The second-annual European Animation Awards (EAA) will kick off in Lille, France next month (December 7 to 8), bringing together the biggest, best and brightest talents from the continent. The 90 nominees for the 2018 Emile Awards, as the prizes are popularly known, were announced today in Athens. From now until November 30, EAA registered members can vote online to elect winners across 18 categories.

The winners will be announced during the 2018 Emile Awards ceremony on December 8. For the second year in a row, Toon Boom Animation is a platinum sponsor of the event — part of its missions of building a self-sustaining global animation ecosystem. The European Animation Awards were launched last year to celebrate the continent’s industry and leadership, and honour creativity across three categories (student film, television and broadcast productions, and feature films), with prizes for best direction, background and character design, character animation, storyboarding, writing, soundtrack and sound design.

This year’s Emile Awards added two categories and increased the number of nominees for each prize from three to five. Casting this wider net allows for more emerging talent and markets to see themselves represented at the event. This movement towards diversity was exemplified by the choice of Athens to announce the 2018 nominees; Greece is not an established hub, but its government is investing in growing its productions and potential.

Source: Les Films d’Ici

Among the most-celebrated nominees for 2018 are director Denis Do’s Funan — a harrowing, heart-wrenching animated feature following a mother in Khmer Rouge-era Cambodia (and produced in Toon Boom Storyboard Pro and Toon Boom Harmony). The film has already seen major critical and festival success, having won the top prizes at both the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and Animation is Film Festival.

Toon Boom storyboarding and animation software was used in a number of productions nominated at the 2018 Emile Awards including (but not limited to):

• A Man is Dead (Les Armateurs)

• A New Kind of Magic (Xilam)

• Angela’s Christmas (Brown Bag)

• Ariol (Folimage)

• Athleticus (Cube Créatif)

• Claude (Sixteen South)

• Early Man (Aardman Animations)

• Ella, Oscar & Hoo (Normaal)

• Esther’s Notebooks (Folimage)

• Funan (Les Film d’Ici)

• Max & Maestro (Monello)

• Nate is Late (Watch Next Media)

• Oggy and the Cockroaches (Xilam)

• Petit Malabar (Tchack)

• Rolling with the Ronks! (Xilam)

• The Breadwinner (Cartoon Saloon)

• The Tower (Foliascope)

• Zombillenium (2 Minutes)

To support a production created in Toon Boom software, register to become an European Animation Awards Association member here and be sure to vote before November 30. Best of luck to all the 2018 Emile Awards nominees!

Start creating your own animated masterpiece today with a 21-day free trial of Toon Boom Harmony.

Banner image source: European Animation Awards Association