Annick Teninge journeyed to televisions festival in Positano, Italy, only to find that they were talking about (what else?) but the Internet.
The 4th Cartoons On The Bay International Festival of Television Animation was held in beautiful Positano on the picturesque southern Italian coast of Amalfi from April 1418, 2000. The festival is a five-day international event with awards, conferences and events centering on the ever-changing world of television animation. Pulcinella Awards were presented to highlight top achievements in TV animation. This year's jury was comprised of: John Coates (TV Cartoons, United Kingdom), President; Annika Cederborg (SVT, Sweden); Nelson Shin (Akom Productions, Korea); and Guido Silvestri Silver (cartoonist, Italy), the creator of the legendary Italian character, Lupo Alberto (Albert the Wolf). Richard Goleszowski's Robbie The Reindeer in Hooves Of Fire, produced by BBC Bristol, was the great winner with three Pulcinella Awards: Best Character, Best Program and Best TV Movie. The complete list of winners is available in AWN's Headline News.
At the awards press conference, an Italian journalist noted that there were almost no Italian shows awarded and questioned whether this was indicative of the state of Italian production. Festival director Alfio Bastiancich. pointed out that the production of animation for television is fairly recent in Italy and the festival organizers are expecting more Italian projects to be submitted for next year's edition. It is worth noting, however, that the European premiere of Monster Mash, Guido Manuli's new 60-minute film, was a huge success this year. Cartoons on the Bay was created in 1996 by RAI, the state television network of Italy, as a way of promoting domestic animation production. The network also hopes to challenge other European television networks' commitment to animation. The European Community recently implemented quotas on television, requiring TV channels to air more European productions. In addition to that, an agreement is currently being signed between the Italian government and public television to broadcast more Italian or other European programs (fiction, TV films and animation). As a result, RAI's annual investment in animation is expected to increase by between 16 and 30 billion Italian lire (US$8-15 million).
Positano Bay and, on the beach, the Cartoon Village. © AWN. The Cartoon Village. © AWN.
(Left to right) Jury member Guido Silvestri Silver, Jury president John Coates, Alexander Andreas and TV Buyer Mika Kuroiwa. © AWN. (Left to right) Producer Detelina Kreck, Jury member Nelson Shin, journalist Marie Beardmore and Jury memberAnnika Cederborg. © AWN.
New Models With New Media
With the linking of television and the Internet, the television industry has entered a new arena. This was the central issue of many discussions at Cartoons on the Bay, as it was the previous week in Cannes at MIP TV. During the "Cartoons and Licensing" conference, the "Pokemon model" was discussed. Pokemon merchandise, like video games and trading cards, were distributed before the movie was ever released, enabling the Pokemon producers to market to its already-fanatical interactive community. For instance, Pokemon has 142 Web sites listed, created on the most part by fans and collectors. Giants like Disney and Warner Bros. are looking into on-line properties (the Bug's Bunny interactive game was the number one selling item in Italy the week before), but for them the big money still comes from the sale of toys and games. As Alberto Crippa of Disney Consumer Products stated in Milan, one can't always follow Pokemon's model. Disney is releasing two new features every year plus two videos. There is always a slate of merchandise being produced for 4 or 5 properties; there isnt any room for more within the marketing plan. Merchandising is still dependent on the success of the movie. For instance, Toy Story 2 unexpectedly brought in huge amounts of merchandise money, even more than Pokemon. Toy Story was perceived as a technology film, with little merchandising value, but the consumer saw it as a great, classic Disney story.
While its effects may not yet be very palpable in the licensing arena, the Internet is revolutionizing the production world. At the festival conference "Convergence: A Very Animated Web," panelists presented a wide range of concepts, in terms of content, interactivity and business models.
