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INDUSTRY France

10 French animated feature films approved in 2016

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- Production, funding, distribution: a focus on the main trends in the 2016 report on the animation market published by the CNC

10 French animated feature films approved in 2016
Dilili à Paris by Michel Ocelot

Just a few days before the Annecy Film Festival (being held from 12 to 17 June 2017), an unmissable meeting for animation professionals from all over the world, the CNC has published its traditional annual study on a very dynamic sector in France, both in terms of artistic talent and in purely industrial terms, from training (with the internationally recognised excellence of French schools) to employment, the reinforcement of tax credits that notably led to the recent establishment of ten or so studios in France and the relocation by a number of production companies of all or part of their activities.

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Turning to films, 10 animated films were approved in 2016, compared to three the previous year: Dilili in Paris [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Michel Ocelot, The Bear's Famous Invasion [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lorenzo Mattotti
film profile
]
by Lorenzo Mattotti, White Fang [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Alexandre Espigares, Little vampire [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Joann Sfar, Funan by Denis Do, The Tower [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mats Grorud
film profile
]
by Mats Grorud, Kino by Jean-Loup Martin, Les as de la jungle - le film by David Alaux, Drôles de petites bêtes [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Antoon Krings and Arnaud Bouron, and Zombillenium [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Arthur de Pins and Alexis Ducord, which just had its premiere at Cannes.

These 10 titles are all French majority productions, but seven were co-produced with other European countries, including Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden. Also worth mentioning is that seven of these 10 films are debut French features.

The average budget is €7.3 million, and funding is provided 37% by French producers, 21.4% by foreign stakeholders, 14.7% by investments made by television broadcasters (with notably five films co-produced by France 3 Cinéma, and the same number pre-purchased by Canal+) and the same percentage by mandates (distribution and international sales), 5.5% by regional aid, 4.9% by support from the CNC, and 1.7% by the Soficas.

On the distribution side of things, 35 animated features were released in French theatres last year, of which 11 were American, 10 were French, and four were other European works. On average, animated films are distributed in 346 cinemas in France (compared to 139 for feature films of other genres) and animated titles racked up 34 million admissions in France last year (2.8 million of which were generated by French films, or rather 8.4% of the market, compared to 88.6% for US films). Last but not least, on the international stage, French films are doing well, pulling in 5.6 million viewers last year. 

Looking at the list of beneficiaries of the various forms of selective aid allocated in 2016 by the CNC, the future of French animated films is looking rosy, with screenwriting aid going to Trois contes magiques pour enfants mutants by Alejandro Jodorowsky, advances on receipts for Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierre Földes
film profile
]
by Pierre Foldes (based on the book by Haruki Murakami) and Mano d'opéra by Alain Ughetto, pre-production aid for Minuscule - Mandibles From Far Away [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraux, and development aid for Slocum by Jean-François Laguionie, Les nazis, mon père et moi by Rémy Schaepman, Panique organique by the duo Pierre Volto - Marion Montaigne, and Calamity, une enfance de Martha Jane Cannary by Rémy Chayé.

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(Translated from French)

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