Thirty-four animation projects from 10 countries -- including 14 series and 14 feature films -- are selected to participate in this year's Animation Production Day.
Stuttgart, Germany --Thirty-four animation projects from 10 countries with a total production value of around 100 million Euros have been selected to participate in this year's Animation Production Day (APD), including 14 series and 14 feature films. The APD, an event hosted by FMX 2014, Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Transmedia, and the Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film 2014, is taking place on April 24 and 25 in Stuttgart's Haus der Wirtschaft and for the first time in the premises of L-Bank Stuttgart.
As business platform for the international animation industry the APD gives international production companies the opportunity to present projects in the fields of animation and digital content, in exclusive 30-minute one-to-one meetings, to potential co-producers, publishers, sales agents, broadcasters, banks and investors. Out of the total 34 projects, 19 are from Germany and the other 15 from Denmark, Poland, Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden and England. While in the past almost exclusively children's projects were submitted to the APD, projects targeting youth and adults are increasingly represented in this year. The event aims to bring together the right partners for each project to find new ways of financing, product strategies and recovery options.
Next to cinema and TV-productions, the APD experiences an increasing overlap with related industries in the past few years. In 2014 there are 14 projects with a cross-or trans-media approach represented.
The program will be complemented by the APD Conference “Changing Markets: Who Wants What?” Media consumption and market conditions are rapidly changing and the demand for content has perhaps never been greater than today. But who finances which type of content? What does the audience actually want? Which media platforms are becoming particularly important for animation?
In the opening section of the APD conference, high-profile keynote speakers will share their vision for the future of the animation industry. Expected to attend is, among others, Peter Dinges, CEO of the German Federal Film Board FFA. In the second section, representatives from the BBC, Disney, Dreamworks, France Télévisions, KiKA, Nickelodeon, Super RTL, WDR and ZDF will outline their programming needs and their ideas about how to keep up with increasing expectations in today's audiences.
The ceremonial launch of the industry get-together is provided by the presentation of the German Screenplay Award and the Award for the Best Animated Series for Children of competition, Tricks for Kids. Both events take place together within the framework of a glamorous gala, held in the Weißer Saal of Neues Schloss in Stuttgart on April 23, 2014.
Source: ITFS
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.
