A heavy blow for French animation. Prima Linea Production, the production studio behind the animated film The Famous Bear Invasion in Sicily, closed in early February. Founded in 1995 by Valérie Schermann and Christophe Jankovic, the studio was also known for having produced Zarafa , nominated for the César 2013 in the best animated film category, Loulou, the incredible secret , César winner for the best animated film in 2014 and co-produced La Tortue Rouge , winner of the Un Certain Regard special prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
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Lorenzo Mattotti's film, with its eleven million euros budget, attracted just over 230,000 viewers in France; this was the studio's breaking point for its co-founder Valérie Schermann. " It's a general fed up, in fact, " she explains. The financial difficulty in creating original content in European culture is very strong. "
"We are pulling the devil by the tail"
For the producer, " the state of animation in France is not good ". " And I regret that Jérémy Clapin did not mention it to the César, " she adds. The director of the film I lost my body , winner of the César for best animated film all the same raised certain points in his speech of thanks.
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" We have the impression of still being the poor relation of cinema," he confides in front of the audience in the Salle Pleyel, and things are evolving, especially across the Atlantic and it would be good if that changed here too. "Jérémy Clapin also specifies that animation, by actively participating in" diversity in cinema, must be a little more included ".
Valérie Schermann adds that in France, “ there is an emergence of new talents, whether they are directors, screenwriters or even producers. We must not forget that before Kirikou and La Sorcière in 1998, French animation was underdeveloped ”. From 1930 to 1998, 67 French animated films were released. By way of comparison, since 1998, there have been just over 300 French animated films, including 38 in 2019.
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Within French animation, there is a rather simple paradox: “ There are more and more films and animation projects in France. But these works must be done with less and less time and money, explains Valérie Schermann. We have reached a point where studios are forced to cooperate with other countries in order to be able to create a film. We pull the devil by the tail. And for Valérie Schermann, the reasons for this crisis are very clear.
The Famous Difficulties of Animation in France
It all starts with the funding of animated films and the advance on receipts from the CNC, the National Center for Cinema and the Animated Image. “ An animated film will have the same advance on receipts as a film in real shooting with a budget twice as low. The CNC judges only artistic and not economic. However, if the CNC is pointed out, the producer does not reject everything that the organization does for French animation. “ We must not believe that the CNC does not help us, on the contrary they do a lot. They have, for example, implemented new aid for animation. Without them, The Famous Bear Invasion of Sicily would not have happened. "
According to her, the reluctance of broadcasters in the French cinematographic landscape is the critical point. “Only France 3, with three films per year, and Arte, which deals with only one film per year, invest in French animation cinema. TF1 doesn't even bother to read a screenplay while M6 only broadcasts what it produces, ” regrets the producer. Why ? An animated film is a long-term investment. “ We mobilize a whole team for several months or even several years to make an animated film. Films in real shooting with an equivalent budget are easier to finance. "
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There remains the problem of the public, rarely when it is a French or European film. “ Animated films bear the brunt of the high price of cinema tickets, which today exceeds the symbolic threshold of 10 euros. When parents have to choose between a Disney-Pixar production and a European animated film ... The choice is quickly made, "regrets Valérie Schermann. The Famous Bear Invasion of Sicily made 175,876 entries into French territory in three weeks, 130,559 for I lost my body (winner of the César and Oscar winner) in three weeks too. In Avant , the latest Disney-Pixar, in a short week, drew 487,975 spectators. The three films were all born from an original idea, all received good promotion and good press criticism.
Preserved know-how
With hindsight, Valérie Schermann would not have changed anything despite the closure of Prima Linea Production. " Yes, we could have done it differently. But that meant suppressing scenes, frustrating director Lorenzo Mattotti, making it simpler but also less animated ... I'm not sure I would have liked this film . " The famous Bear Invasion in Sicily remains and will remain the last production of the studio. If the news is harsh, hope remains. The heritage of Prima Linea Production does exist.
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Provident and well-inspired, Prima Linea Production dissociated her animation studio from that of production in 2015 to become 3.0 Studio. Based in Angoulême, the animation studio has worked on all of Prima Linea Production's projects and can therefore count on its experience and prestige not to be forgotten. “ The dissociation allowed us to keep a know-how. The only problem with closing the production studio is that we can no longer produce our own films, ”explains Valérie Schermann. 3.0 Studio, with its well-known potential in the animation world, is already looking ahead. The studio is currently working on an animated 2D sequence for the next Wes Anderson film shot in Angoulême, The French Dispatch , and is preparing for the next film by Hazanavicius. French animation has not said its last word.