Animation guild Slovene Animated Film Association (DSAF) is setting up a co-development fund for films and series made by Central and Eastern European producers. 

The fund will provide roughly US$23,000 per project to animated series and feature films and US$5,800 for short films. It will be open to producers outside of CEE, but their projects need to have at least two co-producers from the region to qualify. At the moment, all genres and formats are eligible. 

The fund is intended as a way to attract more co-productions with studios in CEE and bolster animation production in the region. DSAF is still ironing out the details of the new, yet-unnamed fund. 

The process of building the fund with investors from the region has slowed during the summer holidays, and there’s no word yet on when it will roll out, Saša Bach, a DSAF board member, tells Kidscreen. But DSAF plans to put out a call for projects to apply for the funding this month. The org also plans to start approaching broadcasters about getting them involved in the initiative.

Earlier this year, there was another move to grow the animation industry in the Czech Republic, which increased its incentives for animated TV series and films in January. And Latvia drew industry attention when the country won its first-ever Oscar (Best Animated Feature) for the Latvian-Belgian-French co-pro Flow (pictured), a breakout success made on a budget of only US$3.6 million.