The next edition of Animation Production Day — taking place May 4-5, 2017, presented by the Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film — will inaugurate the Trickstar Business Award. The €7,500 prize, sponsored by the Stuttgart Region, will recognize innovative national or international business models for projects or companies in the animation industry, making it the first award in this sphere focused on business.
Dittmar Lumpp, managing director for organization and finances of the Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH (FMF) and co-organizer of Animation Production Day, devised the concept for the Trickstar Business Award:
“I’m delighted that we have initiated this prize together with the Stuttgart Region. With numerous successful companies working in the areas of animation and visual effects as well as the Animation Festival and FMX, the region is an outstanding European location for the industry with a worldwide presence. This prize enables us to send out a clear signal and at the same time offer new incentives for the region’s strength of innovation and international connectivity.”
“I am convinced that the creation of the Trickstar Business award sends a powerful signal, because the award constitutes a great platform for the young and bright animation talent in the region that will thus be able to initiate exciting innovative projects,” added Professor Andreas Hykade, Director of the Animationsinstitut and FMX International Conference on Animation, Effects, VR, Games and Transmedia.
All projects selected for APD 2017 can put themselves forward for the Trickstar Business Award, whether TV series, feature films, games, mobile content or transmedia formats. Their innovation can be defined in the areas of financing, distribution, marketing or exploitation of rights. Application forms will be available on the APD website in December at www.animationproductionday.de
The organizers reserve the right to specifically invite companies to put themselves forward for the Trickstar Business Award.
A five-person industry jury including representatives of the Stuttgart Region and the L-Bank will shortlist three finalists on the strengths of their submitted project and application form. These finalists will have the opportunity to present their business model to the jury in the form of a short pitch during Animation Production Day. The winner will be honoured on the evening of May 5 during a prize-giving ceremony in the rotunda of the L-Bank in Stuttgart.
