Selected projects from Germany, France, Spain, the UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Ukraine, Israel and Australia to participate in co-production, financing and distribution forum running alongside the 24th Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film and FMX 2017.
STUTTGART, Germany -- Running May 4 & 5, 2017, alongside the Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film and FMX International Conference on Animation, Effects, VR, Games and Transmedia, Animation Production Day is one of the important co-production and financing market for animation projects in Germany.
This year the Animation Production Day jury has selected 45 exceptional animation projects from 17 different countries to participate in APD 2017. They were chosen from the 65 submitted projects -- up 15 percent from last year -- which demonstrates the continuing growth of APD, now in its 1th edition.
The APD co-production and financing market offers German and international animation producers the opportunity to present their projects in pre-planned, 30-minute one-on-one meetings to potential co-producers, investors, broadcasters, international distributors and funders.
Thirty-five of the selected projects come from established producers; a further 10 ideas being presented at APD are from young German and European talents who have the opportunity to make their first contact with key industry representatives at the event. The expansion of the Talent Program has been made possible by the Creative Europe MEDIA program which is funding APD for the first time this year. This means APD can now include six more projects than last year. The total production value of the showcased projects is around 170 million Euros spread across 29 TV series projects, 14 feature film projects, one short film and one transmedia project. Around 40 percent of the selected projects are cross-media, meaning they are designed for more than one delivery format including cinema, TV, online, games, apps and books.
Great Demand, National and International Interest
Nineteen of the selected projects come from Germany, others are from France, Spain, the UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Ukraine, Israel and Australia. The interest in new animation projects is high. Numerous national and international broadcasters, distributors and investors have already confirmed their participation in APD, including ZDF, KiKA, SWR, MDR, HR, Super RTL, Turner, Disney Germany, Disney EMEA, France Télévisions, BBC, Ketnet, WDR mediagroup, Beta Film, Koch Media, Technicolor, Cake, DHX, 9 Story Media Group, Sola Media, APC Kids, EastWest Filmdistribution, MFA+ FilmsDistribution, Jetpack Distribution, Studio 100 and Imira.
NEW: The Trickstar Business Award
Because it is becoming increasingly difficult to finance animation films and series solely at a national level, it is ever more important for producers to forge international alliances. And for cross- media or transmedia formats, entirely new financing models must be found. APD’s goal is to support producers in finding suitable partners, developing well-functioning co-production models and creating alternative financing strategies. To this end, on the evening of 4 May the Trickstar Business Award will be inaugurated and presented as part of APD. This new award, worth 7,500 Euros, recognises innovative and groundbreaking national and international business models for projects or companies in the animation industry. This makes the Trickstar Business Award the world’s first animation prize with an explicit economic focus. It is being presented by ITFS and endowed by Region Stuttgart.
World-Class Speakers on the Future of VR and Fascinating Case Studies
Another essential part of Animation Production Day is its half-day conference which is taking place on the afternoon of 4 May in the new L-Bank rotunda. Topics this year include the much-discussed Virtual Reality with Stephan Schindler, chair of Virtual Reality e.V. Berlin-Brandenburg, giving us a glimpse into the future of VR and animation. A special highlight will be a presentation by Sara Diamond from Google Spotlight Stories. The company, Oscar-nominated for the short VR animation film “Pearl”, is currently exploring with numerous projects the technical and content possibilities of storytelling in interactive virtual reality experiences. In addition, we have case studies from exceptional animation projects with Alexander Weimer, managing director of the Berlin-based production company MovieBrats Pictures, reporting on work on the Chinese-co- financed feature film “The Dumpling Queen” and Hugh Welchman, producer and co-director of “Loving Vincent”, discussing the process of creating this unique Polish-international co-production.
In this year’s Content Briefing Sessions, Jackie Edwards from BBC Children’s, Dr Astrid Plenk from MDR, Nadine Bernard from Ketnet and Alix Wiseman from 9 Story Media Group will introduce their current programme requirements and programming strategies, helping producers to better assess what kind of content the market is seeking in the coming year. Industry guests with ITFS and FMX accreditation gain free entry to the APD Conference.
“Animation Germany” – a New Initiative to Strengthen the Industry
The final part of the Conference will introduce the new “Animation Germany” initiative which aims to strengthen the German animation industry’s competitiveness and improve the presentation and presence of the industry in the international market. This is intended to create more international co-productions involving German partners over the long term, something to which APD already has a long-standing commitment. Animation Production Day is the only business platform in Germany specialising in animation projects and for many years it has been fostering cooperations with international organisations such as CARTOON, the European Association of Animation and Reed Midem, as well as with regional and national funding bodies like the Danish Film Institute, Catalan Films & TV and, for the first time this year, the Netherlands Film Fund and the Film Fund Luxemburg. All this should help to make the financing phase shorter and strengthen the international network.
Source: Animation Production Day
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
