{"id":27749,"date":"2024-06-10T09:30:28","date_gmt":"2024-06-10T13:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2024-06-11T09:50:46","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T13:50:46","slug":"special-report-europe-toons-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/special-report-europe-toons-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe Toons In"},"content":{"rendered":"

As producers and distributors descend upon Annecy to tout their new projects, Mansha Daswani checks in with some of the region\u2019s leading IP owners about the health of the animation sector.<\/em><\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s animation business is certainly not immune to the seismic shifts reshaping the global kids\u2019 sector, from a change in priorities at the streamers to macroeconomic headwinds to children just not consuming content as they used to. However, the executives I surveyed for this piece indicate that the region has a fair bit going in its favor, including a robust pubcasting ecosystem that continues to commission high-quality fare for kids and a reliable government funding infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a growing confidence in the European animation industry and a wish to foster and encourage more great, ambitious content and local talent,\u201d observes Emmanu\u00e8le P\u00e9try, producer and head of distribution at Dandelooo.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, European animation is gaining recognition for its unique storytelling and artistic quality, resonating with children and family audiences worldwide,\u201d agrees Oliver Grundel, Director Junior at ZDF Studios. \u201cThere\u2019s a noticeable trend toward more inclusive and culturally rich content, along with a growing interest in educational and environmentally themed animation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophie \u201cKido\u201d Prigent, head of distribution at HARI, notes that European producers continue to succeed glo\u00adbally with animated projects, especially known IP like the com\u00adpany\u2019s own Grizzy & the Lemmings<\/em>. However, content creators are still feeling the pinch from the global slowdown in the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cService work flourished in Europe during and post-Covid,\u201d Prigent continues. \u201cSome studios increased their capacity to respond to the initial orders and general market trends, but they are now impacted by the budget cuts and fewer commissions from the U.S. players such as Disney, Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

BETTER TOGETHER<\/strong>
\nGiven a commissioning cutback driven by the global streamers, \u201cmany producers have turned back to public and private broadcasters and co-producers to finance their shows the traditional way,\u201d explains Morgann Favennec, deputy managing director at Mediatoon Distribution, the distribution arm of M\u00e9dia-Participations. \u201cCo-productions have always been the DNA of the group between French-based Ellipse Animation and Belgian Belvision. Adding a new member to the family, Studio Campedelli in Italy, reinforces this strategy even more.\u201d<\/p>\n

European pubcasters are increasingly pooling their limited resources to get shows off the ground. \u201cFor many, European PSBs have been the steadiest partners lately,\u201d says Prigent. \u201cThey are still considering fresh original content and innovative storytelling. They are also on the lookout for hits and are strong partners for consecutive seasons if the show delivers good ratings, as competition is fierce and linear viewing figures are in decline.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grundel expresses a similar opinion: \u201cTo manage the costs of premium content production, there\u2019s a noticeable trend toward increased collaborations and co-productions. Co-productions will remain key to our business, allowing us to combine resources, expertise and creative talent for more ambitious projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

P\u00e9try adds that Europe\u2019s public broadcasters are \u201cfully aware of the financing challenges producers face and are now savvy on developing and producing series that work along their mandates. We have reached a kind of \u2018golden age\u2019 on the editorial side that nicely balances PC requirements, S&P rules and humor.\u201d<\/p>\n

FUNDING FORMULAS<\/strong>
\nUnlike North America, the region also boasts a well-developed system of tax breaks and funding programs such as Creative Europe MEDIA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government funding ecosystem has been crucial in helping European animation companies navigate the current market challenges,\u201d Grundel says. \u201cVarious funds and grants from national and regional governments and initiatives like Creative Europe provide essential financial support that helps studios mitigate risks and maintain production levels. This funding is particularly important in the face of economic uncertainties and the increasing costs of high-quality animation production. Government support has allowed our partners and us on several projects to continue innovating and producing content that might otherwise be unfeasible due to financial constraints.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProducing new shows would be possible without their support, but the level of quality would be very different, and thus the exportation potential much lower,\u201d says Favennec.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Upside Down River<\/em> would not have been financed if MEDIA did not exist,\u201d P\u00e9try says. \u201cWe are very thankful and proud to be European. It\u2019s the same for our French CNC, which many countries envy; our audiovisual and cinema industry would not be the same without this virtuous system.\u201d<\/p>\n

