BEIJING, June 14 -- The "Animation Day" of the 13th Shanghai Television Festival which gathered top-notch professionals of the animation industry worldwide provides recipes for the renaissance of the Chinese animation industry, which has a long history of 80 years.

    Experts including Jesse Cleverly - Head of Co-productions and Acquisitions for the Drama & Animation Department at BBC Children, and Arlene Sherman - award-winning producer from the Sesame Street Workshop shared their views on how to write and make an animation suitable for the international market.     

    Raman Hui, Supervising Animator on the Academy Award-winning blockbuster "Shrek" also exchanged his ideas with the local audience about the appealing images and stories in "Shrek".

    Exhibitions of avant-garde 3D cartoon pictures from Spain were offered after the workshops.

    During the "Animation Day" officials from Shanghai Media Group launched a public collection of ideas, plans, plots, scripts and designs for an animation feature dedicated to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

    "We have a big market for animation films and series" says Li Shilei, president of the local Toonmax TV Channel, "But we need to update our concepts and mechanism in production and distribution to satisfy today's children."

    Arlene Sherman

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    Sesame Street, one of the United States' most praised children's television shows got its start in 1969 and extended its road into China with new characters Piglet Huhu and Little Plum in the 1990s.

    Yesterday at the International Animation Market Forum, the Executive Producer of "Sesame Street"¢Ÿ Arlene Sherman, offered insight about animation for the global children's market as well as tips to success in the animation industry.

    The most important aspect about children's television is relating to the children and presenting a comfortable environment. Another important factor of children's television that Sherman emphasized on was demographics or age of the audience. "Sesame Street" understands that children of different ages are developmentally different at different ages. It is important to not present ideas to a three year old that are meant for a ten year old.

    Sherman spoke about how to write for an international market. A good script should include very well-rounded and relatable characters. Children should see themselves within certain characters.

    "To make a child laugh is magic", said Arlene Sherman. Children are entertained when they are happy and interested and that's why humor is important in writing for children.

    The structure of the writing is very important too. Children's attention spans are very short. A writing should contain a very precise beginning, middle, and end.

    Universal subject matter is very important when it comes to international markets. It is a lot easier to convert different languages and cultures into a piece when the subject matter is universal.

    Sherman expressed her love for animation and the advantages of the animation medium. Animation designers can defy gravity and the physical world. Fantasies are possible through animation. Music just makes animation that much better.

    "When entering the international market be sure to avoid being generic and always be true to your design style" said Sherman, "All of you have such a wonderful legacy of cultural design. Use that." She added§] "Don't feel like you should make your designs look like everything else." She urged the Chinese to show what they are capable of in terms of animation. Uniqueness is what sells. "Go as far as your fantasies take you". Sherman believes that the Chinese are ready to make a footprint in the animation industry. There is a strong work force and knowledge of technology. Now all the Chinese can do, as Sherman said is to "make programs from your heart".

    (Source: STVF.com)