The Annecy Festival and its market MIFA, are really ‘non-stop’ this week: yesterday crude figures of animation industry were shown, there were some announcements from leading players as Netflix, Genius, Hasbro, that don’t change the market, but make it much richer. And there were events for all audiences, as new Mexican keynotes to expand the guest country vision, and a tech conference about “the future of animation”, which showed how technology improves the animation processes, making it smarter.

Samuel Kaminka and Stéphane Le Bar from AnimFrance, shared relevant numbers about animation business: ‘From 2021 to 2022, there were in France an increased +9% in permanent jobs at the animation segment, 268 million euros of the total amount of money spent on salaries, which was an increase of 24% from YoY, and 13% more work hours raising to 9.7 million hours of work’, said Kaminka.

‘At international level, there was also a positive influence from major US platforms, increasing the production of animated content in France and bringing the country to the 4th most represented country on SVOD platforms abroad, following the US, Japan, and the United Kingdom’, remarked Le Bar.

Big market announcements? Netflix has set out a roadmap in the market, stressing how the company invests in the future of animation. John Derderian and Karen Toliver, Netflix animation heads of series and film respectively: ‘The strategy is based on building on the platform’s strengths, in adult animation, kids in general and anime in series. To maintain a huge diversity of shows and movies, and seeking in every project for a creator’s vision which Netflix will connect with the right audience, at the right price'.

LA-Based Genius Brands announced that will change its name to Kartoon Studios on June 26 to reflect its shift towards becoming a production, distribution, and licensing company. ‘We now have capabilities to do everything in-house, from content creation to production, distribution and global merchandising’, expressed its CEO, Andy Heyward.

Also, the toyco Hasbro has signed a global deal with Sony Music Publishing to represent its entire portfolio of kids and family brands, including Peppa Pig, Transformers, and My Little Pony. The company confirmed the first podcast base on IP Peppa Pig. ‘We have to evolve with the industry, 360 grades’, it was said.

The Mexican animators Angelica Lares, Guillermo del Toro, Rita Basulto, Leon Fernandez, Rene Castillo, and Sofía Carillo starred a session about the process of being a creator in the Latin country. ‘For newcomers, it is important to be secured about their ideas, cause animation is about to be free regarding imagination’, expressed Fernandez; on the other hand, Del Toro said: ‘The industry is even more convinced that animation it is not exclusively for kids’.

At “The future of animation”, creative directors Lotte Kronborg Thornsen, Karen Dufilh, and Mark Flanagan agreed: ‘Open-Source platforms are democratizing the access for young people to have experience and grow into the techniques of an expensive trade’. Also, Kronborg, as part of a school of animation, said: ‘Teaching the basics of animation is fundamental, because the technical costs are so expensive that you have to do it right from the first time to move forward’.

Organized by Animation From Spain, the pitch session “Women in Animation” reunited female producers from Abano Uniko Productions, La Mola Films, MB, Studio Kimchi, Whoopi Animation. They all expressed: ‘This space at Annecy/MIFA it’s so necessary for the labor of women in the animation industry, cause generally, it is a segment full of men’.

Mariano Gutiérrez y Alberto Buitron

| ANNECY/MIFFA Daily News

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