Broadcaster Cartoon Network, which already has Web sites in the U.S., Latin America, Japan, the UK and the Netherlands, announced the launch of a Web site for Cartoon Network Italy. The company plans 8 fully languaged and localized sites in Europe this year. Each will take elements from the main Cartoon Network site, but will adapt to fit local tastes, needs and demands, just as they do with the TV channels. Cartoon Network uses the Internet to promote its television shows. For instance, they did cross-promotions with the Powerpuff Girls on television, giving the viewer a secret code to get to the next level of a Web game. Many more such offerings are planned, and they are also developing a wide-range of interactive TV and enhanced TV features fed by a digital set-top box. Cartoon Network has also had discussions to feature new episodes of existing TV shows, such as Cow and Chicken, exclusively on the Web. All of these practices are typical of television networks converging on the Web. But Andy Bird, President of Entertainment Networks in Europe, stressed an interesting approach to interactivity: the creation of "Animate Your Mates," a competition in which the top prize was a cartoon made up of the best idea. Cartoon Network asked its viewers to come up with ideas and a drawing for a cartoon. It was swamped with entries from all over the country. Cartoon Network turned the story of a nine-year-old boy into a five-minute cartoon, using Macromedia's Flash.
Watch and see what Courage has gotten himself into now! © Cartoon Network. Follow Mike, Lu and Og on the adventurous island. © Cartoon Network.
Launched less than a year ago, Shockwave, Macromedias spin-off entertainment destination, is a major player in Web animation. As a unique destination for animations, games and music, Shockwave represents a true convergence between different art forms -- cast to a wide audience. The idea of creating an entertainment site evolved gradually as Macromedia started seeing the incredible traffic associated with Shockwave and Flash. They tried putting clips like South Park onto the site and found there were tens of millions of people that came to view them. Shockwave has amassed a diverse compilation of cartoon classics and developed partnerships with media companies, entertainment leaders and interactive developers such as Comedy Central and Fox Interactive. Shockwave features existing animated properties, as well as original animated concepts to be created for and debuted exclusively on the Shockwave site. Last December, they signed Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park, to develop a series of 39 animated shorts. Recent celebrity deals include renowned directors Tim Burton and David Lynch. Eric Oldrin, Shockwave's Senior Producer for Series & Show Content, said: "Shockwave.com provides talent, technology and distribution. The artists share in the success of our shows significantly more than traditional media, so if they create a hit, everyone wins." Joe Shields (Joe Cartoon) who, not too long ago, was designing T-shirts for a living, readily credits Macromedia technology for dramatically shifting his artistic direction and "making it possible to create characters that can come to life."
Watch a movie! Stainboy is the newest tale from Tim Burton and its on. © Shockwave. Radiskull and Devil Doll have a cult following from their shocking rap song. © Shockwave.
Interactivity was well demonstrated with Banja, an on-line game in which a pirate boat runs aground on a mysterious island. Banja offers customized development. For example, players can develop their own Banja world, knowledge of the island and behavior toward other characters in the game. The level of team work players get from each other directly influences their opportunities to gain access to new features. While playing, participants also have the opportunity to access chat rooms, write and send e-mail by giving the messages to the paperboy. One can also leave notes destined for friends, or help edit the island newspaper. Banja is available in French, English, German, Spanish and Italian. More versions are to come. Developed like a TV series, with a new episode each month, it is free for the Net surfer and licenses are being sold to on-line broadcasters (licenses are sold by language, not by territory). Version 2.0 will be released in June of this year. Young creator Sebastien Kochman is now the COO of a 24-employee company.
Introducing the Banja crew! © Banja.com. Big adventure awaits gamers on the high seas of Banja. © Banja.com.
Bechamel.com is another example of interactivity. Prolific and irreverent, the site includes animated series, fiction stories, games, riddles, music (original scores) and more! Bechamel plays with words, images and sounds -- mix all of these ingredients and it gels perfectly. Bechamel.com was launched last November by French duo Guillaume Joire and Sophie Estival, together with four other artists, as a communication tool for a team of freelance artists. It received the Media Internet prize at Imagina 2000. As for their business model, the creators have no intention of becoming Webcasters. They might be developing content for on-line broadcasters, but Bechamel.com, their gem, will remain totally independent and non-commercial. The site is in French only, but some of its features are universal. Casse-Tête, a free adaptation of the Hangman game, is such an example.
Casse Tête was directed by Sofi and illustrated by Rocco. © Bechamel.com. Marcelle was directed by Le Joire and illustrated by Phong. © Bechamel.com.
We are certainly going to see a huge breakout of entertainment on the Internet in the near future. Competition for eyeballs will be fierce and not everybody will remain. Hopefully, original initiatives will survive in this brave new world, like a breath of fresh air.
Annick Teninge is the General Manager of Animation World Network. A French native, Annick began her animation career as Assistant Director at the Annecy International Animation Festival, a post she held for six years.
