Animation Think Tank 2025: Co-development Animation Awards Framework Proposed

The latest edition of Animation Think Tank, an industry conference meeting organized by the CEE Animation Workshop in collaboration with the Animafest Zagreb, was held in Zagreb on June 3 and 4, 2025.

A group of animated film professionals joined two Zagreb sessions to further discuss and rethink the structure and idea of Co-development Animation Awards — a proposed support mechanism to increase the capacity of animated film creation.

This topic has been a regular subject of previous editions of the CEE Animation’s Think Tank meetings as well as industry events such as the Animar_BCN Animation Convention.

The initiative gained further momentum in March at the CEE Animation Conference GO! 2025, held in Gorizia / Nova Gorica where parts for a recommendation paper were drafted by working groups comprising producers and film fund representatives.

The Think Tank Zagreb meeting was attended by Lado Skorin (Croatia), Denis Alenti (Croatia), Martin Vandas (Czechia), Mladen Djukić (Bosnia Hercegovina), Saša Bach (Slovenia), Viva Videnović (Slovenia), Tina Smrekar (Slovenia) and Damir Grbanović (Slovenia). The session was hosted by Matija Šturm and Jožko Rutar (Slovenia).

The group’s efforts resulted in the Proposed Framework for Support: Co-development Animation Awards, which outlines key elements such as the award’s structure and administration, name, selection process, eligibility criteria, eligible costs, payment and reporting procedures, award duration, categories and amounts, annual financial planning, and timeline.

The complete 2025 Think Tank report is available in the PDF document on the right.

The proposal was shared with attendees of the CEE Animation GO! 2025 Conference in June and is now entering its next phase: collecting feedback and legal framework development during July and August 2025.

The Animation Think Tank is an activity of the CEE Animation Workshop aimed at building a more resilient, connected, effective, and sustainable industry. The event is supported by Creative Europe – MEDIA and the Ministry of Public Administration of the Republic of Slovenia.