Animation Production Day (APD) will take place on 5 and 6 May as part of the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film and fmx/08. According to the organisers, more than 40 international producers, distributors, world sales companies and banks will participate. Nineteen feature films from Germany, France, Spain, the United States, Ireland, Denmark, Hungary, Israel and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a total financing volume of around €180 million, are to be negotiated.
The event was conceived and held for the first time in 2007. It is intended to create an exclusive international business platform where financing and distribution channels for individual animated feature-film projects can be negotiated efficiently and concretely. One-to-one meetings were developed for this purpose. The number and quality of projects submitted this year show that there is a genuine need for such a platform, the organisers conclude.
Nineteen selected animated-film projects with international potential will be presented in focused individual discussions at APD 2008. The more than 40 participants from Germany, France, Spain, the United States, Ireland, Denmark, Hungary, Israel and Bosnia and Herzegovina include German companies such as scopas medien, MotionWorks and MovieCompany, whose adaptation “The Sandman and the Lost Sand of Dreams” is due to enter production in 2008. Les Armateurs of France, one of Europe’s most successful producers with “Kirikou” and “The Triplets of Belleville” (Academy Award nomination in 2003), is represented by “Ernest & Celestine” from internationally successful author Daniel Pennac. Films Action is also returning, having completed financing for the €22 million “The Wizard of Oz” at APD07 in Stuttgart. Successful Danish studio A.Film (“Asterix and the Vikings”) and Irish company Magma, both also represented in Germany, will present their projects as well.
The European animation industry has experienced an unprecedented upswing over the past eight years. While a total of 127 animated feature films were produced between 1964 and 1998, 110 feature films were made between 1999 and 2007 alone. Production output rose by 150 percent, from five to more than twelve animated feature films per year. A prerequisite for success is that these films are based on a brand or manage to establish a brand themselves. This requires cooperation with strong partners to enable appropriate international production and marketing budgets. APD aims to address this development.
APD is hosted by the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film and fmx. It is organised by Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH and the Institute of Animation, Visual Effects and Digital Postproduction at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, in cooperation with Michael Schmetz Mediaconsult.
The full list of participants and further information can be found on the event website.
Further links:
- Animation Production Day
