France Télévisions & Super RTL Renew Nate is Late

France Télévisions and Super RTL have ordered a third season of Nate is Late from Watch Next Media.

Created by Sylvain Huchet and Peter Saisselin, the new season will be produced with a budget of €7 million ($7.6 million), co-financed by France Télévisions, Super RTL, COFIMAGE 34, SOFITVCINE 11 and CNC. It will be entirely manufactured in Europe at Watch Next’s group studios.

The renewal builds on the success of Nate is Late, which has remained in continuous broadcast on France Télévisions’ linear channels and gained popularity on nonlinear platforms such as OKOO, Netflix, OCS, Prime Video and YouTube Kids, accumulating nearly 80 million views in just 2 years, despite having only a few episodes available online.

The show has also been sold to numerous territories on major channels and platforms such as Super RTL in Germany, POP in the U.K., Clan in Spain, SVT in Sweden, RTS in Switzerland, VRT in Belgium, Star in Greece, TRT in Turkey, MBC in the Middle East, Gloobs in Brazil, TV5 in Canada, Channel 9 in Australia, Tencent in China, TVB in Hong Kong and more.

Nate is Late was originally launched in October 2018 and is co-directed by Edouard Kuchiman and Gaultier Buiret. The new season will be manufactured at Watch Next’s group studios such as La Factorie in Paris and Lille and Animato in Torino. The relocation of production is made possible through Sherlock, an asset bank developed by Watch Next to manage the reuse of models, animations and special effects from previous episodes.

Jules Garcia, director of Watch Next Studios, commented: “In a matter of days, we can index a bank containing several seasons with thousands of files, without altering the server’s sources. Sherlock generates the display of static or animated thumbnails immediately accessible and reusable by teams at all stages of production. This is a crucial factor in avoiding production relocation.”

Philippe Alessandri, CEO and founder of Watch Next Media, added: “This new season showcases the narrative potential of the concept, the universe and the series’ characters. It demonstrates the synergy we have been able to create between the different studios within the group in France and Italy.”