Renowned Animation Studios Share their Recipes for Success at FILMART

17 March 2016 – The 20^th edition of the Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART), organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, concluded on 17 March at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Multiple networking activities, seminars, press conferences and screenings are held during the fair. At the Animation Conference: How Can a Small/Medium Size Animation Studio be Successful in the Global Market?, four representatives from renowned animation studios from Hong Kong, the United States, Japan and France shared their success stories on going international.

Having an agile strategy and business model could help an SME enter the world stage while, for animation studios, the speakers agreed that establishing a firm footing locally before venturing overseas could be a key to success.

When French 3D animation studio TeamTO was established in 2015, it was a five-person company. Today, it is one of France’s largest independent animation studios. The company’s Founder and CEO, Guillaume Hellouin, said the studio had encountered many challenges in the beginning. In order to survive its first two years, the studio actively developed its animation software and created a flagship line-up of original IP animation characters.

Software R&D helped enhance production quality
Mr Hellouin said, “Pay TV’s demand for high quality animations is huge. That’s why we spent a great deal of effort developing our high-end 3D animation software to enhance production quality. This, in return, has earned us investment and collaboration opportunities with TV stations and companies like Disney.” Mr Hellouin added that the studio is also working on English animations, and has set up production studios in the US to facilitate production.

TeamTO also excels at market extension. When season four of its animation, Angelo Rules, premiered, the studio launched the animation’s mobile game and peripheral products, with great success. Mr Hellouin expected downloads of the mobile game to reach five million.

Quality production wins critical acclaim
Song of the Sea, an animated film by Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, was nominated for Best Animated Feature at last year’s Academy Awards. Cartoon Saloon’s Managing Director, Gerry Shirren, said the studio places great emphasis on developing original IP productions, and that investing the time required to create a quality production is the main reason for the film’s international acclaim.

Mr Shirren added that Song of the Sea took seven years to complete and involved many European animation studios. Tomm Moore, the film’s Director, even travelled across Ireland to look for locations for the film. When the film was released, Mr Shirren and his team visited different film festivals around the world and hosted screenings to promote it, finally earning a ticket to the Academy Awards.

Animated series in demand in the Chinese mainland
Bliss Concepts Limited’s McDull was a comic strip before it moved on to the big screen. It has now ventured outside of Hong Kong and entered the Chinese mainland, Korean and Japanese markets. Samuel Choy, the company’s General Manager, said the debut of the first McDull movie in 2001 had brought many opportunities for the company. These included a collaboration with a mainland company in 2009 to produce a kung-fu themed McDull movie, which took Rmb80 million at the box office.

Mr Choy said, “The Chinese mainland animation market is enormous, with huge demand for sustainable animated series.” He added that the budget for the McDull movie was around US$5 million, which is regarded as a medium-scale production, and yet it yielded good box office revenue. The series is popular with mainland investors and now releases a new film every two to three years.

Olympic-themed animation
Japan’s Dandelion Animation Studio was one of the first studios in Japan to produce 3D animations. The company’s Director, Kazuhiro Nishikawa, said although the Japanese animation market grew steadily between 2000 and 2014, Japan’s aging population and low birth rate mean the industry will need to work harder.

In response to this development, Mr Nishikawa’s studio has started developing mobile games and is actively expanding into the mainland market. “We are learning the preference of the Chinese audience. We will be adding Chinese cultural elements in our animations so that even a foreign tale would have its appeal.” Mr Nishikawa said the studio is planning to collaborate with animators in different countries to co-produce an animation based on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics women’s cycling race.

FILMART website: http://www.hktdc.com/hkfilmart

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A statutory body established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is the international marketing arm for Hong Kong-based traders, manufacturers and services providers. With more than 40 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China and throughout Asia. The HKTDC also organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in overseas markets, while providing information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus.