Spain will be present at Cartoon Movie 2018 with nine projects

A delegation made up of producers, distributors, television networks and VoD platforms will travel from March 7 to 9 to Bordeaux (France) to participate in Cartoon Movie, a European co-production forum in which Spain will be the guest country in this edition.

Spain will be the great protagonist of Cartoon Movie, the European co-production forum for animated feature films, which in its twentieth edition focuses on animation from this country. From March 7 to 9, the French city of Bordeaux will host a new edition of this initiative created to strengthen the production and distribution of European animated films and which this year presents 60 new projects from 22 countries, including nine with Spanish participation.

Organized by ICAA – Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts and Diboos, the Spanish Federation of Animation Producers Associations, with the support of ICEX Spain Exportation and Investments and Animation from Spain, the Spotlight on Spain It will include, in addition to the pitchings of the selected projects, presentations of studies and various activities in order to promote Spanish animation. The inauguration of this Spotlight will be led by the general director of the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA), Óscar Graefenhain.

Spain will be present at Cartoon Movie 2018 with nine projectss (adding majority and minority productions) who come to this event in search of co-producers and financial partners, as well as pre-sales and distribution agreements, that allow them to complete and accelerate the production of their works.

With a global budget of 310 million euros, the 60 projects presented at Cartoon Movie 2018 add up to 79 new hours of animation. France leads the event with 17 projects followed by Germany and Spain, with seven and five majority projects, respectively. The projects, which are in different stages of production, will be presented to around 850 professionals in the sector, including potential co-producers and investors, distributors, exhibitors, television networks and video-on-demand platforms from all over Europe.

Spain also has a nomination for the Cartoon Tributes, awards that recognize the contribution of companies and personalities to the development of European animation in three categories. This is Latido Films, a sales agent that has been nominated in the European Distributor of the Year category. Based in Madrid, the company is responsible for international sales of some of the most anticipated titles in Spanish animation such as Buñuel in the turtle labyrinth o Memoirs of a man in pajamas.

The future of Spanish animation

The list of selected Spanish projects includes Dragonkeeper, a family animated feature film based on the first novel of the multi-award-winning book series by Australian Carole Wilkinson and co-directed by Ignacio Ferreras (Wrinkles) and Jian-Ping Li. Produced by Dragoia Media, Movistar+, Atresmedia Cine together with China Film Animation, the main film production and distribution company in the Asian country, the film is presented in the category of works in development.

Meanwhile, in the section of works in production, Buñuel in the turtle labyrinth, a film directed by Salvador Simó that takes as its starting point the comic of the same name by Fermín Montero. Scheduled for release in 2018, the film is a production by Sygnatia and The Glow Animation Studio - in co-production with the Dutch company Submarine - and narrates the vicissitudes of filming the documentary The Hurdes by director Luis Buñuel.

The second Spanish work in the production stage is Elcano, the first trip around the world, a production by the Basque Dibulitoon Studio directed by Ángel Alonso and scheduled for release in 2019. Aimed at family audiences, this adventure film follows in the footsteps of Juan Sebastián Elcano in his mission to complete the first trip around the world.

Sygnatia and The Glow Animation Studio, together with producer Manuel Cristóbal and director Salvador Simó, are also behind Gabo – Memories of a magical life, a film inspired by the graphic novel of the same name about one of the most important figures in Latin American literature: Gabriel García Márquez. Co-produced by the Colombian Rey Naranjo, the film is designed for adult audiences and is presented in the “in concept” category.

Another Spanish feature film included in this category is The impossible journey, an adventure film for family audiences that combines 3D animation with live action and will mark the feature debut of director Abraham López Guerrero. They produce The Impossible Journey together with the Spanish 3 Doubles Producciones and the English Virtual IT Projects.

For their part, among the 60 projects in the selection there are four that have the participation of Spanish studios as minority co-producers such as One more day alive, a film based on the life of Polish reporter Ryszard Kapuscinski. Co-directed by documentary filmmaker and writer Raúl De La Fuente, and co-produced by the San Sebastian company Kanaki Films, the film is about to conclude its production and will present a preview in Bordeaux.

For their part, the Spanish UniKo and Abano Produciones participate in Unicorn Wars, the new work by Alberto Vázquez (Psychonauts, the forgotten children) produced by the French company Autour de Minuit and aimed at young adult/adult audiences.

The Spanish participation is completed with two other minority co-productions: Trip to Teulada, an Italian production with the participation of the Madrid-based 12 Pingüinos, and My Grandfather Used to Say He Saw Demons, produced by the Portuguese company Sardinha em Lata in co-production with the Spanish company Medio Limón.

Along with these production companies, a large Spanish delegation will be present in Bordeaux to promote their works, services and catalogs, among which are production companies such as Simplea Animation, MediaPro and 3D Wire, distributors such as A Contracorriente Films, Under the Milky Way, Big Picture, Flins y Piniculas or Big Pictures Films, sales agents such as Latido Films and Pink Parrot, companies and broadcasters such as RTVE, Atresmedia, Telefónica Audiovisual Digital and Televisió de Catalonia, and video game developers such as Drakhar Studio, which will be participating in Cartoon Games and Transmedia, a parallel activity to Cartoon Movie organized with the aim of creating synergies between the animation and video game industries.

The Spanish presence also includes a group of 27 students who will be part of the Cartoon Movie Coaching Programme, a training initiative that will allow future filmmakers and producers of Spanish animation to learn about the dynamics of the event as well as come into contact with the European market and producers in search of talent. The students come from the Barreira Arte + Diseño schools – Official Center for Higher Studies, U-tad, Lightbox Academy and the Polytechnic University of Valencia.