Animation Production Day Adds Trickstar Business Award

'Trickstar Business' is the name of the new €7,500 prize which is being awarded for the first time during Animation Production Day 2017 by the Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film (ITFS). It recognizes national or international innovative and groundbreaking business models for projects or companies in the animation industry. This makes the Trickstar Business Award the world's first animation prize to be explicitly focused on business. The prize is being sponsored by the Stuttgart Region.

All projects selected for APD 2017 can put themselves forward for the Trickstar Business Award.

The projects can be designed as TV series, feature films, games, mobile content or transmedia formats. Their innovation can be defined in the areas of financing, distribution, marketing or exploitation of rights.

With regards to companies, the organisers reserve the right to specifically invite companies to put themselves forward for the Trickstar Business Award.

Dittmar Lumpp (co-organiser of Animation Production Day) asserted that with numerous successful companies working in the areas of animation and visual effects as well as the Animation Festival and FMX, the region is an outstanding European location for the industry with a worldwide presence.

Ulrich Wegenast, artistic director of FMF,  points out that In the rapidly changing media landscape, alongside innovative content we are also in urgent need of new concepts in the financing and distribution of such content.

 

While  Andreas Hykade, Director of the Animationsinstitut and FMX, International Conference on Animation, Effects, VR, Games and Transmedia states: the award constitutes a great platform for the young and bright animation talent in the region that will thus be able to initiate exciting innovative projects.

A five-person industry jury including representatives of the Stuttgart Region and the L-Bank will shortlist three finalists on the strengths of their submitted project and application form.

Application forms for the Trickstar Business Award will be available on the APD website from December 2016.These finalists will have the opportunity to present their business model to the jury in the form of a short pitch during Animation Production Day.

The winner will be honored on the evening of 5 May during a prize-giving ceremony in the rotunda of the L-Bank in Stuttgart.

 Ulrich Wegenast (middle) and Andreas Hykade (right) during Animation Production Day 2016 (c) Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH