Three animation companies in Wales will benefit from a ‘500,000 (approx. $944,000) development and production fund provided by U.K. broadcaster S4C. Awarded as part of a competitive tendering process, the money will be split between Calon in Cardiff Bay (‘250,000), Griffilms, with offices in Caernarfon and Cardiff (‘150,000), and a partnership between Caernarfon-based Cwmni Da and Dinamo in Cardiff (‘100,000).
The companies will use the fund to develop and deliver multi-platform animation projects that reflect S4C’s program priorities in the family, late-night and children’s categories. Ranging in length from 10 seconds to 10 minutes, the short films and promotional materials will be created over a two-year period.
‘S4C is committed to developing a range of creative animation projects across different genres and for multi-platform use, from short promotional trails which can be zapped to mobile phones to prime-time programming,’ says Meirion Davies, S4C’s Commissioning Editor Entertainment, who coordinated the animation tender process. ‘We look forward to working alongside the talented teams at the successful companies.’
Calon is currently in production on S4C’s new animated pre-school series, Holi Hana, a co-production with Five and Germany’s ZDF with support from the EU’s Media+ program and the National Assembly for Wales. Meanwhile, Griffilms is working on a 30-minute animated film based on the Welsh legend of Gelert for S4C’s 2007 holiday schedule, and Dinamo is producing CWM Teg, a series of 20 five-minute nursery rhymes for the broadcaster.
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