Charades Boards Animated Feature ‘Clara Wants Some Chicken’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentPulsar Content has boarded sales on “Stranizza d’Amuri” (“Fireworks”), the true story about Arcigay, Italy’s first and largest LGBTQ rights group. Produced by Ibla Film (“The Staggering Girl”), the movie marks the feature debut of veteran Italian actor Giuseppe Fiorello (“Terraferma”).A tale of first love, “Fireworks” tells the story of two teenagers who fall for each other in the very conservative Sicily in the 1980s.

The most famous baldheaded cartoon kid is making a big comeback.

Directors Amandine Fredon and Benjamin Massoubre take home the top prize for their animated film Little Nicholas–Happy as Can Be at the annual Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France. 

Lise Pedersen France’s animation industry is thriving, according to the latest figures published by the country’s national film center, the CNC (Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée), during the Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival.The country’s animation production levels in 2021 were the second highest ever, at 357 hours of programs, surpassed only by 2006, which reported 395 hours.French animation, whose long-established reputation of excellence and know-how has been a draw for international co-productions for decades, has proved increasingly attractive to international co-productions thanks to its generous tax rebate for international projects, which was revised upwards from 20% to 30% of spend in 2015.

EXCLUSIVE: London and Paris-based production and sales company Film Constellation has inked pre-sales on family adventure animation The Last Dinosaur following its Cannes market launch.

EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of us revealing their Katy Perry animated musical Melody, The Trial Of The Chicago 7 and The Pale Blue Eye outfit Cross Creek Pictures and animation specialist Zag have set an agreement to develop and produce a slate of ten animated, live-action and hybrid format features, the majority of which will be musicals.

Lise Pedersen Six teams of budding animation professionals have pitched their projects at the Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival as part of a new mentoring program for women from France and Africa launched by Les Femmes s’Animent (LFA), an organization that supports women in animation.The aim of the initiative, entitled “A Woman’s Journey,” is to help women who want to create short animated films but are not part of, nor have access to, the animation industry.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“The Black Pharaoh, the Savage and the Princess,” BAFTA-winning French director Michel Ocelot (“Kirikou and the Sorceress”)’s anticipated new animated feature, has been sold by Paris-based Playtime to major territories. The colorful film is playing at this week’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival where Ocelot is the recipient of the Honorary Cristal Award paying tribute to his laureled career.

Marta Balaga France’s Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival is celebrating Swiss animation – which marked its 100th anniversary back in 2021 – with a slew of retrospectives, screenings and special events.In its Official Selection, Switzerland is represented through 13 films spread across different sections.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In a bid to further expand job opportunities in the animation industry, France’s first free animation school ÉCAS (Ecole Cartoucherie Animation Solidaire) has partnered with French animation producer Frog Box and post-production service provider Titrafilm to create a new course that will train professional actors in the art of dubbing animation projects.News was announced Thursday at the MIFA market at this week’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival where the issues of inclusion, diversity and labor shortages in the sector were discussed in some forums at the festival, particularly at the Women in Animation summit.Founded in 2018 by TeamTO in response to the under-representation and lack of diversity in the animation sector, ÉCAS has trained a new generation of underprivileged talent in 3D character animation and storyboarding (in partnership with Canada’s House of Cool) for the past four years. Said Guillaume Hellouin, president of ÉCAS and TeamTO: “Over the past few years, there has been a general awareness and desire among producers, major platforms and traditional broadcasters to integrate a greater representation of society.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMediawan Kids and Family’s Method Animation, the prestige animation label behind “The Little Prince,” is set to reboot “Le Manège Enchanté” (“The Magic Roundabout”), the iconic 1960’s French stop-motion animation series.The new show, whose first season will comprise 52 episodes of 11 minutes each, will be aimed at a pre-school audiences. Founded by Aton Soumache, Method Animation has a stellar track record with reboots of cult franchises, from “Robin Hood” to “The Little Prince,” as well as with original IP’s such as “Miraculous” (produced with ZAG).

Reelz & Paramount+ Among Pre-Buyers Of Princess Diana Doc

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentKinology (“Annette”) has closed a raft of deals on two highlights from its slate, “Argonuts,” an animated feature produced by TAT Productions, the banner behind “The Jungle Bunch,” and Emmanuel Mouret’s “Diary of a Fleeting Affair” which premiered at Cannes. A Pixar/Dreamworks-style family film, “Argonuts” is a comedy adventure set in a magical yet hostile world of Greek mythology. It follows the journey of Pathie, a young, smart and daring mouse, and her mate Sam who set off to fight the most bizarre and dangerous creatures in Ancient Greece, including Poseidon himself.“Argonuts” reunites “The Jungle Bunch” director, David Alaux, and producer, Jean-François Tosti at TAT Productions.

