UK’s animation industry had two major reasons to celebrate at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival this year. For starters, 15 projects from the country were shortlisted for screening at the festival, two of which took home awards – Pictoplasma “Opener 2023” won the Cristal for a Commissioned Film and [S] won the Jean-Luc Xiberras Award for a First Film in the Short Films category.
Secondly, the UK Pavilion at Annecy’s film market MIFA was busier than ever. The country’s Locksmith Animation conducted a meet and greet session with the makers of its upcoming animated feature That Christmas with Netflix; another studio Blue Zoo held a reception for its new CG-animated series Mojo Swoptops. Business meetings and networking continued at the pavilion throughout the four-day market.
At the centre of this buzz was Kate O’Connor, executive chair of Animation UK – the trade association advocating for British animation studios. The UK Pavilion was organised by Animation UK and powered by the British Film Institute, with National Lottery funding. Additional support was provided by the Department for Business and Trade, Film London, Creative Wales, Northern Ireland Screen and Screen Scotland.
On the pavilion’s terrace, AnimationXpress sat with O’Connor to learn about the British animation industry as well as her organisation’s effort to boost the creative work of their studios.
“We are the voice of the animation industry in the UK,” began the industry veteran. “We support business development and campaign on the issues faced by studios, with the UK Government. Part of our role is to advocate on behalf of the industry and to make sure that the wider international community – the buyers, commissioners and production companies – knows about the wonderful work in our country. So international festivals like Annecy and markets like MIFA are a unique opportunity for us.”
She explained three types of collaborations that were UK Pavilion’s focus this year: 1. Collaborations with other countries’ trade bodies 2. Between animation studios and commissioners/buyers 3. Between studios looking to co-produce. She herself held meetings with representatives from India, Malaysia, Ireland and Europe to establish stronger strategic partnerships.
For the animation industry in the UK, 2023 and 2024 until now have been challenging, she remarked. “Companies that are producing second and third seasons of established shows are doing alright. But many other studios are seeing low commissioning levels from the UK broadcasters as well as international streaming platforms.”
But against the backdrop of this global slowdown, she drew our attention to a silver lining – the tax benefits. She believes that the two new tax credits announced in 2023 by the British government will fuel the UK’s animation sector. The first is a tax relief of 29.25 per cent, which can be availed for animated TV shows/films, children’s TV shows/films and animated theatricals. Up until then, animated features were eligible to claim the government’s existing Film Tax Relief at a rate of 25 per cent. The second is a 40 per cent tax break for animated feature films whose budget is under £15 million. “Even though these attractive tax breaks are yet to be ratified by the government, they have sparked hope within the studios,” she shared.
Animation UK is looking at alternate sources of monetising content. One platform her organisation is looking to leverage is YouTube. “Studios are moving from traditional commissioning in distribution through linear channels to creating brands on platforms like YouTube,” she said. “Even though YouTube is an entirely different business model, we are keen to see how it plays out for us.”
As we spoke, delegates moved in and out of the UK Pavilion. Meetings were scheduled, meet and greet sessions were held, deals materialised and partnerships were forged. “This is the market where most attendees make these things happen,” she exclaimed. “We’re not competing for people’s attention with live-action. This festival celebrates animation, and everyone is here because they love animation!”