Ireland, France and Finland Share The Cartoon Tributes 2018
Skwigly
The European animation honoured its main protagonists by awarding the Cartoon Tributes 2018, prizes that recognize the work of companies and people that have contributed to the development of the European animation industry over the past year. Elected through electronic voting by the record-breaking number of 1000 participants of 29th Cartoon Forum – the co-pro and pitching event for animation series – the winners were announced on September 13 in Toulouse. Ireland, France and Finland shared the prizes in all three categories, demonstrating the strength of European animation across its borders.
This year’s winners are:
Distributor of the Year: 9 Story Distribution International (Ireland)
Producer of the Year: Folimage (France)
Broadcaster of the Year: Finnish Broadcasting Company – YLE (Finland)
Dublin based 9 Story Media Group is a leading provider of content to major broadcasters, digital platforms, and home entertainment companies worldwide that represents over 2,500 half hours of animated and live-action programming.
Founded in 1981 by Jacques-Rémy Girerd, the French studio Folimage focuses on creating stop-motion TV series, shorts and feature films. At Cartoon Forum, this company that belongs to Hildegarde group presented the TV special “Looking for Santa” and the series “Maëlys Mysteries” and “We Are the Artists”, in which it is their co-producer.
YLE is a Finnish pubcaster that airs over 1,000 hours of programming for 2-12 year olds through its channel YLE TV2. The company, which has a strong co-production policy, is one of the main promoters of Finnish animation that has recently participated in series such as “Gigglebug” and “Albi the Snowman”.
The list of nominees also included Deakids (Italy), Hopster (United Kingdom), Netflix (USA) and TF1 Unité Jeunesse (France) in the Broadcaster of the Year category; Connectoon (Italy), Gaumont Distribution TV (France) and Miam! Animation (France) in the Investor/Distributor of the Year; and Akkord Film Produktion (Germany); Ánima Kitchent Media (Spain), Ink and Light (Finland/Ireland) and The Illuminated Film Company (United Kingdom) in the Producer of the Year category.