CartoonNext 2023 - Press Review by CARTOON

Quel gatto è di cartone!

Anteprime dagli eventi Cartoon d’Oltralpe

Come si progetta una serie tv in animazione? Per quali tortuose, avventurose vie un progetto seriale prende la via dello schermo? È una domanda che spesso si pongono al debutto creativi, sceneggiatori e disegnatori: la chiave di tutto è... resilienza, termine reso comune dalla feroce determinazione con cui in tempo di CoViD anche i creatori d’animazione hanno affinato idee e temperato matite (digitali) per mesi, per presentarle alla ribalta di Cartoon, soggetto europeo che accompagna in eventi annuali i progetti più rilevanti dal concept alla realizzazione. Ad esempio al Cartoon Next: lo scorso aprile la 3 giorni di Marsiglia ha proposto i finalisti dei progetti considerati più innovativi, da Francia, Spagna, Austria, Lituania, Slovacchia e Italia. Astrid and the School of Astronauts intercetta la voglia di scienza e astrofisica che accende la curiosità dei bambini quando pensano allo spazio. L’autrice e produttrice Federica Carbone parla di «una serie tv che ha come obiettivo quello di avvicinare le ragazze alla scienza, grazie a un progetto basato sull’empowerment femminile». Nel mirino anche app, prodotti editoriali, videogames, con mire verso il Metaverso.

Ma i sogni animati sono consentiti a chiunque: l’ha dimostrato la responsabile dei programmi educativi BBC per ragazzi Patricia Hidalgo, con i risultati di una chiamata per idee originali di serie tv: sorprendente risposta numerica (un migliaio di proposte) ma soprattutto all’80% da privati cittadini non professionisti. Per gli specialisti che progettano per mestiere a settembre c’è poi stato il 33° Cartoon Forum a Tolosa, ripreso alla grande con il record di 1075 fra produttori, distributori, tv e investitori, accorsi da 40 Paesi per i primi assaggi di ben 80 progetti da 19 nazioni. Se fossero realizzati tutti, riempirebbero ben 473 ore di programmazione dal costo medio al minuto di poco più di 12mila euro, a significare un budget totale di

oltre 360 milioni di euro. Tedeschi, belgi e francesi guidano la maggioranza delle coproduzioni. Tanta qualità al solito dagli irlandesi, sempre delicati e raffinati da studi che lavorano, in coproduzione o prestando lavoro, con mezzo mondo. Paese d’onore era la Spagna, nell’anno dell’Oscar per il miglior corto animato all’iberico The Wildshield Wiper Pablo Conde, ambasciatore per l’animazione spagnola, lo vede «punto di arrivo di un comparto con 5mila addetti, ormai un fenomeno non certo di nicchia con 8 film presto distribuiti, 60 progetti in lavorazione, 75 coproduzioni in corso di realizzazione. È una realtà che oggi vale un giro d’affari di 1,6 miliardi di euro». Gli incentivi delle Canarie, dove si sono stabiliti vari studi, consentono alle aziende straniere di recuperare quasi il 50% di quanto speso in loco. Un incentivo fiscale e finanziario che, unito al valor aggiunto dei talenti disponibili, fa della Spagna un hub del cinema animato d’assoluto rilievo. Ma anche l’Occitania, sede del Forum, è terra prolifica di animazione: in Francia studi e produttori contano su un doppio sistema statale e regionale che finanzia munificamente l’industria con sostegni monstre

di Federico Fiecconi

Mervyn’s Album sfrutta il collezionismo dei francobolli come finestre d’accesso a un universo capace di narrare infinite storie, la serie dal cuore “antico” La bottega di Leonardo dell’animatore americano con radici campane Jim Capobianco ripercorre in 26 episodi da 13 minuti con pupazzi e disegni delicati le atmosfere del periodo milanese del genio vinciano.

I trend e prodotti di spicco dalla nutrita passerella di progetti al Cartoon Forum? Anzitutto un dato sorprendente dalle tecniche: in un mondo con evoluzioni software che consentono leccamenti di immagine a rasentare l’iperrealismo 3D, ecco invece tanta animazione 2D. E le storie, i temi, i personaggi? Tante bestiole: dinosauri, pesci e su tutti

cani e gatti, in particolare quelli francesi come il “manghizzante” Kat & Cats tratto da Davy Mourier e l’adattamento del Putain de Chat di Stéphane Lapuss’, 30 pillole da 2 minuti che animano con graffiante leggerezza la routine quotidiana padrone-felino. Quanto ai target, il 25% dei progetti erano prescolari spesso di grande creatività, dal sapore di libri illustrati di pregio, al servizio di edutainment sulla sostenibilità o sul celebrare unicità e differenza che ciascun individuo rappresenta. Lo spagnolo

In mezzo a tanta ecologia e amicizia, si fanno largo anche progetti italiani: da Torino i fantasmi e l’horror edulcorato di Will Moogley Ghost Agency (Studio Pandora con Show Lab), l’Olimpo degli dèi greci trattato con moderna irriverenza (Myth Club, 52 episodi da 11 minuti dei fiorentini Cartobaleno, ma anche il progetto tedesco Chill out, Zeus!) e le storie attorno al fuoco degli animaletti di Tardy - The Water Bear from Outer Space dei cesenati Kairostudio. Era uno dei 34 debuttanti, come a dire che c’è spazio per nuove firme. Buona accoglienza per Delù della giungla, con cui i torinesi di Animoka proseguono a proporre un’animazione 3D di livello e sapore internazionale che non teme confronti con gli alti standard europei. La milanese BeQ Entertainment progetta una serie sul globulo rosso Jack the Red - The red blood cell. A visionare il tutto i responsabili di Rai Kids, maggior investitore italiano nel settore come acquirente o coproduttore. Infine, la nuova struttura milanese di produzione KidsMe (Gruppo De Agostini) ha sfiorato il premio di Miglior Investitore dell’anno.

Un trend che si conferma è l’adattamento di opere letterarie, con 30 progetti da 25 editori presenti ad assistere all’adattamento dei loro libri e fumetti per l’audiovisivo. Ultimo dato in rosa: sempre più registe donne, il 27% dei progetti presentati a Tolosa.

Julien Borde on a ‘golden age of animation’

Karolina Kaminska 07-02-2023

©C21Media

Mediawan Kids &Family president Julien Bordediscusses how anime, AVoD, ‘glocal’ content and 360-degreeIP arecontributing to a thriving animation business.

Julien Borde

How will the streaming boom and inﬂux of How will the streaming boom and inﬂux of AVoD/FAST platforms continue to impact the AVoD/FAST platforms continue to impact the business? business?

The kids’ business has been and will continue to be positively impacted by streaming and AVoD. Kids and family content is among the best assets to prevent subscriber churn and generate loyalty and engagement to AVoD o!ers. Kids need to ﬁnd the content they love wherever and whenever they want. Streaming, AVoD and FAST provide them with more opportunities to ﬁnd easily what they need. Every new kind of exploitation is adding a level of complexity in terms of deals but is worthwhile as reaching eyeballs is critical to building IPs.

What are the biggest challenges and opportunities for kids’ TV in 2023? What are the biggest challenges and opportunities for kids’ TV in 2023? Freemium o!ers, which seem to be the next big step for nearly all the SVoD giants, and some free-to-air broadcasters mixing ad-supported and subscription under the same service, will be challenging in terms of rights but will also o!er new opportunities to our IP partners to advertise where kids consume content in a qualitative environment.

With consumption fragmentation and the video content tsunami, it’s harder and harder for broadcasters and streamers to reach strong ratings with so many services proposing kids’ content and the competition from gaming and social network shortform content, not to mention Web3 also competing for the attention of older

https://www.c21media.net/department/thought-leadership/julien-borde-on-a-golden-age-of-animation/

kids. Though in Europe some traditional broadcasters still manage to reach very strong ratings, especially in France and Germany.

We have many positive trends to continue to grow and create. The appetite for animation is high and streamers and traditional broadcasters are more open than ever to a wide variety of diversiﬁed content targeting di!erent demos. It’s the golden age of animation and innovation.

