake Entertainment, follows a small group of contenders as they enter the competition at a time when the island is under threat from an evil force known as the Nightmare Fish. This fish, the nemesis of the island’s green-minded competitors and virtuous ‘legend fish’, forms the backbone to the series' commentary on the threat of industrialisation to our ecosystem.
Paris-based SIP is developing the property with Hyung Young Enterprise Studio as an all-inclusive 360-degree franchise, encompassing an online game universe as well as trading cards, mobile TV and website.
SIP MD Stephanie Kirchmeyer said she was seeking to negotiate a deal with Nintendo for an Astaquana video game using the company’s Wii console, which is “ideally suited” for a fishing game tie-in due to its innovative handheld controller.
But despite the comprehensive gameplan for her new animated franchise, Kirchmeyer made it clear that all the rights to the new product are up for grabs.
"We’ve played the Cartoon Forum game this time, and though we’ve tested the product with the local market for feedback purposes, this is the first time we’ve pitched it to the rest of the world," she said, alluding to Cartoon Forum typically showcasing projects still in their infancy.
She added that the series could be produced on a budget of €300,000 per half-hour, and wants to hear from broadcasters and companies interested in coming on board for the gaming aspects.
Cromosoma brings Lila to the small screen
Spanish toon company Cromosoma has unveiled a new preschool project here in Girona, Spain: a TV adaptation of Random House's children's franchise Lila (pictured).
The Barcelona-based producer unveiled its pilot episode for the series, produced with help from Catalan broadcaster TVC and interest from Disney Channel Spain. It follows the life of a six-year-old girl and her extended family.
So far, eight Lila books have been published, currently circulating in Europe and the US. Each book ends with a task for children to complete, and according to Cromosoma, the TV adaptation will embrace this element with a complementary portal online.
Pitching the new show, Cromosoma’s production chief Toni Marin Vila said Disney Channel Spain had expressed "strong interest" in the international TV rights to the Lila series.
There was interest, from the UK's BBC too. Speaking after the pitch, head of CBeebies production Kay Benbow said: “It’s certainly something that I think would work well in the upper end of what we call preschool.”
But praise aside, the two broadcasters have yet to dig deep and vote with their wallets. Cromosoma has come up with €860,000 - some 40% of the total €2.15m needed to finance the series, with a further 10% (€215,000) coming from coproduction partners Random House Montedori and the Clinica Del Son.
UK animators stamp authority on Girona
The UK has a strong chance of retaining its Cartoon d'Or animation crown again this year, with three of the five finalists here in Girona coming from its shores.
UK animator Joanna Quinn (Famous Fred, Canterbury Tales) scooped the animation award last year with her film Dreams & Desires - Family Ties, winning financial assistance to develop new projects as well as spawning a working relationship with Welsh public broadcaster S4C.
This year the BreakThru Films production Peter & The Wolf, created by Suzie Templeton (Stanley, Dog), is first on the Cartoon d'Or bill, telling Sergey Prokofiev’s tale of a boy given a new lease of life in stop-motion.
"I wanted to stay faithful to Prokofiev’s music but at the same time to allow the film and the story to develop its own life.
I wanted the film to be multi-layered and to work for both adults and children," said Templeton, who added that she is now looking for potential partners to develop a stop-motion feature film.This year the BreakThru Films production Peter & The Wolf, created by Suzie Templeton (Stanley, Dog), is first on the Cartoon d'Or bill, telling Sergey Prokofiev’s tale of a boy given a new lease of life in stop-motion.
Bristol-based Aardman Animation is also in the running with Luis Cook’s The Pearce Sisters, the animator’s first non-commercial film for the Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run production company.
The 2D cartoon tells the story of two “weather-lashed old spinsters,” who look to escape their miserable existence after the discovery of a handsome, half-drowned man.
Finally, Tom Brown and Daniel Gray from Newport-based Holbrook's Films are weighing in with their own 2D pencil-on-paper animation, enigmatically described by the duo simply as “a young boy’s journey.”
While UK animators dominate the finalists, the two remaining Cartoon d'Or candidates come from Hungary and Finland. Life Line is a show that animator Tomek Ducki has made via Hungary's University of Art & Design, and offers an industrial vision of cogs and wheels.
Irresistible Smile, meanwhile, is from Finland's Turku Arts Academy. Animator Ami Lindholm offers a drama set among the passengers of an aeroplane. The results of the Cartoon d'Or final will be announced over the weekend.
UK animator cooks up Cartoon d'Or
UK-based animator Luis Cook took the coveted Cartoon d'Or prize at Cartoon Forum in Girona, Spain, over the weekend with his Aardman-produced entry The Pearce Sisters. The 10-minute cartoon centres on the unexpectedly gory tale of sisters and fisherwomen living in isolation beside the sea, whose lives are temporarily fulfilled after they save a handsome man from drowning. Speaking after the presentation on Friday night, Cook said: “It was great to work on my first non-commercial project with Aardman, but I really didn’t expect to pick up this award.” In doing so, Cook beat four other finalists to the €15,000 prize offered by the MEDIA Programme of the European Union, including three other Brits - Susie Templeton, Tom Brown and Daniel Gray - as well as Hungarian Tomek Ducki and Finland’s Ami Lindholm.
Emotion for the Cartoon Tributes
For the second year running, Cartoon distributed three tributes for best producer, best broadcaster and best distributor of the year. The first award for producer of the year went to John Coates, from TVC London who received his tribute from his peers who all stood up for a standing ovation for his 50 years’ lifetime in animation production. Emotional moment!
The award for broadcaster of the year went to local channel Televisio de Catalunya, which is the driving force behind the Catalan animation industry and focused on children programmes through its channel K3. They have co-produced the most celebrated series from Catalonia (‘The Triplets’, ‘Goomer’, ‘Scruff’, ‘Lola & Virginia’ amongst others) and they have currently 13 co-productions in development with 12 different producers. They have broadcasted an enormous number of European series. In total TVC has bought over 560 hours of European animation programming.
Spain’s LUK International, which picked up investor/distributor of the year for helping European Animation to enter the Spanish market. Created in 1979, Luk is an independent distribution company covering Spain and Portugal with a large catalogue of animated films including many series presented at the Cartoon Forum (‘Ottifants’, ‘Normal Norman’, ‘Little Hippo’, ‘Momie au Pair’, ‘Henry’s Cat’, ‘Billy the Cat’, ‘Cocco Bill’, ‘Rahan’, etc …). It has developed DVD and merchandising divisions, and has gained the confidence of a large number of broadcasters, including all the major ones in Spain.
BRB chairman pockets lifetime achievement gong
Cartoon Forum organisers also honoured the chairman of Spanish toon firm BRB with a surprise tribute over the weekend. Claudio Biern, the chairman of both Spanish animation rights company BRB Internacional and animation and technology shop Screen 21 was awarded a surprise tribute in recognition of his 35 years in the children’s entertainment industry.On receiving the award, the animation pioneer drew attention to the impact of technology on the sector, by some margin the issue most frequently raised by industry execs at this year’s event. “Now animation producers must realise that technology is as important as creativity," said Biern. "During the past four or five years, I have seen how the presence of technology has increased more than during BRB’s first three decades.”
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