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 […] ...
“Of Unwanted Things and People” is the winner of the Eurimages Co-production Development Award at Cartoon Movie
The project “Of Unwanted Things and People” by David Súkup, Ivana Laučíková, Leon Vidmar & Agata Gorządek and co-produced by Maur Film (Czech Republic), Artichoke (Slovakia), ZVVIKS (Slovenia) & WJTeam/Likaon (Poland) was awarded the Eurimages Co-production Development Award at the Cartoon Movie (Bordeaux, France) on 7th March 2019. The story of two orphans and a magical cat is a modern, short puppet film set in the present day, based on Arnošt Goldflam’s book Of Unwanted Things and People. The four-country coproduction won the first animated feature film pitching award at the CEE Animation Forum 2018 (formerly Visegrad Animation Forum). The success of this project was confirmed by receiving Nespresso Audience Award. The Council of Europe’s Eurimages Fund has joined forces with ten co-production markets all over the world – and Cartoon Movie is one of them once again this year – in order to award the Eurimages Co-production Development Award. This cash-prize of €20,000 has been created to promote the Fund’s role in encouraging international animated co-production from the initial stages of a project. The project has to be designed from the outset as an international co-production for cinema release and initiated by a lead producer based in a Eurimages country willing to […] ...
MAUR film Brings to Cartoon Movie Three Coproduction Animated Feature Projects
For the third time, Cartoon Movie, the international event devoted to animated feature films, will take place in Bordeaux. 66 projects from 25 countries have been selected to be pitched: 28 of them are in concept, 24 in development, 7 in production and 7 in sneak preview. The Czech Republic will be represented by 3 projects by MAUR film. The four-country coproduction Of Unwanted Things and People (Maur Film, CZ / Artichoke, SK / ZVVIKS, SI / WJTeam / Likaon, PL) won the first animated feature film pitching award at the CEE Animation Forum 2018 (formerly Visegrad Animation Forum). The success of this project was confirmed by receiving Nespresso Audience Award. The story is based on Arnošt Goldflam’s book Of Unwanted Things and People and is supported by Creative Europe MEDIA and Czech Film Fund. “After a successful presentation in Třeboň last year, the project got not only very positive and important feedback from both the audience and jury, but also a commitment. We are working intensely on the final versions of scripts, while deeply immersed in artwork, schedules and budgets at the same time. Just to synchronise the order of applications for all kinds of national and international funds with the […] ...
MASTERCLASS / ANIMATION – ACTOR IN FOCUS
With the CEEA MASTERCLASS the Slovak Association of Producers of Animated Film (APAF) presents an exciting opportunity to receive training and meet internationally-renowned animated film professionals – for the third consecutive year! Presented in co-operation with CEE Animation, the Academy of Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU), and Fest Anča International Animation Festival, the masterclass continues to create a bridge between studying and the professional world – helping students and young professionals navigate their careers. In 2017 production pipeline experts attended the masterclass, and last year we covered artistic aspects of script development. This year will see a balance between artistic and practical – because good animation film-making also needs confident production managers, creative directors and skilled animators. At this year’s “Animation: Actor in focus” we’re looking forward to welcoming Ed Hooks in Bratislava, who’s known for unveiling the mysteries of acting to animators around the globe. Both novice and experienced animators will benefit from discovering how to apply acting techniques to create believable characters in their work. Both actors and animated characters need a well-organized production to keep a project on track and budget. This is especially true of complicated co-productions, such as last year’s winner of the European Film Academy […] ...
Czech Animation Is Looking for a Common Ground with the Israeli Film Industry
Richard Němec, member of the Board of the Czech Film Fund, describes the emergence of a bilateral treaty with Israel, its potential for Czech cinematography and especially animation. He admits the situation of Czech animation is not ideal, but everything that can be done is being done to improve the conditions and to grant the local authors once again the position they used to enjoy in the past. What stands in the way of establishing international cooperation? There is no universal answer to this question. A necessary precondition for cooperation is the existence of an international treaty, because each country has its special rules for entering co-productions. For example, the terms of the individual funds are connected to the country’s minimum shares in funding and budget, the priority being, naturally, the promotion of the country’s own production. The problem therefore occurs when the conditions are mutually exclusive making it impossible to meet the individual criteria. For example, you can’t make 60% of a film in one country and 70% in the other at the same time. Within the European Union we can co-produce on the basis of the Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production, which has been adopted to addresses these situations. […] ...
Animated Documentary – A Hundred Years Old and Still Alive
Last year, it was one hundred years since The Sinking of the Lusitania by Winsor McCay, considered by historians to be the first animated documentary. Since then, this hybrid and sometimes controversial genre has changed and evolved. Popular films include the recent Another Day of Life or Waltz with Bashir released some years ago. Czech animation is represented by Diana Cam Van Nguyen, whose short film Apart will compete at the prestigious Rotterdam festival. This year’s Anifilm, the International Festival of Animated Film will also focus on this unusual film format. In the last few years, animated documentaries (or anidoc as this format is sometimes called) have been growing in popularity among creators. They offer the director a wide range of options of self-expression. Movies are often based on actual events. The combination of animation and documentary allows for a metaphorical representation of things, situations, memories or traumatic experiences, while the unlimited possibilities of animation grant the authors artistic freedom. Cinema attendance points to another phenomenon. Animated documentaries bring adult viewers to the screen and break down the prejudices of animated film being only for children. Successful feature-length animated documentaries include a film about a Polish reporter in the Angolan […] ...
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 […] ...