What programming trends do you expect to see this year?

With the boom of anime, comes the anime-adjacent segment – animation inﬂuenced by Japanese anime but not produced by Japanese studios. We showcased our ﬁrst anime-style project, Ki & Hi, based on a bestselling French manga, at Cartoon Forum in Toulouse last year and have had a great response.

The incredible success of digital-ﬁrst IP is also inspiring and motivating. It’s a great way to incubate, generate success and then bring it to new audiences via traditional players.

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

The demand for ‘glocal’ content is also very high in kids and adult animation – that is, locally based stories enjoyed by worldwide audiences. Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, coproduced by Method Animation and Zagtoon is the perfect blueprint for that trend. The French animation talents are well positioned to meet the needs of the market for strong and innovative storytelling.

How will Mediawan Kids & Family be changing its strategy to adapt to the How will Mediawan Kids & Family be changing its strategy to adapt to the new landscape in 2023? new landscape in 2023?

Mediawan Kids & Family comprises Method Animation, Joann Sfar’s Magical Society, ON Classics, Elliott Studio and Somewhere Animation. Our ambition is to bring the best kids and family content originated by European talent to worldwide audiences. In 2023, we will be joined by new talent and new labels to strengthen our editorial o!er and bring more unique stories to kids and families in animation and live action.

We are producing six animated series (Petronix Defenders, Pirate Academy, Robin Hood season four, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir season ﬁve, The Little Prince & Friends and The Three Musketeers) and are developing four major new IPs at Method Animation (Witch Detectives, Ki & Hi, Astroboy and The Magic Roundabout).

Our newest labels are ramping up with fresh new live-action series for tweens at

Julien Borde on a ‘golden age of animation’ | Features | C21Media

Elliott Studio and the ﬁrst cooking show at Somewhere Animation based on the digital phenomenon Chefclub. ON Classics is also producing the new movie by Sylvain Chomet, The Magniﬁcent Life of Marcel Pagnol, following the release last year of The Little Nick – Happy as Can Be.

How will demand for content evolve in 2023?

Streamers and broadcasters are still on the hunt for the best content and there are many di!erent business models to partner with them. We have noticed some partners opting for the fewer/better strategy, focusing on less content and shorter series. The demand for real 360-degree IP is also strong and broadcasters and toy manufacturers are looking for the next big thing, which is not so easy to establish in such a fragmented environment.

We have managed to build, with our partner Alpha, a very solid launch plan for our new preschool series Petronix Defenders, which we are launching in more than 90 territories with broadcasters and platforms including Gulli in France, Germany’s Super RTL, Italy’s DeA Kids, Discovery Lat Am and YouTube Kids in the US.

How will consolidation change things this year?

Consolidation is not an issue if the business models and demand for content remain diversiﬁed. We are lucky to work in an industry in which new clients are added to the traditional ones.

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James Burstall on prospering through a global crisis

L’événement CartoonNext, qui se déroulera du 18 au 20 avril à Marseille, dévoile une partie du programme de ses conférences. Douze panels seront proposés pendant deux jours et demi avec, notamment, une présentation de Marc du Pontavice, le PDG de Xilam Animation. Il reviendra sur le succès du film J’ai perdu mon corps, de Jérémy Clapin, et le challenge que représente la production d’un long métrage d’animation pour adultes. Marc du Pontavice exposera aussi ses réflexions sur l’avenir des films et séries qui s’adressent à cette cible.

Une autre conférence portera sur la réinvention des chaînes linéaires pour enfants à l’heure des plates-formes. L’agent de talents américaine Julie Kane-Ritsch partagera quant à elle son point de vue sur les enjeux de représentation des talents dans un environnement qui ne cesse d’évoluer. Enfin, une conférence couvrira le phénomène du “silo marketing”, qui change la façon dont les IP sont commercialisées. Le détail des événements proposés dans le cadre de Cartoon Next sont disponibles sur le site de Cartoon.

and

02/05/2023, 17:12

CARTOON 2023 Cartoon Next

At Cartoon Next, Bartosz Sztybor talks about the anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and working with US writers and Japanese studios

by DAVIDE ABBATESCIANNI

19/04/2023 - The CD Projekt Red representative shared the joys and the pains of developing the franchise as well as the lessons learnt by working with Japan’s Studio Trigger

On day 1 of this year’s Cartoon Next (18-20 April), Marseille’s World Trade Center hosted a 40-minute talk titled “Cartoon Next Brings You the Next Big Thing in the Crossover Between Anime, Narrative and Gaming”. The discussion, moderated by John Lomas-Bullivant, saw the participation of Bartosz Sztybor, Comic Book and Animation Narrative director at Poland’s CD Projekt Red. The Warsaw-based video game studio is the biggest in Eastern Europe, and it is best known for its work on two gaming franchises – namely, Cyberpunk 2077 (more than 20 million copies sold) and The Witcher trilogy (over 50 million copies sold). In his talk, Sztybor spoke about his work on developing the Cyberpunk universe and zoomed in on the creation of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the franchise-based anime series released last September on Netflix, produced in co-operation with Japan’s Studio Trigger.

At Cartoon Next, Bartosz Sztybor talks about the anime series Cyb…rs,

working with US writers and Japanese studios - Cineuropa

John Lomas-Bullivant (left) and Bartosz Sztybor during the discussion (© Cartoon)

At Cartoon Next, Bartosz Sztybor talks about the anime series Cyb…rs, and working with US writers and Japanese studios - Cineuropa

02/05/2023, 17:12

Sztybor touched upon his background and said he started working for CD Projekt Red four years ago. He described the company as being made up of “1,000 rebels and dreamers”. Back in 2019, CD Projekt Red needed his expertise “to expand the brand and the Cyberpunk IP, [in order] to create comics and animation”. He also confirmed the company would be releasing an expansion pack to the base game later this year.

After showing the first trailer for Cyberpunk, Sztybor admitted that during his first few days at CD Projekt Red, he didn’t know much about the game. But uncertainty seems to have remained throughout the process. “It was hard to learn the essence of the IP. Of course, the story was written, but you should know that gaming development is very different from that of film and animation. It’s a process full of iterations, because of technical stuff and some people’s decisions. [...] You have the whole story written, and after two or three months, you have to rewrite it [from scratch] because something happens. It was hard to create something in a world that was constantly changing.”

Unsurprisingly, the head of Story’s voice was hardly considered a point of reference. When asking for clarifications, they could easily answer that they knew the story “how it was two days ago”, but it was difficult to explain, since the team was “trying to experiment with something else”.

Cyberpunk 2077 was developed over seven years, and its release was repeatedly postponed. “The people from CD Projekt Red are rebels but also perfectionists, and that's why everyone in the company wanted to nail this IP to make it perfect; that’s why there were constant iterations,” the Polish artist pointed out.

Next, Lomas-Bullivant asked him why the team decided to kick off the development of an animated project before the game was even finalised, well ahead of being able to know its actual impact on the market.

“Everyone knew we would make an anime some day because it’s Cyberpunk; everyone knows Ghost in the Shell and Akira, and the people from CD Projekt Red wanted to create another [new] anime that would have a cult following. [...] The idea was to be 100% ‘cyberpunk’ with the whole IP,” answered Sztybor.

He then revealed that the main reason was that when it comes to working with Japanese studios, you may need to wait from six to eight years to complete the production of an anime, and that pushed CD Projekt Red to start the anime development well in advance.

The conversation then moved on to focus on the co-operation with US showrunners and Studio Trigger. “The process has been crazy,” said Sztybor, without mincing his words. “The stakeholders inside the company were often unhappy about what Cyberpunk was going to be. Then there was Studio Trigger, reading all the scripts and telling us, ‘This is not anime; it looks cool, but it’s not an anime.’ So what is an anime? You have to feel it. That was our main discussion. So we thought: ‘Maybe we should use more professionals.’ [...] Spoiler alert: the US talents didn’t help at all.

