Cyber Group Hones Multi-Local Approach

At Cyber Group Studios, the dino-filled animated series Gigantosaurus has been a key driver of recent gains. “This has become a real flagship, and our clients and partners became fans of the brand, which has reached true worldwide success,” says Raphaëlle Mathieu, the company’s senior VP of sales, acquisitions and new media.

With it airing on Disney channels and Disney+ worldwide, along with Netflix and major free-to-air channels, the show has garnered “a lot of eyeballs,” says Mathieu, “which allows us to develop different lines of merchandising—from toys to apparel to video games. We are really proud to have created an IP like we have done with Gigantosaurus.”

Cyber Group Studios has had success worldwide selling titles such as Zou, Zorro The Chronicles and Gigantosaurus, giving it access to many different types of buyers.

“I trust that part of our growth is due as well to the fact that we are a multi-genre company,” Mathieu adds. “We have slowly developed from preschool to bridge to kids, and now we have young adult shows as well in development.”

And it has had a similar growth path and evolution for animation techniques: “We started with 3D, developed with 2D and then cartoon with Taffy,” Mathieu explains. “Our specificity is that we produce our content that we systematically distribute and that we also distribute content from external partners. This allows us to offer buyers a wide range of content. And it is very important for us to talk to kids worldwide.”

The company has expanded its footprint as well, with the opening of offices in Los Angeles. “It is very important for us to be present daily in one of the biggest markets on the planet,” says Mathieu. “But we wanted to expand in other regions as well. Italy being a very strong territory for us, it was natural to try to find a local partnership, and it became even more natural to structure it with a company we already knew and were working with on Nefertine on the Nile, a series commissioned by Rai that we launched at MIPCOM.

“The U.K. is a unique territory in Europe, and it was as well a natural step for us,” she continues. “Therefore, we are extremely proud to partner with A Productions, a multi-awarded independent studio. A Productions is an amazing studio, and it will enable us to be present in a key international market.”

There’s also been expansion into Singapore, Mathieu notes. “As you must imagine, if we want to reach kids around the world, expanding in Asia is absolutely crucial. In this specific territory, we aim to expand our real-time animation technology expertise that has been launched in our Roubaix studio and that is now one of the biggest real-time animation studios in Europe.”

This is all part of Cyber Group Studios’ “multi-local” approach, she adds. “We want to develop local content with global appeal, and we do believe that is the key for our tomorrow’s development. Talents are everywhere, and we need to go find them. We want them to know that they can come to us and bring us their project, that we will always be eager to discuss and check out if it could be one of our next shows.”

And the time is ripe for further growth, as Cyber Group Studios is riding the momentum from many months of discussions that are coming together. “We are happy to have announced, in a very limited amount of time, external growth in three territories with three new incredible, diverse, creative, innovative partners,” Mathieu says. “The momentum came to us, and we are going to make it work to hopefully offer more and more quality content for kids all around the world.”