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Animation trade show adds character to center

By Faye Brookman

Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny and the Rugrats all met last fall at Media City Center -- but they weren't shopping.

The Burbank, Calif., mall was host to Anifest '98, a weeklong animation festival that showcases cartoon arts.

Since many of its customers work in the animation industry, Media City Center, Burbank, Calif., decided to play host to an animation trade show.

Held last October, the festival attracted more than 20,000 to the center. Sponsored by ASIFA-Hollywood, an animated film society, Anifest had been held in the past as a trade show at a hotel. Looking to expand its reach, ASIFA contacted the Media City Center to see if management was interested in serving as the show's venue.

"They came looking for a site to conduct it, and the timing was right because we were looking to introduce more elements of the entertainment industry into the center,'' said Dan Millman, general manager of Media City Center, a 1.4 million-square-foot center owned and managed by CenterTrust Properties, Los Angeles.

Media City Center was a logical site for the show because of its location in the heart of Burbank, headquarters of Warner Bros. Studios and The Walt Disney Co., Millman said.

"Burbank is the indisputable center of the animation industry. Many of our customers are somehow employed in the business. We felt it was appropriate to make this event available to them," he said.

A festival-like ambiance was created in the common area at the center. Unoccupied storefronts also touted the festival, Millman said. The event, which ran from Monday through Sunday, was promoted via local newspaper, radio and television.

"The local press got very involved with reporters in the center. the Los Angeles Times also did profiles of the participants,'' Millman said.

He added that the display was very professional and geared toward the animation industry -- rather than purely a consumer promotion. The studios represented included MGM Animation, DreamWorks SKG, Nickelodeon, Saban Entertainment, Sony Pictures Imageworks, The Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. Feature Animation, Warner Bros. Television Animation, Hanna-Barbera and Film Roman, as well as independent production companies.

"The purpose of the campaign was to show the consumer how media is changing virtually everything we do," said Millman. "We are creating an opportunity for leading industry professionals to be exposed in ways that might be considered unique -- a place where companies can showcase their ideas and products in a new arena and to a new group of people."

The event presented a cross-section of the animation discipline, including how the art is developed and how it influences both the entertainment business and people's lives, he added. During Artists Evenings, people could view demonstrations that were educational as well as entertaining -- in one example, a group of Nickelodeon animators created a seven-minute short TV clip to show how new ideas for shows are developed.

"We wanted to make sure we were doing more than just promoting an upcoming release,'' said Millman, referring to the festival.

A number of limited products were sold in the event area. "ASIFA sold some vintage animation cells,'' explained Millman.

Media City Center, he said, offers somewhat of an unusual merchant mix. The anchors of the three-level center are Sears, Mervyns and Macy's. What makes it a bit different is there is also an Ikea and a Virgin MegaStore on the site, as well as a Barnes & Noble, a CompUSA and a Circuit City. There's a 14-screen AMC theater and seven restaurants. The median income of the center's trade area is high -- about $42,000 per year with an average age of 34. More than 350,000 people travel through the inside and outside of the center each week.

Millman noted that it is impossible to judge any sales gained by merchants in the center enjoyed because of Anifest.

"But with 20,000 extra people, you have to figure it was an increase,'' he added. He said he believes the event helped bring in people who may have never visited the mall before. "It was designed as a traffic building and new business promotion."

Anifest was the first in a series of programs he hopes to implement to bring greater awareness to local patrons about the expanding world of media.

The manager of a new store called Toon Times said his store wasn't open in the mall last October, but he hopes future Anifests will have a positive impact on his character licensed merchandise.