“The problem is that this IP is hard [to work with], and no one knew what it was supposed to be about. [...] At one point, Studio Trigger came back with their own pitch saying, ‘This is an anime,’ but we answered that that wasn’t Cyberpunk 2077! It was very high-concept, and about a child who is able to save the world, and we knew it couldn’t be like that. It had to be very grounded, not a fantasy world.”

In the last part of the talk, Sztybor told the audience that an important lesson he had learnt from co-operating with the Japanese studio was to “throw your ego out and follow their flow”, adding how different it has been to work with them in comparison with Los Angeles-based writers, “who are all about screenwriting rules and the hero’s journey”.

Titmouse, Visible Realms developing series on virtual band Studio Killers

CARTOON NEXT: TikTok phenomenon Studio Killers, the virtual electropop band comprising four animated characters, is being developed as a series by Finland’s Visible Realms and US studio Titmouse.

During a session at pitching and conference event CartoonNext in Marseille on Tuesday, Visible Realms Eliza Jäppinen CEO discussed how the IP has grown since the band released their Qrst single in 2011 and went viral on TikTok in 2020.

Jäppinen said the IP originated from her desire to create a body-positive virtual pop star and steadily grew a following online over the past decade, with TikTok playing a big part in its recent growth.

Studio Killers track Jenny (I Wanna Ruin Our Friendship) was an international success following the viral #ruinourfriendship trend on TikTok, which generated more than 11.6 billion video views.

The band consists of four animated characters: vocalist and designer Chubby Cherry (aka Cherry), keyboardist Goldie Foxx, DJ Dyna Mink and manager Bipolar Bear.

A series featuring the characters, Studio Killers 404, was pitched at CartoonNext’s predecessor event, Cartoon 360, in 2020 by Visible Realms and is now being developed with Titmouse, the US studio that has worked on hits such as Big Mouth

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Eliza Jäppinen at CartoonNext

Syfy drama after Electric Sky deal

Studio Killers track Jenny (I Wanna Ruin Our Friendship) was an international success following the viral #ruinourfriendship trend on TikTok, which generated more than 11.6 billion video views.

The band consists of four animated characters: vocalist and designer Chubby Cherry (aka Cherry), keyboardist Goldie Foxx, DJ Dyna Mink and manager Bipolar Bear.

An 11-minute pilot for Studio Killers 404 launched on YouTube towards the end of 2021, having been part Qnanced via a Kickstarter campaign and the deal the band signed with Atlantic Records in 2020 after going viral.

A mobile game featuring Studio Killers has also been launched, and Jäppinen told delegates at CartoonNext that her target demographic of 15- to 25-year-old women has historically been underserved by the gaming and animation industries.

Described as a parody of the classic magical girl trope, the project is now being pitched to buyers with Titmouse, making use of the insight gained from the band’s social media following helping to shape the series.

“We want to champion diversity on and especially od screen. We want to let the data empower and supercharge the creative,” said Jäppinen.

Helsinki-based Visible Realms is also developing other IP in both gaming and animation, including Troll Karl & Lillan, which was pitched at Cartoon Forum in 2021.

Nico Franks 19-04-2023 ©C21Media

Mediawan Kids & Family preparing for web3 with animation innovation, reveals Borde

CARTOON NEXT: French production and distribution giant Mediawan’s kids and family arm is experimenting with artiﬁcial intelligence (AI) tools to pitch new shows, while launching animated IP in the metaverse.

Julien Borde, president at Mediawan Kids & Family, told delegates at Cartoon Next here in Marseille yesterday about his expectations for a new era of children’s media in the next iteration of the world wide web, known as web3.

Former Disney, France Télévisions and WarnerMedia exec Borde argued that the coming years will lead to a boom in animation, with more opportunities to create truly interactive universes.

https://www.c21media.net/news/mediawan-kids-family-preparing-for-web3-with-animation-innovation-reveals-borde/

Julien Borde speaking at Cartoon Next 2023 (photo: Cartoon)

Borde is keen to see Mediawan Kids & Family capitalise on this with Mediawan’s project manager for web3 and new business Nicolas Fisch, who is also here at Cartoon Next, which runs until Friday.

“In web3, animation is everywhere. Not only in animated series, it’s everywhere –NFTs, the metaverse, gaming. Animation has everything to face the challenges of the future, because animation has been about transmedia and franchise building from the very beginning of its history. So we’re very positive about the future of animated content,” said Borde.

Borde said he hoped new technologies will help speed up and economise what can be incredibly lengthy and expensive animation processes, compared with other parts of TV production.

“We will be able to deliver the 11 hours of a TV series in less time, which will make animation more relevant to kids audiences. When taking any editorial decision, it’s a pure bet [at the moment] because you don’t know what the consumption trends will be in two to three years,” said Borde.

Mediawan is using the game engine Unreal to accelerate the production process on upcoming animated series Pirate Academy for broadcasters including Gulli, and AI tools such as Midjourney, which generates images from natural language descriptions, whilst debating the ethics of doing so internally.

Borde, who joined Mediawan in 2020, said his team had used Midjourney to make the front page for the bible for a new show, titled Julien & Julie and set in Marseille, in just “20 minutes.”

“I’m not saying we’re going to prepare all of our development through Midjourney but we have a new tool that can help us to be better and faster,” said Borde.

Meanwhile, Borde also hinted that it will soon be launching IP in The Sandbox Metaverse, a virtual gaming world where players can build, own and monetise their gaming experiences. An announcement about which Mediawan-owned property this will be is expected in the coming months.

Mediawan Kids & Family is in expansion mode and continues to grow its portfolio of production companies, having bought UK-based Wildseed Studios in February and, more recently, European producer Submarine.

As well as these two companies, Mediawan Kids & Family also owns Method Animation, Somewhere Animation, Elliott Studio, Magical Society and ON Classics, as well as a distribution arm. Its parent company, Mediawan, owns more than 60 production labels around the world.

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CARTOON 2023 Cartoon Next

Thierry Baujard and Teddy Kossoko survey collaboration opportunities between African and European animation and gaming studios

by DAVIDE ABBATESCIANNI

20/04/2023 - Cartoon Next zoomed in on Africa, a complex market with great creatives and a growing demand, which still needs to overcome a lack of mentorship and networking opportunities

Thierry Baujard and Teddy Kossoko during the discussion (© Cartoon)

How to unleash the creative potential of Africa’s animation and gaming industries? That was the main question tackled by Thierry Baujard, of Germany’s Spielfabrique, and Teddy Kossoko, of France’s Masseka Game Studio, who held a talk titled “What Next for Africa as the Industry Develops and Grows?” during day 2 of this year’s Cartoon Next (18-20 April). The event was moderated by Christophe Erbes

In his contribution, Baujard first touched upon the activities of Spielfabrique, which he described as “a video-game ecosystem catalyst based in Germany mentoring indie studios through international programmes [the European Games Accelerator, the European Games Co-Production Market and the African Games Co-Production Market]” and “creating resources for the financing of video games [the European Games Funding Guide]”.

03/05/2023, 09: 51 Thierry Baujard and Teddy Kossoko survey collaboration opportuni…n African and European animation and gaming studios - Cineuropa

Baujard pointed out how Europe’s indie gaming sector is underdeveloped and unstructured in comparison with film, even though it is a young, fast-growing industry. Spielfabrique began its activities in Africa in 2019, with a pilot project involving three studios (Work’d, Bonobo and Kayfo), the Eurafrican Coproduction Platform. The experiment then developed into the African Games CoProduction Market, involving nine studios and organised in collaboration with Johannesburg’s Goethe-Institut. At the end of 2022, Spielfabrique conducted a feasibility study on the gaming and animation industries in Africa, followed by its attendance of the Africa Games Week in Cape Town.

