Lakes International Comic Art Festival Announces First International Comics Rights Market For UK Publishers And Creators

Getting Out To A New Audience

Supported by the Arts Council and The Adlard Family Foundation, the Lakes International Comic Art Festival is delighted to announce its firstInternational Comics Rights Market, bringing European and British comic publishers together to negotiate publishing rights to their comics with international counterparts across Europe…

This new Rights Market will also, unusually, feature opportunities for creators to meet directly with buyers from Europe, getting feedback on their work and, potentially, selling rights too. This announcement includes a call out to creators to apply to our new concept free marketplace. Invites to British publishers will follow shortly. The Festival is working with VIP Brands Ltd. on this aspect of the project.

Key global comics industry players will be coming to LICAF 2024 and 2025 to find, promote, publish and distribute British comics talent through this International Rights Market. The new project is only the second of its kind in the world, the other taking place during the Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d’Angoulême.

The Festival will also be taking a diverse group of British creators to flagship international festivals and industry events to tell the story of British comics and find new partners and advocates.

“At our Rights Market, British agents, publishers and creators will negotiate publishing rights to their comics with international counterparts across Europe, intersecting with LICAF ’s existing curated Comics Marketplace at our annual Festival,” Festival Director Julie Tait explains. “We’ll also be organising a British Comic Art Pavilion at two key comic festivals each year in North America and

France will showcase the UK sector to huge audiences at global events.

The British Comics Now pavilion will feature a delegation of creators to the Toronto Comic Art Festival and Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d’Angoulême, attending TCAF in 2024, Angoulême and TCAF 2025, and d’Angoulême 2026.

Six British comic creators will be fully funded to join each of the delegations – a different six at each event – and every pavilion project will feature materials which will aim to tell the bigger story of British independent comics and what they offer.

“We are curating the delegation for TCAF now,” says Julie Tait, “taking expert advice and then we will do a call out for the following three events, to which any creator can respond and reply. We’ll be actively seeking feedback from audiences at each event, as well as make contact with foreign publishers and media to promote British comic creators, their work, and publishers, too.

“Both the Comic Rights Market and British Comics Now are about increasing the profile and readership of British comics on the international stage.”

The first “TCAF Six” will be announced soon – as will additional partners from the public and private sectors.

“This is a hugely exciting development for British comic creators and publishers, and the British comic industry,” enthuses artist and former Comics Laureate Charlie Adlard, who set up The Adlard Family Foundation to promote the creative arts and the environment. “I’m excited to see what new comic partnerships emerge from this fantastic project.”

• For more information on the Lakes International Comic Art Festival Comic Rights Market visit www.comicartfestival.com | For more information and news about British Comics News, please visit the Festival’s new web site devoted to its year round education and comic partnerships projects at www.comicscanchangetheworld.com

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival returns to Bowness-on-Windermere Friday 27th – Sunday 29th September 2024