Pitch competition awards the most creative and the most market-promising

The Animation Project Pitch and Catch 2010 announced its awards yesterday. "Da Hai" was chosen as the Most Creative Project and won 50,000 yuan prize money, while "Wulongyuan-Legend of Changbai Mountain" bagged the Most Market-Promising Project Award and 300,000 yuan of prize.
 

The ceremony also presented awards to the 8 finalists as the Nomination Projects and to the other 20 Excellent Projects.

 

Based on the project presentations, the International Jury Panel composed of five experts in the animation industry made the decision after three rounds of heated discussion and vote.

 

The Most Creative Project, "Da Hai" by B&T Co., Ltd, told a story of a goddess girl who overcomes many obstacles to bring life back to a boy, who died in an attempt to save the girl, by keeping a fish in which the boy\'s soul lies. It is an "animation movie full of oriental fantasies, breathtaking beauty, and warm human touch."

 

"We chose \'Da Hai\' as the Most Creative Project for the great imagination it has displayed," said one of the judges, Duncan Rouleau, a founding member of Man of Action Studio in US. "Also, it is the most realized idea among all the finalists."

 

On the other hand, "Wulongyuan-Legend of Changbai Mountain" by Huaman Bros Entertainment Ltd was developed from Wulongyuan cartoon series by well-known cartoonist Ao Youxiang. It is said that one of every three children has a Wulongyuan cartoon in China.

 

"Wulongyuan has already enjoyed a huge market share and the project is based on the tourism of Changbai Mountain," said producer Li Ruqi. "Our company has a great potential in marketing. I think that\'s the three main reasons for us to win the Most Market-Promising Award."

 

Entering its third year, the pitch competition has seen more and more applications from both independent animation workers to large-scale companies.

 

Lu, a judge for both the pitch competition and also the Magnolia Award for International TV Program, shared his perspective about this year\'s projects and raised hope for next year\'s competition.

 

"Honestly there is still a gap between the projects in this pitch competition and the animations in the Magnolia Award competition; they still lack a power that shakes people and make people cry."