Foto: Tuesday morning, Pitching sessions © CARTOON

Cartoon Forum, the pitching and co-production forum for European animated series, is celebrating its 36th edition on September 15-18 in the French city of Toulouse, where 75 new animated series and TV specials projects will be pitched to find new partners for accelerating their development and distribution. Producers, broadcasters, distributors, investors, streaming platforms, book publishers, and game developers are among the participants registered at this annual meeting organized by CARTOON, an international non-profit association based in Brussels. Besides the pitching sessions, the agenda also includes a number of networking activities and special sessions aimed at strengthening European cooperation.

https://www.cartoon-media.eu/forum/projects/discover-the-projects

Shortlisted from 108 submissions, the selected projects hail from 20 countries, and amount to 391 hours of new content and a budget of 339.5 million EUR. France leads the line-up with 30 projects, followed by Ireland with 7, Belgium with 6, Spain with 5, and Poland with 4. Germany and Italy are represented by 3 series, while Czechia, the Netherlands, Greece, and Serbia are participating with 2 each.

Headed by Poland, the CEE countries have a total of 11 projects, including series from Serbia (2), Czechia (2), Bosnia, Latvia and Bulgaria (one each). The Nordic countries, meanwhile, have a total of 4 projects, one per country: Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland. Portugal and Armenia (non-EU country in the Creative Europe Programme) have one project each in the selection. Regarding the selection criteria, Cartoon Forum Selection Committee explained that original creations and the emergence of new IPs ranked high in the selection process due to the current economic challenges facing the industry.

One third of the projects were developed by companies participating for the first time in a CARTOON event, highlighting the continued relevance of Cartoon Forum as a platform for accelerating the financing and development of animated series in Europe.

THE SELECTION AT A GLANCE

Series targeting children – from pre-school to children 11-years-old – and family remain the main focus of European animation production with an 80% of the projects targeting these audiences. In contrast, projects aimed at teenagers and young adults/adults have seen a slight drop, representing 20% of the selection. The average budget per series stands at 4.53 million EUR, while 33 projects arrive in Toulouse with two or more countries on board, confirming the importance of co- production in the overall financing of series. Concerning animation techniques, 2D continues to be the most widely used in European series to up to 68% of the projects selected, four times more than those developed in 3D. A 37% of the projects feature female heroes or approach their stories from a female perspective, while 17% promote diversity and inclusion, and 15%, environmental issues. Diversity also reaches the genres of the projects, which feature comedies, adventure, action, and science fiction, among others. Comics, books or other media continue to be a source of inspiration for the European series: this year 27% of the selected projects are adaptations.

Two TV series and one TV special from the Occitanie region have made it into the line-up: “The Zzli Brothers” (Xbo films) and “Welcome to Happycracy” (Manégann Films & Xbo films). One, “Atomic” (Studio Zmei, Bulgaria), has previously participated at Cartoon Springboard, CARTOON’s pitching event dedicated to new talents in animation. Germany’s series “3 Captains” (Studio FILM BILDER) and “Wing it like Lilly” (Wolkenlenker) were selected through Animation Production Days (APD), while “Tiny Fox and Great Boar” (EGoFILM Production, Poland) was selected through CEE Animation Forum.
In 2023, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), France Télévisions, and CARTOON joined forces in EBU Co-Development Initiative, a collaborative model for animation focused on co-funding the development of pilot episodes. This year, 15 European broadcasters will select at least one project presented at Cartoon Forum to receive this fund. The selected project from last year’s edition, “My Life is a Manga” (Brain Comet and Blue Spirit, France), will be presenting its latest developments at the event.

© Celia Lenoir

BEYOND THE PITCHING SESSIONS
Besides the projects’ presentations, the agenda includes a number of activities aimed at strengthening cooperation and promoting networking, such as Animated UK Meets Europe and Fill the Gap.

Thomas Meyer-Hermann, Studio FILM BILDER – Tuesday afternoon, Happy Hour Magelis © Celia Lenoir

A collaboration between Animation UK and CARTOON, with the support of BBC Children’s and Education, Animated UK Meets Europe looks to showcase UK talent and creativity in European markets with the aim to obtaining European co-production and distribution partners. To be held on Wednesday, September 17, the second edition of this event created in 2023 will feature three UK’s series selected by the BBC and S4C: “Amelia Fang” produced by CAKE Entertainment & Germany’s DCM, “Let’s Play in Tiger Bay” produced by Hoho Entertainment & Bumpybox, and “The Adventures of Robin Robin” produced by Aardman Animations. Following the pitching sessions, Funding the Future: Unlocking the Power of Co- Productions in Animation, a talk moderated by Vanessa Chapman and featuring prominent European broadcasters, will further emphasize the importance of public service broadcasting and cross-border collaborations.
The slowdown suffered by the animation industry in recent years has given rise to various financing challenges and a reduction in the number of projects being green lit into production. To support producers in these difficult times and respond more effectively to the current needs of the industry, CARTOON has implemented two new networking initiatives: Matchmaking sessions and Fill the Gap. The participants in the former will hold 20’ meetings with the companies they are interested in, while the laper  offers Cartoon Forum pitching producers from previous editions, whose projects have not yet secured the necessary funding to go into production, a showcase for visibility.
Ten companies from seven countries are in the running for the Cartoon Forum Tributes, which seek to celebrate the dedication and creativity of key players in the European animation industry over the previous year. The awards are broken down into three categories – Broadcaster, Investor/Distributor, and Producer of the Year – whose winners will be voted by the professionals attending Cartoon Forum. Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) and Radio Televisión Española (RTVE) – Denmark and Spain public broadcasters, respectively – were nominated for Broadcaster of the Year together with France’s leading private free-to-air channel TF1. Animation features prominently in the catalogues of the three finalists in the Investor/Distributor of the Year category: Spain’s Liquid Rock Entertainment, France’s Mediatoon Distribution, and UK’s Meta Media Entertainment. Lastly, the Producer of the Year category will be contested between Belgium’s Creative Conspiracy, Poland’s Grupa Smacznego / GS Animation, France’s SILEX FILMS, and Germany’s Studio FILM BILDER.

A PLACE FOR TOMORROW’S PROFESSIONALS

Training tomorrow’s professionals and engaging with the public are also on Cartoon Forum’s agenda through the Coaching Programme and Toons d’Ici. Coordinated by Agnès Bizzaro, the former makes it possible for young talents from 13 animation and arts schools from Toulouse and the region Occitanie to have a broad overview of the industry and the challenges that are faced when implementing a project. More than 80 students will engage in this initiative that, besides an overview on CARTOON and Carton Forum work, case studies and masterclasses, will feature the Mini-Pitch workshop, in which six projects will be presented.

ABOUT CARTOON FORUM
Created in 1990 to boost the co-production and distribution of European animation for television and new media platforms, Cartoon Forum has helped 1,017 animation series obtain financing to the tune of 3.69 billion EUR. The 36th Cartoon Forum is organised by CARTOON – European Association of Animation Film with the support of Creative Europe – MEDIA, CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée), Région Occitanie, Mairie de Toulouse, Toulouse Métropole, Casino Barrière and France Télévisions (FTV).

Tuesday morning, Welcome Words © CARTOON