Thanks to government incentives, the Italian animation industry sprouted in the last few years. Besides the Cinema Law, tax credit measures have proven essential for strengthening the sector. Italian productions increased, leading to a 400% rise in staffing levels within three years. Recently, governments have transformed these incentives into a tool for industrial development, revitalizing the sector and allowing local studios to compete with major foreign productions.
The role of the Undersecretary to the Ministry of Culture with responsibility for cinema and audiovisuals, Lucia Borgonzoni, has been crucial, as she has created forms of support for the entire industry. As a result, international players see Italy as a valid partner in terms of creativity and for the essential closing of production budgets. Figures that exceed the rest of the industry’s standards.
To finance an animated series, besides the tools provided by the government, the presence of broadcasters or other partners in the form of co-productions and pre-buys is vital. European pubcasters have invested significant budgets in animated products, reflecting the importance of children’s programming and local content production. That same local aspect has struggled to survive in Italy in recent decades, just like the entire sector, with fluctuating production pipelines that forced studios to look for foreign partners, particularly the most affordable Asians, to maximize resources and minimize investment risks. In this context, many Italian studios have been acquired by international groups, particularly the French, who lead the European industry, having managed to transform animation into a portion of their GDP. On the one hand, international groups have revitalized the Italian sector by ensuring the production of foreign projects. Still, they have also nibbled away at some of the funding, which, in any
case, has benefited Italian studios but not always on Italian creativity. The debate is open, and the consequences will be seen in a few years.
Meanwhile, the substantial investments of BBC, France Télévisions, ZDF, and ARD (through the children’s channel KiKA), as well as by Rai and to a lesser extent by RTVE in Spain and the Scandinavian pubcasters, have been the lifeline of the sector.
Rai in Italy invests between €16M and €18M annually through Rai Kids, led by Luca Milano, for the channels Rai Yoyo and Rai Gulp. The internationals see it as a generous investment, good enough to close the budgets but insufficient for the growing number of Italian studios. It is “a situation of near-monopoly,” says Anne-Sophie Vanhollebeke (Producer, Studio Campedelli and member of the Italian producers association Cartoon Italia), who in recent months has attempted, on behalf of the association, to propose a sub-quota for animation for the TUSMA (which applies the directive of the European Parliament 2018/1808 AVMSD), regarding the provision of audiovisual media services in the evolving market. The evolution mainly consists of video streaming platforms expanding into European territories, which requires new rules. These rules also affect other national players, who seem to dislike the minimal investment obligations proposed for animation. “In the absence of measures in Italy, operators will invest in France, where the sub-quota is already implemented,” suggests Cartoon Italia in the document delivered to the government. Are we still in time to save the animation sector?
“Building brands, not just telling stories,” says Francesco Manfio (General Manager of Gruppo Alcuni and member of APA – Associazione Produttori Audiovisivi), is the future of the sector, which is still learning about the other universes besides cartoons: licensing & merchandising, children’s publishing, video games, and now the emerging immersive experiences in the metaverse.
The content is always at the center of the conversation, which, alongside the made-in-Italy value, is essential to protect the sector and the country’s cultural identity. The above-mentioned platforms apply U.S. policies (under the banner of “affirmative action”) not only in staff hiring but also in the selection of content aimed at ethnic minorities, which represent almost half the population (including Hispanics, African Americans, and Native Americans) compared to white people who have always led the country (and consequently the main media companies). Additionally, platforms are invaded by a stream of children’s content from Asia, particularly anime from the Far East, and new content targeting the lucrative market of nearly 500 million Indian children. The content diversification on these platforms speaks to cultures far from ours and not the European ones in which our Italian children should mirror themselves without considering the ex-pats and the second-generation Italians who might appreciate Italian content around the world.
The discussion around the animated feature film does not apply to this context, as it is almost non-existent due to a lack of financial support in Italy. Despite family animation ranking at the top of box offices worldwide, it still appears not to be taken seriously in Italy.
The top industry players will discuss these topics at the upcoming Cartoons on the Bay, which will be held in Pescara from May 29 to June 2 led by Artistic Director Roberto Genovesi, thanks to a collaboration between Rai Com and the Abruzzo Region.
