Eight shorts selected from the U.K., Spain, Italy, Canada and Australia to be considered for long-form series production on Nickelodeon.
Today at Cartoon Forum, Nickelodeon announced the eight international finalists for its 2014 Global Animated Shorts Program, the Network’s annual search designed to identify and develop new ideas and up-and-coming animation talent. This is the second year the Animated Shorts Program is being implemented internationally and the third time domestically.
Of the nearly 600 submissions, the successful eight -- spanning the U.K., Spain, Italy, Canada and Australia -- will be developed into animated shorts with the potential to air on Nickelodeon, in addition to Nickelodeon platforms including: Nick.com, the Emmy Award-winning Nick App, MyNickJr.com and on local Nickelodeon sites, before being considered for long-form development. These shorts follow in the footsteps of 2013 projects Monster Pack produced by Pedro Eboli and Graham Peterson (BIRDO / Brazil), and Moosebox created by Mike Scott (TRIGGERFISH / South Africa).
"We were delighted by the number of entries we received for the second year of the Global Animated Shorts Program,” said Nina Hahn, SVP International Production & Development, Nickelodeon. “Since launching it internationally in 2012, we have been able to enhance our international pipeline with great new content, furthering our global mission: to make kids laugh. We look forward to working closely with all of the creators who have delivered fantastically inspired ideas that perfectly capture the heart of the Nickelodeon brand."
The 2014 selections, which all have working titles, include the UK and Ireland’s Duckmanboy from animator Louis Hudson and writer/director Ian Ravenscroft of DICE Productions; Werebeast from Welsh animator James Lancett; Urchin from illustrator, animator and creator Hamish Steele (who also created 2013 finalist Nick Short Badly Drawn Animals); Somewhere Awesome from Eamonn O’Neill and animator Marah Curran; Woodchips from the Barcelona, Spain-based animator and artist Christian Villacañas; Crazy Block from Italy’s Iginio Straffi (Rainbow’s Winx Club); Jo Minkus from Toronto, Canada-based animator Ben Anders; and Feebs and Mr. Timmins from Australia’s Suren Perera (The Dukes of Bröxstônia).
The recent success of Nickelodeon’s latest animated hit Breadwinners -- which peaked as the number two show for kids aged 2-11 in the U.S. -- is testament to the success of the Nickelodeon Animated Shorts Program. Discovered as part of the 2012 Program, the fun-filled series -- created by Gary “Doodles” DiRaffaele and Steve Borst -- has recently been renewed for a second series, launching internationally this autumn.
Source: Nickelodeon
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.
