We are very pleased to introduce you to our new AMCRS member gretels gold!
gretels gold specialize in the development and financing of animation projects and family entertainment formats.
Their managing director Gisela Schäfer has over 25 years of experience in the industry and close relationships to companies such as LEONINE, ZDF, ARD, BETA Film, ZDF Studios and edel kids. International co-operations, e.g. in Benelux, France, India, Italy, Malaysia and Singapore, form a further basis for projects. Gisela Schäfer has produced numerous projects, including the feature films “The Ogglies – Welcome to Smelliville”, “Yakari – The Film” and TV-series such as “Henrietta – The Cow” and hybrid productions such as “Let it Glow – How Pauline Saved Christmas”.
A warm welcome! Find out more about gretels gold here!
Yakari
April 19, 2024
German Computer Game Award 2024 for THE BEAR!
The Bear, Mucks! Games, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
The interactive bedtime story THE BEAR – A STORY FROM THE WORLD OF GRA has won the German Computer Game Award (DCP) in the category “Best Graphic Design”. THE BEAR is the debut work of Clara Deitmar, Julius Dorsel and Luzie Kehle – all former students of the Animationsinstitut at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. The team accepted the award yesterday evening in Munich.
THE BEAR is an interactive experience for tablets. Two friends, the bear and the little one, embark on a journey through a dreamy universe where they collect stars and experience stories together. THE BEAR is about rediscovering the intimate and emotional state just before falling asleep.
Winning the DCP feels like a dream for the team: “It was absolutely amazing to be part of the DCP this year! The nominations alone meant so much to us – winning is just phenomenal. We couldn’t have wished for a better start for our newly founded studio.”
The German Computer Game Award is the most important prize for games in Germany and is endowed with around 800,000€. It is awarded by the Federal Government, represented by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, together with game – Association of the German Games Industry and the Digital Games Culture Foundation.
For Jan Pinkava, Director of the Animationsinstitut, the triumph at the DCP is a strong signal for Ludwigsburg as a games location: “To put it simply: The Filmakademie is in Ludwigsburg, and Ludwigsburg is a growing centre for the creative arts. Our Interactive Media teaching is about content – what the artwork does and what it means – with a special emphasis on storytelling. That is why our talented students produce meaningful work, like THE BEAR. At the Animationsinstitut we are proud of our extraordinary students and their contribution to the region.“
While still studying Interactive Media, Deitmar, Dorsel and Kehle founded the studio Mucks! Games, under whose name they recently published THE BEAR. The game is available for iOS systems.
Find out more about WORLD OF GRA and THE BEAR here.
Mucks! Games at DCP 2024, Photo by Sebastian Reuter/Getty Images for Marchsreiter Communications
April 14, 2024
Diploma Showroom 2024 at Animationsinstitut!
Animationsinstitut Diploma Showroom 2024
You would like to get to know the diploma projects2024 of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg’sAnimationsinstitutand their makers? Visit the Diploma Showroom on Thursday, April 25, 2024 between 14:00 and 20:30CET on the campus of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Akademiehof 10 in Ludwigsburg!
Here you can watch all the graduation films and trailers, try out the games and talk to the graduates!
Das NEINhorn (Authors: Marc-Uwe Kling, Marcus Sauermann)
The Ogglies – Rexy Alarm! (Author: Toby Genkel)
Out of Frame (Authors: Giles New, Keiron Self)
The Award for the best German screenplay for an animated feature film that has not yet been realized comes with a cash prize of €2,500, sponsored by Animation Media Cluster Region Stuttgart (AMCRS). The German screenplay with the biggest international market potential will receive a prize of € 1,500, donated by Pink Parrot.
The awards aim to promote excellent screenplays for German animated feature film projects in German and English language as well as promising authors, and to highlight the importance of professional screenwriting.
The German Animation Screenplay Award will be presented at the ITFS as part of the AniX Awards on Thursday, April 25 at 19.00 CET in the Filmmakers’ Lounge (Festival Center – Haus der Katholischen Kirche Stuttgart), along with the Trickstar Business Award, which honors the best innovative and forward-looking business model in the animation sector, and the ASIFA Prize, which goes to Michaela Pavlátová this year.
If you would like to find out more about the screenplays and the people behind them, join the Workshop-Talk on Thursday, April 25 at 12:30 CET at Cinema: There, Marco Kreuzer, board member of the VeDRA – Verband für Film- und Fernsehdramaturgie, will talk to the nominees of the German Animation Screenplay Award about dramaturgical work and script development based on the nominated scripts.
SWR TV documentary about current animation projects involving our Creators
Fritzi & Sophie – A Boundless Friendship
The German TV documentary “Frame by Frame – Wie Trickfilmer ticken” by SWR provides insights into the creation of the animated series “Fritzi & Sophie – A Boundless Friendship” and the animated feature film “The Light of Aisha”.
