WEIRD MARKET EXPANDS ITS PROFESSIONAL AREA WITH A MEETING FOCUSED ON INVESTMENT AND FINANCING IN ANIMATION AND VIDEO GAME PROJECTS
Weird Market continues to advance details of its 2024 program, an edition where its professional side is reinforced with the creation of the Weird Invest day; a session focused on investment and financing for animation and video game projects. This initiative, made possible thanks to the support of ICEX, Animation from Spain and Games from Spain, will take place on Thursday, October 3 and will expand the solid and well-tended professional area. The objective is to bring new financing models, examine case studies and go deeper into the use of disruptive technologies. Participation of investors, publishers and institutions has already been confirmed. “Weird Market has always worked by and for the industry and with Weird Invest we expand into a key area in the sector,” says José Luis Farias, its director.
The animation, video games, new media and board games market returns once again to Valencia between October 1 and 6, combining new venues such as La Harinera and Las Naves with other traditional ones such as the Filmoteca Valenciana; a triangle of cultural infrastructures that make a multidisciplinary program possible. The organization confirms once again the video game and animation showroom to be held on Friday 4 and Saturday 5. All the stands will be located in Las Naves where innovative experiences and new proposals can be tested, a showcase for professionals and the general public that, for the first time in 2024, will have the collaboration of Indie Dev Day (the largest independent video game fair in Spain). Registration for the showroom will be open until August 19.
The rest of the main lines of the program are confirmed with a recruitment day on Wednesday, October 2, where leading companies will seek to complete their work teams with new professionals in all fields. In addition, there will be conferences and project presentations on Friday and Saturday, where Buffet Paraíso by Héctor Zafra (Movistar Plus+ Short Film Project Award in 2022) will be premiered. Other topics that will have their own space are animation and video game prototyping or cinematics and game trailers with The Line and Sunshine Animation Studio, among others.
The beerworking session returns on Friday evening, while the screenings of the short film festival (WFest) will be spread over October 1, 2 and 3 at the Filmoteca Valenciana, Rialto Building. The presentation of the domestic works in competition will take place on Thursday, October 3, and the winning films will be screened on Sunday, October 6.
To complete the program, networking sessions will be held again and a meetings app will be available for companies as well as for creators who have a project in the catalog. The organizers continue working to make this one of the most awaited events for experts and onlookers, while keeping open several calls such as the one for projects that will close on July 25.
AN INTERNATIONAL “QUARTET” FOR THE WFEST JURY
The WFest event, which is part of Weird Market, will have an international jury made up of important industry representatives such as Bruno Caetano, María Pulido, Vanessa Wheeler and Moe Honan.
Born in Portimão (Portugal), Bruno Caetano is a self-taught animator and builder, member of the Hollywood Academy since 2023 and of COLA Animation, an international artist cooperative in constant growth, focused on producing, teaching and promoting animation. His work as a producer stands out with works such as Ice Merchants, a short film by João González, winner of the Annie Award and nominated for an Oscar, as well as O Peculiar Crime do Estranho Sr. Jacinto, a stop motion short film that he directed himself and for which he received more than 42 awards in 2019.
María Pulido from Córdoba is a “rara avis” in the industry with a multidisciplinary profile and a unique ability to combine frames to achieve perfect harmony. She currently works as Sets and Props supervisor at Lightbox and her latest project is the art direction of Mariposas Negras, an animated feature film directed by David Baute and produced by Ikiru together with Tinglado Films, a work that has just been premiered at the Annecy International Animation Festival.
Vanessa Wheeler is an English producer with a multilingual background in European animation co-productions and book-to-screen adaptations. Much of her professional career has involved the BAFTA and International Emmy© award winning studio Lupus Films, where she heads the development department for animated and live action films, as well as programs. In addition, she has also worked with Oscar-nominated SPA Studios (Klaus) in Madrid as production supervisor for the animated feature Ember. Other notable work to her credit includes the film adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel Kensuke’s Kingdom, starring Sally Hawkins and Oscar winner Cillian Murphy; The Tiger Who Came to Tea, for Channel 4; and Sky One’s RTS award-winning animated special The Ghastly Ghoul. Most recently, Vanessa was a producer for the short film Three Hares by BAFTA-winning writer/director Paloma Baeza.
The fourth member of the quartet is Irish-born Moe Honan, CEO of Moetion Films, and an independent producer and voice director of animated films and TV series. Among her most notable works is the debut of the studio she directs: Two by Two Ooops! The Ark has Gone. This film was an international success and had a sequel (Ooops! The Adventure Continues… -Two by Two -Overboard!-) that topped the box office in major markets such as the United Kingdom. Moe is currently in production on Niko – Beyond The Northern Lights, the third film in the internationally successful Niko franchise, scheduled for release in winter 2024. Honan is also the president of Animation Ireland, the country’s association of animation production companies, and sits on the board of Animation In Europe.
The 16th edition of Weird Market is co-organized by the Valencian Institute of Culture, attached to the First Vice-Presidency and Department of Culture and Sport of the Generalitat Valenciana. It also has the main sponsorship of Europa Creativa MEDIA, Valencia City Council and Valencia Provincial Council; the participation of the Ministry of Culture, ICEX, Valencia Innovation Capital, Acción Cultural Española through the Program for the Internationalization of Spanish Culture (PICE) and the ICAA; the support of IndieDevDay, AVEPA, Animat, Movistar Plus+ and RTVE, among others.
