Obeying the Rules
Those in the know recognize that Italy possesses a series of emerging cartoon studios who pull their weight in top-level television co-productions with countries across the European market. They may even understand that there is a startling amount of artistic talent and business savvy emerging from Turin, Rome, Pisa, Florence and Milan. What few seem to realize is that the market is maturing thanks to the very dynamic of co-production. A new crop of co-productions speaks not just to the volume of this market, but how the skills honed in co-productions have changed and matured the Italian market and created a new variety of partners and types of productions.

The growing animation market in Italy is maturing thanks to co-production, which has created a new variety of partners and types of productions. Courtesy of iStock.

Rule 1: Stare reality in the face.
"Co-production is a necessity. The costs are high, and one country cannot absorb them all," veteran producer Giovanna Milano asserts bluntly, assessing the European market.

Rule 2: Drop your stereotypes by the door.
When one speaks of Italian cartoon co-productions, impish wags from the left side of the ditch are prone to giggle over the image of perhaps a Joe Pesci cartoon goombah making an offer you can't refuse. The fact that most Americans retain a view of Italy which is part Dean Martin (who couldn't even sing in Italian without an American accent) and part Godfather trilogy does not help matters. For those who still retain these images, here's a piece of advice: get a passport.

"It's better to junk your stereotypes from the start. If you are doing co-productions you have to be open-minded," shrugs Milano, who produces the Italian-French TV series Rahan, now completing preproduction. An Italian working in France, Milano has been head of distribution at Tele Images and CEO of France Animation. She is an example of the breed of co-producer comfortable in multiple countries and production situations, and intimately familiar with the needs of broadcasters in both countries with which she is associated.

Based on a French comic strip, Rahan recounts the adventures of a virtuous boy growing up in a prehistoric period of tension between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. She brought the Xilam project to Italy and RAI as a no-brainer, especially with Pascal Morelli (Corto Maltese) on board to direct. "Giovanna Milano brought up a whole generation of graphic and technical talent when she was head of France Animation," says Anita Romanelli, project manager for RAI Fiction. She has recently founded Turin-based Castelrosso Films as her pied-a-terre in Italy.

The Italian-French TV series Rahan, now in pre-production, is based on a French comic strip about a virtuous boy growing up in a prehistoric period of tension between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. © Xilam Animation/Castelrosso Films.

Rule 3: Find out what the broadcasters are looking for.
"The market has made giant steps," enthuses Luca Milano, head of marketing and animation at RAI Fiction. "The level of artistic talent is now impressive." As to the stereotype that Italian companies have "artistic delays," Milano rolls his eyes. "Ninety-five percent of our projects arrive on time or, if late, the delay is minimal. Sometimes delivery occurs even before the due date."

The Italian cartoon market has been nurtured principally by the decision by RAI to begin investing in animation in the 1990s. "We contribute around an average of 35 percent of the budget for new productions, leaving the producer to find other investors," explains Milano. This offers a strong incentive for companies from other countries to bring their projects to Italy, as well as for others to pay attention to Italian proposals.

Ah, but here's the rub: RAI will often ask for Italian artistic participation, including a co-director to go with the Italian co-producer, even for their minority stake. While this often rankles, most figure it is worth the price. "Because of the long relationship with Italian studios, sharing copyright and profits is worth it," shrugs Ellipsanime producer Robert Rea.

Rule 4: Take it to the market.
The standard path to success has been to bring a project to RAI, get their blessing, and take it on to Cartoon Forum, MIPCOM and other venues, where one tries to catch the eye of a broadcaster or production partner in another country. Along the way, Italian companies began to learn about how other countries did business.

"The first time I took a project to Cartoon Forum, I pitched to an empty room," laughs director Giuseppe Laganà, whose Everybody Loves a Moose! project with British Cosgrove Hall is now finishing its pilot phase. "The next year I took two projects. Nothing. Finally the third year I had learned: I took Lupo Alberto and we had a series." Lesson: For European co-productions, it helps to have a popular product already in print.