Animation in Europe

A buoyant animation industry is a strong indicator of a healthy media sector, providing thousands of jobs and attracting talented creatives. However, Europe’s animation sector varies in health greatly from country to country. As some countries’ animation industries excel thanks to reliable government support, others falter and face significant obstructions to growth.

While a tax credit for animation will not automatically result in a healthy sector, it’s clear it’s increasingly hard to create a healthy animation sector without one. The examples of Ireland, the UK and Poland highlight the positive impact a national funding instrument can have, while the problems caused by the lack of one is evident in the stunted animation sectors of countries such as Portugal, Denmark and Germany.

A common complaint among producers around Europe is that animation is an under-valued endeavour, which results in the sector being ignored by both local broadcasters and government. However, as the example of Ireland shows, the economic and cultural benefits of a thriving animation sector can be huge, both in terms of employment opportunities and international exports.

The most successful animation sectors tend to be ones that not only have high levels of productivity, but are also backed by a national association that makes sure the industry’s success is consistently communicated back to economic and cultural decision makers.

International coproductions are the backbone of European animation, despite the rise of players such as Netflix that are capable of fully funding whole series or features themselves. With the traditional broadcast model coming under increased strain as a result of changing viewing habits among the audience, collaboration between European production companies remains key to financing projects.

The continued popularity of events such as Cartoon Movie and Cartoon Forum is testament to this, while the European Animation Awards (Emilie Awards) is an example of the European animation community working together to collectively raise awareness of each other’s work and celebrate excellence.

Meanwhile, the value of Creative Europe’s MEDIA programme should not be taken for granted, as it contributes important financial support to producers across the continent, particularly towards the cost of developing audiovisual content.

While the North American animation industry is taking strides to make its sector more diverse and inclusive, both on screen and off, the European animation industry appears to be lagging behind these efforts. This could pose a risk to the relevancy of the sector in the years ahead, as the media industry overall aims to become much more accessible to those from minority backgrounds. The European animation industry must ensure it is an instrumental part of those efforts.

European animation is a dynamic and successful industry made up of creative artists working across multiple different disciplines, from 2D to stop-motion to 3D CGI, to entertain and educate audiences of every age. There is no shortage of talent in European animation and while budgets may be much lower compared to projects originating out of Hollywood, animation remains a vibrant artform in Europe.

It’s clear that the business model of creating television and feature films is being disrupted by the continued rise of streaming companies and the resulting moves by traditional broadcasters around Europe to keep up with audience’s changing viewing habits. This is providing both opportunities and challenges to the European animation industry.

Netflix, for example, has become an active buyer of European animated series and features. Meanwhile, certain local broadcasters are increasingly aware that they need to invest in content in order to effectively compete with the new players.

In terms of support from broadcasters, France represents the ideal scenario whereby financial support from broadcasters for local animation is guaranteed via legislature that requires them to invest millions of Euros every year. It is unlikely that such a scenario could be replicated across Europe. However, a key factor in ensuring the continued growth of European animation in the future will be to make sure all broadcasters and OTT platforms available in Europe invest more in original European content.