THE BOOM OF EUROPEAN ANIMATION AT CARTOON MOVIE 2011

Creativity, diversity and quality fuel growth in European animation

New trend: animated films targeting young-adult and adult audiences

France ratifies its European hegemony

Cartoon Movie drew to a close in Lyon, France on 4 March, where a record number of 700 producers, distributors, buyers and investors from 35 countries came together to raise the necessary financing, set up co-productions and develop international sales of animated feature films. With a 15% attendance increase since last year, and a 40% increase in 3 years, this co-production forum has become the essential event for animation professionals.

Despite the economic turmoil and advent of new technologies, the European animated film sector has strengthened its reputation and reached a new stage of growth. The evolution of the industry over the past few years could be seen in the 56 projects pitched during these two intense days. Films targeting young-adult and adult audiences stood out at this annual meeting, representing 30% of the projects and dealing with topics such as Alzheimer, adoption, war on one hand, and art, sci-fi and black comedy on the other hand. The films also revealed a great variety of genres, graphic styles and techniques (2D, stereoscopic 2D, 3D…).

The most popular films this year were "1884: Yesterday’s Future" (with Terry Gilliam on board as consulting producer), Patrice Leconte’s animation debut "The Suicide Shop" and Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli’s new project, "Phantom Boy". Other films also received an excellent reception, including "Ronal The Barbarian" from Denmark; "Ana" from Spain; "Majorettes!" from Belgium; and "Mutafukaz", "The Strange Case of Dad’s Missing Head", and "The Picture".

The sector was quick to adapt to the economic situation by developing projects with medium-range budgets (an average of 5 to 7 million euros each), the bulk of which can be grossed in native countries. In terms of technology, stereoscopic 3D productions continue to gain ground (20% of the projects pitched), underscoring European producers’ attempts to adapt to audience demands.

FRANCE REMAINS IN THE DRIVING SEAT

France is still the indisputable leader of animated films in Europe. Not only did it pitch the most projects (42%), it also won each category of the Cartoon Tributes, the animation awards voted by sector professionals. France’s Pierre Coffin ("Despicable Me") won Director of the Year while STUDIOCANAL won Distributor of the Year and France 3 Cinéma Producer of the Year.

The strength of French animation received an added boost when Eric Garandeau, President of the CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée) announced increased support for stereoscopic 3D film productions in his inaugural speech.

The creative directing duo Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli received the Rhônes Alpes’ Personality of the Year award for the film "A Cat in Paris". This was the first time that the Rhône-Alpes Region gave this recognition created to highlight the local animation talents.

Organised by CARTOON – European Association of Animation Film since 1999, this was the third consecutive year that the event was held in Lyon 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).

CARTOON MOVIE IN NUMBERS

700 participants from 35 countries – up 15% from 2010 – of which 210 were buyers (distributors, investors and exhibitors)

56 projects pitched in different production stages: in concept, development, production or completed.

28 projects targeted to family, 16 to young adults and adults, 12 to children

France tops participation (24 projects) followed by Denmark and Spain with five each.

Total budget of the projects: 390 million euros (average per film: 7 million).

12 projects of the total produced in stereoscopic 3D.

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.

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