Foreign Animation In America

From a Deadline article:

FilmRise has acquired North American rights to Chinese blockbuster Monster Hunt.

The adventure pic, produced by Bill Kong’s Edko Films, led the unofficial blackout box office period this summer and now has over $380M in Chinese takings. If it crosses $391M, it will beat Furious 7 to become the highest grossing movie of all time in the Middle Kingdom.

With the film on release for more than 50 days already, the local powers that be appear determined to lap F7. Monster Hunt is directed by Shrek franchise veteran Raman Hui. ...

FilmRise is releasing in early 2016. ...

From The Hollywood Reporter:

... North America has always been a strong export market for France, but mostly for animated programs. ...

Though animation sales fell a slight 3.9 percent [this year], the genre remains the most exported one for the French, with $50 million (€45 million) in overall sales on the strength of popular characters, such as Ubisoft's The Rabbids. ...

Animation has been riding a wave, and it's a global tsunami, not just a local one. Canada does a lot of animation, likewise Great Britain. (Free Money helps). There's a growing animation infrastructure in China and India and various countries in Europe. There's also cartoons happening in Atlanta, Georgia, not the first location people dwell on when they think about animated entertainment.

D\Yet despite all the bustling activity in other states and continents, the Guild has been doing well. Southern California continues to have a deep pool of talented artists, technicians and writers, and animation companies want access to it. That's probably why, despite some production shifting away from L.A. county, TAG now has the largest membership in its history.