The African Co-Production Market covered a number of activities, including mentorship in game design, gameplay, monetisation and entrepreneurship, with the aim being to attract policy makers and public institutions based in Africa and Europe to back the co-production of gaming and immersive content, and help creators access funding through partners and co-producers. The core idea was to create a bridge between developers and studios in Africa and Europe. Baujard showed off two successful examples of projects produced through the market. The first was a video game based on the South African short Rapulani!, which involved co-operation between South African studios Alkemaixe (in charge of writing the game) and Space Salad (which offered its sound and scoring expertise) together with Ireland’s Whitepot Studios, which served as a Unity expert. The second project was a game based on the animated feature Trash , produced by Rome-based Al One together with Tunisia’s Lanterns Studios. The two firms collaborated on many levels, including AI and multiplayer programming, 3D animation, body-performance mocaps, level design, texturing, audio and VFX.

The untapped potential of the African market is vast, Baujard added. He mentioned that 83% of video-game consumers in the world are aged from 25-35, and now, 53% of Africans are under 20, projected to top 72% in 2050. Thus, 35% of the world’s youth population will be African.

The population structure and growing access to mobile internet will help stakeholders access a more scalable, larger market in terms of volumes. He also noted how the gaming sector, however, is still more developed and easier to access than animation, and how “mobile is king” throughout the continent. Among the key territories for business opportunities, Baujard highlighted Tunisia, Senegal, Kenya, South Africa and Ivory Coast.

Some of the main challenges include transparency, payment issues when it comes to the monetisation of content, a strong lack of knowledge of and data from the market, legal issues between local governments and international platforms, a rapidly growing need for education and networking opportunities, the very limited access to big screens, and the slow growth of internet and telco penetration. That being said, Baujard stressed European producers’ strong appetite for new African stories, which can bring in “diverse, fresh ideas”.

Later, Kossoko spoke about his work on Gara, described as “a pan-African edutainment platform that facilitates the distribution and monetisation of digital games and comics everywhere in Africa”. The effort, Kossoko explained, was born as a response to the need to implement a business model that would be sustainable and beneficial to African creators, first and foremost.

In 2022, the African share of the gaming market accounted for only 1%, he underlined, while the global gaming industry is worth $203.1 billion, and $91 billion of this revenue are generated through mobile games.

The African market can be defined as an “Android continent”, with over 600 million users having an Android smartphone, reaching a 55% penetration rate. Meanwhile, 50% of the continent is currently covered by 4G.

Africa’s tiny share within the global market is mostly led by South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya. While the digital market is growing, many online stores and platforms are still inaccessible on the continent. Moreover, less than 10% of the population owns a bank account, even though mobile money payments are quite common (600 million mobile money accounts were registered in 2022). The local scene is still quite small, with the whole continent hosting around 150 studios and producing 100 games per year. Gara is trying to support the growth of the sector by merging the expertise of gaming, distribution and fintech, and offering its users a catalogue of over 3,000 pieces of content.

International kids execs spotlight Bluey for fresh approach to preschool content

Bluey was ordered by the ABC and BBC Studios

CARTOON NEXT: International children’s media execs have heaped praise on hit animated series Bluey as a rare example of a preschool property that has been a success with the whole family on both linear and streaming.

Produced by Ludo Studio in Brisbane, Australia, and co-commissioned by UK-based BBC Studios and ABC Children’s down under, the show has been a cornerstone of numerous presentations here at Cartoon Next in Marseille this week.

Julien Borde, president of Mediawan Kids & Family in France, said the show, about a family of anthropomorphic dogs living in Australia, is the Qrst preschool IP to have been able to breakthrough as both a critical and commercial hit in the age of streaming.

The series airs on pubcasters the BBC and ABC and has also been launched internationally in many territories on Disney+ before being picked up for a second window by free-to-air broadcasters.

“Like everyone, I was doubting the capacity of streamers to establish brands. Bluey is getting awareness in a fragmented world. Why? It’s very human. It’s not a lazy preschool series. Many, many preschool series are very lazy in terms of writing and very old fashioned,” Borde said.

“Bluey does a fantastic job of telling very simple stories that families can relate to. It’s very positive because it shows that in this new, digital environment, you can still build IP that has massive international success.”

Julie Kane-Ritsch, head of animation and family entertainment at Hollywood-based management and production Qrm The Gotham Group, was another exec to lavish praise on the show, which launched in 2018 and is in its third season.

“Families need optimism and hope right now – it’s why Bluey is working so well. Problems get resolved in a positive way. Families need coping skills and to know everything is going to be okay and they can get through it together. Having optimism is important,” said Kane-Ritsch.

Elsewhere at the event, Jean-Philippe Randisi, the former CEO of Zodiak Kids Studios and executive VP of consumer products for ITV Studios, said Bluey was an example of a preschool show that is popular among parents for the quality of its writing and modern depiction of family life.

He added that distributor BBC Studios had been “smart” in capitalising on this and growing its popularity with “grown-up, targeted PR” opportunities and marketing aimed at adults.

ShadowMachine co-founder

Bulkley hails new era of serious stop-motion animation

stop-motion animation

CARTOON NEXT: Stop-motion animation is enjoying a “resurgence” in popularity among buyers and audiences looking for “sophisticated storytelling,” according to Alex Bulkley, producer of the Oscar-winning Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio.

The NetMix Nlm won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature last month and drew praise among critics for the way it captured the darkness of the original source material, the 1883 Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, compared to Disney’s interpretations.

Speaking via video call from Portland to Lisette Looman at CartoonNext in Marseille yesterday, Bulkley said it is an example of how the perception around what kinds of stories can be told using stop-motion are moving beyond quirky comedies.

“Everyone had a nostalgic idea of what stop-motion was. What we’ve seen is a resurgence in stop-motion. It provides a very sophisticated aesthetic for very sophisticated storytelling,” said the US animation producer, Nlm director and cofounder of ShadowMachine (Robot Chicken, BoJack Horseman).

“In our conversations among all the studios, Nnanciers, buyers, but most importantly the audience, there’s real demand for sophisticated stories and stop-motion works perfectly.

“It’s got to be the right story. There’s a generation excited about new and innovative storytelling and Nlmmaking. That demand is an opportunity for all of us to deliver more amazing stop-motion.”

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“In our conversations among all the studios, Nnanciers, buyers, but most importantly the audience, there’s real demand for sophisticated stories and stop-motion works perfectly.

Often deemed prohibitively expensive and incredibly time-consuming, Bulkley said technological advances are making stop-motion animation more accessible and varied, while allowing it to retain its artistic value.

“It doesn’t have to look one particular way, it can be anything. Rapid prototyping is an incredible opportunity for e_ciency, as well as blending digital and visual e`ects. There’s innovation every single day. We’re just at the crest of a whole new horizon for where stop-motion can go,” said Bulkley, whose company has ridden the wave of huge demand for adult animation from the US streamers.

ShadowMachine, the animation studio Bulkley co-founded alongside Corey Campodonico, is working on various high-proNle projects for adults with streaming services in a variety of di`erent animation styles.

Projects include: a Dan Harmon project over at Apple TV+ in Strange Planet, based on the webcomic; a reboot of Clone High with Phil Lord and Chris Miller at Warner Bros Discovery’s Max; and In The Know, a Mike Judge project at NBCUniversal for Peacock that marks the streamer’s Nrst ever adult animation comedy.

It is also re-teaming with Del Toro for the Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water director’s next stop-motion feature, an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s fantasy novel The Buried Giant for NetMix, and an animated mystery series Milepost 88, with Mark Gustafson, co-director of Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio.

Of The Buried Giant, Bulkley said it is “very dark, very beautiful and very sophisticated,” while adding that: “When we talk about the future, we’re very optimistic about where animation goes. It is a brave new world in terms of what stories can be told.”

Alexandre Cornu, founder of Marseille-based Les Films du Tambour de Soie, which recently produced European stop-motion animated feature Nlm No Dogs or Italians Allowed, agreed that the scope for what kinds of stories it is now possible to tell in stop-motion had widened.

The Nlm is set at the beginning of the 20th century, when a family of Italians in Northern Italy dream of a better life abroad and cross the Alps to start a new life in France.

