Another Annecy festival has wrapped, with plenty of deals and news coming out of the ever-growing event.
Among the highlights of the festival:
- Attendance at MIFA was up 10 percent over 2013’s numbers with 2,680 accreditations, according to festival organizer CITIA. It also reported 555 companies and 364 buyers attended. The market celebrated its 30th anniversary.
- A new feature version of Ghost in the Shell has concluded distribution deals with Anime Ltd. in France, Dynit Srl in Italy and Selecta Vision in Spain and Portugal. The new film is produced by I.G. and distributed in Japan by Toho. International sales are handled by Kodansha, which is the publisher of the original manga and the rights holder.
- Luxembourg-based Melusine Production has signed on to Cartoon Saloon’s next project, The Breadwinner, directed by Nora Twomey. Melusine will do much of the animation and backgrounds on the feature.
- Paul Leluc will direct French Riviera for Les Armateurs. Leluc had previously directed the animated TV series The Long Long Holiday, which tells stories of World War II from the perspective of children.
- The Boy and the World has closed distribution deals with Champ List for China, HBO for Latin America and Film Verleih Gruppe for Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. The feature won the Cristal Award at last year’s festival. Additional sales include: Les Films du Preau in Belgium, Luxembourg and Monaco; Norwegian Federation of film Societies in Norway; DBS in Israel, Central Park Films in Turkey; Modiband in Spain; New Horizons in Poland; Conaculta in Mexico; Animateka for Croatia and Slovenia; and Submarine for Netherlands.
- Paramount Pictures acquired worldwide distribution to the Spanish film Capture the Flag and will release it Aug. 28. The film is produced by Telecinco Cinema and Telefonica Studios, in conjunction with the film’s writer and producer Jordi Gasull and producer Edmond Roch at 4 Cats Pictures. Animation is by Lightbox Animation Studios.
