Untitled Week Course in Script-Writing and Concept Development

PROGRAM

EDITORIAL

NipponNordic is a great way of bringing talents together from different styles and continents. We are happy to send our best people sharing our own learnings and experiences at the conference. To win in a competitive mobile gaming space, we are continuously challenging ourselves to make solid products that appeals to an American as well as a Japanese player. Jake, Tricky and Fresh have visited beautiful Tokyo on the grand Subway Surfers World Tour and our coming games draws inspiration from Japanese art and style as well.

We are proud to support The Animation Workshop and your creative initiatives. We love the recent viral hit on climate change with Poseidon teaching a young guy a lesson on not throwing garbage on the beach. The school was where Sylvester and Bodie met and started SYBO. Since then we have hired several talents each year. The school symbolizes the creative vibe, tenacity and uniqueness that Danish digital design is known for. Morten and his team are dear friends of the house, and we are impressed with their achievements.

At SYBO, we are constantly striving to make games and universes that can entertain and engage for years to come. Danish artists are core to delivering on that promise. We care for our talents and seek all the inspiration we can give them and their international talented colleagues. Knowing the Japanese art scene and history, we are eager to meet the Japanese talents invited for Nip- ponNordic. They will be meet a Creative Denmark in Viborg passionate to see how they express themselves, and to cross-polinate with their Danish art counterparts.

Mathias Gredal Nørvig CEO, SYBO Games EDITORIAL

The NipponNordic project promotes and creates opportunities for business development and the internationaliza- tion of gaming and animation activities. The project’s main action is the NipponNordic Universe Accelerator, which aims to bring 16 talented professional animation artists from Japan and Denmark together to develop story worlds and narrative frameworks for computer games and television. The core of the project focuses on IP development aimed simultaneously at markets in Europe and Japan. After spending three intensive weeks in the accelerator in September 2017, where they will be encouraged and inspired by professional guest speakers and consultants from the international gaming and animation industry, participants will present their projects to a panel of five main players from the Japanese and Nordic gaming and animation industries.

The Danish Business Authority The Animation Workshop is proud to host the NipponNordic Universe Accelerator in Viborg, Denmark in 2017 and 2018. We will use the unique opportunity to invite all participants to take full advantage of the deeply creative environment around The Animation Workshop. Everything from serene workstations to noisy networking events and parties will be available for attendees, and those with the freedom to stay a bit longer can remain in town for The Viborg Animation Festival which has a special focus this year on Japan.

The NipponNordic Universe Accelerator is an innovative and transnational project that hopes to bring visionary and entrepreneurial artists and concept designers from Japan and Denmark together. Although the two countries are geographically very far apart from each other, there exists a mutual respect and curiosity towards the cultures and traditions of each other. What can create better understanding between people than working together with the ambition to identify and realize yet unknown visions? It is our hope that the results of NipponNordic Universe Accelerator will be new exciting IP’s that target the worlds imminent need for clever and constructive entertainment and communication, whether it be for games, film, tv, virtual reality – or any thinkable or unthinkable combination thereof. NipponNordic Universe Accelerator will work with skilled and experienced tutors from all over the world, who will present high-level masterclasses as well as supervising workshops in cooperation with the wide range of local, regional, and international partners who support the program.

Morten Thorning Center Director of The Animation Workshop VIA University College CONCEPT

NipponNordic is a three weeks’ intensive skill-up creative lab, during which sixteen participants - directors, game designers, fresh graduated students - selected across Japan and Denmark, develop graphic and story worlds, either related to video or mobile game, animation TV or Web series, documentary, VR, AR and transmedia content.

Speakers from the graphic industries are expected to give lectures and follow-up the development of the participants’ projects, helping them to identify their audiences, enhance their commercial potential and highlight the strengths of their IPs.

NipponNordic aims to spark and ensure the continuous development of original, high quality animation / cross-media or game content, which can resonate both artistically and commercially in the markets of Denmark, Japan and hopefully beyond. TERRITORIES

NipponNordic Universe Accelerator 2017 is launched in the framework of the big event Kawaii & Epikku: The largest show in Denmark about anime, manga and transmedia content which cele- brates the 150th Anniversary of the establishment of Japanese & Danish diplomatic relations with screenings, meetings, conferences, exhibitions, workshops and public events.

There is a big potential for more cooperation and coproduction between the territories: There are many examples of Danish commitment to innovation, storytelling and design – from the fairy tale storyteller Hans Christian Andersen to a long list of world-renowned companies and brands of Danish origin, such as LEGO, Bang & Olufsen and Royal Copenhagen.

Denmark (and Europe in general), have a strong animation and games tradition, with, amongst others, a specific strength in producing cost effective 3D feature films. Also, the games industry in Denmark is known to drive innovation on a global scale. Danish game brands include Hitman and, lately, LIMBO and Subway Surfers. All of them are testimonies to Denmark’s industrial traditions, know-how and skill. As the Danish game industry is searching for new markets to penetrate, the Japanese market has become of great interest to Nordic developers, especially since Japan is look- ing towards Denmark for nordic designed products.

Japan has an old and well-established animation culture, especially in 2D, which has had an immense impact on western markets over the last 20+ years. Western productions, however, have a hard time entering the Japanese market. The potential market is, nonetheless, immense. Moreo- ver, Japan’s industry, is struggling with a lag in 3D animation. Japanese game producers have had a huge impact on the western games industry and the way games are designed. This event aims to establish an even closer collaboration and open up for new innovative ways of thinking about product development in the games industry. NipponNordic will run for two years in order to insure the continuity of lasting relationships between the two territories, to address the complementarity of those markets, and highlight partnerships and co-productions as viable alternatives to the subcontracting practices, which are a challenge for the creative industry in the era of globalization. 10 TABLE OF CONTENTS

EDITORIAL / 5 OBJECTIVE / 39

CONCEPT /8 Awards / 40

Territories / 9 The Jury / 41

CONFERENCES /13 Artists / 49

Inspirations & Strategies / 14 SCHEDULE / 58

Creative Concept Development / 28 VAF PROGRAMME / 62

Pitch Training / 34 PARTNERS / 63

TEAM / 71

11 12 CONFERENCES

The participants get the opportunity to work in a very supportive environment and structure at The Anima- tion Workshop’s facilities, encouraged and inspired by professional guest speakers and consultants from the international media and animation industry. Through the thematic lectures, case studies, and hands-on development processes, the participants create their own, original concepts that are ready for the final stages of development. Via pitching sessions, group workshops, one-to-one exchange sessions, the artists should give each other feedback, approach each other for collaboration and influence one another, such as it has been successfully made during the SEA Masterclass.

13 CONFERENCES INSPIRATIONS & STRATEGIES

KEYNOTE From markets & media culture in Denmark to global industry

CLAUS TOKSVIG

Claus Toksvig Kjaer is a Danish Animation Producer. He studied English Literature at Aarhus University but changed course and went to pursue Classical Drawing and Animation at The Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark. After graduation he worked on a number of short films before joining Cartoon Saloon in Kilkenny Ireland in the summer 2006, as Pro- duction Coordinator on their BBC Television Show ‘Skunk Fu’.

Returning to Denmark in 2009 he began working for Mark Film as Production Manager leading a series of animated science projects and commercials. In order to attract international co-productions Arsenal- et hired him as Producer of their company cluster in mid October 2011. Focusing primarily on feature production he partnered up with Nørlum Animation Studio in 2013 co-producing such films as the Oscar nominated ‘Song of the Sea’ for Cartoon Saloon and ‘Longway North’ for Sacrebleu. The chance came for another collaboration with Cartoon Saloon in 2015, this time a 22 min. Pilot for Amazon Prime called ‘Eddie of the Realms Eternal’.

September 11 - 10 am - Arsenalet 1st floor - Parolesalen 14 Nørlum develops and produces original stories in diverse worlds through animated feature films and other media. Nørlum works with international partners, both as producers and co-producers, and focuses on high story and artistic quality. Co-productions of the Oscar-nominated ‘Song of the Sea’ and the recent award-winning ‘Longway North’ set the stage for the kind of projects Nørlum will continue to realize while expanding its vision and reach. While Nørlum is passionate about producing high-caliber family entertainment for the international market, it is equally committed to engaging locally, working with talent in its area.

Nørlum also believes in community engagement outside its industry, using its skills to benefit others. Nørlum’s charity initiative, Team Gen- erous, donates short animated films and other creative works to char- itable causes, including Save the Children, Medics Without Borders, World Wildlife Fund, Habitat for Humanity, and the Danish Children’s Foundation. Nørlum plans to continue growing and expanding Team Generous to make a greater impact.

Notes

15 CONFERENCES INSPIRATIONS & STRATEGIES

KEYNOTE Turn Ideas into Brands

NAZ CUEVAS + MARTIN MECKLENBURG

Naz has over 20 years of diverse experience in Sales, Marketing, Busi- ness Development, General Management and Leadership in consumer centric industries and territories, working on brands including Marvel, Harry Potter, FIFA World Cup, Looney Tunes, American Idol and Angry Birds. She has led organizations and teams through turn-arounds, start-ups to mid size, and high growth peaks while stabilizing the valleys and is massively passionate about building and leading teams, nurturing talent and achieving targets. Naz studied International Business Law, Interpersonal Communication, Consumer Behavior and Business Management at both CSUN and UCLA. As well, she graduated from Harvard Business School’s General Management Program. Naz is currently heading up Consumer Products and Entertainment Licensing Strategy for SYBO games, the Danish company behind the massively successful mobile game Subway Surfers.

September 11 - 2 pm - Arsenalet 1st floor - Parolesalen 16 SYBO Games is a mobile game developer company located in Co- penhagen, Denmark founded by Creative Director Sylvester Rishøj Jensen and CEO Bodie Jahn-Mulliner. They are mainly known for being creators and IP right owners of the game application Subway Surfers that they developed together with Kiloo. The game is by far the most played game ever created in Denmark, and is one of the most downloaded games in the world.

Notes

17 CONFERENCES INSPIRATIONS & STRATEGIES

KEYNOTE From ideas to IPs as business

MASAHARU INABA Independent executive producer & Consultant

Highly seasoned financial professional and producer in Entertainment industry with wealth of experience in international co-productions: As a financing advisor of Oscar awarded “Howard’s End” by James Ivory, “The Crying Game” by Neil Jordan, “The Assassin” by Chen Kaige,”Brother” by Takeshi Kitano, also as a producer of “The World’s Fastest Indian” starring Sir. Anthony Hopkins, “Vintner’s Luck” by Niki Caro, and other Japanese films. Those include TV animations, such as “Poppetstown” with DHX Media and “MOFY” with Italian Misseri Studio, RAI and ZDF.

September 12 - 10 am - Arsenalet 1st floor - Parolesalen 18 Notes

19 CONFERENCES INSPIRATIONS & STRATEGIES

KEYNOTE Sanrio - Brand strategy, products and activities

MARTINA LONGUEIRA

Senior Marketing Manager, Sanrio GmbH

Creating and growing things with people is exciting. If many of those people are from different companies and countries, it gets even better. Thinking in a global way has always been important to Martina Longue- ira and she feels privileged to have evolved global brands in the industries of sport and character licensing. Prior to joining the European arm of Sanrio, Martina coordinated Inter- national Inspiration: a London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics international legacy programme. After the Games, she remained in the sports world and turned her focus to marketing the sportswear and lifestyle brand ellesse. After gaining client services experience at a branding agency and co-founding a food business, Martina joined the wonderful world of Sanrio at the start of 2017. She is delighted to join the NipponNordic programme and share some of her Sanrio experience to date: innovat- ing and diversifying the Sanrio character portfolio in the EMEA and Oceania region.

September 12 - 1:30 pm - Arsenalet 1st floor - Parolesalen 20 ‘Small gift, big smile’: it’s more than just a catch phrase. It’s the foundation of everything we do and we’re proud to say we’ve been creating smiles since 1974, when Hello Kitty first appeared on a tiny vinyl coin purse.

At Sanrio, we believe that a gift is more than just a gift. It’s a lovely way of expressing our feelings and bringing people together.

Sanrio GmbH is the European arm of Sanrio, coordinating the development of the EMEA, India and Oceania markets.

Notes

21 CONFERENCES INSPIRATIONS & STRATEGIES

WORKSHOP World for Story - Storyworld Structure

TOMMY THORE IPSEN Independent Director & Story World Consultant

(Born 1982)

Tommy graduated The Funen Art Academy in Conceptual media practice and a post grad at the National Film School of Denmark in Story Design for trans media. Through his career, he has been working with conceptualizing story worlds on projects with, amongst other, Zentropa, Ghost VFX, Warner Brothers ITVP and some Indie Game companies. Currently, Tommy is Creative Director and founder of an Augmented Reality Storytelling Startup. Which name is yet to revealed.

September 13 - 10 am - Arsenalet 1st floor - Parolesalen 22 1:30 pm - Arsenalet 2nd floor - NipponNordic studio Notes

23 CONFERENCES INSPIRATIONS & STRATEGIES

WORKSHOP/LECTURE Using game engine beyond games „Adam“ case study

MATHIEU MULLER

Field Engineer / Film Specialist

Born between Atari2600 and Commodore64, studied in France, Switzerland and Canada and worked the first 13 years as a software engineer on professional flight simulators graphics engine and games middleware (Kynapse and Autodesk Navigation). Now Field Engineer for Unity, based in France, helping users over EMEA and making the link between users, devs, marketing and sales. Film and TV specialist.

September 14 - 10 am - Arsenalet 1st floor - Parolesalen 24 1:30 pm - Arsenalet 2nd floor - NipponNordic studio Unity is all about technology that’s both uniquely usable and extremely powerful. Focusing on clear interplay of features and functionality – from your perspective. As a company we are all about building that technology, driving it forwards, and supporting it.

Unity is also about bringing together some of the best people in the world, and letting them loose on solving interesting and hard problems for our customers.

We aggressively reinvest in development to keep Unity moving and growing at a radical pace, expanding usability, power, and platform reach.

We do the hard work so you don’t have to, and take the pain so you don’t have to. Unity plays an important part in a booming global games market. More games are made with Unity than with any other game technology. More players play games made with Unity, and more developers rely on our tools and services to drive their business.

Millions of people are creating with Unity every day. This has resulted in global gamers downloading Unity-made games to nearly 2 billion unique mobile devices for Q1 2016 alone.

Notes

25 CONFERENCES INSPIRATIONS & STRATEGIES

LECTURE

ALEXANDRE MANDRYKA

Alexandre Mandryka is creative consultant with 17 years experience in the AAA gaming market. After starting his career in France, he worked at Ubisoft Montreal and Relic Entertainment as Director of Design and was involved with most of their main brands (Far Cry, Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia, Company of Heroes, War- hammer 40k ...). He mentored design methodology at these studios and pioneered several project pitches either as brand reboots or new concepts. He now focuses on consulting in creative strategy at gamewhispering.com.

INSPIRATIONS & STRATEGIES Market positioning: Reading audience & market trends 26 September 15 - 1:30 pm - Arsenalet 1st floor - Parolesalen Game Whispering Inc. offers consulting services to game development studios and publishers in the fields of design and creativity. It was founded in 2012 by Alexandre Mandryka, a veteran game designer with experience at studio and publisher levels and that was involved in brands like Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, Company of Heroes and Warhammer 40k and as lead designer, creative director or creative manager.

Notes

27 CONFERENCES CREATIVE CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

LECTURES

ALEXANDRE MANDRYKA

CREATIVE CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT Establishing creative vision, setting your message & your core themes

September 18 - 10 am - Arsenalet 1st floor - Parolesalen 1:30 pm - Arsenalet 2nd floor - NipponNordic studio

Gameplay, game design fundamentals and how to create game systems that support your message

September 19 - 10 am - Arsenalet 1st floor - Parolesalen 1:30 pm - Arsenalet 2nd floor - NipponNordic studio 28 Notes

29 CONFERENCES CREATIVE CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

LECTURE Outline of the Japanese Anime Industry

HIROMICHI MASUDA with translator

Independent expert of Anime & Mix-Media Business

Audit & Supervisory Board Member of Video Market co. Vice Chairman of the Project Commission of AJA (The Association of Japanese Animations) Leader of Database Working Group of AJA Specially Appointed Professor of Mejiro University Part-time Teacher of Senshu University and graduate school of Hosei University

Profile Born in Hokkaido in 1954. Graduated from Hosei University and entered Kitty Records in 1979. After working in Todo Press (Now Renamed as So- toKoto), Bronze Publishing Inc. and other Companies, Inaugurated as the Representative Director of the Animation Production Company MAD HOUSE in 2000. Established Video Market co. in 2005.

September 20 - 10 am - Arsenalet 1st floor - Parolesalen 30 Executive Producer Tokyo Godfathers 2003 Ninja Scroll 2 2003 Nasu: Summer in Andalusia 2003 Paranoia Agent 2004 etc.

Writings Into Anime Business 2007 NTT Publishing Co.,Ltd. Further Into Anime Business 2011 NTT Publishing Co.,Ltd. Anime business revolution by digital technology 2016 NTT Publishing Co.,Ltd. Anime Industry Report 2009~2016 (Editor in chief, Co-writer) 2009~2016 Database Working Group of AJA

Notes

31 CONFERENCES CREATIVE CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

LECTURES

YOSUKE ASAMA with translator

Producer (Toei Animation Co.,ltd from 2000~)

Kanji: Born in Niigata/Japan,Feb 12th 1977 浅間陽介 - 2015 Preparing new animation in Paris, FRANCE 2014 ‘SAINT SEIYA LEGEND of SANCTUARY’ (CG animated feature film) 2011 ‘Kyoso giga’(Original Web Animation) 2010 ‘Thriller Restaurant’ (Hybrid live-action and anime feature film) 2009 ‘Thriller Restaurant’(TV Animation,23 episodes) 2008 ‘Negibozu no Asataro’(TV Animation,51 episodes) 2006 ‘One Piece’(TV Animation,89 episodes) 2005 ‘Poor sisters story’ (TV Animation,10 episodes)

Adaptation & Marketing of an original artwork

September 21 - 10 am - Arsenalet 1st floor - Parolesalen 1:30 pm - Arsenalet 2nd floor - NipponNordic studio

Development of popular characters & environment

September 22 - 10 am - Arsenalet 1st floor - Parolesalen 32 Film Business Producing animation and other works,which are broadcast,publicly shown,marketed and dis- tributed in such forms as TV series,theatrical films,video,DVD,VOD,or mobile distribution.

Licensing Business Providing a character license of our works to licensee(manufacturer),and expanding character merchandises such as toy merchandise,apparel,stationery,food,etc.

Other Business Sales of character merchandise Planning and operating events such as character show and musical.

Notes

33 CONFERENCES PITCH TRAINING

PITCH PERFECT! Recipe & ingredients

TIM LEBORGNE

Born from a French father and an American mother in New York in 1974, Tim graduated with a Master’s degree in social psychology from the Univer- sité Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium.

In 1999, Tim had the good fortune of returning to one of his childhood pas- sions, animation film, by working at Cartoon (the European Association for Animation Film) for four years, during which he participated in the creation and management of the European Training Network for Animation (ETNA) and to the organisation of numerous Cartoon Masters, Cartoon Movies and Cartoon Forums. Furthermore, he co-organised 3 editions of the yearly Eu- ropean Video Perspectives conference (PEVE) in collaboration with Screen Digest.

In 2003 Tim joined The Animation Workshop in Viborg as the director of its international Professional Training and Open Workshop (artist residency) departments. Besides organising The Animation Workshop’s vocational animation/CG/VFX courses and master classes for European professionals, Tim runs the school’s talent development and independent production activities and takes part in the school’s work placement programme.

September 25 - 10 am - Arsenalet 1st floor - Parolesalen 34 Notes

35 CONFERENCES PITCH TRAINING

PITCH PERFECT! Coaching with case studies

GÉRALDINE BACHÉ

A very experienced professional with nearly twenty years of activities in culture and events. She has been involved with the International Animated Film Festival Annecy and its market for fifteen years. She worked for ten years as an Assistant to the Artistic Director Serge Bromberg and six years as a Head of Projects (Mifa). While working on these posts and organizing selection committees, juries or preparing exhibitions, she has met and cooperated with big names in the animation field such as Ray Harryhausen, Peter Lord, Tim Burton, Henry Sellick or Richard Williams. At present she focuses on young talents, providing direction in early stages of their projects and fostering the production process. Mifa Pitches help them every year to in- troduce their works to professional audience and to find suitable partners.

IREM COURCHOURON

Irem Couchouron is the International Development Officer at Sunny Side of the Doc. Sunny Side of the Doc is Europe’s leading international market dedicated to factual content, where the sector gathers over four days to sell or buy projects and programmes, and to find partners. The 29th edition will be held in La Rochelle, France from 25-28 June 2018. Irem works on the international development of the market, and is in charge of broadcasters and buyers’ relations.

September 27 - 10 am - Arsenalet 1st floor - Parolesalen 36 1:30 pm - Arsenalet 2nd floor - NipponNordic studio CITIA organises the International Animation Film Festival, the Mifa and the Forum Blanc. It also contributes to the development of the local economy by proposing training programmes and support to businesses in the animation and creative industries sector with the unifying space of Les Papeteries – Image Factory. Each year, the Mifa Pitches showcase the best in original animation projects in their first phase of development in four categories: feature films, short films,TV series and specials and transmedia.

Sunny Side of the Doc is the international marketplace dedicated to documentary and specialist factual content, each year bringing together broadcasters, decision makers, financing bodies, distributors, content creators and producers from around the world to sell or buy projects and programmes, and to find coproduction partners.

The 4-day event creates unique opportunities for +2,000 professionals from 60 countries, to follow the latest industry trends, present untold stories, make new connections and embrace interactive forms of storytelling, through a variety of high-level pitching sessions, panel discussions, networking activities and the added value of an exhibition space

Notes:

37 CONFERENCES PITCH TRAINING

Notes:

38 OBJECTIVES

On the final day of the lab, during Viborg Animation Festival (VAF), the participants get the opportunity to pitch their projects to a jury composed of key players from the Japanese and the European animation, new media and game industries, who have the duties to reward some of them. The best projects get the chance to go on their development through additional residencies and access major events throughout Japan and Europe to be presented again in front of buyers of the industry, thus giving them an extra chance to reach the market.

39 AWARDS

BEST GAME-RELATED PROJECT: A residency in Arsenalet - Arsenalet Incubation

BEST ANIMATED PROJECT: A residency in TAW - The Open Workshop Pitch at Annecy International Animation Festival 2018

BEST DIGITAL PROJECT OR BEST TRUE STORY-BASED ANIMATION: Pitch at Sunny Side 2018

40 THE JURY

The concepts and intellectual properties developed during NipponNordic, as well as the network and business opportunities it creates, are the clear follow-up to Nippon- Nordic. A Pitch board composed of recognized international figures, investors and heads of companies assess the 16 projects developed during the program, considering the strength of the universes, stories or game play.

41 THE JURY

DENIS FERRIER BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe

True passionate of video game industry, new technologies and animation ecosystem, Denis cultivates its double-skill « creative-management » thanks to game design & project management background. He joined Bandai Namco Games in 2012 as Junior Market Analyst and becomes Business & Product Analyst in 2014 in taking responsibilities of sales forecast & business analysis for all portfolio and all new business opportunities from PC/consoles/mobile to innovative products. He also won two times (2014 & 2016) the internal Bandai Namco Europe Game Design competition and continues to fight every day for the conviction that creativity and business reality can be definitely combined. Since 2016, he’s Business Development Manager within Europe, Mid- dle-East, Africa and Australasia regions at Bandai Namco Entertain- ment Europe.

42 YUJI FURUYA Dentsu inc.

Born in Tokyo in 1958. Yuji’s career started when he joined Dentsu Inc. in 1981 as an Art Director in planning and production for advertise- ments. After a while, growing tired of the narrow range of conventional advertising, he decided to establish a new ‘creative solutions’ room within Dentsu, where together with others he was able to provide clients with optimum solutions free from the constraints of traditional media and methods. Here, Yuji acted as a Director as well as Senior Creative Director with a roster of 7 Creative Directors and 32 Crea- tors. He gradually broadened the team’s field of activities and expertise to embrace corporate identity production and development, package design, online game collaboration, events, product development, character development, electronic picture book production, and more. Cur- rently he is a Senior Creative Director within the 4th Creative Planning Division at Dentsu Inc.

43 THE JURY

NAZ CUEVAS SYBO Games

44 ASUKA YAMAZAKI AT-X

General Manager of Programming & Production Division AT-X, Inc.

After graduating from university, she joined a local TV station and was in charge of sales and programming. Several years later, she worked as a copywriter at a creative production company.

In 2003, she joined AT-X, Inc. which is the Japanese subscription TV service only for ANIMATION, and now she is directing Programming & Production Division which organizing more than 100 animation titles every month for the channel, and is in charge of investing in numerous animation works.

45 THE JURY

MIKKEL WEIDER Egmont - Nordisk Film Games

Mikkel Weider is the Managing Director at Nordisk Film Games, an investment unit focusing on Nordic game development studios. Nor- disk Film Games has so far invested in Flashbulb, a Danish studio with 20 employees, and Avalanche, a Swedish studio with 300 employees. Mikkel has previously founded the gaming company Art of Crime, been Managing Director for Bookatable.com, Country Manager at Match.com and Board Member at various companies such as Trustpilot, Filmweb, Venuepoint, and GoGift.com.

46 TOMMY ANDREASEN LEGO

Joined the LEGO group 15 years ago as an art director of campaigns and TV commercials, but quickly drifted into development of concepts, toys, story and development of TV series. Having the fortunate advantage that he was once a 9 year old boy him- self, he now uses this life lesson to create humorous, emotionally engaging and action filled adventures for kids. Past and current endeavors include creating the long running Ninjago: Masters of Spinjiztu tv-series (since 2011, currently at episode 74 and development is racing towards the 100 mark), Legends of CHIMA (2013- 2015 – 41 episodes) and NEXO Knights (Since 2015 - Currently at 42 episodes). When he is not buried in scripts, crude hand drawings or watching ani- matics, he is married to Lisbeth and has two children Luke and Leia (yep! … he is that nerdy). He also collects (way too many) toys.

47 THE JURY

HIROKI OMAE Unity Technologies

Hiroki was responsible for designing and developing multi-platform development environments for games, and implementing middleware at FromSoftware, before going independent in 2009. He became the Regional Director for Japan at Unity Technologies in 2010. Since then, Hiroki has been committed to popularizing Unity in the gaming community and making game development more exciting. He is also an assistant professor at BBT University.

48 ARTISTS

The independent directors Niels Andersen Dolmer, Julie H. Baltzer, Kaoru Furuko, Xinxin Liu, Takashi Uchida, Kazue Monno and Takeshi Nagata, the fresh graduated students Louise Bentsen (KADK) and Bob Kristiansen (TAW), the team from Bedtime Digital Games Jonas Byrresen and Stefan Lindgren, the independent Game designers Tomas Præstholm, Kensuke Shimoda and Mads Vadsholt, the PhD student Nicolas Guarin (Geidai), and the director from Dwarf Inc. Iku Ogawa, are the participants of NipponNordic 2017.

ARTISTS

Niels Andersen Dolmer

Position: Director He possesses an extensive experience in Nationality: Denmark storyboarding, a Bachelor in Character Country of residency: Denmark Animation from The Animation Work- shop and has also attended Animation Project type: Story World Sans Frontières and La Poudrière´s 11 Project title: Untitled week course in script-writing and concept development. Bio: Niels is a European animation professional working on developing ideas and projects for animation, with a sensitivity for both vigorous humor and depth.

Julie H. Baltzer

Position: Director AniFilm and Anima Mundi. She is cur- Nationality: Denmark rently freelancing and developing various projects. Country of residency: Denmark Project type: Animated Documentary Project title: Children Just Like Me

Bio: Julie Herdichek Baltzer is a character animation graduate of year 2017 from The Animation Workshop, Viborg, Den- mark. She has directed her bachelor-film Nachthexen that has been selected to multiple festivals, including Annecy,

50 Louise Bentsen

Position: Student graduated in School of Design in Copenhagen. Production Design (KADK) Design for animation to the screen is her Nationality: Denmark primary focus and in addition she has Country of residency: Denmark worked on projects with animation, games and fiction film in teams together with the Project type: Animated TV series students from the National Film School of Project title: The Paradise Forest Denmark and True Max Academy. Bio: Louise Bentsen is a design student in her last semester studying a bachelor degree in Game- and Production Design at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art

Mads Vadsholt

Position: Game Designer a bit twisted. Nevertheless, people seem Nationality: Denmark to like it. He has most experience with Sound Design, Visual Development and Country of residency: Denmark Computer Graphics. Project type: Video Game Project title: The Forest Quartet

Bio: Mads is from Copenhagen, Denmark. He has a Bachelor in Computer Graphics Arts from The Animation Workshop. His passion lies is in video games, but he loves anything art related. His personal work is abstract and strange because his mind is

ARTISTS

Jonas Byrresen & Stefan Lindgren

Position: Director / Art Director sumers of media, game and nerd culture. Nationality: Denmark They have worked both together on game Country of residency: Denmark productions, but also have experience Project type: Video Game with other teams. Jonas is the current cre- Project title: They Came to Destroy! ative Director for Bedtime Digital Games. ‘ Stefan is the art director with a passion for Bio: The small creative team being sent to making solid pre-productions. NipponNordic, the game Director Jonas Byrresen and the Art Director Stefan Lindgren, can best be described as a pair experienced developers, as well as con-

Bob Kristiansen

Position: Student graduated in Graphic primarily writes, illustrates and works Storytelling (TAW) with visual development. He is a member of the secret society of Ghostscouts and Nationality: Denmark spent 3 months interning in the wilder- Country of residency: Denmark ness of Vermont at GhostShrimp Global. Project type: Transmedia content Before venturing into the creative arts Project title: Human 2.0 he sailed around Europe and studied business law and economics. Sailing has Bio: Bob Lundgreen Kristiansen is a given him a thirst for adventure and when cartoonist from the northern part of he can’t find one out there, he will simply Jutland in Denmark. He graduated from make one up. The Animation Workshop in 2017 with a degree in Graphic storytelling. Bob

52 Tomas Præstholm

Position: Concept artist he has been working in pre-production for Nationality: Denmark games and as an illustrator for children/ young adult books, doing colorful, expres- Country of residency: Denmark sive work for a variety of clients. Project type: Video Game Project title: Flora Ignota

Bio: Tomas Præstholm was born in 1985. He is a freelance concept artist and illustrator from Denmark. He graduated from the Animation Workshop in 2010 as a Computer Graphics Artist. Since then,

Xinxin Liu Position: Director Tokyo, Japan. Her filmography includesAt Nationality: China The Mouth Of Summer (2016), The Yellow Ball (2015), Her (2014) and The Thief And Country of residency: Japan The Hat (2012) Project type: Animation for TV/Web Project title: Games of Painting Works Bio: Born in DaLian, China, 1989. She graduated from China Academy Of Arts, Department of Animation in 2012. Then, she graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and New Media, Department of Animation in 2016. She currently lives and works in

ARTISTS

Nicolas Guarin & Julia Ai Sai

Position: PhD Student in Film and New and director. Nowadays, he is a PhD Media (Geidai) student at Tokyo University of Arts. Nationality: Colombia Julia Ai Sai: Japanese designer. After Country of residency: Japan studying traditional art in Alaska, Julia Project type:Animated TV series attend Kyoto Seika University in Japan Project title: Kirinko and the California College of Arts in U.S.A where she majored in Textiles. Bio: Since 2010, she has been working as a freelance artist and designer. Nicolás Guarín: Colombian filmmak- er. Moved to Japan in 2012 to pursue graduate studies in animated documentary. Worked for 4 years in Co- lombian TV as creative, scriptwriter

Kensuke Shimoda

Position: Game Designer role as the lead game designer. A football Nationality: Japan simulator “BFB” which was designed by him won the 1st in Hong Kong App Store Country of residency: Japan for a long time. Now he is making his Project type: Video Game original games which has unique stories Project title: Cruel Japan and characters.

Bio: He started his career at Square Enix as a junior game designer of “Final Fantasy XI” in 2005. He created combat contents and the cutscenes of a quest which was admired by the players. He started his own business in 2010 which gave him a

54 Iku Ogawa

Position: Director graduate school. “I think you’re a little Nationality: Japan confused” was screened at 62th Interna- tional Short Film Festival Oberhausen and Country of residency: Japan Aichi Triennale 2016 and was well appre- Project type: Animated TV series ciated. He joined Dwarf inc. in 2016. Project title: Pitch Black Society

Bio: Born in Tokyo in 1988. He finished animation master’s course of Graduate School of Film and New Media Tokyo University of the Arts. He started creating the stop motion animation at

Kazue Monno Position: Director tion of long-exposure photography and Nationality: Japan stop-motion animation. It enables every- one to make animations by drawing in the Country of residency: air with penlights. The first film “Pika Pika The Netherlands Lightning doodle project”(2006) received Project type: New media the Grand prix in the Lab Competition (including both AR or VR) at the International Short Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand 2008. Project title: TABLE

Bio: Kazue Monno has been part of the creative duo Tochka from1998. They invented an animation method called PiKA PiKA, which is a combina-

ARTISTS

Takeshi Nagata

Position: Director games. He is an Associate Professor at Nationality: Japan the department of Digital Games at the Osaka Electro-Communication Univer- Country of residency: sity. Track received the Grand Prix at The Netherlands Holland Animation Film Festival 2016. Project type: New media (including both AR or VR) Project title: TABLE

Bio: Takeshi Nagata has been part of the creative duo Tochka. He is active as an animation designer and CG director of TV animation programs and

Kaoru Furuko

Position: Director a series of works using stop-motion anima- Nationality: Japan tion in which she visualizes oral tradition, mythology, folk tales and social and cultural Country of residency: Sweden phenomena using collected objects from Project type: Animation for TV/Web nature and cultural environments. She Project title: Untitled has traveled and lived in several countries where she has done inspirational research Bio: Kaoru Furuko is a Japanese animation and collected materials for her animation / illustration artist based in Stockholm. She projects. Her work has been screened inter- uses various techniques and formats for her nationally at film festivals. work such as short film, installation, perfor- mance, and stage art. One of her focuses is

56 Takashi Uchida

Position: Game Designer Sunshine” and “The Lost City of tomorrow”. Nationality: Japan As an editor, he has worked on multiple Country of residency: United States feature films, including “Actors Anonymous”, starring James Franco, and “Jessica Darling´s Project type: Animated TV series IT LIST”, which is based on New York Times Project title: Inglewood Days best seller teen novel, starring YouTube star Chloe East. He also has edited Netflix Origi- Bio: Takashi Uchida is an animator/writer/ nal animation series “Kong: King of the Apes”, director based in Los Angeles. He graduat- directed by Moto Sakakibara. The most ed USC School of Cinematic Arts with an recent film he has edited, “The Mad Whale”, emphasis on post-production and animation. also stars James Franco, and notable actors He has directed couple of animation shorts including Camilla Belle and Summer Phoenix. and most recent animation short “Waterstop” has been selected to screen at Portland film festival. He also has designed concept art for several short films, including as “Susie

57 SCHEDULE WEEK 1 INSPIRATIONS & STRATEGIES

Time Monday 11 Tuesday 12 Wednesday 13 Thursday 14 Friday 15 9:00-10:00 WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE UP UP UP UP 9:00-9:30 Welcome - IMPROV - - IMPROV - - IMPROV - - IMPROV - Peter Meldgaard Peter Meldgaard Peter Meldgaard Peter Meldgaard WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE 9.30-9:45 UP UP UP UP UP - coffee - coffee - coffee - coffee - coffee KEYNOTE LECTURE “From markets & me- KEYNOTE WORKSHOP “Using game engine Individual dia culture in Denmark “From ideas to IPs as “World for Story 10:00- beyond games” Workshop 12:30 to global industry” business” - Storyworld structure” Concept Matthieu Muller Development Claus Toksvig Masaharu Inaba Tommy Thore Ipsen - Unity Technologies - Norlum 12:30- Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch 13:30 14:00 - 16:00 WORKSHOP KEYNOTE LECTURE KEYNOTE with Unity Cine- ‘Sanrio - Brand WORKSHOP “Market positioning: ‘Turn Ideas into matic tools + Jam strategy, products and “World for Story - Reading audience and 13:30- Brands’ with Blacksmith and 15:30 activities’ Storyworld structure” market trends” Naz Cuevas „Adam“ assets Martina Longueira Tommy Thore Ipsen Alexandre Mandryka - SYBO Games Matthieu Muller - Sanrio - Game Whispering Inc. + Martin Mecklenburg - Unity Technologies 15:30- Walk & Talk Walk & Talk Walk & Talk Walk & Talk Walk & Talk 16:00

WORKSHOP LECTURE WORKSHOP 16:00- w/ Unity Cinematic “Market positioning: Short Pitchs Short Pitchs “World for Story - 18:00 tools + Jam w/ Black- Reading audience and Storyworld structure” smith & Adam assets market trends”

Inspirational Screening Inspirational Screening Inspirational Screening 19:00 Melting pot Melting pot - Denmark - Japan - Denmark

Lecture Workshop Social Events Pitch Practice Final Pitch

59 WEEK 2 CREATIVE CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

Time Monday 18 Tuesday 19 Wednesday 20 Thursday 21 Friday 22

WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE 9:15-9:30 UP UP UP UP UP - coffee - coffee - coffee - coffee - coffee

LECTURE LECTURE LECTURE LECTURE “Gameplay, game de- “Establishing creative LECTURE “Adaptation & Mar- “Development of pop- sign fundamentals and vision, setting your “Outline of the Japa- keting of an original ular characters and how to create game 9.30- message and your nese Anime Industry “ artwork” environment” systems that support 12:30 core themes” your message” Mr. Hiromichi Masuda Yosuke Asama Yosuke Asama Alexandre Mandryka (with translator) - TOEI Animation - TOEI Animation Alexandre Mandryka - Game Whispering Inc. (with translator) (with translator) - Game Whispering Inc 12:30- Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch 13:30 Individual Individual Workshop Concept Workshop Concept 13:30- Development with Development with Individual Workshop Individual Workshop Individual Workshop 15:30 consultant support consultant support Concept Development Concept Development Concept Development Alexandre Mandryka Alexandre Mandryka 15:30- Walk & Talk Walk & Talk Walk & Talk Walk & Talk Walk & Talk 15:50

15:50- Individual Workshop Individual Workshop Individual Workshop Individual Workshop Individual Workshop 18:00 Concept Development Concept Development Concept Development Concept Development Concept Development

Inspirational Screening 19:00 Melting pot Melting pot Melting pot Melting pot - Japan

Lecture Workshop Social Events Pitch Practice Final Pitch

60 WEEK 3 PITCH TRAINING

Time Monday 25 Tuesday 26 Wednesday 27 Thursday 28 Friday 29

8:30-9:00 WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE WARM & WAKE 9:15-9:30 UP UP UP UP UP - coffee - coffee - coffee - coffee - coffee

NipponNordics quick pitchs (1 min) 9:00-11:00 + Final Pass on Project Pitch Day - Session 1 Pitch Perfect! Pitch Perfect! + Pitch training as Coaching for the pitch Recipe & ingredients Pitch Day 9:30- Individual Workshop based on MIFA and 12:30 Tim Leborgne Concept Development Sunny side Géraldine Baché - The Animation presentations - CITIA/MIFA Workshop and Irem Courchouron Géraldine Baché 11:00 - Sunny Side of the Doc - CITIA/MIFA Snack break and Irem Courchouron - Sunny Side of the Doc 12:30- 11:30-13:30 Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch 13:30 Pitch Day - Session 2

13:30- Individual Workshop Individual Workshop Individual Workshop 13:30-15:00 15:30 Concept Development Concept Development Concept Development Lunch break

18:00 - 19:30 15:30- Walk & Talk Walk & Talk Welcome and Meeting 15:50 13:30-17:00 drink with Forum VIPs Pitch feedback 15:00-17:00 Curated One-on-One Individual Workshop Meetings with Pitch 15:50- Individual Workshop Individual Workshop Final Pass on Project , Board Members 18:00 Concept Development Concept Development all material is ready for pitching

17:00 20:30 19:00 Nothing scheduled: Museum Reception Solar Walk 21:00 20:00 Night off Mutafukaz VAF Guests dinner 21:30 21:30 Dinner NN awards ceremony & drink

Lecture Workshop Social Events Pitch Practice Final Pitch

61 VIBORG ANIMATION FESTIVAL

In 2017 Japan and Denmark mark the establishment of 150 years of diplomatic relations with a string of cultural events, exhibitions, symposiums – and finally this year’s VAF! Under the theme “KAWAII & EPIKKU”, VAF will celebrate Japan by exposing audiences to the cultural richness of Animé and Manga. More than half of the films screened at this year’s festival will be of Japanese origin, and they join a wealth of events that will make even the most hardcore Japan-fan weak at the knees! This year’s film programme includes beloved classics like “My neighbour Totoro”, “Akira” and the award-winning “Your Name” by Makoto Shinkai, Japanese student films and “Animé 100”, a special screening of early Japanese Animé. Viborg Manga and Animé Museum offers a unique opportunity to experience the true richness and diversity of Manga – from the cutest of cute, to epic explosions and Arma- geddon-like battlegrounds. The exhibition will, among others, include beautiful works of Osamu Tezuka, the collection Genga’(DASH) from Kyoto Seika University International Manga Research Center and Kyoto International Manga Museum as well as artwork from several films that will be screened in the cinema. If you are into some serious action, you can’t miss the Manga Artist Battle – an epic fight between Denmark and Japan. Artists and students will draw their way to eternal fame, whilst the famous Danish Snapchat-phenomenon Lakserytteren will make sure the audience is joining in on the fun. Manga Artist Battle will be streamed live to the world. In the non-Japanese part of the programme Solar Walk is the absolute highlight. Solar Walk is an epic journey into space combining beautiful animation by Oscar shortlisted director Réka Bucsi with jazz big band music performed live by Aarhus Jazz Orchestra. You can also experience the internationally awarded short film and VR-experience Nothing Happens, which is a part of the Expanded Animation Showcase. These exhibitions explore the borders between technology, animation, and installation art. Professionals can look forward to a string of conferences that revolve around new ways to use animation in healthcare, science, and learning. Finally VAF brings together the most important Japanese and Danish creative media companies at the Japan - Denmark Creative Media Industry Forum. The Forum gives companies and professionals an opportunity to exchange knowledge and potentially form new alliances.

62 PARTNERS & SPONSORS

NipponNordic is made possible thanks to the following organizations. PARTNERS & SPONSORS

ARSENALET

Arsenalet is a creative stronghold founded in this point been involved in major international 2012 and is located in Viborg, Denmark. The co-productions such as the Oscar nominated building primarily houses companies who feature film Song of the sea. work with animation, games and new media. Some of the companies at Arsenalet have at

ARSENALET GAME INCUBATION Arsenalet Game Incubation is a unique opportunity to kickstart a company in the games industry as part of the creative working environment, which surrounds The Animation Workshop in Viborg. Sponsored by the European fund Interreg Öresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak and the Central Denmark Region, arranged by The Animation Workshop and hosted by the co-working office Arsenalet, the Game Incubation is your fast lane into a career in the games industry.

64 OFFICE H/ASF PARTNERS An acknowledged and well connected mar- Media exchange: Office H researches and keting/distribution office and service provid- reports foreign news on multimedia, ICT and er founded in 1999 by Hiromi Ito. Office H, contents business. Hiromi Ito introduces the based in Japan, offers the following profes- Japanese new media overseas (FMX Film & sional services: Media Exchange in Germany, e-magiciens in France, Anima Mundi in Brazil, etc) Business development and coordination, consulting: ASF Partners (Animation Sans Frontières Office H is an agent of Folimage (France) and Partners) is a non-profit organization led by used to be an agent for the National Film Hiromi Ito aims to cultivate personal exchang- Board of Canada, and also a service provider es between Japan and other countries/regions of strategic marketing communications and for creative activities and distributions, and business development, primarily for emerging to dynamize cross-cultural collaboration and companies and start-ups wanting to develop international coproduction. business in the Japanese animation, multime- Office H/ASF Partners collaborated with the dia and ICT sectors. Animation Workshop as the partner of SEA - Concept Development Masterclass in 2014. WAT – World Animation Theater: WAT is a brand of presenting in Japan globally admired animated films directed by emerging and independent artists. Office H supports and promotes business potentialities of “new talents” in hosting or co-organizing shows of animated films from around the world, and in distributing them in Japan.

65 PARTNERS & SPONSORS

AJA

The Association of Japanese Animations(AJA), in close coordination with other industrial organ- mainly consisting of animation studios, was izations as well as governmental organizations, established in May, 2002 aiming to preserve and both central and local. cultivate animation cultures Japan is proud of and promote the animation industry to the world. In 2017, Japan is celebrating 100 years of anima- Working together with the member companies, tion. For this centennial anniversary, the AJA has AJA, the sole organization representing Japanese initiated “ANIME NEXT 100”, which has 3 mis- animation industry, is engaged in various activi- sions: “Japanese Anime Heritage”, “Animation ties for the purpose of development of animation Education and Training” and “The Future of Anime”

ANNECY MIFA CITIA organises the International Animation Each year, the Mifa Pitches showcase the Film Festival, the Mifa and the Forum Blanc. It best in original animation projects in their also contributes to the development of the lo- first phase of development in four categories: cal economy by proposing training programmes feature films, short films,TV series and specials and support to businesses in the animation and and transmedia. creative industries sector with the unifying Open on an international level, the selection space of Les Papeteries – Image Factory. reflects young creation on the world scene.

SUNNY SIDE OF THE DOC Sunny Side of the Doc is the international The 4-day event creates unique opportunities marketplace dedicated to documentary and for +2,000 professionals from 60 countries, specialist factual content, each year bringing to follow the latest industry trends, present together broadcasters, decision makers, financ- untold stories, make new connections and em- ing bodies, distributors, content creators and brace interactive forms of storytelling, through producers from around the world to sell or buy a variety of high-level pitching sessions, panel projects and programmes, and to find copro- discussions, networking activities and the add- duction partners. ed value of an exhibition space.

66 AARHUS 2017

Aarhus and the 18 other municipalities in the entire region. Aarhus 2017 uses art and Central Denmark Region celebrate the year culture to rethink the challenges of tomorrow. as European Capital of Culture in 2017. The Aarhus 2017 creates sustainable develop- title European Capital of Culture (ECOC) ment – cultural, human and economic growth represents one of the most prestigious and - inspiring citizens to live, work and participate prominent cultural events in Europe. Europe- in the European region. an Capital of Culture Aarhus 2017 is deeply rooted in strong regional cooperation across

DANISH BUSINESS AUTHORITY The Danish Business Authority endeavours Good international opportunities are vital for to create the best conditions for growth in economic growth. This is why we work to put Europe, and to make it easy and attractive Danish businesses in the best possible posi- to run a business in Denmark.The Danish tion in markets both near and far. We do this Business Authority endeavours to improve by e.g. proactive representation of interests the conditions for growth in all of Denmark and realisation of the Digital Single Market. by stimulating innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity, and by ensuring a world class ICT-infrastructure.

THE DANISH FILM INSTITUTE

The Danish Film Institute (DFI) supports the extend to digital games, film education and development, production and distribution of promotion at international film festivals. 25 Danish films and also offers funding for inter- percent of all subsidies are earmarked for national coproductions. Support programmes children and youth films.

67 PARTNERS & SPONSORS

EU-JAPAN FEST JAPAN COMMITTEE

EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee is a non-prof- Capital of Culture Antwerp, in Belgium. The it non-governmental organization established Committee supports Japan-related programs by European ambassadors to Japan and held mainly in conjunction with each year’s Japanese business and cultural figures on the European Capital of Culture (ECoC), as well as occasion of the 1993 request to assist with the continuation, development and offshoots Japanese participation in the European of programs from previous ECoC, and prepa- ration to future ECoC.

INTERACTIVE DENMARK

Interactive Denmark is a non-profit organiza- and companies. Its goal is to create 2,000 new tion whose mission is to accelerate, coordinate jobs in the Danish game and interactive indus- and support the development of the Danish tries by the end of 2017 game and interactive cluster. Interactive Den- mark connects industry people, organizations

INVEST IN DENMARK

As part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark has a proud tradition of collabora- Denmark, Invest in Denmark is a customized tive business partnerships, which has resulted one-stop service for foreign companies look- in world-leading competencies. Its tailor-made ing to set up a business in Denmark. solutions include connecting companies with key local contacts, arranging fact-finding tours and providing comprehensive benchmark analyses.

68 NOMURA FOUNDATION

The Nomura Foundation is a public benefit Japan, the world economy and arts and foundation established in April 2010 through culture, fostering international talent and the merger of Nomura Foundation for Social encouraging international understanding. Science, The Nomura Cultural Foundation and The foundation extends grants for the social Tokyo Club Foundation for Global Studies. Its sciences, awards scholarships to foreign stu- goals are to advance academic research in dents, and supports global economic research and arts and culture.

NORDISK FILM FOUNDATION

The mission of the Nordisk Film Foundation which brings us closer to achieving our vision is to encourage initiatives that develop and for the benefit of the industry, the individual shed light on talents of international standing. and society. Concurrently, we wish to develop solutions for tomorrow’s challenges in the film industry,

OLM

OLM, a part of Imagica Robot Holds, Inc., is techniques and well-organized production a leading animation studio known for series environments, deliver wonder and excitement such as “Pokemon” and “Yo-kai Watch.” Its to global audiences. animated and live action feature films and television programs, created with high-level

69 PARTNERS & SPONSORS

REGION MIDTJYLLAND Region Midtjylland is the overarching ad- ministrative region which includes Viborg Kommune and represents another frequent supporter and collaborator of projects under- taken by The Animation Workshop.

SYBO GAMES

SYBO Games is a mobile game developer right owners of the game application Subway company located in Copenhagen, Denmark Surfers that they developed together with founded by Creative Director Sylvester Rishøj Kiloo. The game is by far the most played Jensen and CEO Bodie Jahn-Mulliner. They game ever created in Denmark, and is one of are mainly known for being creators and IP the most downloaded games in the world.

VIBORG KOMMUNE

This project is supported by Viborg Kommune, the home municipality of The Animation Workshop, and with whom we have a long history and excellent track record of cooperation.

70 TEAM

THE ANIMATION WORKSHOP VIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

As one of the world’ top schools and knowledge center for animation, The Animation Worskhop has been training students for the last 30 years, leading them to work for major companies all over the world such as: LEGO, MPC, Sybo Games, Warner Bros Animation, Blue Bite - Unisoft, Riot Games, Double Fine, Massive -Ubisoft, Blink Ink, Giant Animation,Illumination, Framestore, Might and Delight, Double Negative, Chimney, Cinesite, Cartoon Network, Bullit Film, Aardman, Nørlum, Ja Film, Wil Film, M2Film, Aeria Games, Cartoon Saloon, Copenhagen Bombay, Bron Studios, Funday Factory, Monkey Tenis, Pixomon- do, Media Molecule, Mark Film, Kong Orange, Animanostra, Precious Metals, Triband, Ghost, Heyday Aps, Beach Park Studios, A Film, Hide The Zebra, Pow- erhouse, The Third Floor, King, Snowcloud, Gear Works, Moving Picture Com- pany, Feed Me Light, Argon FX, Passion Pictures Paris, Hydralab, Ted Ed, Golden Wolf, Parasol Island, Tin Drum Studio, Razor Edge Games, Fasad, Crytek GmbH, Advance A/S, Fork Film, Proof Inc, Clicks and Links, Fido Film, Six More Vodka, Pipangai etc.

71 TEAM

Morten Thorning

Center Director of The Animation Workshop/VIA University College, is the founder of The Animation Workshop, which is now more than 25 years old. Morten Thorning’s role in the training activities is that of general manager.

Clémence Bragard

After studying audiovisual and digital assets management, Clémence has worked for French broadcasters and production companies as an audiovisual researcher. Mean- while, she has got involved in animation festivals, went back to study in 2013 and graduated from Gobelins, School of Image as a Production Manager. Since 2014, she has been coordinating and developing business and large audience events related to the animation industry. Clémence is the Project Manager for NipponNordic.

72 Adonis Flokiou

Adonis Flokiou, Manager of Arsenalet Game Incubation. He has been growing the Dan- ish games industry since 2012 through all sorts of different industry related activities. Adonis is the Game-related curator of NipponNordic.

Hiromi Ito

Hiromi Ito established Office H - marketing communications producer office, in 1999. She is an expert on marketing communications in the Japanese animation, multimedia and ICT fields and has 10+ years of experience in North America based firms. She is the Project Coordinator for NipponNordic in Japan.

73 Notes:

74 Notes

75 Notes:

76 Notes

77 Notes:

78 SPECIAL THANKS

Kasper Kruse Lana Tankosa Roberta Jablonskyte Peter Olsen Rasmus Jensen Tim Leborgne Jane Lyngbye Hvid Jensen Margaux Gillet Katrine Frausig Nathalia Nielsen Lone Thaarup Marie Schulsen Mette Islev Camilla Engel Merete Østergaard Olesen Christine Thaarup Svend Nordby Denis Chapon Thomas Ahlmark Michelle Kranot Lamberto Anderloni Agota Vegso Régis Marion Caroline Nissen