One of the few people to have attended all 14 editions of Cartoon Forum [1] so far, Bob Swain was in Varese, Italy, in September 2003 to check out the European projects most likely to make it through the co-production system and into full production.
Organized under the umbrella of the European Media program and moving on from country to country each year, the event was originally set up to encourage a stronger European animation sector, increase the number of co-production partnerships and encourage a faster investment cycle. And it has proven to be a big success — with some 30 to 40% of projects pitched since 1990 having been produced.
It’s not a market as such, as the gathering is open only to producers whose projects have been selected for presentation and to invited investors. These buyers attend a series of 40-minute pitches — 81 of them this year, over a three-day period in four meeting rooms, seeking a total investment of €280M.
Overall, standards were high — although there is still a surprising number of poor projects that make it so far. Sadly, these are mostly from less economically developed countries. Although the dream is of a powerful Europe-wide industry, the truth is that this is a business still dominated by a few major countries. The U.K. and France are the two most powerful — with the U.K. consistently winning out on creativity.
In terms of attendance, this year’s most popular project was Village People from The Illuminated Film Company. Essentially a British sitcom meets The Simpsons, it has been carefully designed to appeal to a family audience. Producer Iain Harvey is looking to make an initial series of 26 half hours with a budget of €213,000 per half hour.
Close behind in terms of numbers in the room — but also one of the most talked about projects of the Forum — was Skunk, from Irish animation house Cartoon Saloon [3]. Based on a beautiful Oriental design, it tells the story of a short-sighted skunk Kung Fu fighter. Cartoon Saloon may not be that well-known yet but the project works well — and it managed to beat many of the bigger names to the draw. Aimedat kids 6-12, producer Paul Young plans a series of 26 episodes of 13-minutes.
But the most universally praised project of the entire Forum was Tiger Aspect’s Charlie and Lola, a charming 26x10 preschool series. In a crowded market, this is the one pre-school series most likely to succeed. Based on a popular series of books by Lauren Child and with Kitty Taylor slated to direct, it successfully enters the fantastic world of young children whilst also hitting all the right buttons for parents. Unusually, many of the broadcasters in the room were prepared to go public in their expressions of interest. The proposed budget is €3.3M.
Aardman Animations was continuing in its bid for world animation domination with its first move into children’s television series since the classic Morph. The 52x13 3D computer animation Chop Socky Chooks is based on a gang of Kung Fu chickens (animators are obviously set to follow in Quentin Tarantino’s footsteps with martial arts looking like being one of the year’s big trends). Development has been undertaken in collaboration with Cartoon Network. As Aardman’s first ever CGI series, producer Miles Bullough and director Sergio Delfino explained the plan is to handle all design and pre-production work in the U.K., with volume animation being outsourced to other studios around the world. The budget is €380,000 per half hour.
London CGI house Skaramoosh was also presenting plans for a 3D series — Swashbucklers. The 26x11 series is based on a series of 18 popular comic pirate books by Marc Richards. The budget is €270,000 per half hour.
Icelandic CGI company CAOZ presented plans for a half-hour special featuring an impressive array of voice talent, including Monty Python’s Terry Jones and singers Björk and Damon Albarn of Blur. Anna And The Moods is based on a story and music commissioned by the British Arts Council and featuring a collaboration between the Brodsky Quartet, Icelandic poet Sjón and composer Julin Nott (who was responsible for the music of Aardman’s Wallace and Gromit films as well as many successful movies).
Of the other CGI projects on show, the most interesting was Fairy Mary from Two Sides TV and created at London animation facility The Hive by director Nathan Laud. The pre-school format presents the world of two young fairies and a pixie, all homemade and living on a shelf in a child’s bedroom. In the style of Toy Story, they only come to life and get into scrapes once they have been left on their own. Producer Catherine Robins is looking for a budget of €2.5 million to make the 26x5 series.
A new name with a hot project was Peter Dodd of Mummysboy Productions. A veteran of the commercial sector and of series work with both Cosgrove Hall and Egmont Imagination, Dodd has developed his own stop-frame series DreamMakers. Aimed at a 6-9 audience, it’s about the antics of bedbugs, tooth fairies and jumping sheep in a tin pot studio, trying to film dreams and beam them into the heads of young children. Former Cosgrove Hall managing director Iain Pelling is on board as exec producer. The budget is €10-11,000 per minute for a 26x13 series.
