For the first time Ukrainian projects will try themselves out at the main business platform of European animation industry. Mavka. The Forest Song(Animagrad) and Mom Hurries Home(Glowberry) were selected out of 65 projects from 17 countries to participate in Animation Production Day, a business forum to take place in the framework of ITFS, animation festival in Stuttgart on May 4-5.
Animation Production Day hosts business meetings between potential partners for financing, distribution and co-production. This year the volume of investments into the production of 29 series, 13 feature films, one short film and one transmedia project has totaled about 170 million EUR. As the previous APD experience shows, more than a third of forum participants strike deals on joint production.
For Mavka. The Forest Song it is the second big success on an international arena this spring. It is yet another chance after the pitching at CARTOON Movie in Bordeaux to present itself in Europe as one of the most promising projects at the European market. APD can provide the highest chances for a Ukrainian film to find European partners and distributors. “Our plan is to continue negotiations started in Bordeaux and also to meet new people. What singles APD out among other similar forums is that here one can try attracting attention of such partners as Google; companies like that don’t attend international conferences and forums on a regular basis. APD is a huge and unique platform in this respect,” says Irina Kostuyk, Mavka producer.
Glowberry will present its animation series Mom Hurries Home. Presently the series is in the development stage and actively looking for European partners. APD is the first big and successful step in this direction.
Mavka: The Forest Song is a full-length animated feature produced by Ukraine-based Animagrad (FILM.UA Group). It is currently at the concept stage of development. The film is inspired by a play of the same name by Lesya Ukrainka, as well as by various Ukrainian legends and cultural traditions. The film’s production crew includes experts from leading ethnography institutes: the Ukrainian Studies Center at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the Ivan Honchar Museum, and the Ukrainian Fashion Museum. The experts are there to ensure the authenticity of the Ukrainian myths and legends, religious beliefs, rituals, and visual culture translated into the singular animated world of Mavka. And the world-renowned group DakhaBrakha has already committed to creating the film’s soundtrack.
In September 2016, the animated feature Mavka: The Forest Song won the ninth contest held by the Ukrainian State Film Agency and was awarded state financing in the amount of 30% of the film’s total budget. Mavka: The Forest Song is scheduled for release in Ukraine in late 2018–early 2019.
Mom Hurries Home is a series developing a successful brand: a book with the same title was published in Ukrainian language in 2010 and has quickly become popular among children and parents alike. The interactive version of the book for Android and IOS enjoys considerable success and has been downloaded over 50,000 times. Mom Hurries Home is an animated series for children and adults who believe in miracles and magic that can happen in familiar streets and even inside their own home. The series tells about a family from a big city. The mom of the protagonist, a small boy Lyosha, keeps hurrying home, and the most incredible stories happen to her on the way.
Glowberry publishing house became a part of FILM.UA Group in 2016.
The application process for these projects was taken up by Media Resources Management.
