The Secret of Kells won at Cartoon Tribute (producer and director) and is one of the success stories of Cartoon Movie. © Cartoon Saloon, Les Armateurs and Vivi Film.

Cartoon Movie moved to a new venue and a new country this year, logging a record attendance and putting a new priority on links with the videogame industry. After 10 years in the historic home of German film at the Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam, the event switched this year to France's second city, Lyon.

While Babelsberg was best known for production of cinema classics such as Metropolis and The Blue Angel, Lyon also has a place in the history of cinema as the city where the Lumiere Brothers invented the cinematograph. In more recent years, however, its media of choice has centered on videogame production.

Cartoon Movie was set up to ease the production of European animation feature films by encouraging co-production between European countries and accelerating the financing and distribution process. Films are presented to an audience of investors, distributors and producers at various stages of development. This year a total of 51 projects were on show with a total budget of €370 million -- seven completed movies, 10 in production, 16 in development and 18 in concept.

The Great Bear, from Danish studio Copenhagen Bombay, is low-budget at just €1.5 million. © Copenhagen Bombay.

Of the projects presented during the first 10 years of Cartoon Movie, 99 have already had a theatrical release and 24 more are currently in production -- sharing a total budget of €800 million. This compares with the previous decade when only 52 European animation feature films were produced.

"Last year there were 500 people at Cartoon Movie. This year there are over 600 -- so that's a great success," says Cartoon General Director Marc Vandeweyer. "The main success of Cartoon Movie is the construction of a genuine European distribution system for animation movies. There are now over 25 million admissions a year for animation movies -- and more to come," he continues.

"The Rhone-Alpes region of France is a real center of animation with studios, film schools and the Annecy animation festival. It is also a major center of computer games -- and that is an important theme this year with many games companies attending Cartoon Movie.

Follow the adventures of a puppetmaster-less group of puppets who try to fulfill their former owner's dream in Overtime. © Acme Filmworks.

"We strongly believe that the animation industry and the games industry can both benefit from a win-win synergy. Cartoon Movie offers all delegates a chance to be involved at an early stage in the development of a project. This dynamic gives a lot more potential for collaboration," he concludes.

It's a sentiment that was mirrored by many of the game developers present at the show.

"We are a developer mainly for consoles like Nintendo DS and Wii and have previously worked with movies such as Asterix -- so we understand the problems when you get the assets too late," says Laurent Benadiba of Lyon's Smack Down Productions. "We think there can be a lot of benefit if you start working with the production company earlier so that you become an extension of the IP."

Interestingly enough, many of the game companies present came from an animation background -- so there was already a great deal of synergy.