À Cartoon Next, des experts font un état des lieux du secteur de l’…ion en Italie, en France, au Royaume-Uni et en Lituanie - Cineuropa

02/05/2023, 16:29

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CARTOON 2023 Cartoon Next

À Cartoon Next, des experts font un état des lieux du secteur de l’animation en Italie, en France, au Royaume-Uni et en Lituanie

par DAVIDE ABBATESCIANNI

21/04/2023 - L’avenir s’annonce radieux pour l’animation européenne, mais quelques batailles sont encore à livrer pour obtenir plus de financements, plus de personnels et de meilleures conditions de travail

Samuel Kaminka, d'AnimFrance, pendant le débat (© Cartoon)

Au troisième jour de cette édition de Cartoon Next (18-20 avril), John Lomas-Bullivant a modéré la discussion "État des lieux du secteur de l’animation en Italie, en France et au Royaume-Uni, avec quelques observations sur les pays baltes, et surtout, que réserve l’avenir ?", à laquelle sont intervenus Justė Michailinaitė, de la Association lituanienne de l'animation, Cristian Jezdic de Cartoon Italia, Samuel Kaminka d'AnimFrance et Kate O’Connor d'Animation UK

Le micro a d’abord été laissé à Kaminka, qui a décrit les efforts et objectifs d'AnimFrance, l'union qui représente le secteur de la production audiovisuelle d’animation, créée en 1989. À ce jour, l’organisation réunit 60 sociétés indépendantes des quatre coins du pays, qui représentent 85 % des emplois dans l’animation en France. La force de l’union réside dans sa "conscience politique commune" et "le fait que les autorités publiques comprennent et contribuent à promouvoir l’importance de la production indépendante dans ses aspects économiques, sociaux et politiques".

À Cartoon Next, des experts font un état des lieux du secteur de l’…ion en Italie, en France, au Royaume-Uni et en Lituanie - Cineuropa

02/05/2023, 16: 29

Les suggestions de l’union, a expliqué Kaminka, sont bien reçues par les pouvoirs publics, car le secteur de l’animation représente "10 % du secteur audiovisuel du pays dans son ensemble, mais plus de 40 % des exports". Le volume d’affaires de l’animation française approche à présent les 600 millions d’euros, dont 280 millions sont générés par les productions télévisuelles, 50 millions par le cinéma et 250 millions par les services de production, notamment les travaux menés pour des les clients étrangers (210 millions). Le secteur représente près de 8600 emplois, soit 2,5 fois plus qu’en 2004, avec une croissance de 60 % enregistrée cette dernière décennie. Les salaires représentés par ces emplois se montent à 205,1 millions d'euros, un chiffre qui a doublé ces dix dernières années. De plus, 45 % des nouveaux entrants dans le secteur en 2020 étaient des femmes. De bons chiffres de pré-ventes (47 millions d'euros en 2021) et un accès à des financements généreux et diversifiés, à la fois en région et au niveau national, sont la cerise sur le gâteau.

Sur les challenges qui se présentent dans le secteur en France Kaminka a révélé que le financement des longs-métrages d'animation et de l’animation pour jeunes adultes reste "faible". Il a aussi évoqué la "forte tension" du côté des talents qui se battent pour obtenir de meilleures conditions de travail.

Quoiqu'AnimFrance soit gravement en sous-effectif, l'organisation parvient à gérer une variété de tâches grâce au travail incessant de cinq employés et quelques unités spécialisées qui traitent de questions ciblées. Tous les deux ans, le quart du comité de direction est renouvelé et un nouveau président est élu.

Cliquer ici pour lire l'ensemble du reportage sur l’Italie, le Royaume-Uni et la Lituanie.

(Traduit de l'anglais)

The AI-nimation debate continues…

Nico Franks 25-04-2023 ©C21Media

ThelegalityandethicsofusingAIwasabigtopicatCartoonNextinMarseillelast week,withthenextgenerationofanimationtalentweighinginasmorecompanies experimentwiththetech.

I don’t tend to read much sci-2. But the book club I’m in, more of an excuse to drink Guinness on a weeknight in a cosy pub than an exercise in self-improvement, is currently on The Three-Body Problem, the groundbreaking sci-2 novel by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu.

Recently made into a big-budget series by NetHix, it contains this passage: “He believed that technological progress was a disease in human society. The explosive development of technology was analogous to the growth of cancer cells, and the results would be identical: the exhaustion of all sources of nourishment, the destruction of organs, and the 2nal death of the host body.”

You can’t beat a bit of light reading to help you relax. And so it was that shortly after reading this passage, I arrived at Cartoon Next in Marseille, the second time the event has been held in the French city as it establishes itself as a valuable event for industry insights and, as always with Cartoon’s events, networking and socialising.

The use of arti2cial intelligence (AI) in TV isn’t necessarily going to result in the end of the world. But its emergence in children’s media and the animation industry has certainly set the Top Cat among the Pidgeots.

This was clear to see and hear at Cartoon Next, where senior execs and producers keen to bene2t from its potential cost- and time-saving uses in animation were at odds with those on the frontline of the creative process, namely writers and artists.

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Cartoon Next took place in the French city of Marseille last week

“I’m not afraid of AI. If AI doesn’t destroy us in the end, I think it’s a good opportunity in the long run,” quipped Andrés Guevara Lopez of Spain’s Pata Palo Films, who pitched a TV series and video game called Spanish Chapbooks at the three-day sibling event to September’s larger Cartoon Forum in Toulouse.

Having used AI tools to experiment with script ideas, Guevara Lopez said writers have nothing to fear from such tech taking jobs away from them, such is its lack of creativity.

Meanwhile, Mediawan’s president of kids and family, Julien Borde, discussed how AI was one of numerous new technological tools the French production and distribution giant is planning on using in the future.

Mediawan is experimenting with AI tools such as Midjourney, which generates images from natural language descriptions, while debating the ethics of doing so internally.

Borde, who joined Mediawan in 2020, said his team had used Midjourney to make the front page of a show bible for a potential project in “20 minutes.”

“I’m not saying we’re going to prepare all of our development through Midjourney, but we have a new tool that can help us to be better and faster,” said Borde.

Andrés Guevara Lopez of Pata Palo Films

Mediawan is experimenting with AI tools such as Midjourney, which generates images from natural language descriptions, while debating the ethics of doing so internally.

Borde, who joined Mediawan in 2020, said his team had used Midjourney to make the front page of a show bible for a potential project in “20 minutes.”

“I’m not saying we’re going to prepare all of our development through Midjourney, but we have a new tool that can help us to be better and faster,” said Borde.

Cartoon Next gains a lot from the inclusion of the dozens of animation students and graduates, who mingle with senior execs from studios, production companies, distributors, broadcasters and platforms during the three-day event, which welcomed 221 participants from 23 countries.

In this case, it meant the potentially negative aspect of using AI in animation was voiced when 2D artist Pauline Gladkova stood up after one session, picked up a mic and said: “It’s generated images you are using. You are stealing. Open your eyes – no to AI!”

Speaking to C21 later during the event, Gladkova reiterated how strongly she feels that decision-makers should think about the murky waters in which you swim after diving into AI.

AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs, a report by investment bank Goldman Sachs said last month. As someone the BBC could have potentially talked to for its recent article ‘AI anxiety: The workers who fear losing their jobs to arti2cial intelligence,’ Gladkova is worried she and her fellow young creators could have their lives ruined as a result of cynical cost-cutting measures.

“In this room, there are a lot of great, talented artists and students, desperately looking for an internship or a job. Using AI-generated images is stealing and you need to pay real artists. Students study for years building a portfolio to get a job. It’s already not easy. We have to have debates at festivals about using AI. Projects using AI should not be accepted,” said Gladkova, who is currently working at Marseillebased Special Touch Studios.

Meanwhile, there’s talk a potential US writers’ strike could turn the golden age of drama into a golden age for animation, as well as unscripted

Mediawan kids and family president Julien Borde

relying as it does on trawling the internet for previous examples and moulding it to a set pattern.

This is because The Animation Guild negotiated a new deal with improved terms with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in May last year, meaning writers on shows for the likes of Disney, Warner Bros, Nickelodeon and NetHix will not have to strike as a result of the dispute between the Writers Guild of America and AMPTP.

