Discop Africa: Turner Forges Partnership With South African Industry Org. Animation SA

JOHANNESBURG — Turner is putting its weight behind Africa’s growing toon biz this week, as the company partners with South African industry body Animation SA on a search for the continent’s top toon talent.

The Kids’ Animation Pitching Competition, which takes place during Discop Africa from Nov. 2-4 in Johannesburg, will give African producers and storytellers a chance to pitch their properties to a panel of local and international industry experts, buyers, and commissioning editors. The network will be handing out cash prizes to two African toons currently in development.

Pierre Branco, Turner’s VP and general manager of southern Europe and Africa, calls it “a demonstration of how we are strengthening our presence across the continent, and building our local production strategy to create content that is both relevant and engaging for our African audiences.”

For Nick Wilson, chair of the export missions committee of Animation SA, the partnership is a “validation” of a years-long effort to develop local capacity in animation.

“Our mandate is to grow the animation industry in South Africa, and there is no better way to do that than in dialogue with one of the biggest players in global animation,” he says.

It’s been a banner year for South African animators, who have enjoyed a string of high-profile successes. At Annecy in June, South Africa’s Bugbox Animation and France’s Folimage announced the the first animation co-prod between the two countries, a 2D children’s TV series, “Musi & Cuckoo.”

In September, Cape Town-based Triggerfish Animation Studios announced its third collaboration with the U.K.’s Oscar-nominated Magic Light Pictures, an animated adaption of “The Highway Rat,” by author/illustrator duo Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. The companies’ 2015 collaboration, “Stick Man,” earned widespread acclaim, including a prestigious Cristal for a TV Production at the Annecy animation fest, and a recent children’s BAFTA nomination. Their adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “Revolting Rhymes” (pictured) will bow later this year. Read more….