Fifty animated feature projects in different development stages from 17 countries will be pitched at Cartoon Movie 2012 to find financing, co-producers and distributors.
Press release from Cartoon Movie:
Fifty animated feature projects in different development stages from 17 countries will be pitched at Cartoon Movie 2012 to find financing, co-producers and distributors. European animation has not only taken a definitive leap to 3D, which accounts for half of the projects, but also moved decisively towards stereoscopic 3D, with 40% of the projects conceived to be made in this technology, doubling last year's figure.
France -- which remains the region's powerhouse -- will be represented with 19 projects, followed by the Nordic Countries -- led by Denmark -- with 13, Belgium with four and Germany with two. This year's projects have a global budget of 291.2 million EUR with an average cost of 5.8 million EUR each film.
The trend of adult-skewed films in European animation is growing: 20% of the selected projects target an adult audience and tackle political or sensitive subjects ranging from the Angolan civil war and its child soldiers ("Another Day of Life"), World War I ("Cafard"), Nazism in the biopic of a boxing champion ("Young Perez"), child neglect ("It's a Zucchini's Life", "The Island of Lost Children"), Alzheimer's disease ("Wrinkles"), and the story of life on Earth ("Alpha").
Literature and comics remain a strong source of inspiration, with some of this year's projects based on adaptations and screenplays from writers such as Ryszard Kapuscinski, Jacques Prévert, Gilles Paris, Jean-François Beauchemin, Leena Krohn, Gunilla Bergström and Kjell Aukrust as well as on award-winning graphic novels by authors like Enki Bilal and Arthur de Pins - who will direct their films themselves -, Paco Roca and Jens Harder.
This year in Lyon, some well-known TV animated series will also make their leap to the big screen, including "The Triplets" from Spain, "Alfie Atkins" from Sweden and Belgium's "Pic Pic André Shoow". Cartoon Movie 2012 will also reveal projects that seek aesthetic and narrative innovation in animation.
About CARTOON MOVIE
The 14th edition of Cartoon Movie is organised with the support of the MEDIA Programme of the European Union, CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée), the Rhône-Alpes Region, Greater Lyon and in collaboration with the Cluster Imaginove (Lyon).
Since 1999, some 185 projects with a total budget of 1.3 billion EUR have obtained full financing thanks to this annual forum aimed at strengthening the production and distribution of animated feature films in Europe.
About CARTOON
CARTOON - European Association of Animation Film is an international non-profit association based in Brussels that organises Cartoon Movie, together with Cartoon Forum, a co-production forum for animated tv series, Cartoon Master training seminars and Cartoon Connection, a new programme intended to explore ways of reinforcing cooperation between EU and non EU animation professionals.
More information about Cartoon Movie 2012 and the selected projects at http://www.cartoon-media.eu/MOVIE/selected.php
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