Emilio Mayorga Alberto Vázquez’s “Unicorn Wars” is an Annecy  competition frontrunner. “They Shot the Piano Player,” from Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, weighs in as one of the festival’s most anticipated works in progress.A bevy of Annecy MIFA unveils and score of Spanish titles, sometimes sneak peeked at other events, form part of a historic growth on Spain’s animation scene.At March’s Cartoon Movie, only France had a larger number of titles than Spain.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDisney Branded Television has promoted Meredith Roberts to executive vice president of TV animation, the studio said Monday.The promotion comes for Roberts following “outstanding creative and operational oversight of the Disney Television Animation studio during a period of significant growth,” per Disney Branded TV.Most recently senior vice president/general manager of Television Animation at Disney Branded TV, Roberts has managed the division since  2018, overseeing development and current animated content and production for kids 6-14 and families, including traditional 2D and CG series, movies and shorts distributed on Disney+ and Disney Channel.The studio has 1,200 half-hours of animated content currently in production for Disney’s streaming and linear platforms, and during Roberts’ tenure in 2020, Disney Television Animation earned more Daytime Emmy Award nods than at any other point in its 38-year history. “A leader of incredible vision and a true champion of artistic talent, Meredith has set a new bar for Disney Television Animation, building upon the single greatest animation legacy in the world to lead a team that is creating the most innovative, magical animated storytelling in the business,” Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television, said during the announcement at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in Annecy, France on Monday.

Emiliano Granada In what promises to be an incredibly busy Annecy, Brinca Animation Studio will premiere its animated feature “Home is Somewhere Else” at the French animation meet’s Contrechamp section, its major sidebar.Co-directed by Carlos Hagerman and Jorge Villalobos, the Mexican animated feature reflects on the lives of the many undocumented Hispanic immigrants arriving in the U.S.; less interested in simply stating the immense difficulty that this means for them and keener on observing with care the emotional consequences that it entails. Built around the voices of real characters and their families, the toon’s varied styles become deeply intimate.

Martin Dale ContributorThe Annecy Intl. Animation Festival is returning to a full-fledged in-person event in 2022, expecting more than 10,000 attendees, from more than 90 countries June 13-18.“The world’s animation community will be back in Annecy — the key meeting place for the industry and artists,” says fest director Mickaël Marin, beaming.The Annecy team has striven to maintain connections and momentum within the animation community during the pandemic, through the 2020 online edition and 2021 hybrid fest, complemented by yearround masterclasses, professional meetings, seminars and dedicated trips, including recent trips to Nigeria, Israel and Brazil.The fest also collaborates with events such as Ventana Sur in Argentina and the Animation Day in Cannes.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentAfter a virtual edition in 2020 and a hybrid outing last year, this week’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival looks set be back with a bang, fully and only onsite.It also says a lot about the animation industry’s robust fundamentals. This and nine other takes on this week’s huge French animation reunion, which runs June 13—18:Annecy’s Biggest Fest EverFrance’s Annecy Festival, the biggest event in the animation world, looks set for its largest edition ever. Accreditation numbers were heading towards a final 13,000, artistic director Marcel Jean told Variety mid-week.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentLos Angeles-based Dark Star Pictures has acquired North American distribution rights to Colombia-based Spanish director Ruth Caudeli’s Tribeca title “Petit Mal” from Italian sales company The Open Reel. “Petit Mal,” in which Caudeli also stars, is centered around three young women, Martina, Laia, and Anto, who are in a passionate, playful three-way relationship — the dynamic of which is reshaped when one is called away for a long-term project.The pic, which premieres in Tribeca’s Viewpoints section, is loosely based on the director’s personal life experiences.“Petit Mal” is Caudeli’s third feature segueing from her exploration of somewhat similar themes in “Eva + Candela” (2017), in which a female filmmaker falls in love with her leading lady, and “Second Star on the Right” (2019), about a 30-something bisexual woman who refuses to grow up. During Cannes, the Rome-based Open Reel, which is headed by Cosimo Santoro, also sold rights to “Petit Mal” for Germany and all German-speaking territories to Cinemien.de/Pro-Fun Media; and for Benelux to Cinemien.nl.