Média-Participations’ animation and webtoon company Ellipse Studio and webtoon platform ONO, have just signed a partnership agreement with Kenaz, Korea’s leading independent webtoon production company, to open the Webtoon Academy in Angoulême, France.
According to Lee Woo-Jae, director of KENAZ:
France holds a central position on the cultural and artistic scene, and is a major influence in the fields of comics and graphic novels. We couldn’t have wished for a better setting to announce the opening of the Webtoon Academy in France in 2024, in collaboration with ONO and Ellipse Studio.
The Webtoon Academy, a reference free training program initiated by Kenaz 5 years ago in Seoul, Korea, which expanded to Tokyo, Japan in 2023, is designed to train around a dozen artists every year in the tools and storytelling techniques specific to the webtoon format so they can produce the first episodes of their series. At the end of the training program, some of them may be selected by a jury made up of Kenaz, Ellipse Studio, and ONO, to produce their webtoon series at Ellipse Studio in Angoulême, for a release on ONO.
After an online introduction in August 2024, the course, which is entirely free of charge (including materials), will take place from September to December 2024 for a period of 13 weeks at Ellipse Studio Angoulême and EMCA (École des Métiers du Cinéma d’Animation).
Julien Papelier, Média-Participations CEO, Ellipse Studio and ONO’s parent group said:
As the European leader in comic books and manga and a key player in animation, we want to empower a whole new generation of storytellers in the webtoon format. The Angoulême Webtoon Academy is a new step –and a major one– to encourage the emergence and training of new French-speaking authors in this medium. We are delighted to work on this exclusive free training program with our friends at Kenaz, with a shared belief: French webtoons can have a global reach.
Talents will have an opportunity to find out more about the program and meet the Ellipse Studio, ONO and Kenaz teams at the Annecy Festival on June 11 (9:30-11:00 am at the Regann Cafe) for a presentation of the Webtoon Academy and 1-to-1 talks with the teams (no registration needed) and on June 12 (11:00 am-12:30 pm at the Média-Participations booth G.06) for 1-to-1 talks with the teams (no registration needed).
