Turner Africa is excited to announce its official sponsorship of the African Animation Network (AAN) “Animation Village” for this year’s DISCOP Trade Fair. Operating key international brands such as CNN International, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Boing, Toonami and TCM – Powered by Movies in 49 African countries, Turner is strengthening its ambition to support and grow the animation industry across the continent.
As a sponsor for the second year running, Turner’s role will boost AAN’s efforts to develop animation talent in Africa by leading several activities that will be hosted at DISCOP’s African Animation Village.
Turner will lead a round table discussion on Wednesday 25th October on how local content can be developed through partnerships between local creators and international brands. This panel discussion will be co-animated by Ariane Suveg, Head of Programming and Acquisitions Manager of Turner Kids’ Channels in Africa, and Howard James Fyvie and Andrew John Phillips, writers from Punch Monkey Studios. The session will present a case study on Turner’s engagement with African animation producers and talents from DISCOP 2016 through to 2017, including the mentoring of Cloud Life (winner of the Turner Kids’ Animation Pitching Competition in 2016) and the Cartoon Network Imagination Studios pan-African project. The official sponsor will also participate in the Animation Unites Africa Panel Discussion where various African organisations, representing the animation industry across the continent, will be invited to engage on the opportunities and challenges faced in promoting African animation productions at local and international levels.
Ariane Suveg says, “Turner has been on a journey with African animation producers for the last year. We started at DISCOP Johannesburg 2016 by sponsoring The Animation Lounge and the Turner Kids’ Animation Pitching Competition. This great story is actually continuing as we are partnering with the 2016 winners on local projects, so we are always keen to participate in such events to find and grow African talents”.
In partnership with Annecy International Animated Film Festival & MIFA (Annecy MIFA) and DISCOP markets, the African Animation Network will be facilitating pan-African project selections through pitching competitions. At DISCOP Johannesburg, the top six selected projects from DISCOP Abidjan, will compete against the top six projects from the local leg. The two best projects from Africa will go on to compete internationally at Animation du Monde 2018, taking place at Annecy MIFA in France in June 2018. Turner will sponsor the TV Series & Specials category at this year’s Africa competition.
“Considering Turner’s position as the market leader in animation broadcasting in Africa, we are extremely excited about the partnership and the opportunities that it will create for African animation professionals at DISCOP Johannesburg and beyond”, explains Nick Wilson, Project Manager of AAN.
About Turner International
Turner International operates versions of core Turner brands, including CNN, TNT, Cartoon Network, Boomerang and TCM Turner Classic Movies, as well as country- and region-specific networks and businesses in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. It manages the business of Pay- and Free-TV-channels, as well as Internet-based services, and oversees commercial partnerships with various third-party media ventures; it teams with Warner Bros. and HBO to leverage Time Warner’s global reach. Turner operates more than 175 channels showcasing 38 brands in 33 languages in over 200 countries. Turner International is a Time Warner company.
About African Animation Network
Through the African Animation Network events and content channels; the social enterprise provides an open network platform for animation professionals and national associations from across the African continent to communicate ideas, forge connections, foster collaboration, build pipelines, generate capacity and in so doing propel the African animation industry forward.
