Scottish creatives are being urged to submit their ideas for an animated feature film or series, as part of a new project involving the Glasgow Film Festival.

Animatic will bring together budding filmakers with international industry leading animation executives, and will include dedicated 'pitch training' from MySmashMedia, an award-winning digital matchmaking marketplace for new film and TV projects. 

Open to individuals, creative groups and studios, successful proposals will take part in a three-month programme of workshops, designed to help them develop their project, before pitching in person to studio executives from a world leading animation studio and industry experts.

Through the programme of workshops, successful applicants will get the opportunity to learn from a team of industry experts on how to maximise their chances of success in front of one of the worlds’ leading studios, and also get feedback on the day about their performance and the potential of their pitch. 

Organisers say they are particularly interested in hearing from projects that are adult animation comedies, particularly tv series, and kids TV. 

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The course is open to Scottish based creatives who are over the 18 years of age, are not in full or part-time education and have made at least one of a short film of any genre, one episode of television of any genre or one commercial/advertisement/music video as a writer, a director or a producer.

Angus Robertson, Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture said:  “This is a fantastic opportunity for the next breakthrough Scottish creative, which highlights the important role Scotland’s festivals have in enabling new talent to shine under an international spotlight, in addition to the entertainment and economic benefits they provide.

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“The Scottish Government is proud to support Animatic and other ambitious collaborations like it through our EXPO fund to help raise the profile of new Scottish artists and maximise opportunities for them at home and abroad.”

Allison Gardner, CEO of Glasgow Film and Director of GFF, said:  “Animatic demonstrates the international platform, ambition and value of Glasgow Film Festival to the Scottish filmmaking sector. We are delighted to be working with leading animation experts and to be able to connect them with the amazing talent that we have here in Scotland.

"This project is another milestone in Glasgow Film’s year round initiatives to support talent development. With the help of our new Industry Advisory Board, we look forward to sharing our vision for the festival’s industry programme next year.” 

David Smith, Director of Screen Scotland, said:  “Glasgow Film Festival, as part of Glasgow Film, is an organisation Screen Scotland has supported for many years. The new industry advisory board is a welcome development – it’s a great mix of talented film and programme makers.

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"They will drive further development of Glasgow Film Festival’s industry offer, providing new opportunities for Scotland-based talent to meet, collaborate, pitch ideas, and develop their work together.”

GFF also today announced details of their new Industry Advisory Board, chaired by writer and director Raisah Ahmed and packed with sector leaders and influential experts. GFF was originally established as a public-facing festival and has grown to become the second largest in the UK, with a reputation for its passionate and loyal audiences, which grew by 25% in the most recent year.

Due to the increasing number of filmmaking professionals also attending the festival - drawn by the breadth and quality of GFF’s programme and its growing reputation as a festival that champions new voices - the Industry Focus strand was added to GFF's programme in 2016. 

Next year will be GFF’s 20th edition, taking place 28 February to 10 March, where the Industry Advisory Board will reveal their vision and 10-year strategy for the industry programme.