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INDUSTRY France

The French animation market in 2014

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- In Annecy, the CNC is unveiling the current trends in a highly dynamic sector in France, from production to theatres

The French animation market in 2014
Minuscule - Valley of the Lost Ants by Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud

At the 55th edition of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival (15-20 June 2015 – read the article), the CNC is today unveiling the 2014 figures for a sector in which France clearly displays a go-getting attitude and a level of creativity that are recognised on an international scale – ranging from training (the Gobelins School, in particular) to special-effects experts (through companies such as Buf Compagnie, Mikros Image and Illumination Mac Guff), via the production of feature films for cinema and an audience that is very partial to animation. An entire industry that Frédérique Bredin, president of the CNC, intends to go on supporting: "The aim is to continue providing our support to all stages of the creative process, but also to accompany producers as they take risks in developing new works that will enable France to remain competitive within the sector." 

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It should be said that animated films are particularly effective in theatres because while they represented just 4.4% of the features that came out in France in 2014, they raked in 12.4% of the total admissions during the year. French animation production thus drew in 5.04 million viewers in the country last year with six films, including Minuscule – Valley of the Lost Ants [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(1.5 million) and Asterix: The Land of the Gods [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile
]
(2.68 million). Interestingly, animated titles benefit from extensive print runs when they are released in France (previously unreleased national titles came out in 358 cinemas last year, on average) and strong marketing campaigns (the gross advertising expenditure on an animated film – all nationalities included – came to €1,489,000, as against €769,100 if we take all genres into account).

These works also have a great advantage in terms of exporting very well: French animated features recorded 3.46 million admissions abroad in 2014 and racked up 45.6% of their admissions abroad from 2005-2014.

French film production in 2014 included nine animated feature films (including four 100% French productions) with an average budget of €7.85 million and funding provided 38.7% by foreign contributions, 22.5% by distribution mandates and 11.6% by television channels. The countries that co-produced animated titles with France last year were Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Switzerland.

It is worth highlighting that three of the nine French films authorised last year are screening this week in competition at Annecy: Long Way North [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Rémi Chayé (read the article), Adama [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by Simon Rouby, and Mune, le gardien de la lune [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Alexandre Heboyan and Benoît Philippon. Three other French productions from 2014 are also involved, with a screening event for The Magic Mountain [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Romanian director Anca Damian (read the article), My Life as a Zucchini [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claude Barras
film profile
]
by Claude Barras (read the article) as a work in progress, and a meeting focused on The Red Turtle [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Dutch filmmaker Michaël Dudok de Wit.

Click here if you would like to read and download the complete study by the CNC.

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(Translated from French)

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