No doubt there are genres of TV where this could be edective, with Borde pointing out in his praise of hit show Bluey that “many, many preschool series are very lazy in terms of writing.” Meanwhile Adam Woodgate, senior VP of media trends at research 2rm Dubit, said there’s a backlash brewing against user-generated content on social media platforms among parents.

Could the use of AI in some parts of TV nevertheless engender a sense of human rebellion against the stock TV formula to keep the AI bots at bay, resulting in more experimental and surprising TV?

“It’s a great opportunity for people in animation to tell their stories, keep writing and thrive if the rest of the industry is unable to write,” said Julie Kane-Ritsch, head of animation and family entertainment at Hollywood-based management and production 2rm The Gotham Group.

As long as it doesn’t turn into the ‘golden age of cheap reality TV shows featuring vulnerable people being taken advantage of,’ as the last writers’ strike in the 2000s did, that’d be great.

Returning to the issue of AI, another polarising outcome of the strike could be the rise of AI-assisted TV programming, as computers, for the time being, do not go on strike. Naturally, any script created with the help of AI is going to be incredibly formulaic, relying as it does on trawling the internet for previous examples and moulding it to a set pattern.

Could the use of AI in some parts of TV nevertheless engender a sense of human rebellion against the stock TV formula to keep the AI bots at bay, resulting in more experimental and surprising TV?

The legal issues around using AI in animation remain fuzzy, as Kane-Ritsch pointed out elsewhere during her session, one of numerous at Cartoon Next that made the most of video call technology to bring senior US experts, including Amazon’s Aaron Davidson and ShadowMachine’s Alex Bulkley, to the delegates in Marseille.

“I need to do some digging on the legalities of what you do with machine-generated work,” said Kane-Ritsch, who has represented the likes of Butch Hartman (The Fairly Odd Parents), Chris Nee (Doc McStufns) and Jennifer Oxley (Peg & Cat).

Say someone were to create the next globally loved children’s cartoon character using a machine, Kane-Ritsch questioned whether they would be able to copyright it and therefore bene2t from its success.

“If I’m a producer and I want a visual for my show and I use a machine- or computergenerated visual, I don’t think I can copyright that. The law is evolving but it’s always way behind what’s happening in society. But I don’t know how you’d copyright that, because you didn’t create it. It’s an amalgam created by a third party.

“So if I’m going to generate all of the character designs and all of my backgrounds from an open-source, non-protectable platform, I don’t have any equity in that because I can’t trademark it. So I’m not going to spend millions of dollars on a series where I can’t protect the characters or the artwork. That doesn’t make economic sense,” said Kane-Ritsch.

It seems for now, with AI being used tentatively by only a handful of production companies and studios under the guise of it being a tool for efciency, mass protests against its use are a way od. However, as soon as its use creeps too far into the realms of artistry, and jobs really are under threat, then who knows, could we see a scenario where animation unions call for strikes?

With the AI genie already out of the bottle and the tech evolving fast, the debate will no doubt have grown even louder by the time Cartoon Next rolls around again in Marseille in 12 months’ time.

Adam Woodgate of research Grm Dubit

Mediawan’s Julien Borde and Globo’s Pablo Ghiglione speak to C21FM

Today we hear from Mediawan Kids and Family president Julien Borde about the company’s recent acquisitions spree and Globo head of international coproduction Pablo Ghiglione about accelerating collaboration.

Tune in to C21FM by CLICKING HERE.

French production and distribution group Mediawan recently acquired a majority stake in Netherlands-based Submarine, hot on the heels of buying the UK’s Wildseed Studios.

Mediawan Kids and Family president Julien Borde spoke to Nico Franks about these moves at Cartoon Next in Marseille last week, where he also discussed what Web3 means for the future of the animation industry and why artiTcial intelligence could never have created Bluey.

Brazilian broadcaster Globo promoted Pablo Ghiglione to head of international coproduction recently and the exec attended MipTV in Cannes last week for the Trst time in 10 years.

Ghiglione spoke to Neil Batey about his new role and ambition to grow Globo’s roster of overseas content partnerships on projects spanning series, miniseries, documentaries and movies.

C21FM is live 24/7, with a block of interviews starting at 10am BST every day HERE.

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La stop motion sous le feu des projecteurs

CartoonNext a réuni les équipes d’Interdit aux chiens et aux Italiens et de Pinocchio pour partager leur expérience et leur regard sur l’avenir de la stop motion.

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“Pinocchio” de Guillermo del Toro (Netﬂix)

Animation

La stop motion sous le feu des projecteurs

HCartoonNext a réuni les équipes d’Interdit aux chiens et aux Italiens et de Pinocchio pour partager leur expérience et leur regard sur l’avenir de la stop motion

Ce sont deux succès qui, chacun à leur échelle, ont marqué le monde de l’animation ces derniers mois. En Europe, Interdit aux chiens et aux Italiens, film d’Alain Ughetto, a remporté le Prix du jury au dernier Festival d’Annecy avant de raﬂer l’European FIlm Award du meilleur long métrage d’animation. Il a ensuite conquis plus de 180 000 spectateurs dans les salles françaises.

En Amérique du Nord, Pinocchio de Guillermo del Toro et Mark Gustafson, a remporté l’Oscar du meilleur long métrage d’animation, après sa sortie mondiale sur Netflix. Deux ﬁlms très différents mais qui ont pour point commun d’avoir remis un coup de projecteur sur la stop motion. CartoonNext a réunit - virtuellement - les producteurs des deux longs métrages, et l’un des réalisateurs de Pinocchio, pour revenir sur leur expérience.

Interdit aux chiens et aux Italiens est le deuxième film en stop motion réalisé par Alain Ughetto et produit par Alexandre Cornu des Films du Tambour de Soie, après Jasmine , sorti en 2013. Contrairement au premier film, le producteur n’est pas parti seul. “Vous ne pouvez pas travailler seul sur ce genre de production. Nous avons cherché des partenaires de coproduction. Si vous voulez produire ce genre de film en France, seulement quatre ou cinq peuvent être aidés par les chaînes et les plateformes”, rappelle Alexandre Cornu.

Vers une hybridation des techniques

Une des solutions a été d’aller chercher des coproducteurs à l’étranger : Lux Fugit Films (Belgique), Nadasdy Film (Suisse), Ocidental Filmes (Portugal) et Grafﬁti Film (Italie), en plus des sociétés françaises Vivement Lundi ! et Foliascope. “Tous ces pays ont une histoire liée à l’immigration, donc ils étaient concernés par le sujet”, explique Alexandre Cornu. La prise de vues a eu lieu en France, le montage en Belgique, le compositing a été en partie réalisé en Suisse et au Portugal (en plus du mixage sonore), tandis que la musique a été enregistrée en Italie.

Produire un long métrage en stop motion reste un challenge : Alexandre Cornu et Alain Ughetto ont mis neuf ans à terminer Interdit aux chiens et aux italiens. Malgré les obs-

tacles, “nous avons décidé avec Alain de faire le troisième film”, indique le producteur. “ Cette fois-ci j’ai promis, juré, qu’on le ferait en cinq ans ! ”

Pour Alexandre Cornu, les progrès techniques et l’hybridation des techniques peuvent permettre de gagner du temps, qu’il s’agisse de CGI, d’animation en temps réel, de l’utilisation d’écrans Led… “Nous avons besoin d’apprendre quelque chose de nouveau à chaque fois”, s’enthousiasme le producteur.

Ce nouveau projet, Rose et les Marmottes, racontera le destin d’une petite montagnarde pauvre, contrainte de partir en ville avec ses marmottes et son accordéon pour demander l’aumône. Séparée de force de ses bêtes, elle va se lancer dans un combat pour sa liberté et celle des animaux. “C’est inspiré d’une histoire vraie, donc l’aspect documentaire est à nouveau là”, indique Alexandre Cornu.

