Inaugural Get Animated ‘Business of Animation’ Conference Brings Licensing & Animation Industries Together
Get Animated ‘Business of Animation’ Conference 2023
This October, a new event was launched which is set to fill a much needed gap in knowledge and experience for the animation industry. Despite the occasional panel discussion at other various UK events and marketplaces in the past, there has not been a dedicated event before that marries Licensing and Animation, which is where Get Animated ‘Business of Animation’ Conference steps in.
Founded by Ryan Beaird – an ex Licensing International UK Office representative with more than 10 years in running associations, events and membership – the inaugural conference took place on 2nd October at London’s Wellcome Collection Museum; welcoming a plethora of animation and licencing speakers.
Following on with the ‘GET’ theme of the title, I liked how the day was structured into five sessions of 45-minutes, covering the topics:
- Get Producing – The Studios Point of View
- Get Commissioning – The TV Networks Point of View
- Get Marketing – The Brand Partnership Agents Point of View
- Get Spending & Distributing – The Money Point of View
- Get Selling – The Retailer & Toy Companies Point of View
If you go to enough talks and conferences, you will recognise a few familiar threads that run through them all: that there has been a downturn in commissioning and a slowdown in funding (especially since Brexit), that is it rare for broadcasters to take a gamble on new IP at the moment, and that studios need to be more entrepreneurial than before in order to succeed. These themes were again discussed, but with many new gems of wisdom about how the licensing world and retail industry works. I say ‘new’ as this was the first time I have attended an animation event that answered questions such as how long does a toy line take to develop, what is involved in creating a style guide, and the importance of buying your IP’s music outright.
Positive take-aways from the conference
If you hadn’t heard the news in recent months, Animation UK’s Kate O’Connor was on hand to update the room of the increase to the tax relief that UK animation productions will be able to tap into. Despite the headline figure of 39%, the actual amount will be more like 29.25% – however, this is still up from the previous 25% figure.
Sarah Muller also briefly reported on last month’s Cartoon Forum event, where UK creators were given a platform to pitch for the first time since Brexit came into effect. Although this was (for now) a one-off happening, it was well received by European colleagues and Sarah is hopeful that the future could bring closer ties with our EU animation neighbours and a possible reintroduction into the CARTOON family.
Overall, there was a focus on the term ‘partnership‘. It was stressed many times that UK studios and IP creators should work on establishing partnerships; both in terms of co-production, but also regarding bringing the right people on board to grow your brand. “You can only go so far on your own.”
Zia Sands, Sarah Muller, David Levine, Chris Rose – Speakers from the Get Commissioning: The TV Networks Point of View panel
The audience was made up of a wide selection of people from both animation and licensing: studio owners and animators met licencing agents and distributors; IP creators and broadcasters shared a coffee with legal advisors and toy manufacturers. Within the venue, networking was relaxed and intimate (with lunch provided), while at the end of the day it spilled over into a nearby pub, where Ryan reflected on the day:
The first Get Animated conference and I couldn’t have asked for a better line up of probably the most respected and experiences senior executives in the animation business. Also a massive thank you to the department for business and trade and AnimationUK our wonderful industry trade association for coming along and supporting.
A take away from the first event is I am glad the industry is now starting to think about anime, animated film and animated adult shows – the UK has the best comedy writing talent in the world so I hope there will be a massive trend and our UK PSB’s like the BBC and channel 4 start to commission. There is huge demand for animated content for us big kids – let’s hope in a couple of years time we see more coming out.
Ryan Beaird
Following the success of the event, Ryan commented that he is close to confirming the next edition of the conference; with Monday 22nd April 2024 pencilled in – also set to take place at London’s Wellcome Collection Museum which was very well received by guests. Other details that were outlined for Get Animated 24 was the use of the full venue, with two theatres showing screenings and panels with a room fully dedicated to co-production, financing and animation commissioning meetings.
Neyworking over coffee at Get Animated ‘Business of Animation’ Conference 2023
In the meantime, you can keep up to date with Get animated at either Linkedin or Instagram.