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83 Animated Projects from 22 Countries Presented at Cartoon Forum 2018

Over 1,000 producers, investors, buyers and broadcasters attend 29th edition of leading European animation co-production platform, held September 10-13 in Toulouse. 

For the 7th consecutive year, the French city of Toulouse hosted the annual Cartoon Forum co-production platform and TV pitching event for European animation series – in its 29th year, Cartoon Forum continues to fast-track European animation to the front row, having successfully helped 758 projects receive a total of 2.5 billion euros in funding over the past 28 editions.

According to buyers, this year’s event was exciting in terms of the overall high level of project quality, with projects displaying a great diversity of genres, content, graphic styles and audience. Not only has the quality of projects continued to increase over the last years, but the number of shows being produced by a new generation of younger artists is growing as well, which shows an increase in energy and strong personality within the creator community.

83 projects from 22 countries were presented this year to participants from 38 countries, which included a record 1,000 producers, investors, broadcasters, buyers and SVOD/VOD platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, Hopster TV, Playkids and Azoomee, among others.

France was once again very present in the top 10 presentations that have aroused keen interest:

The Borrowers (Blue Spirit Productions), Splat & Seymour (Just Kids), Woolly Woolly (Normaal), Country Kids (La Station Animation), Droners (Cyber Group Studios), Billy – The Cowboy Hamster (Dandelooo), Zouk, The Little Witch with a Big Personality (Bayard Jeunesse Animation), Tiny Bad Wolf (Xilam Animation), Pompon Little Bear (Supamonks) and Looking for Santa (Folimage). France remains the European leader, supported by faster availability of project financing as well as the important partnership role of France Televisions.

Other highlights were:

The Irish project Silly Sundays (Cartoon Saloon), the Polish Odo (Letko), the German Luis and the Aliens – The Series (Ulysses Filmproduktion) and Rabbit Akademy – The Series (Akkord Film Produktion), the English Flix (Eye Present) and Milo (Fourth Wall Creative), the Belgian The Fluffy Four (Lunanime), the German Tom's Taxi (Zooper Film), the Icelandic Paradise Valley (GunHil), the Luxembourgish Deep in the Bowl (ZEILT Productions) and the Belgian Maëlys Mysteries (Panique!).

As part of the Cartoon Connection Awards, two Canadian (Jax – Merlin’s Lineage by Squeeze and The Galactic Postman by Urbania) and one Korean projects (Wonderful ThumThum by Electural) were presented as an extension of the event’s collaboration with Canada and South Korea during Cartoon Connection events.

For the first time, adult projects attracted numerus buyers, and carved out a nice audience for themselves:

GloboZone (Umanimation), Selfish (Kazak Productions), In your Face (Doncvoilà Productions), Deep in the Bowl (ZEILT Productions), Notfunny (Nichtlustig). The success of these projects demonstrates that adult projects are on a roll and linear broadcasters will surely reorganize their programs to make space for adult audiences.

The young generation is destined for a brilliant future! They are present and take a stance:

Silly Sundays with Nuria Blanco (Cartoon Saloon), Mum is Pouring Rain (a Cartoon Springboard project by Laïdak Films), Tufo (a Cartoon Springboard project by Les Contes Modernes), Selfish by Kazak Productions, In your Face (the author came at a previous edition of the Coaching Program) by Doncvoilà Productions and Odo by Letko.

It is worth noting that successful pitches are made like a real performance -- they are well prepared and look like stand-up comedy.

As every year, leading studios were present and successful:

Xilam Animation, Cyber Group Studios, Calon, The Illuminated Film Company, Dandelooo, La Station Animation, Ànima Kitchent Media, Folimage, Vivement Lundi !, Blue Spirit Productions, Ulysses Filmproduktion, Panique!, Cartoon Saloon, Folivari, Normaal, Silex Films, among others.

And of course, all the major buyers attended the Cartoon Forum - including France Télévisions, CNC, The Walt Disney Company, DreamWorks Animation Television, Amazon Studios, CANAL+, Super RTL, RAI, Netflix, BBC Children, TF1, Lagardère Active, Playkids, Sony, Turner, Mediatoon, NRK, M6, TVC, ZDF, Nickelodeon, SVT, Spin Master, DHX Media and Epic Story Media

Cartoon Tributes

The European animation honored its main protagonists by awarding the Cartoon Tributes 2018, prizes that recognize the work of companies and people that have contributed to the development of the European animation industry over the past year. Elected through electronic voting by the record-breaking 1,000 participants at the 29th Cartoon Forum, the winners were announced on September 13 in Toulouse. Ireland, France and Finland shared the prizes in all three categories, demonstrating the strength of European animation across its borders.

The Winners 2018 are:

  • BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR: Finnish broadcasting company (YLE) | Finland
  • INVESTOR/DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR: 9 Story Distribution International | Ireland
  • PRODUCER OF THE YEAR: Folimage | France

Spotlight on Finland!

For the third time, Cartoon Forum put the spotlight on a country. Finland is a country which ranks as a world leader in education, gender equality, innovation technology, games, governance, clean air…and is also known as the country with the happiest people. More importantly, Finland has a very special position on the animation scene with a tradition of international co-pros, a fast and simple 25% cash rebate, and world-famous brands, from the classical Moomins TV series and features, two Niko features from 2008 and 2012, to the 2016 success of The Angry Birds Movie that was a blockbuster hit around the world. On the strength of its three selected projects this year, Finnish animation appeared as a constant thread throughout Cartoon Forum with presentations of Finnish studios during Croissant Shows, the Finnish Farewell dinner & Party…

Out of its three selected projects, one was particularly successful: Harry and Bip – Summer Season by Ink and Light Finland (and Ireland).

The Coaching Program

CARTOON encourages young talent to develop their own projects. The Coaching Program is a unique training initiative to enlighten a group of students on the world of the animation industry and challenges related to project launches. Students and teachers attended the program from 10 training schools in the Region and 3 Finnish animation universities.

A public event "Les Toons débarquent!"

"Les Toons débarquent!" is a local initiative to promote animation in Toulouse and in the region for the general public and young people in particular. The 2018 edition will continue to run until November 4 in the Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée Region.

Organized alongside the Cartoon Forum, it offered a wide range of appointments for animation cinema lovers:  the school sessions highlighted the heroes of animated series made in Toulouse and in the region Occitanie/Pyrénées-Méditerranée and introduced about 2,000 children to different animation techniques and universes. Some excerpts of TV series and feature films were screened. "Les Toons débarquent" was also a moment to meet and exchange. They were present to meet the public during some screenings: Michel Ocelot, Alexandre Espigares (White Fang), Stephan Roelants from Melusine Productions (co-producer of The Breadwinner) and Patrice Nezan from Les Contes Modernes (co-producer of The Tower). On September 11th and 12th, there was the avant-premiere of Dilili à Paris by Michel Ocelot at ABC Cinema in Toulouse.

Please note that the next edition of Cartoon Forum will take place September 16-19, 2019.

Source: Cartoon Forum