III ANIMATION AND CHILD PROTECTION DAY ORGANIZED BY ATR AND DIBOOS

PRODUCERS HIGHLIGHT THE QUALITY CONTENT OF ANIMATION THAT IS WATCHED BY 50% OF MINORS IN SPAIN

At the 3rd Animation Conference organised by ATR Users of Media of Madrid, in collaboration with Diboos, Federation of Associations of Animation Producers, the current situation of the animation sector was presented as well as the potential for the creation and dissemination of quality content with values. The conference was opened by Esperanza García, Director of the Department of Family, Education and Youth of the Madrid City Council, who presented data on the consumption of content by children both nationally and internationally. The conference was presented by the reporter from Madrileños por el mundo Miguel Valle Castaño, who reiterated the enormous impact of animation on today's society.

The importance of animation in Spain is reflected in the direct employment of 5,500 people, through more than 200 companies and with an annual turnover of more than 300 million euros. Between 40 and 70% of this income comes from the export of its products and services. If 50% of Spanish children watch animation content, this indicates that animation is an effective vehicle for the transmission of cultural and educational values, stated José Félix García, from Turner, and Víctor López, from Anima Kitchent.

As José Antonio Rodríguez from U-tad pointed out, children spend an average of two and a half hours a day in front of the television, 14.4% of them view children's channels, the percentage of those who have their own tablet is increasing and 73% of children between 4 and 9 years old watch these channels with someone else, which shows that Spanish parents want to check the quality of the content for their children.

During the day, content from two Spanish blockbusters was previewed. On the one hand, Nicolás Matji presented “Capture the Flag” by the creators of Tadeo Jones, which will be distributed worldwide by Paramount Pictures and will be released on August 28, having counted on the collaboration of NASA astronauts for its execution. José Tatay presented “Deep”, a 3D blockbuster about the marine world, whose teaser was released during the Animation Day, and stressed the importance of a good story that wins over the audience.

Víctor López, from Anima Kitchent, described his experience with Familia Telerín and Pocoyó and agreed with the other participants that Spanish animation enjoys great international prestige and is a good tool for disseminating educational content and values that are universally accepted. He reiterated that television is a necessary path to promote this sector and that doing business and disseminating cultural content are not incompatible, but that both things are necessary for the sector to be sustainable and valued. He also announced the signing with Famosa for the next Pinypon animation series.

José Félix García explained the value of Lazy Town's healthy lifestyle, which encourages sport and good nutrition in the fight against obesity and overweight. He regretted the difficulty they have in getting television stations to accept this type of series, but his experience has been a success: it is seen in 172 countries and has been translated into more than 30 languages with collaborators such as Michelle Obama.

Sergi Reitg, from Imira Entertainment, explained the values of solidarity, tolerance and respect for nature that the Cleo series promotes. According to the latest data, Cleo is ranked fifth in audience.

The people behind the “Mica” success story detailed the design, creation and production process from the classroom to the screen, which demonstrates the great creativity of children. As stated in the last chapter of “Discover with Tadeo”: the limit is your imagination.

Finally, the president of ATR Media Users of Madrid, Remigio Abad, considered that if accessibility to educational content is different today, the protection of minors, one of the objectives of ATR, must also be achieved through animation, since it contributes effectively to the dissemination of universal values.

The 3rd Conference on Animation and Child Protection, dedicated to Education, was held at the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences. Its Director General, Porfirio Enríquez, aware of the importance of this sector, announced that the Academy is preparing a programme of screenings of Spanish children's animated films, to also contribute to its growth.