Cartoons

CARTOON is an international non-profit association based in Brussels. CARTOON’s remit is to support the European animation industry and for 20 years, it has received financial support from the MEDIA Programme of the European Union to run its activities, which concentrate on 3 areas: Cartoon Masters, Cartoon Forum and Cartoon Movie.

Cartoon Masters: 4 training seminars each year for European professionals in the industry (about 100 participants per session), dealing with specialised subjects affecting the development of the skills and trade involved in animation.

THE BUSINESS OF ANIMATION

Changes in the European television market (less advertising revenues, the strong position taken by DTT channels, audience fragmentation…) have altered the way animation shows are being financed and viewed.

Whilst licence fees have either decreased or helped less projects but for a bigger amount, producers have had to look into other funding taps like pre-sales, co-productions… to mount their projects. A stricter management of budget items and cash flow and an understanding of co-productions really work have become essential.

During this money seeking process the drafting of a business plan can prove to be a useful tool to help convince potential investors to come on board, because it will give them a clearer picture of the business activity and viability.

To compensate for less licence fees, producers have also felt the need to retain potential revenues as much as possible through intellectual property management, home entertainment, self distribution and the exploitation of licensing and merchandising with partners from TV or less familiar ‘walks of life’.

Some case studies will highlight how producers have built brands to give viewers and consumers what they want on multiple platforms.

Throughout this Cartoon Finance, practical advice on the existing financing models and potential revenue streams will be shared with attending producers thanks to a broad panel of speakers consisting of major European and pan European broadcasters (Cartoon Network, Canal+, ZDF Enterprises), TV distributors (Awol animation), co-production experts within Europe and Canada (Millimages and Decode Canada), studio financiers, public and private funding representatives (from Cine-Regio and the Singapore International Animation Fund) and innovative production companies such as Aardman.

The subjects covered should give producers a clear overview of current developments in the financing and exploitation of animation shows and improve their business and negotiating skills.