The year 2007 will be remembered as the year Cartoon Movie made its first big push into new media and alternative distribution models. With cinema going digital, Cartoon Movie will increase funding opportunities for producers.

In 2007, Cartoon Movie made its first big push into new media and alternative distribution models. The European co-production forum for animated feature films is staged every March at the Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam, Germany. The idea is to bring producers of new movies together with potential distributors and investors.

The gathering, March 7-9, brought together a total of 494 participants this year -- of which 62 were distributors and 132 investors. But most significantly 15 were from the online, gaming and cell phone markets. According to CARTOON managing director Corinne Jenart this is just the start of a major expansion in opening up Cartoon Movie to digital media.

"With cinema going digital, European animation is strengthening its position in the marketplace and, with the arrival of new players with new platforms, Cartoon Movie will increase the funding opportunities for producers. These new players are in increasing need of content," she says.

This ninth edition of Cartoon Movie screened 10 completed films and presented 32 projects at various stages of development or production. The total budget of these movies represented a total of €286 million.

Since the event began in 1999, 108 of all projects presented have achieved full financing to the tune of €660 million. Of these, 83 films are complete with a budget of €502 million. This compares with the five years before Cartoon Movie began when a total of just 27 European animation feature films were made.

For the seventh consecutive year Cartoon Movie Tributes were awarded, with participants voting on this year's nominees. The award for best European animation director of the year went to Michael Hegner and Karsten Kiilerich of A Film, Denmark, for The Ugly Duckling and Me. Best European distributor of the year was Jørgen Kristiansen -- head of acquisitions at Scanbox, Denmark. European producers of the year were Alphanim, Europool, Nelvana and Studio Canal for Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure.

The award for best European animation director of the year at the Cartoon Movie Tributes went to Michael Hegner and Karsten Kiilerich for The Ugly Duckling and Me. © 2005 A Film, Magma, Futurikon, Ulysses.

This year, a score of students from some of the most important animation schools in Germany and the U.K. participated in the Cartoon Movie Coaching Program, taking place in parallel to the Cartoon Movie's three-day event. The program is an initiative by the European Assoc. of Animation Film to achieve a consistent integration of young talent into the financing market, giving students an opportunity to experience the industry first-hand.

Cartoon Movie kicked off in style with the world event premiere screening of Philippe Leclerc's tale of ancient Egypt, The Princess of the Sun -- a week before its official premiere of the French/Belgian/Hungarian production in front of the Egyptian Pyramids.

Nine further completed movies were screened -- Desmond and the Swamp Barbarian Trap (Sweden/Spain), Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure (France/Hungary/Germany/Luxemburg), Happily N'ever After (Germany/Ireland/Greece), Haemoglobin, A Vampire Of Seville (Spain), Lotte From Gadgetville (Estonia/Latvia), One Night In The City (Czech Republic/Spain), Snow White: The Sequel (Belgium/France/U.K./Poland), The Ugly Duckling And Me (Denmark/Ireland/France/Germany) and U (France).

Projects that caught attention in the concept section were headed up by the outrageous gore-fest of Zombie Western -- extreme puppet animation inspired by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. Presented by Perro Verde Films from Spain and Happy Flyfish from Denmark, it features blood, guts, exploding body parts and lots of zombies. Only for those with a strong stomach it looked like a sure-fire hit for the teen and young adult market.