Rise & Shine Animation Pitching Lab 2024

Event Description:

The third edition of Rise & Shine – an Animation development & pitching Lab for young talents and their short films is organized as a collaboration between Animafest Zagreb, Animateka IAFF, and CEE Animation. The two-part workshop is aimed at short films in development. Participants will train their skills through guidance from experienced industry professionals, network with fellow animators, as well as have the opportunity to introduce their project to a wider international professional audience connected to both festivals.

2024 Coverage

Selected Projects:

1. Ant, d. & p. Jonatan Schwenk, Germany
2. Countergrowth, d. Mackenzie Fincham, p. Peter Lindhout, Spotted Bird, Netherlands
3. Foolish Fish Fable, d. Yiyang Sun and Lei Chia Hui, Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonia
4. Hungry Heart, d. Nikolina Žabčić, p. Andrijana Vidaček, Zagreb Film, Croatia
5. Margareth, d. Vivien Hárshegyi, p. Bella Szederkényi, CUB Animation, Hungary
6. Mrs. Monster, d. Sofiya Kruglikova, p. Maja Zupanc, Invida, Slovenia
7. Of Words and Waves, d. Valène De Valck, p. Bastien Martin, Camera-etc, Belgium
8. Telegrams to the Tree, d. Julia Benedyktowicz, p. Dominika Krysiewicz, Animoon, Poland
9. The Dog, d. Mariia Ozirna, p. Oleg Nosov, Bosonfilm, Ukraine
10. The Molepire, d. Marek Čermák, p. Karolína Fránková, Films & Chips, Czech Republic
11. The Shoebox, d. Cristina Pîrvu, p. Helga Fodorean, Susana António, Safe Frame/COLA Animation, Romania/Portugal (qualified)

Workshops will take place as part of Animafest Zagreb from 5 – 8 June 2024, where participants will receive a programme of lectures, and individual and group sessions with experienced film professionals in the field of animation. A special focus will be on the story of the project, which they will work on with renowned mentors Pedro Rivero and Michaël Dudok de Wit. The second part will take place at Animateka from 4 – 8 December 2024, where selected teams will receive lessons focused on pitching preparations and improving their presentation skills with established mentor Anna Vášová. Jelena Popović will be joining the second part of the workshop to offer mentorship as a creative producer. On-site in Ljubljana, the selected teams will also participate in the pitching presentation. The winning project(s) of this pitching competition will be invited and get direct access to the pitching competition at the CEE Animation Forum 2025.

2023 Coverage

Selected Projects:

• Coddiwomple, Petko Modev, Vessela Dancheva-Bogdanova, Bulgaria
• Reiss Dich Mal Zusammen, Marion Taschler, Saskia von Virág, Switzerland
• Period Drama, Michaela Mihalyi, Jakub Rálek, Slovakia, Czech Republic
• Demon of the Marshes, Martin Pertlíček, Martin Novotny, Kamila Dohnalová, Czech Republic
• Georgeta, Sybil Marzin-Thélémaque, Clara Marquardt, Francuska
• Now, Katrin Novaković, Miljenka Čogelja, Croatia
• Creaturas, Carolina Bonzinho, Laura Gonçalves, Portugal
• Plastic Aches, Andrea Guizar, Roza Misztela, Mexico, Poland
• Cosmonauts, Leo Černic, Tina Smrekar, Slovenia
• Shio, Ana Markozashvili, Natia Nikolashvili, Georgia
• A Horse in SwanSea, Maria Brudașcă, Constantine Benea, Romania (qualified as the winner of Pitch, please! 2022, Animest Bucharest IAFF)

Call for entries (archive):

Ten selected projects will be invited to Animafest Zagreb from 7 – 10 June 2023, where they will receive a programme of lectures, workshops, and individual and group sessions with experienced film professionals in the field of animation. A special focus will be on the story of the project, which they will work on with mentors – legendary director and screenwriter Michael Dudok de Wit and award-winning screenwriter, director and producer Pedro Rivero

• The format is animated short films (max. length 20 min.).
• Both members of the project team (director/scriptwriter and producer) must be citizens of the EU or other eligible countries, listed below: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, North  Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden

Application Materials

Please note that the following information (in English) will be required to complete the application:
— Logline (max. 200 characters including spaces)
— Synopsis (max. 2 000 characters including spaces)
— Director’s statement (max. 1 000 characters including spaces)
— Producer’s statement (max. 1 000 characters including spaces)
— Samples of visual style (max. file size is 10MB)
— Link to the trailer/teaser and/or storyboard (optional)
— Information about the budget
— Director’s photo, bio and filmography
— Scriptwriter’s photo, bio and filmography
— Producer’s photo, bio, filmography and company profile

Key dates
— 23 April 2023: Submission deadline
— 4 May 2023: Notification of selection
— 7 – 10 June 2023: Scriptwriting & Development Lab at World festival of Animated Film - Animafest Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
— September – October 2023: Online training
— 26 – 29 November 2023: Pitching Lab at Animateka International Animated Film Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia

• Full regulations
• Entry Form
• Deadline: 23 April 2023