ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.6 - SEPTEMBER 2000

Indie Animated Features: Are They Possible?

by Amid Amidi

For years, theatrical animated features have primarily been in the domain of big studios. Producing a quality animated film requires a significant amount of talent, time and especially money; resources that smaller independent producers usually don't have. But times change, and there are currently more independent animated features being produced than ever before. Falling technology prices and a unique system of production have driven this growth, but the proliferation of these indie films doesn't belie the fact that they face an incredible uphill battle when it comes to finding an audience. Here, we'll examine just how these independent producers are able to challenge the big boys of theatrical animation, and more importantly, do they stand a chance?

Carnivale. Photo courtesy of TerraGlyph Productions.

The Name of the Game is Co-Production
The traditional means of producing an animated feature is that a major production studio such as Disney, DreamWorks, Fox or Warner Bros. will finance an entire picture, and then release it through their own powerful theatrical distribution channels. Such a film can cost anywhere from $40 to $100 million, and beyond. However, with neither the cash flow nor production facilities of these larger studios, more modestly sized operations have been locked out of the theatrical game, until now that is. During the past decade, the smaller studios have finally landed upon the ideal method of producing an animated feature: the international co-production model. Using this model, studios located all over the world combine their resources to create an economically budgeted film ranging anywhere from $5 to $20 million. Currently, the majority of these films are coming out of Europe because most governments abroad offer various funding schemes for filmmakers such as subsidies and tax refunds. Even so, producing a feature in such a manner requires a substantial amount of cash equity up front because of the rarity in finding a distributor who will pre-buy a film prior to production.

Duck Ugly. Photo courtesy of TerraGlyph Productions.

One particularly busy European studio is five-year-old TerraGlyph Productions, which has grown to become the largest animation studio in Ireland with over forty-five full-time employees, and another fifteen in their Madrid, Spain studio. They have completed two features recently, Carnivale and Help! I'm a Fish, and will finish their third feature, Duck Ugly, in 2001. "All of the feature productions have been co-productions with other European partners such as A-Film from Denmark, Munich Animation and EIV Film Production from Germany, and Millimages from France," says Gerry Shirren, executive producer of all three features. "Production in this manner is the only conceivable way in which these films could be financed and produced. This in not a disadvantage in that it allows a studio of our size to produce feature films on the scale of the major studios in the U.S. and avoids the necessity to create an unmanageable production facility."

Steve Walsh, director of A Monkey's Tale.

Steve Walsh, producer of another pan-European co-production, A Monkey's Tale,says that twenty-six different sources of finance were needed to produce the $10 million feature, ranging from broadcasters such as Sky TV in the UK and Canal+ in France to the NRW Film Fund in Germany and Eurimages, the Pan European funding agency. Walsh comments, "Without doubt the main problems with this kind of financing are: the obligation to do a certain quota of the work in each country, and the dilution of creative control. Set against those drawbacks is the fact that films do get made."

Ironically, the United States, the country where the most big studio animated features are produced is also the country where the least independent animated films are made. Due to the lack of government support and the higher wages that artists receive in the States, independent production is something of a rarity, with a notable exception being Tooniversal's recently completed Marco Polo: Return to Xanadu. Tooniversal co-produced the film with studios in Slovakia and China, after receiving a substantial financial investment from a film-funding entity called Druzba Film Associates. The studio is currently planning their next feature, Dinosaurs of the Wild West. . . When the West Was Really Wild!

Ron Merk, director of Tooniversal's Marco Polo.

The Film's Completed. . . Now What?
"Theatrical distribution is the greatest challenge a producer has to face," says Steve Walsh. This is a sentiment echoed unanimously by producers interviewed for this piece. While filmmakers have discovered a way to produce animated films, distribution is increasingly difficult as today's multiplex cinema chains are dominated by the big studios. Ron Merk, director of Marco Polo: Return to Xanadu, believes that the distribution problem is compounded as "media companies continue to vertically integrate, owning the means of production, distribution and exhibition." He recalls, "When I was first in the film business there were hundreds of distributors, independent theaters, TV stations and buyers. How the independents will survive having no place to sell or show their films is a major obstacle to overcome, and frankly, I'm not sure it's possible given the current state of things." Add to that the high costs associated with marketing and promoting a theatrical feature, and the fact that many distributors are more wary of buying animation than live-action, and it becomes a very tough situation.

 
1 | 2 | 3

Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.