CEE Animation Forum (formerly known as VAF Třeboň) opens its 7th edition by establishing new partnerships with different European markets, festivals or residency and training programmes. Through this extensive range of direct invitations to pitching events, exchanges of professionals and attractive scholarships, the organizers aim to increase the producers´ knowledge, and give filmmakers the possibility to strengthen their animation skills and integrate them into a strong network.
One of the objectives of CEE Animation is to raise the competencies of professionals and give them equal access to financing and the markets as their Western peers, by fostering co-production and sustainable business models. European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE), a professional training and networking organization for audiovisual producers has accepted the partnership and will offer to one producer a full scholarship in the amount of EUR 1,400 to participate in EAVE’s Marketing Workshop (5–10 November 2019).
CEE Animation Forum will also host the third and final module of the CEE Animation Workshop. For the second edition, one selected producer will receive a full scholarship in the amount of EUR 2,700. The aim of this year-long training is to provide tutoring in the field of content development, starting with consultancy on the script as well as artistic and production consultancy.
To give filmmakers an opportunity to move forward with their projects as well as to enhance their artistic skills and approaches, ANOMALIA will give a scholarship for one of its courses, the Character Design Lab. Since 2008, this professional training in animation has been inviting professionals from major world studios such as Pixar, Disney, Blue Sky, LucasArts, Aardman Animations, VALVE, and others.
Practise has shown that CEE authors seem to have a lack of experience with script writing. The newly established Pop Up Film Residency is launching a dozen of residency programmes in 2019, mostly in collaboration with various prestigious film initiatives such as Semaine de la Critique. One of the selected participants will be able to take part in this three-week residency to develop their animated project.
Following a successful partnership experience in 2018, CEE Animation and the European Animation Development Lab Animation Sans Frontières (ASF) continue the cooperation by granting a full scholarship in the amount of EUR 1,500 to one participant. Among traditional price awards, the Nespresso Audience Award goes to the winning project of the feature film category and EUR 1,000 in cash to the best projects of all three categories.
The organizers of CEE Animation have established new cooperation with the pitching and networking event Euro Connection (Clermont ISFF) and Warsaw Kids Film Forum – a pitching forum for films and television series aimed at the children’s market. The collaboration also continues with the Slovenian regional pitching forum AnimatekaPRO where the winning project receives direct access to the CEE Animation Forum. Looking ahead to the coming years, CEE Animation has started to discuss the opportunities together with MIFA Annecy and Animation Production Days in Stuttgart.
CEE Animation Forum (6th – 8th May 2019) takes place within the Anifilm International Festival of Animated Films (7th – 12th May 2019). CEE Animation is supported by the Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union and co-funded by national film funds and professional organisations from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
