Animation in Denmark
Denmark has huge potential to grow as a destination for animation production. However, local animation companies are surviving, rather than thriving, on service and commercial work due a lack of support from the government and local broadcasters.
Lack of government support
Animation producers in Denmark are competing on an uneven playing field compared to many other European companies due to their inability to access a tax credit for animation. This is chiefly down to the Danish government’s Ministry of Industry’s reluctance to offer cash rebates to the creative sector.
This is stunting the growth the country’s animation scene could experience as local companies lose out on work to neighbouring countries with tax incentives. The industry is to an extent reliant on service work from companies such as Lego that have local ties to Denmark. It is therefore vulnerable if important clients decided to move production to a country where a tax credit for animation was on offer in order to cut down on costs.
As a result, Danish producers have banded together to try and lobby the government to introduce a tax credit to go alongside the existing financial support they receive from the Ministry of Culture and three regional funds. These are the Copenhagen Film Fund, FilmFyn and the West Danish Film Fund. The latter contributed to the Oscar-nominated animated feature film Song of the Sea (2014), which was a coproduction between Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France and Luxembourg.
The financing from the Ministry of Culture is distributed via the Danish Film Institute (DFI) and helps to fund shorts, documentaries and feature films. Danish producers are also able to access funding from the Nordisk TV & Film Fund by coproducing with companies in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland.
Broadcast upheaval
Local animation producers feel they are not adequality supported by the country’s broadcasters. The move away from linear television viewing towards digital platforms has been particularly prevalent in Scandinavia and Danish broadcasters have had to act quickly to try and retain viewers. For example, public broadcaster DR announced in 2016 that its channel for 7-12s, DR Ultra, would become online-only by 2020. The Danish government also imposed a 20% cut to the funding of DR in 2018.
As a result of the lack of investment from broadcasters, animation companies in Denmark tend to focus on commercial or service work whilst participating in feature film coproductions with countries such as France, Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. In this area, Denmark is a relatively strong performer considering its small population size.
Recent successes include The Incredible Story of the Giant Pear (2017), which was a box office hit at home and received extensive international distribution, Up & Away (2018) and Chequered Ninja (2018), which all highlight local demand for Danish animated features. As minority coproducers, Danish producers have also received support from the DFI for their work on The Little Vampire (2017) and Luis & the Aliens (2018).
There are few cases of animated series from Denmark that have reached the international market. Notable examples include preschool series Rita & Crocodile, which received funding from DR, and Subway Surfers, which began life as an app and has formed the basis of animated series on YouTube. There is also Cartoon Network’s The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe, which was created by graduates from arguably Denmark’s most valuable animation asset: The Animation Workshop in Viborg.
As well as being a highly-esteemed school for animation students, The Animation Workshop is home to a creative business cluster for companies, freelancers and start-ups working in animation, new media and games. Viborg also hosts Denmark’s biggest animation festival, which showcases Denmark’s passionate animation community on an annual basis.
Denmark has huge potential to grow as a destination for animation production. However, local animation companies are surviving, rather than thriving, on service and commercial work due a lack of support from the government and local broadcasters.
Lack of government support
Animation producers in Denmark are competing on an uneven playing field compared to many other European companies due to their inability to access a tax credit for animation. This is chiefly down to the Danish government’s Ministry of Industry’s reluctance to offer cash rebates to the creative sector.
This is stunting the growth the country’s animation scene could experience as local companies lose out on work to neighbouring countries with tax incentives.
The industry is to an extent reliant on service work from companies such as Lego that have local ties to Denmark. It is therefore vulnerable if important clients decided to move production to a country where a tax credit for animation was on offer in order to cut down on costs.
As a result, Danish producers have banded together to try and lobby the government to introduce a tax credit to go alongside the existing financial support they receive from the Ministry of Culture and three regional funds. These are the Copenhagen Film Fund, FilmFyn and the West Danish Film Fund. The latter contributed to the Oscar-nominated animated feature film Song of the Sea (2014), which was a coproduction between Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France and Luxembourg.
The financing from the Ministry of Culture is distributed via the Danish Film Institute (DFI) and helps to fund shorts, documentaries and feature films. Danish producers are also able to access funding from the Nordisk TV & Film Fund by coproducing with companies in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland.
Broadcast upheaval
Local animation producers feel they are not adequality supported by the country’s broadcasters. The move away from linear television viewing towards digital platforms has been particularly prevalent in Scandinavia and Danish broadcasters have had to act quickly to try and retain viewers. For example, public broadcaster DR announced in 2016 that its channel for 7-12s, DR Ultra, would become online-only by 2020. The Danish government also imposed a 20% cut to the funding of DR in 2018.
As a result of the lack of investment from broadcasters, animation companies in Denmark tend to focus on commercial or service work whilst participating in feature film coproductions with countries such as France, Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. In this area, Denmark is a relatively strong performer considering its small population size.
Recent successes include The Incredible Story of the Giant Pear (2017), which was a box office hit at home and received extensive international distribution, Up & Away (2018) and Chequered Ninja (2018), which all highlight local demand for Danish animated features. As minority coproducers, Danish producers have also received support from the DFI for their work on The Little Vampire (2017) and Luis & the Aliens (2018).
There are few cases of animated series from Denmark that have reached the international market. Notable examples include preschool series Rita & Crocodile, which received funding from DR, and Subway Surfers, which began life as an app and has formed the basis of animated series on YouTube. There is also Cartoon Network’s The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe, which was created by graduates from arguably Denmark’s most valuable animation asset: The Animation Workshop in Viborg.
As well as being a highly-esteemed school for animation students, The Animation Workshop is home to a creative business cluster for companies, freelancers and start-ups working in animation, new media and games. Viborg also hosts Denmark’s biggest animation festival, which showcases Denmark’s passionate animation community on an annual basis.
Animationscirclen
The Animationscirklen was founded as a forum for Danish producers and studio owners who work in animation. The organisation surveys local animation producers and communicates their wishes for the industry to the Danish Producers Association. The Animationscirklen is active in promoting awareness of Danish animation in Denmark and outside of Denmark. It participates in the organisation of a Nordic stand at events such as Mifa at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. It also aims to ensure that Denmark’s politicians, unions and broadcasters do not forget the country’s animation industry when they create new funding systems, laws and other initiatives in the media industry.
Chairman: Anders Mastrup
Vice Chairman: Sarita Christensen