19/09/2023 - For the second time, young European animation talents will gather in Madrid to attend the pitching event that will be held from 24-26 October

For the second time, young European animation talents will meet in Madrid at Cartoon Springboard, the pitching event set to unspool from 24-26 October this year. Launched in 2015, Cartoon Springboard has become a key platform for discovering new European animation talents.

During the gathering, a panel of experts will mentor the selected directors, writers and producers – who must have completed their studies at a European animation school within the previous five years – with the aim of strengthening their projects.

Last week, the Cartoon team announced the line-up of selected projects. Shortlisted from 61 submissions (a 30% increase over last year’s edition), the 24 projects are mostly in the early stages of development. With seven projects, French animation leads the pack, followed by Spain with five, Italy and Germany with three, and Belgium with two. Denmark, Hungary, Ireland and Ukraine round off the line-up, with one project each.

Sixteen are TV-series projects, four are features, and four take in different formats, including web series. Animated works aimed at young-adult and adult audiences account for almost half of the selection (46%), followed by projects for children aged 5-11 with 29%, family audiences with 16% and teenagers with 4%.

The projects were developed by graduates from prestigious schools such as ATRE – Ecole des Arts du Spectacle, EMCA, GOBELINS l'école de l'image, Instituto de Cine de Madrid, Escola de Cinema de Barcelona-ECIB, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Civica Scuola di Cinema Luchino Visconti, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg/Animationsinstitut, Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, IADT and The Animation Workshop, VIA University.

Alongside the pitching sessions, the event will host a master class as well as several keynote speeches by international animation professionals. This year’s guest speakers include Hanna Mouchez (founder of and producer at France’s MIAM ! animation), who will give a talk about entrepreneurship; Eliza Jäppinen (CEO of Finland’s Visible Realms), who will explore the relationship between intellectual property and social media; and Mark Taynton (Adult Swim, UK), who will focus his talk on adult-orientated animation production.

The list of confirmed experts in attendance includes Lucy Pryke (BBC, UK), Nuria González Blanco (Cartoon Saloon, Ireland), Joseph Jacquet (France Télévisions, France), Mark Cumberton (JAM Media, Ireland), Britt Raes (Just Britt, Belgium), Carlo Stella (MAD Entertainment, Italy), Katell France (Mediawan Kids & Family, France), Karine Leclerc (Nathan Univers Jeunesse, France), Jens Møller (Parka Pictures, Denmark), Sara Cabras (RAI Ragazzi, Italy), Milo Cremer Eindhoven (Submarine, Netherlands), Manuel Cristóbal (Sygnatia, Spain), Jean-François Tosti (TAT Productions, France), Marta Lisbona (Teidees Audiovisuals, Spain) and Shamik Majumdar (The Walt Disney Company-EMEA, UK). The programme and the complete list of experts are available to peruse here.

Organised by CARTOON, Cartoon Springboard is backed by Creative Europe – MEDIA, the Community of Madrid, the City Council of Madrid, the Madrid Film Office and ICEX.

The full list of selected projects is below – you can find out more here:

Silence Sometimes - Álvaro Rob­les (Spain)
Producer: Mireia Vilanova - Cartuna

All Good - Diego Por­ral (France)
Producer: Joaquin Gar­ral­da

Azul’s Journey - Aline Romero (Spain)

BeinBuddies - Qur­rat­ul Ain Saeed (Belgium)

Bitches - Manon Tac­coni, Maïté Son­net (France)
Producer: Camille Con­de­mi - Caïmans Productions

Chestnut Kid - Mar­ta Pellicer (Spain)

Digiman – Leo Neumann, Franz Rügamer (Germany)

Freshstyle - Lucie Pradeau, Camille Hum­mel (France)

Illogical Adult World - Iry­na Sosi­movych (Ukraine)

Inspector, Your Pants! - Nawel Bahamou (France)

Labinocle - Link Dapoigny (Belgium)

Maestitia - Mer­el Hamers (France)
Producer: Valentin Maupin – Avec ou sans Vous

My Grandmother Is a Skydiver - Poli­na Piddubna, Alma Maglajlić (Germany)

Moonwars - Ale­jan­dra Luque, Paula Ruiz (Spain)

New Wave - Fay Ori­on Antar (Ireland)
Producer: Shau­na Cullen – JAM Media

No Pets! - Ivana Muri­an­ni, Alice Gam­bara (Italy)
Producer: Boris Bertolini – Nuvole & Strisce

Shaman Therapy - Pauline Pinçon, Samuel de Ceccatty, Manon Ardis­son (France)

Skatebugs - Daniele Zen (Italy)
Producer: Andrea Zin­go­ni – T-Rex Digimation

Soul for a Hot Dog - Myra Hild (Denmark)

The Fast Way - Javier Moratil­la Heras (Spain)
Producer: Isabel­la Car­oli­na Hernán­dez Vignola

The Foreign Brother - Szon­ja Eckert (Hungary)

The Giant Bombardone – Marco Raffaelli, Elena Sorrentino (Italy)

When Monsters Wither - Adrián Mon­fer­rer, Pablo Alcázar (France)

World of Gra - Clara Deit­mar, Bian­ca Scali, Julius Dorsel (Germany)