Moldovan "Gypsy" feature film gets an investor
In 2008, this project started as an attempt to create the first Moldovan 3D animated short. In 2009, rumours started floating around that it had morphed into a feature film. Now, AWN reports that STV Film (from Russia) is going to fund a planned 5-year production with 5 million euros, and Sympals studio will be hiring 100 workers.
Normally, this would all make me very skeptical, as a number of similarly-ambitious projects in Russia have failed (either stopped production or were released as bad films) because of incompetence and inexperience by the producers and artists. In Russia, budgets for animated features today almost never rise above $1-1.5 million, and are made either over a short period by a large crew (i.e. Melnitsa Studio) or over a long period by a small crew (i.e. Stayer Studio, Master-film, Soyuzmultfilm). This is partly because the commercial market for domestic animation is small, and partly because the government will generally not give funding over $1 million to any one project, and most animation in Russia is still funded at least in part by the government.
However, these guys seem to actually know what they're doing. They've released some excellent scenes from the upcoming film; you can watch some of them below. So, with some trepidation, I'm expecting something good 5 winters from now. I hope they keep the combination of 3D characters with painted backgrounds; it looks excellent.
The official website is http://www.gypsycartoon.com/
Normally, this would all make me very skeptical, as a number of similarly-ambitious projects in Russia have failed (either stopped production or were released as bad films) because of incompetence and inexperience by the producers and artists. In Russia, budgets for animated features today almost never rise above $1-1.5 million, and are made either over a short period by a large crew (i.e. Melnitsa Studio) or over a long period by a small crew (i.e. Stayer Studio, Master-film, Soyuzmultfilm). This is partly because the commercial market for domestic animation is small, and partly because the government will generally not give funding over $1 million to any one project, and most animation in Russia is still funded at least in part by the government.
However, these guys seem to actually know what they're doing. They've released some excellent scenes from the upcoming film; you can watch some of them below. So, with some trepidation, I'm expecting something good 5 winters from now. I hope they keep the combination of 3D characters with painted backgrounds; it looks excellent.
The official website is http://www.gypsycartoon.com/