PHILIP LAZEBNIK: Art is the only thing that survives
The tutor of this year’s CEE Animation Forum in Třeboň also included Philip LaZebnik, screenwriter of Hollywood blockbusters such as Pocahontas, Mulan and The Prince of Egypt. He is also the author of Broadway musicals and the screenwriter for television series. LaZebnik relocated from the US to Denmark several years ago. He recalls his work for DreamWorks and Disney in an interview with ASAF, gives his opinion of Central and Eastern European animation and gives advice on what Czech animation needs. You have collaborated with great American animation studios Disney and DreamWorks and now you live in Denmark, where the situation of animated films production is different. What’s your perception of Central and Eastern Europe animation with this experience? This is my third time at the CEE Animation Forum and just like every year I am amazed at the amount of creativity and ingenuity of the films here as well as the level of their animation. There are really a lot of talented people in this region. I would say that this is an advantage, in a way, that in Central and Eastern Europe there is not so much money in animation. This gives the authors the creative freedom that […] ...
Czech Films at Annecy 2019
At the 43rd Annecy International Animated Film Festival (10-15 June) and Mifa (11 – 14 June), Czech Republic will be represented by 3 films and 2 upcoming projects. Apart, Daughter and The Kite will be screened as a part of this year’s official programme, while Even Mice Belong in Heaven and My Sunny Maad will be presented during the Works in Progress and Gap Financing session of the market. An animated documentary Apart by Diana Cam Van Nguyen has been selected for the Graduation Short Films in Competition. A short by young FAMU student (co-produced by Alkay Animation Prague) thematizes a difficult topic, dealing with life after the loss of a loved one, and uses techniques of both live-action and animated film. The film was screened earlier this year at Rotterdam, and won the award for Best Czech experimental documentary at Ji.hlava IDFF 2018. Another FAMU project (co-produced by MAUR film), Daria Kashcheeva’s Daughter, will be screened in the Graduation Short Films in Competition. A tender short tells a story about a complicated relationship between a daughter and her father. A girl was hurt as a child and keeps alive the memory of it. She lacked love and empathy from […] ...
MARTIN KOTIK: You Need a Good Idea and the Ability to Keep It Under Control – the Rest Will Follow
Harvie and the Magic Museum has been an undeniable marketing success for Martin Kotík. How did he manage to keep such a big project together? What limitations did he find in the story? And how is he using his experience in preparing his second animated film? Your film Harvie is quite exceptional in the Czech context. Not only in the Czech context. It is the only mainstream internationally co-produced Eastern-European animated movie. Russia and Ukraine never co-produce. They might be raising money on the international level, but their films are made exclusively in-house. That’s why we made our film in Russia. We wanted to use the rich experience they have. It’s not too common to find an environment that can cater to an animated film from A to Z. They’re really way ahead of us there and they always will be, because with the amount of money circulating through their market, they are head and shoulders above our animation production – and this will hardly ever change. We’re talking about hundreds of millions of euros. What do you offer foreign investors beyond the story and concept? Nothing. Let’s not forget, however, that the subject and the concept are everything in […] ...
MANUELA LUMB: If I wanted to make an animated puppet series for children, I would definitely look for animators from Eastern Europe.
Manuela Lumb has been working as a producer for children and family TV channels for many years. During her prolific career, she has gained broad experience in fundraising and brand-management of children and family projects. She spent twelve years as the chair of Cartoon Movie, Cartoon Network and Cartoon Springboard. In her native Germany, she worked with TVFilm Studio or Motionworks production company before embarking on a successful path toward the independent producer and consultant she is today. I met Manuela in Třeboň, where she was a jury member of the CEE Animation Forum’s category Series and TV specials. Your domain in the field of animation is mostly projects oriented at child audiences. Have you noticed any gradual changes or trends during your prolific career? In my experience, children are the only audience that isn´t really interested in trends. Trends and children don’t go together – children are new creatures with no previous experience, and to them anything can be quite new, as they have nothing to refer back to or compare with. So I think that from the content/narrative point of view this is still the same: the crucial thing is to have a strong story they can relate […] ...
AGNES BIZZARO: Don’t just stay at home in an environment you already know intimately
Agnes Bizzaro has been working as a consultant in the field of animation for various European producers and TV stations for many years. She started off in her native France as an independent producer and gradually moved to the public TV channel France 2. One of the many professional activities she carries out at the moment is her position of content coordinator at Cartoon Springboard, a prominent Europe-wide pitching forum for young animators. Agnes has been coming to CEE Animation Forum in Třeboň for several years, sharing her plentiful experience as a tutor in the competition category of animated series and TV specials. Apart from this, she also searches for new talents and interesting projects for Cartoon Springboard (download the brochure here). How would you describe Cartoon Springboard to students or beginner animators? What might they not have heard about it before? Cartoon Springboard as an independent event has already been in existence for five years – this year we are holding the fifth one, which will take place from September 30 to October 2 in Valencia, Spain. From the very beginning its goal has been to create a new platform aimed specifically at young talents across Europe – anyone […] ...