Pour Pinocchio, projet d’une envergure toute autre - son budget serait de 35 M$, contre un devis à 2,9 M€ pour Interdit aux chiens… - la technologie a aussi permis de rendre l’impossible possible. Que ce soit pour ajouter le ciel ou étendre les décors, “presque chaque image du ﬁlm est traitée numériquement d’une façon ou d’une autre”, révèle Mark Gustafson, coréalisateur du ﬁlm, qui a participé au panel à travers une interview préenregistrée. La production a notamment eu recours à l’impression 3D pour réaliser les têtes

Après le succès critique et les prix reçus par “Interdit aux chiens et aux Italiens”, le réalisateur Alain Ughetto et le producteur Alexandre Cornu préparent un nouveau long métrage.

des personnages, et ainsi gagner un temps précieux.

La fabrication de Pinocchio fut elle aussi semée d'embûches. Guillermo del Toro a mis plus de dix ans à trouver un partenaire pour financer son ﬁlm. Le tournage a débuté en janvier 2020, avant d’être interrompu à cause de la pandémie. La production aura au total duré quatre ans. “Guillermo del Toro est un réalisateur de live-action qui a utilisé la stop motion car c’est le meilleur moyen de raconter cette histoire”, explique Alexander Burkley, producteur et fondateur de ShadowMachine.

Les succès de ces deux films, chacun à leur échelle, vont-ils entraîner

une multiplication des projets en stop motion ? Pour Alexandre Cornu, la technique a un avenir. “Je suis très optimiste, car je rencontre des étudiants en animation et, dans chaque classe, il y a toujours deux ou trois élèves qui veulent absolument faire de la stop motion”, afﬁrme-t-il. “On ne peut pas prédire ce qu’il va se passer”, estime de son côté Mark Gustafson. Mais pour le réalisateur, il y a bien un changement générationnel à l’œuvre. “Les personnes qui sont en position de pouvoir aujourd’hui ont grandi en regardant de la stop motion.” De quoi peutêtre pousser davantage de studios à se tourner vers cette technique. Damien Choppin

Guillermo del Toro a mis plus de dix ans à réaliser son “Pinocchio”.

Animation

Réinventer la télévision linéaire pour enfants

HA CartoonNext, l’analyste britannique Adam Woodgate a montré que, si la télévision linéaire restait pertinente pour les nouvelles générations, elle devait se réinventer pour concurrencer les plateformes.

A l’heure où les enfants passent de plus en plus de temps devant des écrans connectés - et consomment de plus en plus de contenus à la demande - l’avenir des chaînes jeunesse linéaire est plus que jamais remis en question. Disney, qui cherche à prioriser sa plateforme Disney+, a ainsi fermé sa chaîne Disney Channel dans certains pays d’Asie, en Italie ou au Royaume-Uni. Avant la pandémie, France Télévisions a acté la fermeture de France 4, avant de revenir en arrière. Aujourd’hui, c’est CBBC, la chaîne dédiée aux 6-12 ans de la BBC, qui est menacée de fermeture, alors que le diffuseur public britannique est forcé de faire des économies (CBeebies, sa petite sœur dédiée aux préscolaires, serait préservée). Sa concurrente privée CITV est quant à elle condamnée à fermer en juin prochain, remplacée par un “hub” sur la plateforme ITVX.

A CartoonNext, Adam Woodgate, senior vice-président Media Insights de Dubit, a détaillé pourquoi la télévision linéaire avait toujours un avenir, même si elle a besoin de se réinventer pour évoluer avec les usages.

Une pratique qui correspond toujours à un besoin

Sans surprise, la consommation médiatique des enfants est élevée au réveil, puis baisse pendant la journée, avant de remonter en fin de journée. Quel que soit le pays étudié (Dubit en couvre 20, dont la France), “la télévision linéaire domine au petit déjeuner”, indique Adam Woodgate. “Elle crée un rendezvous dans un monde rempli d’imprévus. De plus, les enfants n’ont pas le temps de chercher un programme sur Netﬂix.” En ﬁn de journée, les enfants privilégient le temps passé seul devant leur ordinateur ou leur tablette, avant de dédier leurs soirées aux divertissements familiaux.

Les préscolaires sont ceux qui favorisent le plus la télévision linéaire pour occuper leur temps libre. En France, elle se classe en 6ème place des activités les plus plébiscitées chez les 2-5 ans, alors qu’elle est en 12ème place chez les 6-11 ans, et en 15 ème place chez les 1215 ans. Parmi les raisons qui poussent les enfants à choisir la télévision, il y a le fait que les chaînes proposent des programmes qui leur sont adaptés (c’est la raison numéro un chez les 2-5 ans et numéro deux chez les 6-11 ans), le fait que les programmes sont directement accessibles sans avoir chercher longtemps (c’est la raison numéro un pour les 12-

15 ans), et le fait que les programmes soient source de discussion entre amis (en 3ème position chez les 6-11 ans et en 2ème position chez les 12-15 ans).

La génération “I can”

Dans le même temps, la portée des plateformes de streaming ne cesse de s’étendre. Selon Dubit, quelque soit la tranche d’âge, Netflix et Youtube sont les sources de média les plus consultées par les enfants chaque semaine en France. Pour Netflix, le taux d’usage hebdomadaire est passé, entre 2018 et 2022, de 19% à 42% pour les 2-5 ans, de 30% à 57% pour les 6-8 ans, et de 69% à 74% chez les 12-15 ans. Parmi les 10 marques de médias les plus plébiscitées par les 2-5 ans, six sont des plateformes.

“Les adolescents sont ce qu’on pourrait appeler la dernière génération linéaire”, observe Adam Woodgate. Le risque, c’est que “les parents d’aujourd’hui ne créent pas l’habitude chez les enfants d’aller regarder des programmes linéaires”.

La génération qui vient après la génération Z, appelée “génération alpha”, comprend tous ceux nés après 2010. Pour Adam Woodgate, il s’agit de la “génération I can”. Elle est née avec l’idée d’obtenir tout ce qu’elle veut avec un simple clic. Les chaînes linéaires doivent s’adapter aux envies de cette nouvelle génération.

“Je crois beaucoup en l’utilisation du numérique”, afﬁrme Adam Woodgate. C’est une tendance de fond : les enfants passent de plus en plus de temps

à jouer aux jeux vidéo — même si les jeunes français le font dans des proportions moindres que les américains ou les britanniques. “Les chaînes pour enfants doivent commencer à investir dans les jeux vidéo”, estime-t-il. Aux Etats-Unis, la chaîne Nickelodeon génère déjà 10% de son temps d’engagement avec les 9-12 ans grâce aux jeux. L’expérience Nickelodeon lancée sur la plateforme Roblox en juillet 2022 compte déjà 10 millions de visites et la chaîne a annoncé l’arrivée prochaine de nouvelles expériences basées sur Bob l’éponge et Les Tortues ninja. “Si vous voulez construire une audience, il faut développer une communauté de fans”, conclut Adam Woodgate.

Damien Choppin

Source à partir de laquelle les enfants interagissent avec une marque.

Part des enfants français

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250 professionnels locaux, nationaux et internationaux de l’animation et du jeu vidéo ont rendez-vous pour la deuxième année consécutive à Marseille. L’occasion, entre autres, d’échanger pendant trois jours sur le bilan et les perspectives d’une filière régionale dynamique.

On ne peut que s’en réjouir… La France est le 3e pays, derrière les USA et le Japon, pour la production de programmes d’animation qu’elle exporte très bien, notamment chez ses voisins (Italie, Espagne, Allemagne, Angleterre…). Quant à Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur, dopée par le fonds d’aide régionale (1 M€) créé en 2010 et abondé en 2016, « elle a produit 77 œuvres d’animation, d’abord au rythme de 5 projets par an, aujourd’hui plutôt de 15 chaque année », précise Chrystel Poncet, de SudAnim. Lancée en juin 2021 au Festival d’Annecy (MIFA) dans le but de rassembler les professionnels de l’animation/jeu vidéo de la région, cette jeune association regroupe déjà 123 membres (écoles, prestataires,

https://www.businews.fr/CartoonNext-de-retour-a-Marseille a4458.html?print=1

CartoonNext de retour à Marseille

producteurs, talents et étudiants) implantés autour de trois pôles stratégiques : ArlesAvignon-Marseille. Commentaires de Mathieu Morfin, son président : « Nous souhaitons connecter tous ces acteurs et avancer ensemble pour faire grandir la filière. Nous travaillons main dans la main avec les écoles dont certaines font partie du top mondial (ENSI, MOPA : Ndlr), avec plusieurs films nominés aux Oscars ».

