Five projects selected for new development programme
24 april 2008
A jury has selected five projects (nine film makers) to participate in the second development programme for animated shorts organised by the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF). They will be invited next month to attend the pitching session, where the participants of the first development programme will present their end results to animation producers.
The idea of the development programme is to give emerging, professional animation talent an opportunity to work on an animated short for six months, guided by an experienced coach.Five projects have been selected: Kalverliefde (Pieter De Poortere and Ineke Marynissen), Innerlijke stad (Joost Jansen), De rollercoaster van het leven (Sandy Claes, Daan Wampers and Johan Spits), Mona (Kristien Vanden Bussche and Antje Van Wichelen) and Eentje voor onderweg (Lander Ceuppens). Each project receives € 5,000 for script development and € 1,000 for each participant to cover expenses. Kristien Vanden Bussche working on MonaAntje Van Wichelen working on Mona A jury consisting of animation experts (Mark Sebille, Karin Vandenrydt, Tom Neuttiens and Kris Mergan) has carefully selected the projects for this programme. 'I was surprised in the most positive way about the quality of the projects that were submitted', says Karin Vandenrydt of the Anima Festival. 'And I was glad to see that some people that I had already noticed as promising talents grabbed this opportunity. In the end it was hard to make a selection because the projects were totally different.' The jury ended up selecting five projects instead of three. Jury member Kris Mergan agrees on the quality of the projects and emphasizes the positive approach of the jury: 'We did everything we could to reward the cases that were interesting, innovative and original. There were a number of criteria that we had in mind. Do the makers have a clear vision of what they want to achieve? Are they enthusiastic about their project? Is the script promising, appealing? Do the makers have a certain degree of maturity? Etc.' For Karin Vandenrydt, it is important that a candidate has already proven his or her talent in previous work. 'However, this programme is aimed at people who would not get an opportunity in the 'regular' circuit. People who need just a little extra to be able to show their talent and give them an opportunity to present something that is more than worth seeing. In this respect, the coach plays a crucial part. Only a few candidates had already an idea about who they would like to work with. The VAF also makes some suggestions and checks if these names are available.' After six months, the participants should be able to apply for VAF development or production support. Participants of the first development programme, Isabel Bouttens, Evelien Hoedekie and Roman Klochkov will pitch their projects at a session organised by the VAF. Production companies, coaches, jury members and the participants of the new development programme are invited to watch how these projects have evolved in six months' time.Former work and websites of the participants:
Yves by Joost Jansen - www.joostjansen.be
Bruised by Sandy Claes & Daan Wampers - http://sandy.deflect.be http://portfolio.deflect.beIkke by Lander Ceuppens - http://stinkendemiserie.googlepages.com/
Pieter De Poortere - www.boerke.be
Ineke Marynissen - www.inekemarynissen.be