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The 6th CARTOON 360, a pitching event for animation producers interested in developing their animation projects into a transmedia brand, will take place from 2nd to 4th December 2019 at Le Palais de la Bourse in Lille, France. The selected 24 transmedia animation projects will be pitched by producers in front of a panel of experts from various digital industries and receive feedback from them.
Animationweek will again attend CARTOON 360 as press. We will hear from Frédérique Vinel, CARTOON 360 director, on this year’s highlights.
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Interview with Frédérique Vinel
Animationweek (AW): What will be the highlights of the 6th CARTOON 360?
Frédérique Vinel: This year we have two keynotes: one from French game and animation studio ANKAMA, with CMO Matthieu Levisse giving us some insights on how to create and manage a transmedia IP (based on the success stories of their IPs Dofus, Wakfu and Waven, soon to be launched); and a second one from UK-based KIDS INSIGHTS, a kids’ market intelligence provider, with CEO Nick Richardson showing us the latest trends with young content users, to help participants answer this crucial question: “Is your content creating a connection with the next generation?”.
On top of that, we have a selection of 24 transmedia concepts, coming from 15 different European countries and offering a nice variety of tone and content, ranging from educational TV series and related apps for preschoolers, to self-help interactive content for young adults or adults.
This year’s selection includes producers such as Dupuis Audiovisuel, La Chouette Company, Fandango Ltd., Film UA Group, Darjeeling, FunGameMedia, a_BAHN and Studio Redfrog, to name but a few.
AW: Could you please let us know your impression of the projects applied and selected for this year’s CARTOON 360? Have you noticed some new trends or differences in the projects compared to last year?
Frédérique Vinel: When I look back on last year’s selection, the projects seemed more experimental, with lots of VR immersive experiences.
It may have been a conscious choice from the selection committee, but in any case, this year we’ve only selected 3 immersive projects and tried to be as pragmatic as possible, choosing content that we felt would unquestionably make sense and could easily find a market, even if a niche one.
In terms of tone, the number of ‘serious’ topics, related to historical milestones, or current, social issues was very striking this year. We had topics ranging from discovering Nikola Tesla’s genius, paying homage to the heroic women from WWII, failing with e-dating, coping with burnout or sexual prejudice, or overcoming depression, to helping children face cancer. These projects were not all exclusively aimed at adults, which is an interesting new trend. Serious content can also be meant for the whole family, or tweens, or teenagers.
Exploring the future or space was also on the menu, with themes like colonizing Mars or looking back on our Century from a futuristic point of view.
AW: What experiences and benefits do you expect the attendees to receive in CARTOON 360 this year?
Frédérique Vinel: They will possibly learn that “less is more”, meaning that you don’t necessarily need to be present on all platforms with the latest MR technology, but instead should focus on the few platforms and types of content that make sense for them (in terms of know-how and business opportunities), and above all for their audience, or their users (in terms of experience).
Going digital doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to go full 360° each time. You can be very selective and still expand your IP universe and increase your market exposure significantly.
During CARTOON 360 this year, we’ll make sure that more participants get involved in the evaluation of the projects pitched in Lille. We will circulate digital evaluation forms to all experts (not just the 4 assigned to the project) and other professionals and investors in the room immediately after the pitch so everyone gets a chance to give feedback and, as the case may be, express interest in the content they have just been pitched. We feel that this can immediately benefit both the animation producers who are testing their ideas and schemes, and the rest of the participants who have come to look for new business opportunities.
Our Picks
Here are 4 projects that caught our attention.
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BALDIES
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Fail in love
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Laser Infinity
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Thomas Merritt’s cabinet of curiosities
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