Another stop-frame project was The Christmas Bunny, a 50-minute special from Living Doll in Cardiff. Producer Jackie Edwards and director Tracy Spottiswoode have created a beautiful story about Truffly the Easter Bunny, who gets mixed up with the Christmas decorations and is determined to make it to the top of the tree. Welsh broadcaster S4C has already put up €400,000 of the €1.7 million budget.
TV-Loonland’s offering this time came in the shape of the highly original Sam Hamwich, Superhero Sandwich. The 52x11 series will tell the story of a flying ham sandwich and his sidekick Chip Sideorder as they take on the likes of evil Dr Broccoli and Gina Fettucine!
Angelo was jointly presented by Karsten Kiilerich of Denmark’s A Film, Ralph Christians from Magma Films in Ireland and Matthias Walter of NDF in Germany — all successful animation producers in their own right as well as having strong co-production track records. The show tells the story of a 12-year-old nerd and his wild and fun-loving guardian angel. The 26x22 series has a budget of €6M and is aimed at a 8-12 audience.
One of the most exciting bits of news at the Forum was the return of Pesky’s The Amazing ADRENALINI! Brothers. Already stars of a series of two-and-a-half minute shorts on CBBC, Nickelodeon and channels around the world, the most fearless stunt performers of all time are preparing to team up once again for 26 expanded 11-minute shows. David Hodgson and the Pesky team even set up a live satellite link with Xan, Adi and Enk in an effort to raise the €200-230,000 per half-hour needed to make the series.
Cartoon Forum regulars Siriol Prods. were on hand with Holly’s Helpline, a 26x11 stop-frame preschool series about an agony aunt for the animal kingdom. A quarter of the €2.8 million budget has already been secured from Welsh broadcaster S4C.
Elephant Prods. presented a recreation of a classic British animation series from the 1980s. Willo The Wisp, is set to be directed by Bobbie Spargo, daughter of original creator Nick Spargo. Plans are for an initial series of 13 five-minute episodes.
The Trials of an Orange Aardvark was a charming concept created by Iranian writer Behzad Farahat and presented by Morgan Francis of British studio Spider Eye. Pitched as a 26x5 series at €4,275 a minute, broadcasters in the room said it’s future was more likely to be as a shorter package of amusing interstitials.
The number of adult-themed shows presented at Cartoon Forum has significantly fallen over the past few years as it becomes clear that this is a particularly difficult part of the market. While there are a few adult slots available, the chances of pulling them together as a European co-production are slim. One of the few aiming to buck the odds this year was Atomic Arts with the extremely adult Animal Pharm. A CGI sitcom, it tells the story of a group of animals in a psychiatric hospital which has secretly become a pharmaceutical testing centre! Producer Sean O’Kelly is hoping to raise €2.2 million in order to make 13 half hours.
So, another Cartoon Forum complete — some projects set to become future classics and others unlikely to reach production. But the concept of European co-production continues to make the most of available talent and markets. Wise producers will already be marking their diaries for Cartoon Forum Number 15 — September 22-26, 2004 in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Writer, adventurer and all-round party animal, Bob Swain has danced his way through the animation scene for the best part of 20 years. Script writing and script editing make up his current staple diet.
Additional reporting and photography was done by Ron Diamond, the co-founder and co-publisher of Animation World Network. He also serves as exec producer/ founder of Los Angeles-based Acme Filmworks, an animation commercial production company.
Links:
[1] http://mag.awn.com/index.php?article_no=1585
[2] http://www.awn.com/imagepicker/image/6425
[3] http://mag.awn.com/index.php?article_no=1817
[4] http://www.awn.com/imagepicker/image/6426
[5] http://www.awn.com/imagepicker/image/6427
[6] http://www.awn.com/imagepicker/image/6428
[7] http://www.awn.com/imagepicker/image/6429
[8] http://www.awn.com/imagepicker/image/6430
