The 14th edition Weird Market ends with a resounding success. The arrival of the reference market for animation, video games and new media in Valencia achieves numbers that show the potential and strength of both the sector and the event. A total of 387 professionals, 427 meetings and outstanding gatherings such as the round table on co-productions with television and public institutions or the one of toy companies, promote its role as a focus and international benchmark. Its director, José Luis Farias, is exultant both for the balance and the arrival in Valencia, “we are very excited about this new beginning, it has been an edition with a lot of effort but at the same time of growth and expansion. Weird Market is already a benchmark event, but the symbiosis with Valencia opens up innumerable vias for development”; Some of these vias have already shown results, such as the creation of the first international Flipbooks contest.
The data is reinforced with the detailed analysis, activities such as the recruitment day had 16 companies and their best headhunters to seek young professionals. 3 Doubles Producciones, Alba Sotorra, Ánima Kitchent, Aupa Studio, B Water Animation Studios, El Ranchito, Hampa Studio, La Mola Films, Mago Production, Lusco Fusco Animation, Sauvage TV, The Glow Animation Studio, The SPA Studios, Tomavision, TV On Producciones and Wise Blue Studios conducted a total of 597 interviews.
One of the focuses of this 2022 has been to structure the value of animation in Spain. On one hand, with the work meeting and subsequent round table with television broadcasters and public institutions from different autonomous communities, where the will to collaborate and harmonize processes to improve the sector was made clear. RTVE, TV3, À Punt, Agadic, ICEC, Tenerife Film Commission, Government of Navarra, ICO and ICAA participated in it. Among the conclusions drawn, highlights the unanimity among the attendees that Weird Market will become an annual meeting point for these agents in the sector and in the next edition this work meeting and round table will be organized again, with the aim of sharing other experiences regarding the co-production of animation series and feature films between the autonomous communities.
On the other hand, a meeting was held with some of the main toy companies in the country, a fundamental part of the animation and video game value chain. Famosa, Simba Toys, ColorBaby and Magic Box had the opportunity to get closer to content creators by establishing a link with the event that will also be extended in the future.
Both meetings had the participation and collaboration of RTVE.
Italian and Spanish animation also strengthened their ties thanks to a work table organized between DIBOOS and Cartoon Italia. An analysis of the current situation in the transalpine country that serves as the seed for the next steps that will be taken and announced for the creation of various collaborations and cultural bridges.
From left to right Muntsa Tarrés – TV3, Jose Luis Farias – Weird Market, Elisa Rodríguez ICAA, Juana Moreno – ICO, Yago Fandiño – RTVE, Virginia Agudo – Gobierno de Navarra, Ricardo Martínez – Tenerife Film Commission, Blanca Piulats – ICEC & Ernest Sorrentino – À Punt.
FIRST INTERNATIONAL FLIPBOOK COMPETITION
Weird Market together with Flipboku, a publisher specializing in flipbooks that reinvents the format with different optical illusion mechanics, announced the creation of the first international six-sequence animated flipbook contest. The contest will be of international scope and will be open to professional animators and students, in addition to having a jury of professionals linked to the world of animation, as recognized and reputed as Raúl García (one of the pioneering Spanish animators in making the leap to major studios in the United States such as Disney), Andy Bailey (who has worked as an animator for the Laika studio and his YouTube channel Andymotion, has millions of followers who love animation and flipbooks) and Magdiela Duhamel (with participation in series such as Trollhunters, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle or What If…?) among other names. The official regulations will be announced soon on social media and different communication channels of Flipboku and Weird Market. The winning animations will be edited and distributed in flipbook format, they will have an economic prize and, in addition, an accreditation with meals and accommodation for the Weird Market 2023 where they will be presented.
14TH EDITION LIST OF WINNERS
The event closed its doors on October 2nd after announcing a list of winners where the jury awarded the Japanese short film Iizuna Fair by Sumito Sakakibara (Best International Short Film), the Dutch Pig by Jorn Leeuwerink (Best European Short Film) and He Ran Towards His Comrade by Genís Rigol (Best National Short Film). The public, for its part, opted for Good Night Mr Ted by Nicolás Sole (Best National Short Film) and Sprite Fright by the Dutchman Matthew Luhn. A cinematographic part that had its headquarters in La Filmoteca de Valencia (Rialto Building) and that the audience welcomed enthusiastically, selling out the tickets in the screening of national short films where the directors and crew of the short films were present.
The projects section, which had a selection of 170 titles between feature films, short films, animation series, video games, web series, transmedia projects, comics and board games, also had its awards. The Movistar Plus+ Short Film Project Award went to Buffet Paraíso, by Héctor Zafra, while the Weird Market – Spanish Screenings Anímate Award, one of this year’s novelties, went to the series Brian the Brain by Tomás Peña (BLISS). Regarding video games, RTVE chose Endling Extinction is Forever, by HEROBEAT STUDIOS and HANDY GAMES (Spain, Germany) as the RTVE Interactive Award for Best Video Game Project; IDEA by Arturo Monedero (Spain) as the RTVE Interactive Video Game Project Award; and The Fabulous Fear Machine by FICTIORAMA STUDIOS (Spain) as the RTVE Interactive Award for the Weird Plus Video Game.
The 14th edition of Weird Market has the main sponsorship of the Valencia City Council, the Valencia Provincial Council and the Generalitat Valenciana; the sponsorship of ICAA, HP, Tenerife Film Commission, Huawei and Wacom; and the support of AVEPA, À Punt, Barreira Arte + Diseño, SimpleCloud, Welaw, Tangram Solutions, CREA SGR and La Liga de la Animación Iberoamericana (The Ibero-American Animation League).
