The European Association of Animation Film chose the city of Stavanger, in Norway, to celebrate the 20th anniversary edition of Cartoon Forum. The event was an opportunity to look at what has been achieved in the European animation industry over the past two decades and to address the challenges that lie ahead.
Over 720 participants from 28 countries attended the latest edition of Cartoon Forum which took place this year in Stavanger, the oil and energy capital of Norway. Once again, the event served as a showcase for the latest animation series being created across Europe for television and new media platforms.
The figures for this year’s projects in terms of length and budget were similar to previous years, indicating stability in the European animation industry. Key to this success was an increase in co-productions and internationalisation. The fact that 24 of the 61 projects presented were co-productions from two or more countries (39% in 2009 vs. 20% in 2008) is a good example of this growing cross-border support.
France held on to its leading role with 15 projects followed by Spain and the UK with 13 and 7 respectively. The Nordic countries continued to boost their presence on the European animation stage with 11 projects: 5 from Norway, 3 from Denmark, 2 from Finland and 1 from Sweden. Together, the 61 projects presented summed up 310 hours of content and a total budget of 148 million EUR.
As in previous editions, Cartoon Form offered participants a glimpse of the latest trends in European animation productions. For example, projects developed in 2D slightly surpassed those made in CG (42% vs. 38%), while those directed to children between 6 and 9 years old made up the majority with 42%.
Also worth highlighting is European producers' increasing use of cross media formats given that 32% of the projects were also conceived for new media platforms such as mobile phones, video-games and Internet.
The ten projects that garnered the most interest among broadcasters, investors, producers and distributors at the meeting were “Boo Boo Dolls” (Germany); “Granny O’Grimm” (Ireland); “Skybabies” (UK); “Kinky & Cosy” (France); “Me and my Robot” (France), “The Flying Squirrels” (Spain); “The Secret Life of Suckers” (Spain); “Copy Cut” (France); “Pigly” (France); and “Dustbunnies” (UK).
This year, the event also took stock of Cartoon Forum’s progress over the past two decades. The figures, presented by Cartoon’s General Director Marc Vandeweyer, were impressive and confirmed Cartoon Forum as a driving force in the animation sector. Since its creation in 1989, some 429 animated projects – or a third of the total projects presented over 19 editions – were fully financed for a global budget of 1.5 billion EUR.
Cartoon Forum also announced in Stavanger the launch of Cartoon Connection, a series of meetings between European animation professionals and their counterparts based in other continents aimed to encourage mutual cooperation and the circulation of animation works. Supported by EU’s MEDIA International, the first event will take place this November in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with additional meetings planned in Argentina as well as Australia and South Korea over 2010.
Along with the presentation of the 61 new projects, the event also hosted the Cartoon Tributes and Cartoon d’Or 2009, which have become prestigious awards for the European animation sector.
On September 24, the Cartoon d’Or 2009 – the European Association of Animation Film’s award to support upcoming talent – was given to Irish director David O’Reilly for his short film “Please say something”. Written and directed by O’Reilly, the film won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film earlier this year at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival.
The other four finalists were: Uzi and Lotta Geffenblad for “Aston's Stones” (Sweden); Merwan Chabane for “Party Animals” (France); Bastien Dubois for “Madagascar, carnet de voyage” (France); and Nick Park for “Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death” (United Kingdom).
This year's jury was composed by directors Serge Elissalde, Kari Juusonen and Tomm Moore.The Cartoon d’Or award is supported by the MEDIA Programme of the EU and the ceremony gala was sponsored by NRK.
Participants at Cartoon Forum also got to take a closer look at the animation landscape of the host country with the conference “Animation in Norway”. Norway has earned a place among the most promising countries for animation projects thanks to its talent, business drive and support from public institutions that have been key in promoting the industry beyond the country’s own borders. Representatives from the Norwegian Film Institute, Filmkraft Rogaland, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, NRK, The Norwegian Film and TV Producers’ Association, Qvisten and Volda University all took part in the conference.
Forum participants were able to enjoy not only the charm of Norwegian animation, but also the breathtaking landscape of the Region of Rogaland on a Fjord cruise into majestic Lysefjorden to discover its idyllic islands, towering cliffs and gushing waterfalls.
True to tradition, the location of next year’s Cartoon Forum was announced on the last day of the event. Cartoon Forum 2010 will be held in Sopron, Hungary, one of the Eastern European country’s most picturesque towns. The city’s own Mayor, Mr. Tamás Fodor, made the announcement, which marks the first time that the event will be hosted by one of the European Union’s newer members.
Cartoon Forum 2009 ended in style with a farewell dinner and party at which various producers paid their own particular tribute to Cartoon Forum’s 20th anniversary.
This edition of Cartoon Forum was supported by EU MEDIA Programme, the County of Rogaland, the cities of Stavanger and Sandnes, the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs, the Norwegian Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Innovation Norway, Sparebanken 1 SR-Bank and NRK.
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