Du côté des sociétés de production et studios, nombreuses sont les pépites -TNPZ, La Station Animation, Toon Factory, Magic C, Miyu Productions, Circus, Duetto-… Pour n’en citer que quelques-unes (dont Les Films du Tambour de Soie qui font actuellement un tabac en France et ailleurs avec « Interdit aux chiens et aux Italiens », long métrage réalisé en stop motion.

CartoonNext Off en clôture

C’est dans ce contexte porteur que se déroule la 2ème édition du CartoonNext (18-20 avril) au Word Trade Center. Parmi les temps forts, dès le 17 avril, 50 étudiants sélectionnés dans six écoles spécialisées de la région et invités par l’association Cartoon, organisateur de l’événement, ont pu échanger avec plusieurs experts de la scène mondiale. En marge de la manifestation, une présentation des parcours et métiers à destination des familles et futurs étudiants est organisée vendredi 21 avril (15h30) par SudAnim au cinéma Artplexe, dans le cadre du CartoonNext Off.

Entre temps, le programme propose conférences et tables rondes avec des intervenants renommés, la présentation du pitch de « Sirocco et le Royaume des courants d’air » (Sacrebleu Productions), long métrage récemment récompensé aux Césars comme meilleur film d’animation ; ainsi qu’une remise de prix récompensant les deux meilleurs pitchs étudiants… A la clé, une invitation pour le Cartoon Springboard, l’événement tremplin des jeunes talents à Madrid, et l’accès à la résidence d’écriture Do not Disturb à Arles, offerte par la Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. A noter que le jeu vidéo (une trentaine d’entreprises sur le territoire) « désormais très connecté à l’animation » (les écoles dispensent des formations sur ce créneau) est, lui aussi, bien représenté lors de ce

2e CartoonNext.

Rédigé par Marie-Odile Helme, le Mardi 18 Avril 2023 | Lu 150 fois

18/04/2023

CartoonNext : les filières de l’animation, du numérique et du cinéma sous les projecteurs internationaux

CartoonNext : les ﬁlières de l’animation, du numérique et du cinéma sous les projecteurs internationaux

CartoonNext, événement européen dédié à l’animation et au numérique, se déroule du 18 au 20 avril, à Marseille. Cette filière représente des enjeux culturels et économiques très importants pour le territoire d’Aix-Marseille-Provence. La Métropole soutient et accompagne ce secteur en pleine croissance. Dessin animé traditionnel, animation 3D, films en relief, jeux vidéo, réalité virtuelle et autres productions hybrides… les professionnels locaux et internationaux de l’animation ont rendez-vous, du 18 au 20 avril, à Marseille. CartoonNext leur o!re l’occasion d’échanger sur les grandes tendances et l’avenir du secteur. L’événement s’ouvre également aux étudiants de la région, qui vont pouvoir côtoyer des experts de la scène mondiale. La

https://ampmetropole.fr/developpement-economique/attractivite/num…on-du-numerique-et-du-cinema-sous-les-projecteurs-internationaux/

Métropole, aux côtés de la Ville de Marseille et de la Région Sud, accueille ce rendez-vous qui assoit un peu plus notre territoire en tant que plateforme incontournable des industries culturelles et créatives et numériques.

Des perspectives de développement importantes

Le monde de l’animation est particulièrement porteur pour la culture, l’économie et l’emploi. La France représente plus d’un tiers de la production européenne et, au niveau mondial, elle se hisse au troisième rang, après les États-Unis et le Japon, en termes de commande de programmes d’animation.

La métropole est particulièrement bien placée dans ce panorama. Elle bénéficie d’un écosystème riche sur le plan artistique, et novateur sur le plan technologique. Ces entreprises se développent dans un secteur en pleine croissance porté par le cinéma, les plateformes VOD, et l’industrie des jeux vidéo.

Une stratégie globale et transversale

Dans le cadre de l’Agenda du développement économique, Martine Vassal, la présidente de la Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence, a souhaité que l’institution accompagne ce secteur mais aussi les nouveaux modes de di!usion, qui sont des sources d’opportunités économiques pour les entreprises et des viviers pour l’emploi.

La Métropole vient ainsi de créer une mission Cinéma et Tournages afin de promouvoir le territoire comme terre de tournage, en s’appuyant sur l’écosystème local, mais aussi de faciliter le travail des équipes sur place. Plus en amont, elle soutient les actions qui permettent de détecter les talents et qui les aident à progresser et à s’épanouir.

Dans le même temps, Aix-Marseille-Provence s’engage à accompagner des projets structurants (studios, écoles, base logistique…) et à favoriser l’implantation d’entreprises. De plus, un Fonds d’aide cinéma/audiovisuel/multimédia métropolitain (FACAMM), créé en partenariat

avec la Région Sud et le CNC, sera opérationnel dans quelques mois. Il apportera un soutien non négligeable à l’écosystème.

De forts enjeux d’innovation

La Métropole participe ainsi à l’émergence de « pépites » et à la consolidation d’un secteur pourvoyeur de débouchés locaux, notamment pour les jeunes. Cette stratégie est confortée par l’attribution, par l’Union européenne, du titre de Capitale européenne de l’innovation. Cette labellisation va rejaillir sur de nombreux secteurs d’activités, à commencer par le numérique et les nouvelles technologies !

Préparer l’avenir

L’acquisition de compétences représente un enjeu essentiel pour anticiper les besoins d’une filière qui ne cesse de se renouveler. Les productions exigent des professionnels qualifiés. De nombreux métiers du cinéma de l’animation et des industries créatives sont en tension.

En s’appuyant sur sa compétence Enseignement supérieur et Recherche, l’institution veut faciliter la création de nouvelles formations adaptées aux attentes d’un marché en constante évolution.

En pole

position

La Métropole va, en outre, s’appuyer sur la dynamique impulsée par le plan porté par l’État, avec le volet cinéma du plan Marseille en Grand, l’appel à projets France 2030 « La grande fabrique de l’image », et ce afin de soutenir les projets locaux structurants.

Des infrastructures vont se développer, des plateaux de tournage s’ouvrir, une future base logistique pour le cinéma est programmée. Quand l’activité s’amplifie, les retombées économiques et les besoins en termes d’emplois augmentent en conséquence.

Dans un contexte de vive concurrence nationale et internationale, la Métropole met tout en œuvre pour que la Provence occupe une position de

https://ampmetropole.fr/developpement-economique/attractivite/num…on-du-numerique-et-du-cinema-sous-les-projecteurs-internationaux/

CartoonNext : 2e Edition

Agenda CartoonNext : 2e Edition

 Grands évènements

Du 18 au 21 avril 2023

World Trade Center - 2, rue Henri Barbusse - 13001 Marseille

La deuxième édition de CartoonNext, l’événement européen tourné vers le futur du cinéma d’animation, attend les professionnels locaux et internationaux pour des cycles de conférences, des études de cas et des pitchs de projets. L’occasion aussi pour les sociétés du territoire de faire un bilan et d’échanger sur les perspectives de la filière, au niveau local.

CartoonNext, c’est également un moment unique pour 50 étudiants sélectionnés, parmi les écoles spécialisées de la région, d’échanger avec des experts de la scène mondiale. Une présentation des métiers, formations et débouchés, en marge de l’événement, est aussi proposée gratuitement aux familles et futurs étudiants intéressés par la filière. La Métropole qui, dans le cadre de l’Agenda du développement économique, soutient activement la filière « Industries numériques et créatives », est partenaire de l’événement.