Pitching is the competition section of the ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum, meant for stop motion short animations from all over the world being at the development stage. It provides artists with an opportunity to present their projects to a group of animation industry experts, gain partners and win prizes that will support their film production processes and open up career paths for them. – It has been proven many times that an award at ANIMARKT Pitching translates directly into the future of the artist and his or her project – Agnieszka Kowalewska-Skowron from MOMAKIN, the organizer of the ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum, emphasizes. – For instance, the production of the animated film "Astra" directed by Michał Łubiński, our 2018 finalist, is presently underway – she adds.
ANIMARKT Pitching is open for projects under development, with at least the first version of the script and lasting no longer than 30 minutes. The prerequisite is that 80% of the animation is planned to be made in stop motion. As one of the event’s objectives is to support artists from Central and Eastern Europe, submissions from Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, Estonia, Germany, Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia will be given a priority.
Like every year, Pitching finalists will be able to get well prepared for their October presentations – training sessions will be held on presentation and public speaking techniques, script or production. – Pitching participants work with our experts even before the event. We make sure to help each finalist feel confident before his or her decisive performance – Paulina Zacharek from MOMAKIN, who co-organises the ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum, says and then adds that the event will provide an opportunity to discuss the issues very important for creating a film, such as making animation puppets.
Among the experts who will conduct the training sessions we can name a recognized journalist Nancy Denney-Phelps, member of the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA) and juror at many animation film festivals with links to AWN.com, or Edwina Liard, a French producer from Ikki Films, responsible for example for the success of the animated film "Negative Space" (an Oscar nomination). There will be also a possibility to take part in public speaking exercises with a composer and musician Nik Phelps or discuss scripts with Anna Bielak, a screenwriter and script consultant well known in the Polish animation community.
This year's ANIMARKT Pitching prize pool includes special distinctions in the form of vouchers of PLN 60,000 (approx. 13 500 EUR) and PLN 40,000 (approx. 9 000 EUR) funded by the Audiovisual Technology Center (CeTA) in Wrocław to use its facilities, equipment and services, or a co-producer's contribution to the film from the French studio Folimage. The participants may also win professional work tools, namely the Dragonframe 4 software, professional support in the form of the expert consultation on the making of a stop motion puppet with Marcin Zalewski, or industry accreditation for the Mifa 2021 Trade Show in Annecy. Another very attractive award is for sure a 2-week artist residency at the Animation Production Center Quirino Cristiani in Cordoba (Argentina) funded by APALAB. During the stay focused on the development of his or her project, the artist will have a chance to benefit from artistic consulting or participate in meetings with Argentinian animation producers.
The deadline for the registration for ANIMARKT Pitching is 3 August 2020. Fifteen selected projects will be announced on August 17th. All of them will be then presented on 9 October 2020.
The ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum will be held from 6 to 10 October 2020 in Łódź. Apart from the Pitching Competition, the main programme will comprise workshops, masterclasses and panel discussions for students and young specialists (the Masters section), this year revolving around topics related to the making of a stop motion puppet as well as relations between animation makers and producers. The third part of the programme – Business, concentrates on establishing contacts in the industry and recruitment sessions for international animation studios or stop motion projects. This year it will be extended to include a new meeting formula (Match and Meet). Another novelty for the event participants will be a special application My ANIMARKT App which enables to directly arrange networking meetings.
The event received financing from the Culture Promotion Fund of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and from the International Visegrad Fund, and is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.
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More about the event on http://www.animarkt.pl/start
Link to the registration form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdFKakMjJhA5nWAflJsygdp46mBXmJIaOA_DtJdkOA7U_bYYw/viewform
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ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum is the only industry event in the world that focuses on the most important problems and challenges in the production of stop motion animation. The key goal of the event is to create a platform for sharing experiences and practices between stop-motion filmmakers, distributors, broadcasters, producers, animation service providers and industry representatives of all skill levels and from all around the world. The event is organized by MOMAKIN, which combines the world of animation filmmaking with international production, distribution and promotion. It specializes in stop motion and supports animation projects at every stage of their development: from planning and financing through production to distribution.
