13/08/2026 - The third module of this year’s edition combined project development, marketing and pitching training with an Open Industry Day connecting participants with the Hungarian animation sector

The CEE Animation Workshop Module participants at Cinema Puskin Budapest

At the beginning of August, the third module of the 2026 CEE Animation Workshop brought 31 participants to Budapest for six days of intensive project development, professional training and networking, following an opening module in Lillehammer and a second one held online. The group comprises producers and creative teams behind 12 animated projects, alongside two script-consultant trainees and two career-orientated participants.

The Budapest programme focused particularly on the transition from development to production, addressing marketing, company strategy, pitching and the legal aspects of animated-film production. This year’s group leaders are producers Réka Temple, of Cinemon Entertainment, and Annemie Degryse, of Lumière Group/Les Productions de Milou, working alongside script consultants Phil Parker and Rita Domonyi.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

For the participating teams, the module represented another step in a development process extending across the year. Tereza Havlová and Philippe Kastner, producer and director, respectively, of the Czech TV-series project Mould, produced by Batch Film, described the experience as “very intensive and rewarding”, stressing that their project had moved forward with every module. In particular, they highlighted the value of receiving feedback on both creative and production issues, and of meeting producers and creators who could become future collaborators.

Pitching and understanding how projects communicate internationally were among the key areas of the Budapest session. The programme included training with Tonje Skar Reiersen, of Mikrofilm, while marketing specialists Michael Arnon, of WOLF, and Matthias Noschis, of Alphapanda, led lectures and practical workshops examining strategies from early production through to the festival launch.

For Havlová and Kastner, presenting Mould to an international audience proved particularly useful. “Hearing different reactions helped us better understand how the project communicates across cultures,” they noted, also pointing to the importance of the one-on-one meetings with producers and script consultants in providing practical guidance for the project’s next steps.

The module’s Open Industry Day, organised with the Hungarian Animation Producers’ Association (HAPA) at Budapest’s Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME), placed the projects directly in front of members of the local animation community. Representatives of the National Film Institute Hungary, HAPA, MOME and Budapest Metropolitan University attended alongside professionals from companies and studios including Boddah, Cinemon Entertainment, CUB Animation, Kecskemétfilm, KEDD Animation Studio, Piros Animation, Puppetworks Animation Studio and Umatik.

Temple emphasised the difference between rehearsing a pitch and delivering it to an actual industry audience. According to the group leader, the months of preparation culminated in presentations that had already generated contacts and prompted expressions of interest in potential cooperation. She also underlined the workshop’s ambition to assemble projects at different stages while “building bridges between producers, directors, countries and cultures”.

The Industry Day also featured master classes by Canadian-Hungarian filmmaker Anita Doron, writer-director of The Breadwinner, and Dutch artist and filmmaker Hisko Hulsing, whose credits include Undone, The Sandman and Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. Doron addressed storytelling for animation, while Hulsing discussed his visual practice and approach to animated filmmaking.

Participants also stressed the workshop’s ability to bring the creative and production sides of a project closer together. Maria Görlich-Opyd, director and screenwriter of the Polish feature project Fairy Tale for Gnomes, developed with producer Aneta Zagórska at Krakow Animation Center, singled out the programme’s treatment of producers and creatives “as a single, unified team”. For her, this approach provides a clearer understanding of the different workloads and challenges facing both sides during development and production.

Hungarian filmmaker Balint Gelley, developing the feature Ghost of the Riverbend with CUB Animation, returned to the workshop after previously attending as a producer in 2023, this time taking part as a director. He described the experience as intense but inspiring, noting how rapidly the feedback had allowed the project to evolve: “In such a short time, we got so far with our project. It’s very rewarding.”

The workshop also includes a training strand for future script consultants. Slovenian participant Jerneja Kaja Balog described the group script sessions as the most valuable element of her experience, highlighting both the access to mentors and the collaborative atmosphere among participants. “We have become a supportive and caring community, and true fans of each other’s work,” she said.

Following the Budapest module, the participants will complete the 2026 workshop with a final online session in October before continuing to develop their projects through the wider CEE Animation network and presenting them at animation markets and industry events across Europe. The CEE Animation Workshop is organised by CEE Animation, the Slovene Animated Film Association (DSAF), HAPA and the Slovak Association of Animated Film Producers (APAF).

Detailed information about the selected projects and participants is available here.