“Fritzi & Sophie” is a co-production of Balance Film Dresden, Trickstudio Lutterbeck Cologne and our CREATORS from Studio Filmbilder in Stuttgart and the first animation series to be produced entirely in Germany. Director and producer Thomas Meyer-Hermann (Studio Filmbilder), director and producer Ralf Kukula (Balance Film) and others involved in the production process will talk about the new technique in animated film of using motion capture in combination with CGI.
Exciting insights into the series and its creation will also be available in a few weeks at the Stuttgart Animated Week at FMX and ITFS. It will also celebrate its world premiere at ITFS (episodes 1-4, episodes 5-8).
Shadi Adib, director of the feature film “The Light of Aisha” and alumna of Animationsinstitut, talks about the making of the international co-production, whose screenplay by Xavier Romero and Llorenç Español won the German Animation Screenplay Award at ITFS 2019 and which is due to be released in cinemas in the fall. Further insights are provided by Kate Forsdick and Holger Tesch from The M.A.R.K. 13 Group in Stuttgart and Peter Keydel from Mago Production in Barcelona.
Take a look!
Directly to feature in the ARD media library, it is available until April 1, 2025.
On April 8, the Wirtschaftsförderung der Stadt Ludwigsburg and the Kokolores Collective are hosting their first Start-up Monday. The networking event will take place at the Kokolores creative center in Ludwigsburg (Mörikestr. 28/2) and will begin at 16:30 CET.
Start-Up Monday in Ludwigsburg
Start-up Monday connects the Ludwigsburg start-up community with the regional creative scene. Participants will gain an insight into the Kokolores creative center and can get to know and try out various regional products from the fields of games, animation and virtual reality. The program includes a discussion round, start-up pitches and plenty of space for networking with music and drinks. Our CREATORS from Pixelcloud and Animationsinstitut will also be part of the event.
Founders and start-ups from the Ludwigsburg area will have the opportunity to present themselves and their creative products at Start-up Monday. If you are interested, please register by e-mail to Dr. Max Höllen from the Wirtschaftsförderung der Stadt Ludwigsburg by April 4, 2024. Anyone who would like to drop by spontaneously is also welcome.
Night of Shame is the curated film show that celebrates filmmakers’ worst! From charmingly incompetent to all out shameful – established directors excavate their questionable films and submit them to the fascinated gaze of a live audience. An introduction, a screening and an on-stage interview with our host Michael Bohnenstingl. Slightly uncomfortable or outrageously funny! Finally our filmmaker is rewarded by the redemptive applause of a loving crowd. Night of Shame makes you feel humbled, elated, and a bit closer to each other. Because ultimately: “We’re all the same in our shame.”
The next Stuttgart Animation Meetup will take place on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, 19:30 CET at Flora & Fauna (U-Bahn Mineralbäder). Tables are reserved inside. Let’s talk, drink and connect the regional industry!
The Meetup is open to everyone – whether student, senior artist, newcomer or animation fan! Here, everyone can chat about the industry, connect with each other, and whoever wants can scribble cartoons and characters with the others.
Among the nominees are also AMCRSHEROES! In the “Best Visual Effects” category, Apollonia Hartmann and Jan Burda from Accenture Song #VFX as well as Juri Stanossek (LAVAlabs) and their teams can hope for the coveted LOLA for their work on the MFG-funded film “Girl You Know It’s True”. The film, which deals with the rise and sudden fall of pop duo Milli Vanilli in the 1980s, is also nominated in the categories “Best Production Design”, “Best Costume Design” and “Best Make-up Design”.
Also nominated in the “Best Visual Effects” category are Animationsinstitut alumni Kariem Saleh and Adrian Meyer for their work on “Die Theorie von allem” (The Universal Theory). The film is also on the list of nominees for “Best Feature Film” and “Best Director”.
The LOLA winners will be announced on May 3, 2024. We are keeping our fingers crossed for all nominees!
Wanted: Trainee Communications (m/f/d) at Animationsinstitut!
The Animationsinstitut is part of the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and one of the world’s leading institutions for Animation, Visual Effects, Technical Directing, Animation/Effects Producing and Interactive Media. In their Research and Development Department, a highly skilled and motivated team of researchers, engineers and artists works on the next generation of tools, workflows and content for Film, Animation, VFX and XR-Immersive Media.
They are looking for a trainee (m/f/d) in the field of communication at the earliest possible date!
Are you fresh out of university and interested in content marketing for social media and moving images? Then join the team in the Communications department in the external presentation of Animationsinstitut and the acquisition of international talents.
Tasks:
Writing texts for press relations, social media and print products
Supporting the Animationsinstitut’s social media channels and developing new formats
Support in the regular updating of the website and content creation
Collaboration in the organization and implementation of events, such as the annual FMX, as well as support in representing Animationsinstitut at trade fairs and events
Support in the creation of print products and merchandise
After training, taking on your own projects and parts of the day-to-day business in collaboration with the team
