Second German Get Together at the Cartoon Forum in Toulouse
Skwigly
The German animation industry got together once again on Wednesday evening at the Cartoon Forum in Toulouse (17th-20th September 2013). This event was originally initiated in 2012 to encourage German producers to submit their projects. This year the number of German presentations at the Cartoon Forum has doubled, and the projects show both the extensive portfolio and innovative potential of German animation.
The evening was supported by the regional German film funding bodies, and was organized by Tania Reichert-Facilides (Freebird Pictures in cooperation with Senator Film München). German producers, broadcasters and investors discussed German-international co-productions with representatives of international broadcasters. The development of collaborations between German and international partners was one of the topics under discussion.
After the introduction by Tania Reichert-Facilides, Prof. Dr. Oiver Castendyk (academic director of the German Producers Alliance) drew attention to the possibility for German productions to learn more about viewing habits and reaching target groups from German-international co-produced feature films. Germany’s strengths – state-of-the-art technical production standards and the huge pool of classical, perennially relevant stories – were emphasized, as were examples for successful international co-productions like “MIA&ME” or “WOLFBLOOD”.
Following this, Christophe Erbes hosted a discussion panel of representatives of international broadcasters (France Television: Pierre Siracusa and Tiphaine de Raguenel, CBBC: Sarah Muller, Disney Europe: Orion Ross). This discussion clearly emphasized the attractiveness of German co-productions for international partners. Sarah Muller appealed to the attending German producers and TV partners to follow the example of Great Britain and unite in order to push for the establishment of a tax credit system for TV productions in Germany.
One highlight of the evening was the presentation of the booklet “Animation made in Germany” and of a trailer, both of which presented the scope of German productions for the benefit of international partners.
More than 70 representatives from different sectors of the animation industry attended the get together. It was hoped that the event would be repeated next year.
The evening was supported by the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, nordmedia, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and the Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg.