Cartoons on the Bay too: twice is nice.

Last year, Giampaolo Sodano, president of SACIS (RAI's program sales arm), spearheaded the first Cartoons on the Bay.

The event took place on Italy's picturesque Amalfi (Neapolitan) coast and honored the best in international children's animation. The festival garnered enough attention to warrant a second edition, which will be held this year April 5-9 in Amalfi and in nearby Salerno and Miaori. Future editions are scheduled for the years to come.

Last year's event attracted 238 top-level TV executives from around the world. It also got quite a bit of press: approximately 70 major Italian and international magazines covered the event. Major U.S. distributors returning this year include Warner Bros., Disney, Hearst and DIC Entertainment. In addition, Nickelodeon will be present for the first time this year; last year the company only had programs in the festival competition. European companies attending this year will include BRB from Spain, BetaFilm from Germany and, of course, Italian stalwarts RAI and Fininvest.

The question of whether Cartoons on the Bay is a market, festival or convention persists. The event has the characteristics of a convention: it features seminars. It is like a festival in that it has a competition (the Pulcinella Awards). And, like a market, it has buyers and distributors. Animator Bruno Bozzetto insisted that it was not correct to call Cartoons on the Bay a festival; "it is a commercial event," he said. Indeed, producers, directors, broadcasters, programmers, distributors and buyers from all over the world attended last year's inaugural event. Rosario Ponzio, managing director of Warner Bros. Italy, disagreed. He was firm in saying that Cartoons is a festival and that, even though the majority of participants are buyers and distributors, the success of the event can be measured by how many programs are in the festival competition. In order to resolve this quandary, Sodano decided that this year's edition would be "a combined market and festival."

In addition to the Pulcinella competition, in which Neapolitan masks are awarded, Cartoons will include The International Showcase, which allows all programs, including those not selected for competition, to be shown to festival participants. Sections of the festival include Fairy Tales, Animathon and Premieres. In addition, a European Day, held in conjunction with the Media program of the European Union, will allow producers to show their work to potential buyers and co-production partners. Ponzio stressed the importance of this meeting point for producers and co-producers: "it will provide an arena [in which] to exchange ideas and present new product, regardless of how big a company you are." Ponzio added that colleague Cathy Malatesta will be conducting a seminar at which independent producers will discuss co-production strategies.

The festival will include two worldwide and three European seminars. The two worldwide seminars are "Stars and Entertainment: Children's Channels Around the World" and "Scaling the Height of Animation," which will discuss the limits of the animation market. European seminars will include "Cartoons and Licensing," featuring producers and licensing companies; "The Warner Bros. Seminar"; and "Writing for Animation."

With one edition already under his belt, Alfio Bastiancich, artistic director of the festival, expects this year's Cartoons on the Bay to be even more popular than the first. Approximately 500 delegates will attend this year's festival. Out of 125 entries, 57 will be in the Pulcinella competition; those not in the competition will be in the showcase.

As with any new venture, it will take time and experience to work out the kinks. Ponzio commented that one aspect of the festival that needed changing was the location and durability of the stands; he said that last year the stands (tents) weren't efficient because they were located next to the sea, where there is a lot of wind. "They were not too safe," he noted. This year the stands will be inside, located in a nearby town called Chiostro.