What’s on the Menu for Czech Animation in 2019
The year 2018 did not yield any box office hit in the field of Czech animation, yet festival showings and achievements abroad imply that our creators are not resting on their laurels. There are a number of interesting feature films, series, and TV bedtime-story animations in development or production. They will also include this year’s anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 50th birthday of Lucky Four or one hundred years since the death of historical Czech figure Rastislav Štefánik. And How Did Czech Animated Production Do Last Year? Four feature films by Czech filmmakers came to cinemas. One of them made it among the top 50 most visited: Pat & Mat: Winter Adventure, directed by Marek Beneš, attracted nearly 88,000 viewers, while the American animated Hotel Transylvania 3: Monster Vacation brought in nearly half a million. The highly anticipated and latest film by Jan Švankmajer Insects was released after seven years of production and nominated for the Film Critics’ Awards. In December, cinema-goers had a chance to see the Christmas story of Mimi & Lisa: Christmas Lights Mystery (directed by Ivana Šebestová and Katarína Kerekesová). Famous personalities such as Dagmar Pecková, Arnošt Goldflam, Linda Rybová or David Prachař supported its creation […] ...
First Edition of CEE Animation Workshop Brings Together Renowned Names in Script and Promising CEE Filmmakers
The first module of the year-long CEE Animation Workshop will take place from November 30th to December 6th in Ljubljana and will focus on content development. Invited tutors who will guide the participants are two experienced script advisors Rita Domonyi and Phil Parker. The group sessions will be led by Ewa Puszczyńska and Ole Wendorff-Østergaard. The workshop will bring together 12 animated projects, including 4 feature films, 4 series, 4 short films, and 5 participants without project. MEET THE SESSION EXPERTS Two SCRIPT CONSULTANTS will work individually or in group sessions with the project teams, helping them to formulate the voice of their story in the best possible way in terms of dramatic structure, genre and story arc. Rita Domonyi started her carrier in animation at Varga Studio, where she became the Creative Development manager of the company. She is also the teacher of Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, and gives script editing lectures on the Faculty of Animation Studies. Screenwriter and creative producer Phil Parker has developed original content in over twenty countries demonstrating there is a global capacity for new concepts. His clients have included Aardman Animation (the Oscar winning Wallace and Gromit – Curse of the […] ...
CASE STUDY: “Richard the Stork”. Background of a successful European co-production.
The producer of the film “Richard the Stork” Kristine Knudsen was among the speakers at the international co-production workshop organised by the Association of Czech Animation Film in Prague from 25th October to 26th October 2018. A colourful co-production of four European countries (Germany, Belgium, Norway, and Luxembourg) was screened last summer in the Czech distribution of Bontonfilm. The creators have devised an adventurous story of an orphan sparrow that grows up in a family of storks, who the sparrow decides to follow on their long journey to Africa. The film was sold to 155 countries and seen by over 3.6 million viewers. Kristine Knudsen, who in her own words devoted 9 years of her life to the film, told the audience – consisting mainly of professional producers – what was behind its success and what the criteria and pitfalls of European distribution are. CRITERIA OF SUCCESS AND CHALLENGES FROM DEVELOPMENT TO DISTRIBUTION Can you define the biggest challenge of the project? Right from the very beginning it was the theme: we came up with an original topic that nobody knew. In addition, Germany is a fairly conservative market. But we were lucky that our script was written from the […] ...
Interview with Olivier Noman about international co-production of animated movies
Olivier Noman kindly shared his co-production experiences during seminar of co-production in animation industry in Prague (Czech Republic), organized by the Association of Czech Animated Film (ASAF).He is freelance consultant in business matters and also working in Studio 100 Animation and we talked about main pillar of co-production. Hi Olivier, could you, please, tell us what does it mean co-production in animation industry? Are there any special rules? What does the co-production bring? Hi Karolina! A distinction can be made between official and non official co-production, depending on potential co-production treaty between countries. A co-production agreement can also refer to the ‘European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production’. Despite all these frameworks and regulations, there are no real special rules for animation. The specificity of the animation is more commercial than legal. It is a genre which travels more easily than live action or documentaries as you do not face the problems of stars or bankable actors. Meeting the interests of broadcasters or platforms in several countries is obviously a good starting point for a co-production. What co-production can bring to you can really be summarized in one word: partnership. In an ideal world each part of the co-production should bring the competitive advantages of its company […] ...
Visegrad Animation Forum Is Rebranding into CEE Animation and Opens Call for Pitch of Animated Projects
Visegrad Animation Forum (VAF) has been the largest platform for the animation industry in Central and Eastern Europe. Over the course of its six-year existence, it has managed to build a strong base of film professionals and welcome over 150 participants from all over Europe in Třeboň every year. The Central and Eastern European region operates on very similar historical, artistic and economic fundaments. That’s why it is the organisers’ ambition to broaden the platform by including other countries, increase the range of activities, and umbrella all of that under the new CEE Animation brand. CEE Animation Forum – formerly known as VAF Třeboň From 6th to 9th May 2019, a traditional pitching competition of animation projects will be held in three categories: short film, series / TV special or feature film. Selected authors will have a unique opportunity to consult projects with invited experts, get valuable feedback and advice on how to improve their presentation, script, or production strategy. Competition participants can secure a chance to find a co-production partner by presenting it in front of more than one hundred film professionals – including producers, TV programmers, festival directors, distributors, investors or representatives of national film funds. They all come […] ...