MARTIN VANDAS: I’ve Found an Ideal Writer in Arnošt
Martin Vandas (MAUR film) is one of the leading Czech producers of animated film. At the moment he is working on three feature films, but also on several short films and series. His upcoming adaptation of Arnošt Goldflam’s book Of Unwanted Things and People is receiving global attention even before the start of the production and Martin believes it will be a great success. What movies are you currently working on? At the moment we have three feature animated films in production. We are a minor co-producer in the French-German-Czech project The Crossing, which was made using the technique of painting on glass. We’ve been on board for six years, two of which were taken up by the production itself, and if everything goes well, we’ll be finished next year. The second one is a German-Luxembourg-Czech traditional hand-drawn animation called Fritzi: A Revolutionary Tale. The third is a puppet animation of Of Unwanted Things and People based on Arnošt Goldflam’s story. Hearing what techniques you’ve selected, one might think you’ve chosen to go against using CGI. I’ve worked with computer animation in the past. My most expensive short film production was Ondřej Švadlena’s Time Rodent. In addition, we have another […] ...
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Canary Islands Film: “We are animation” Inspiration for an Animation Cluster
On 26th February 2019 the Association of Czech Animation Film (ASAF) organised a meeting with representatives of an animation cluster from the Canary Islands at the Spanish Embassy in Prague. “Tourists are the main source of income for our economy. However, the government realises the need to diversify the economy and offer a perspective of interesting application to young people too, so in 2015 it decided to focus on the animation industry. This sector has a future. In addition, it is an environmentally friendly industry, which is important for our little paradise on earth here, ” as Natascha Mora explains the motivation behind establishment of Canary Islands Film. The organisation is established and run by government agencies represented by Natacha Mora (Government of the Canary Islands, Culture Sector), Pila Moreno (PROEXCA agency for the internationalisation of the Canary Islands and attracting strategic investments) and Sabita Jagtani (Canaria ZEC agency promoting investment within the Canary Islands tax zone). The main objective of the Canary Islands Film is to create favourable conditions for animation production, e.g. through film incentives in the amount of 40% to support the outsourcing of local studios or tax advantages for setting up new companies or subsidiaries. As […] ...
Record Number of Czech Animated Films at CEE Animation Forum 2019
The seventh edition of the CEE Animation Forum (formerly known as Visegrad Animation Forum) will showcase thirty-three animated projects in development in three categories: short films, series / TV specials and feature films. The majority of selected teams are coming from Central and Eastern Europe – the Czech Republic 6x, Hungary 3x, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Romania 2x, Slovenia, Latvia or Ukraine 1x. After the successful first edition of the feature films pitching competition, the organizers decided to open a regular call for this category. “Receiving many feature animated film entries to this year’s call is a confirmation to us that the animation industry in the region and in the EU has a bright future as the level of the quality of projects in development is quite high. We intend to support all of the projects in pitchings, including feature projects, with a boost towards building international coproductions, pre-sales and promotion to access international markets,” explains Matija Šturm, Executive Director of CEE Animation. The winning project of the CEE Animation Forum 2018 was Of Unwanted Things and People, which was recently presented at Cartoon Movie and received the Eurimages Development Coproduction Award. This year, the CEE Animation Forum have […] ...
Czech Producers Visiting Animation Media Cluster Region Stuttgart
In connection with the Association of Czech Animation Film’s long-term strategic focus on increasing the competitiveness of Czech animation and the economic performance of individual subjects, an excursion to the Animation Media Cluster Region in Stuttgart, Germany, took place at the end of last year. Stuttgart is one of the most industrialised areas in Europe. Thanks to Mercedes and Porsche car manufacturers, many tens of thousands of people work in the automotive industry and employment in the area is predominantly dependent on this industrial commodity. The government of the German state of Baden-Württemberg is therefore trying to develop other industries too and, similarly to economists in places like South Korea, are turning their attention to the “leisure economy”: the development and production of audiovisual works, especially animation and digital postproduction. Representatives of the creative industry in cooperation with the public sector (government of Baden-Württemberg) aim to set up a cluster of companies that will offer high-quality animation and visual effects services to clients from all over the world. The idea to visit the cluster in Stuttgart (AMCRS) stemmed from a growing need to bring new impulses and trends to animation in the Czech Republic, particularly from developed markets. As the […] ...
