Oct 7, 2024

Cartoon Forum 2024: 5 Promising Series Pitches

Producers, investors, distributors and broadcasters from all over Europe attended the 35th Cartoon Forum held last month in Toulouse, France.

The Cartoon Forum is Europe's leading pitching event for animated television, this year attracting 485 companies, 256 buyers (26% of whom were attending Cartoon for the first time), and nearly 1000 attendees from 42 countries.

For buyers, broadcasters, and investors, finding hidden gems is both an art and a sport. We previously highlighted five pitches by French producers, and today we present five noteworthy pitches from other countries.

Country Moldova

Studio Studio Metrafilms Moldova

Audience Young Adult/Adult

Episode: 12 x 22'

Technique: 2D computer

YA book of the same name by Eastern European writer Olga Gromyko Adaptation of series: Action-packed, witty, female-driven series.

The first Moldovan film to be pitched at the Forum, the series was brought to the screen by the dynamic screenwriting duo Valentina Kozyreva and Kristina Dukunic, producers of Metrafilms, Together with Artem Vasiliev, they presented this ambitious project, filling the venue with energy.

Occupation: The story follows the adventures of Volha, a mage's apprentice, as she travels between the magical land of Baeloria and the medieval vampire-dominated kingdom of Dogeva. The series is characterized by complex stories and subplots. However, the visuals and animation shown in the teaser had both audacity and a raw communicative energy that left viewers wanting more Metrafilms is still developing the project and is looking for co-producers, investors, and artists.

Country France, Ireland

Studio Something Big, Magic C, Cavalair

Audience Elementary school age

Format: 52 x 11'

Technique: 2D computer

Producer. Frédéric Puech (“Dragon Princess,” “Mutafuqaz”) returns to the animation business after a three-year hiatus with a brand new TV series and IP, Bobby and the Bottle Brigade. He assembled a strong team, including French production company Magic C, founded by former Canal+ executive Chrystel Poncet, and Irish development and service studio Kavaleer. [Bobby and his friends help young sea creatures who are overwhelmed by strange problems, such as Carl, a cardboard fish who is afraid to go outside the box, and Larry Lanternfish, who cannot sleep because his lanternfish brother won't turn off his lights at night.

The character of Bobby has a disability, but is in no way defined by it. In addition, Bobby and the Bottle Brigade has a very, very catchy opening song.

Country Belgium, France, Argentina

Studio Take Five, Sacre Bleu Productions, Ludo Company

Audience demographics Episode: 11 x 22'

Technique: 2D computer

Estelle arrived at Cartoon Forum after a stellar run on the industry pitching circuit, including a 2022 pitch at MIFA in Annecy, where producers Ron Dyens (Sacre Bleu) and Gregory Zalcman (Take Five) decided to join the project where they decided to do so.

The action-packed series, based on ancient Argentine culture and mythology, is written and directed by animator and artist Ezequiel Torres.

Mixing epic action scenes with a powerful story of ruthless gods embodied in colorful and captivating characters, the series showcases breathtaking 2D animation. 'This is a universal story. 'Our planet is suffering, and these gods and their wrath tell the story of the earth as a wounded and enraged creature.'

This unique project is of a type rarely seen at these events, and we hope it will be adopted soon.

Country Armenia

Studio ReAct Production

Audience demographics Episode: 12 x 11'

Technique: 2D computer & drawing

Representing their country for the first time at Cartoon Forum, ReAct Armenia has the right Alphabet Heroes, a project that could become Armenia's first animated series if it can find the right partners. an adventurous educational TV series for children from 4 to 9 years old, the series follows three ordinary children who are transformed by a magical gem of wisdom into The story follows three ordinary children who are transformed into superheroes and imbued with the power of alphabet letters by a magical gem of wisdom. Meanwhile, the Ignorance King steals this source of wisdom and attempts to feed on humanity's denial and ignorance to create a malevolent scheme. This character can easily be associated with a real person.

To defeat this ridiculous and dangerous enemy and his dastardly minions, the Alphabet Heroes use the power of spelling to create new objects from the very letters they can manipulate. And that is perhaps the most interesting part of this classic project, in which children are transformed into superheroes.

Also, director Vrej Kassouny, who founded ReAct Productions 23 years ago as a boutique service studio and has been developing the original project since 2018, has found that their very specific production pipeline allows every character He explained that by using a specific text layer for the summoning sequence, the show can be easily translated into multiple languages. In doing so, the adaptation to each language, such as Armenian, French, English, etc., becomes fluid, allowing the show to reach a worldwide audience with a very small budget, which the producers estimated at 1.2 million euros for the first 12-episode season.

Country Italy

Studio Studio Ibrido

Audience Family

Episodes: 26 x 11'

Technique: 2D computer

Cartoon Forum 2024, focused on the Italian studio allowed more than 1000 participants to discover the vast landscape of the Italian animation industry. Among them, the young Studio Ibrido presented Matita HB, an adaptation of the Italian graphic novel of the same name by writer Susanna Matti Angeli and graphic artist Rita Petruccioli. Matita is the story of a 10-year-old girl whose obsessive imagination keeps a diary of her daily reality It is the story of a 10-year-old girl.

For animators and directors Victoria Mussi and Francesco Forti, who graduated from the animation department of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Turin in the early 2010s, the colorful setting was the perfect playground. With its rich imagery and vibrant palette, “Machita HB” has the outstanding visual potential to transform words and doodles into pirate- and dragon-fighting adventures.

But the series also has deeper goals, addressing the generational topics of Matita's insecurities, such as growing up and becoming an unimaginative and always busy mother, clinging to her inner child. And who could relate more than the audience at the forum -