Mimi & Lisa: The Christmas Lights Mystery and Other Stories
On the 6th December 2018 a set of short films for small children and their parents about the extraordinary friendship of two little girls, Mimi and Lisa, will be released in Czech cinemas. Seven short stories depict the magical adventures of a blind girl and her friend. Target audience: 4 to 8 years. The Slovak studio Fool Moon and the Czech MAUR film took part in the production, with co-production by Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS). The film was created with the support of the Slovak Audiovisual Fund and the Czech State Cinematography Fund. According to producer Martin Vandas (MAUR film), the fact that the main heroine Mimi is blind played an important role in approaching partners and famous Czech actors, who lent their voices to the characters. “These are beautiful and powerful stories where a disability is not a disability. On a European scale, it’s a completely original idea to tell children about their blind peers and show them that although the blind may not be able to see, their other sense perceptions are much more intense and we can learn a lot from them; they can experience adventures in the childhood world together with us. Both girls […] ...
Sabine Minniti, MEDIA Creative Europe: “I see shy people here. Show the world what your talent is!”
One of the busiest guests of this year’s Visegrad Animation Forum in Třeboň (CZ) was Sabine Minniti, Team Leader of the TV Programming, Audience and Innovative Approaches sector for MEDIA Creative Europe. Minniti’s hands-on workshop provided participants with practical tips on filling out the TV Programming Application for Creative Europe Media. In terms of producers from Central and Eastern Europe, not many have been successful in this respect; to be specific – only one project, the Slovak-Polish-Czech project “Websters” from director and producer Katarina Kerekes, has been funded. In total, 23 projects were supported by MEDIA last year, most of which were largely successful in France, Great Britain and Germany. Preference is given to projects for young audiences and low or medium capacity production. An important condition for awarding the grant is the contractual provision of at least 50% of third party financing (broadcasters, public financing, sales agents, etc.). About 10 to 11 broadcasters were involved in selected projects, with the participation of at least 3 out of 3 different countries. All attendees of VAF2018 were given the opportunity to ask questions and consult their projects individually. Sabine Minniti also kindly gave an interview for the Association of Czech Animation […] ...
First Time in the Central and Eastern European Region – Visegrad Animation Forum Gives Space to Projects of Animated Feature Films in Development
The sixth year of the international Visegrad Animation Forum for film professionals will take place on 1st – 3rd May. As a tradition, it will be centred on a pitching competition of animated projects now in development in two categories – short films and series / TV specials. This year’s novelty is a pitching competition of upcoming animated feature films. It is organised by the Visegrad Animation Forum in cooperation with the Anifilm Festival and the newly established CEE Animation platform. This will be the first time in history that the region of Central and Eastern Europe will see a presentation of feature films that are still in development. Feature film is a distinguished discipline in animation. Such production ventures require courage, patience, and a great deal of energy. That’s why animated feature films are often eagerly awaited. Last year’s animation sensation – again from the CEE region – was Loving Vincent (dir. Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, POL), which has circled the world, broken box office records and collected a number of prestigious awards – including the European Film Award or a Golden Globe nomination. At the beginning of 2018, Jan Švankmajer, a strong name in Czech animation, introduced his […] ...
Animarket, the Only CEE Job Market
Are you looking for a job in the animation industry? Are you looking for skilled animators and developers? Animarket is just the thing for you. It will take place on 4th May 2018 in Třeboň as a part of the Anifilm festival. It is a job fair for CEE studios and schools focusing on animation, VFX, game development and VR/AR. Animarket is a follow-up to last year’s successful business Business Bistro and its aim is to help students and graduates in finding work in creative industries with natural emphasis on animation. It is organised as an exhibition of individual subjects and presents a unique opportunity to present yourself and help to develop the job market. Studios, schools and institutions can register here. If you have any questions, please contact the coordinator of the event: miroslava.janicatova@anifilm.cz. Program: http://www.anifilm.cz/cs/animarket/ For members of the Association of Czech Animation Film the FEE is FREE, instead of CZK 2,000. ...
The Emile Awards Ceremony honours the best European animated films; Czechs not in the final
More than a thousand guests watched the ceremony of the first year of the Emile European Animation Awards in Lille, France on the 8th of December 2017. This extraordinary event was attended by the top names in contemporary European animation – especially those from Western Europe. Czech films were represented in the audience by member of the Association of Animated Films Libor Nemeškal. However, none of our favourites were shortlisted. A total of sixteen awards were presented in various categories. The award for best feature film was received by Claude Barras for his film “My Life as a Zucchini” (“Ma vie de Courgette“). Other significant works of European animation did not leave the ceremony empty-handed either, for instance: “Red Turtle” (La Tortue Rogue, dir.: Michael Dudok de Wit) won the awards for best character animation and best storyboard. The star of the TV series category was the special Revolting Rhymes (dir.: Jan Lachauer, Jakob Schuh); The Amazing World of Gumball received one award as well as the fifth series of the popular children’s show Shaun the Sheep. Richards Williams gained special recognition and a standing ovation when presented with the Lotte Reiniger Lifetime Achievement Award by Christophe Erbess, host of […] ...