ZDF\u2008Studios\u2019 Grundel adds: \u201cMore countries are deploying animation tax incentives to attract co-production opportunities. These incentives make producing animation in certain regions more financially viable by reducing the overall production costs. Countries like France, Ireland and Spain have been particularly proactive in offering attractive tax credits and rebates. These incentives attract foreign investment and encourage local talent development and employment. As a result, we are more inclined to consider these locations for our projects, benefiting from both the financial incentives and the burgeoning local animation ecosystems.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the region\u2019s producers need more support, HARI\u2019s Prigent says, \u201cgiven the difficulties of the international market now. Subsidies for versioning in different languages, for example. Or for greater access to ratings that aren\u2019t shared and are costly to access via organizations such as Nielsen and M\u00e9diam\u00e9trie.\u201d<\/p>\n

BACK TO BASICS<\/strong>
\nThe market is <\/em>tough right now, especially when it comes to getting new ideas off the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe streamers have strongly decreased original commissions in animation, and there are more and more companies trying to produce animation,\u201d Dandelooo\u2019s P\u00e9try says. \u201cIt obliges the producers to turn back to the \u2018old model\u2019 based on the public systems. France T\u00e9l\u00e9visions receives between 800 and 1,000 offers every year, and the BBC tells me 20,000 per year! To stand out, our projects must be exceptional and essentially need to be \u2018must-have\u2019 for broadcasters. This emphasizes the importance of quality and originality in producing animated content to secure commissions in this competitive landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prigent says the market is \u201ctighter\u201d amid increased competition for limited slots. \u201cIt\u2019s easier for IP owners who have established relationships with broadcasters and where there is a history of strong IP performance. That can be tough for newcomers.\u201d<\/p>\n

ZDF Studios\u2019 Grundel adds, \u201cBudget constraints have led broadcasters to become more selective in their commissioning choices. Collaborations and co-productions have also become key strategies to secure commissions and share the financial burden. It has been more challenging and has perhaps taken longer than usual. Still, it hasn\u2019t been impossible, so we are happy to say that we were able to maintain our number of project developments in the challenging past years.\u201d<\/p>\n

LIBRARY WINS<\/strong>
\nThe other silver lining is a bump in acquisitions as broadcasters and platforms find ways to do more with less. \u201cThere has been a noticeable increase in the acquisition of existing animation content,\u201d Grundel notes. \u201cBroadcasters and streaming platforms are looking to fill their programming schedules without bearing the high costs of new productions. If cost-cutting becomes necessary, series reruns could also be an alternative. This trend has led us to prioritize offering renewals on expiring licenses to our partners and pointing to our robust library of high-quality, marketable, localized content that can be easily acquired and distributed. Acquisitions offer a more immediate and cost-effective solution for content providers, allowing them to quickly meet audience demand while maintaining a diverse and engaging programming slate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, having a diverse catalog of scale is increasingly important in an environment like this one. \u201cBecause of mergers and buyouts and cancellations by streamers, demand focuses mainly on IPs and well-established (with multiple seasons) brands, making introducing new projects a little more challenging,\u201d Mediatoon\u2019s Favennec says. \u201cWe are in a good place as the group counts 85 companies, the majority of which are publishing houses constituting a real IP treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Channels and platforms \u201care relying on proven hits, franchises, long-standing brands and reboots,\u201d Grundel says. \u201cThis trend benefits established IPs. However, maintaining a balanced portfolio requires nurturing new IPs that have the potential to become future classics.\u201d<\/p>\n

And on that front, Annecy\/Mifa hopes to deliver this year as it cements its position as a key platform for launching new projects and nurturing the content creators of tomorrow. \u201cWe have 4,000 animation students coming to Annecy,\u201d says Micka\u00ebl Marin, CEO of the Annecy Festival. \u201cWe want to have them in the event because tomorrow they will be in the industry as the next producers, animators and directors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mansha Daswani checks in with some of Europe\u2019s leading IP owners about the health of the animation sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":27750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,21],"tags":[9390,4636,8805,7209,231,5460,2539,8967,6869,6434],"class_list":["post-27749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","category-top-stories","tag-annecy-festival","tag-dandelooo","tag-emmanuele-petry","tag-hari","tag-mediatoon-distribution","tag-mifa","tag-morgann-favennec","tag-oliver-grundel","tag-sophie-kido-prigent","tag-zdf-studios","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nEurope Toons In - TVKIDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/special-report-europe-toons-in\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Europe Toons In - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mansha Daswani checks in with some of Europe\u2019s leading IP owners about the health of the animation sector.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/special-report-europe-toons-in\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-10T13:30:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-11T13:50:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/06\/HARI-GrizzyAndTheLemmings-624.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"394\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/special-report-europe-toons-in\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/special-report-europe-toons-in\/\",\"name\":\"Europe Toons In - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-10T13:30:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-11T13:50:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/special-report-europe-toons-in\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/special-report-europe-toons-in\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/special-report-europe-toons-in\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Europe Toons In\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\",\"name\":\"TVKIDS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. 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