Cartoon Movie, this year held in Lyon from 2-4 March, is the most prominent industry gathering for European animation producers and distributors. For three days producers can pitch their ideas and exhibit their films to distributors in the hope of obtaining financing or a foreign release.
"The Great Bear" was popular among buyers at the Berlin Festival, selling to Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Russia, The Middle east with Iran, China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brazil. Cartoon Movie provides ample opportunity to spread the film into even more territories.
Cartoon Movie also rewards imaginative efforts in European animation with an annual award. The production company behind "The Great Bear", Copenhagen Bombay, is nominated in the category Best Producer - against France 3 Cinéma and German Constantin Film - for their creative work with limited economic means.
The film was pitched in the same forum a couple of years ago where producer Petter Lindblad had brought along the pilot. He impressed the audience with a presentation on cost-efficient high-quality animation. "The Great Bear" was produced for 1.7 million euros. To put that amount into perspective the international coproduction "The Tale of Despereaux", also shown at Cartoon Movie that year, cost 60 million euros.
Danish Animated Features in the Pipeline
"Ronal the Barbarian" is one in a series of Danish animation films on the way. The film, also presented at the Cartoon Movie forum, is in production, and is another satire from two of the directors behind "Terkel in Trouble", Thorbjørn Christoffersen and Kresten Vestbjerg Andersen who have partnered up with Philip Einstein Lipski. The film is produced by Einstein Film, LevelK handles international distribution. Tine Klint of LevelK describes the ambitious international outreach strategy behind the film here.
Looking ahead, three other Danish animated features will premier within the coming few years.
- "Freddy Frogface" directed by Peter Dodd and Gert Fredholm, produced by Crone Film, international distribution by Sola Media.
- "Jensen & Jensen" directed by Craig Grank, produced by Miso Film, international distribution by TrustNordisk.
- "Carlos Casino" directed by Jan Rahbek, produced by Nice Ninja, international distribution by Sola Media.