With a 20% larger exhibition space, 16% more visitors (2,300 accredited delegates and 450 registered companies compared to 350 in 2009) and over 200 buyers, the 2010 edition of the International Animation Film Market is showing some very positive figures, which confirm those of the sector in general despite the still difficult economic situation.
Press Release from Mifa
With a 20% larger exhibition space, 16% more visitors (2,300 accredited delegates and 450 registered companies compared to 350 in 2009) and over 200 buyers, the 2010 edition of the International Animation Film Market is showing some very positive figures, which confirm those of the sector in general despite the still difficult economic situation.
"The animation sector is entering a new cycle of production. For the first time since 2006, production figures are up 35.5 %, with French funding also rising by 45.9%. The public has been following the trend in the cinemas too as audience figures for animation films were higher last year than they have been for the past ten years, with a 66 % rise of 28.53 million tickets sold.
The nine French films in this list themselves sold 5.12 million of these tickets, which represents a third of the sales of French audiovisual programmes abroad " (CNC report 2009).
From Wednesday 9th to Friday 11th June, the Mifa had a full programme of events to mark the occasion.
Julien Borde, Head of Children and Youth programming at France Télévisions, announced future programmes and projects in development for the group including the features Ernest et Célestine, Zarafa, Black to the Moon, Titeuf, Un monstre à Paris, The Rabbi's Cat, A Cat in Paris...
Canal J revealed its prizewinners for the Espoirs de l'animation competition with la Poudrière school taking the honours with two of its students winning both the jury prize, (À moi by Hefang Wei) and the public prize (C'est pas juste by Guillaume Lorrain).
TF1 Jeunesse presented the new theme for its European competition, TFou d'animation, which will be centred on “diversity” for 2010.
M6 announced its new series, Tara Duncan, adapted from the widely acclaimed book of the same name, set to be shown in September.
And finally, CANAL+ talked about its series Dragons and Princesses (winner in the Annecy 2010 TV category), due on screens in the autumn, at a breakfast conference with the series director Michel Ocelot.
HP held a press conference about The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart with directors Stéphane Berla and Mathias Malzieu.
Variety also organised an original meeting, moderated by Annecy TV jury member and Variety US journalist Peter Debruge, who presented Up Next Animation Talents, consisting of interviews with a number of young talents spotted by this acclaimed magazine.
The digital video library has now become an unmissable space for delegates to screen productions at will.
Some of the most seen works:
TV series
Dragons and Princesses "le garcon qui ne mentait jamais"NORD-OUEST FILMS , STUDIO O,CANAL+ SA – France
Comme a la maison "24 heures 4 chrono"NORMAAL ANIMATION – France
Log Jam "the Log", "the Rain", "the Moon", "The Snake"STUDIO BAESTARTS, LTD – Hungary
Ninon Miss questionsCIEL DE PARIS PRODUCTIONS – France
Mouss & Boubidi "Wild Mouse Chase"GAUMONT-ALPHANIM, OASIS ANIMATION INC., FRANCE 3 – France, Canada
Short films
Jean-FrançoisCUBE CREATIVE PRODUCTIONS – France
Don't Go !ANIMA STUDIOS ISTANBUL -Turkey
J'ai encore reve d'elleMIKROS IMAGE -France
The cow who wanted to be a hamburgerPLYMPTOONS STUDIO - USA
ChickPLATIGE IMAGE SP. 20.0 – Poland
There were celebrations with the Creators party, sponsored by Autodesk and the opening party, sponsored by France Télévisions, in partnership with Ankama, Blue Spirit Studio, Ellipsanime, Futurikon, Gaumont Alphanim, Magelis, Marathon Media, Method animation, Moonscoop, Normaal, TV France International and Xilam.
Other events of note were the much appreciated Work in Progress presentations, including a 2D stereoscopic trailer preview relayed from the ToonAlliance stand at the Mifa of Patrice Leconte's The Suicide Shop, the South African film Jock of the Bushveld or the crew from the Annecy 2007 short film Cristal winners and Oscar 2008, Peter and the Wolf, here to present The Flying Machine, a film that celebrates the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth.
The conferences broke all attendance records this year and met their goal of transmitting professional experience, reflecting on strategic issues and also linking professionals from diverse backgrounds with present and future interests in common. A detailed summary of these conferences will be online on www.annecy.org from the middle of July.
The Europa Distribution meeting was equally able to look into the question of distributing European stereoscopic features throughout Europe.
Check out the 2010 Call for Projects for short films.http://www.annecy.org/annecy-2010/creative-focus/call-for-projects
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
