By Monica Gorghetto
Cartoons on the Bay is the 14-year old children’s TV festival organized by Italy’s RaiTrade, RAI’s program sales division. For the second consecutive year, the four-day event will be held in Portofino starting on April 15, just before the conclusion of MIP-TV. Portofino and the other event’s venues (Rapallo and S. Margherita Ligure) are a two-hour car ride from Cannes.
To get a sense of this year’s Cartoons on the Bay from a business perspective, VideoAge asked five pointed questions to the festival’s artistic director Roberto Genovesi.
VideoAge: In your view, why is a children’s TV festival more important than a TV market?
Roberto Genovesi: It depends how the festival is conceived. If it has a classic structure, its importance should be determined by the contents. Cartoons on the Bay has both an artistic and market-oriented structure, which is important because it allows executives to see both sides of the world of animation.
VA: What does Cartoons on the Bay offer that other kids fests don’t offer?
RG: First of all, it is the first cross-media animation festival, and one of the first ones to have entirely opened to other sectors related to animation, like videogames and comics, which are crucial for future scenarios of this industry. These sectors, on our opinion, are very open-minded, and this is how we want to be. It is not possible to be close-minded anymore.
VA: What is the monetary value (or added value) for a producer and/or a program distributor of participating at Cartoons on the Bay?
RG: At Cartoons you are able to confront worlds other than animation, and confront professionals and sectors that can bring much to the final product; we are talking about different worlds influencing each other.
VA: How does Cartoons on the Bay facilitate business interactions among participants?
RG: This year’s edition of the festival will have, for the first time, an area exclusively open to business, where participants can network and tie up new business relationships. Moreover, the largest delegation of Chinese television and animation producers will be there.
VA: In one sentence, why is important for executives in the children’s TV biz to be at Cartoons on the Bay?
RG: At Cartoons, you will get a clear a complete view of animation today, from both artistic and commercial point of view.
