Animation Festivals and conferences

Festivals and Conferences

Festivals are great to keep up with the industry and make friends. The big ones run student and short film competitions, which are worth submitting to if you have a short film.

(image above: Annecy Festival)

Major festivals

• Annecy International Animation Film Festival - France, June. The biggest animation festival in the world. Screening features, shorts and also a place to pitch and buy TV shows and films.

• Ottawa International Animation Festival - Canada, September.

• Lightbox Expo - US-based and focused on the design side of the animation industry.

Character-focused and indie

• Pictoplasma - Berlin, May. Character design and animation, smaller and more intimate than Annecy.

• GLAS Animation Festival - LA / Berkeley, March.

• Playgrounds - based around the world

UK festivals

• Manchester Animation Festival - November. UK industry, very accessible.

Places to pitch your TV shows

• CMC Childrens Media Confrence - One of the best places i've found for pitching your show and chatting to networks (tickets can be costly!)

• Cartoon Forum - A european confrence for pitching animated TV and film.

• Animation Dingle - Ireland's Top Animation Festival

For submissions, most festivals use FilmFreeway, one platform that handles applications to most of them.