Major Animation Industry Conference Underway In Belfast

A major animation industry conference is being held in Belfast for the second time.

'Cartoon Business', which is currently taking place at the city's Europa Hotel, is one of four annual events organised by CARTOON, the European Association of Animation Film. It is being jointly hosted by Belfast City Council, the Department for Communities and Northern Ireland Screen.

The two-and-half day conference regularly attracts around 250 European animation professionals and addresses topics around sources of financing and how producers can increase revenues from their animated TV series. Public and private funding, new business models, licensing, merchandising and legal issues are also explored to allow professionals to capitalise on their investment and maximise opportunities for economic return.

Cartoon Finance has been running for more than 20 years and has taken place in many cities around Europe including Dublin, Utrecht, Paris and Barcelona with great success. It previously was hosted in Belfast in 2013.

Councillor Aileen Graham, Chair of Belfast City Council's City Growth and Regeneration Committee, who will officially open the conference, said: "As with most cities around the world, global economic conditions have and continue to impact significantly on our local business, communities and residents and we have set ourselves the challenge to do what we can to battle this recession.

"Supporting the development of the city and its local businesses is a role Belfast City Council take seriously and this is no more evident than in our support for the development of the creative industries, which has been and still very much is, a key focus in our economic development plans.

"As a city, we are fortunate to have a young population, a highly skilled workforce and a plethora of creative SMEs making their mark in the global media industry. Whether it be the creation of groundbreaking children's television programming from Sixteen South and Jam Media to state of the art animation and visual FX from Inlifesize and Enter Yes, Belfast is home to a new breed of creative entrepreneurs.

"And, of course, each year the city is a temporary home for the cast and crew of HBO's award winning television series Game of Thrones, and we will have a new state-of-the-art film studio opening on the North Foreshore in the near future, which undoubtedly will provide us with an invaluable resource for the future development of the movie industry here."

Colin Williams, Creative Director, of the award-winning city centre-based Sixteen South, said of the company's participation in the conference in his home city: "For our relatively small size, Northern Ireland is making a really big name for itself in the creative industries arena. But this is a competitive, global industry and we need to be out there ‐ getting into the mix. I believe it is just as important to get the right people to visit us, to see what we can do and how capable we can be, which is why the Cartoon Finance event was so important.

"The international gathering of some of the biggest names in the animation industry in 2013 was an undeniable success for the creative industries – and brought welcome business to our local conferencing and events sector too. We managed to attract key influencers from big name buyers and contacts from the likes of Nickelodeon, France Télévisions and KiKa (Germany's biggest children's broadcaster) as part of a European seminar specifically designed by experts for animation professionals. 

"Focusing on traditional and new ways of funding animation series, whilst emphasising new business and revenue opportunities, it put us, Belfast, in the heart of the action. This major industry conference helped me to help my business and I'm proud to have played a part in making it happen."

Cartoon Business

(MH)