The CEE Animation Industry is Uniting into a Single Market

29 November 2017

Czech Film

The CEE Animation Industry is Uniting into a Single Market

Czech Film

The CEE Animation Industry is Uniting into a Single Market

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This year the European Commission developed an Animation Plan, which aims to invigorate the animation industry in the entire EU. A new initiative titled the CEE Animation Workshop is striving to capture this potential by bringing together independent animated film producers from a total of eighteen countries and showing producers from the CEE region the latest international animation industry trends. The event will be held from 2 to 6 December, 2017 in Ljubljana.

The need for joint events and more intensive collaboration is the motto of the Visegrad Animation Forum, an international platform that has been connecting producers for the past several years. The primary aim of this initiative is to help grow the industry and lay the groundwork to enable development of successful co-productions which will be competitive internationally. CEE Animation could become a distinctive trademark as well as an excellent export commodity from the participating countries.

The idea to organize this one-off event, which would welcome producers from over half of the countries in Europe and set a firm foundation for future collaboration, was immediately accepted by Creative Europe Desk (CED) representatives. The Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme strengthens the European audiovisual market and tries to enhance the international competitiveness of the market as a whole. The head of the Czech CED Pavlína Kalandrová points out that collaboration between European countries is essential and adds: “The CEE Animation Workshop is intended to facilitate development of the necessary linkages within our market and encourage collaboration within our region, while also helping our market become an adequate partner for Western Europe – whether in the animated work production phase, through co-productions or subsequent distribution.”

The engagement of a total of nineteen national Creative Europe Desks – MEDIA offices (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Georgia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine) is a huge benefit.

The head of studies of the workshop is Linda Beath, who has provided film advisory services and trained film producers across Europe for many years. The lecturers, who will spend five days of intensive work with the participants, include five renowned film experts: Siun Ni Raghallaigh, Moe Honan, Mathias Noschis, Richard Rowe and Maciej Chmiel.

Twenty-six producers from a total of eighteen countries were selected to participate in the first edition of the workshop: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Georgia, Kosovo, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia and Ukraine. The main workshop topics will include international co-productions, financing, legal issues, marketing, sales, work with TV broadcasters and digital distribution.

Czech participants are Libor Nemeškal (Kouzelná Production Inc.) and Martin Vandas (MAUR film Ltd), and as guest experts  Anna Vášová and Michal Podhradský.

An important part of the Ljubljana workshop will be a panel discussion on co-production conditions in Central and Eastern Europe. The meeting will be attended by over thirty film professionals who will try to formulate a joint statement to cinematographic funds and representatives of TV broadcasters calling for greater support of the animation industry. This document, titled the Ljubljana Accord will include a description of the specific conditions for production of animated works in the CEE region and draft improvement strategies aimed at developing a competitive animated film industry – both nationally and internationally.

The CEE Animation Workshop will be held from 2 to 6 December, 2017 at the Animateka International Animated Film Festival taking place in Ljubljana from 4 to 10 December, 2017. 

The CEE Animation Workshop is being organized in co-operation with the Animateka International Animated Film Festival which will be held in Ljubljana from 4 to 10 December, 2017.

The organizers of the CEE Animation Workshop are:
Creative Europe – MEDIA Desks from 19 countries
Visegrad Animation Forum
Slovenian Animated Film Association
Motovila Institute
Animateka International Animated Film Festival

Czech Film Center
division of the Czech Film Fund promoting Czech cinema worldwide

Email: info@filmcenter.cz
 

 

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