More than 260 buyers, including broadcasters, distributors, investors, streaming platforms, book publishers, and game developers, are among the close to 1,000 participants registered at this annual meeting organised by CARTOON, an international non-profit association based in Brussels.
With a highly efficient formula that combines pitching sessions, trailer screenings and networking activities, Cartoon Forum has become a must-attend showcase for European animation professionals.
Shortlisted from 107 submissions, the selected projects hail from 20 countries. France leads the line-up with 36 projects, followed by Ireland with eight, and Germany and Italy with five.
The CEE countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia) are also present with five, one project by country. Denmark and Spain feature three projects each, while Portugal participates with two. Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Poland are represented with one each.
Participating for the first time at Cartoon Forum, three non-EU countries in the Creative Europe Programme – Armenia, Georgia and Moldova – round up the selection with one project each.
The relationship between the animation and publishing industry continues to strengthen as shown by the increase in the number of adaptations from books, comics or other media (31% of the selection). In order to foster this collaboration, Cartoon Forum – in partnership with Bologna Children’s Book Fair – has set up one-to-one meetings between professionals from both industries.
For the second year in a row, CARTOON has joined forces with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and France Télévisions to work on a new collaborative model for animation focused on the collective financing of at least one project to be selected by EBU members during Cartoon Forum.
Trends & Topics
Cartoon Forum’s line-up shows some of the prevailing trends in European animation, including the topics that are currently catching the creators and producers’ interest. A significant number of projects in the line-up tell stories from a female perspective featuring strong female characters in the leading roles. Also noteworthy is the number of women in key production or creative roles. A further noticeable trend is the growing interest in addressing hot topics, from political and environmental issues to other widespread concerns such as diversity and inclusion in our society.
Cartoon Tributes
Twelve companies from eight countries have been nominated for the Cartoon Forum Tributes 2024, which recognise the leading names in European animation over the previous year. Broken down into three categories – Broadcaster, Investor/Distributor, and Producer of the Year – these awards will be voted by the professionals attending Cartoon Forum.
Four public broadcasters – ARTE (France – Germany), Radio Télévision Suisse – RTS (Switzerland), Radio Televizija Slovenija – RTV (Slovenia), and Televisió de Catalunya – TVC (Spain) – were nominated for Broadcaster of the Year. Pubcasters’ overwhelming majority in this category bears witness to their key role in the production and broadcasting of European animation.
French companies Madrigall Group and Prime Entertainment Group contend for the Investor/Distributor of the Year award along with Spain’s Mondo TV Studios and Germany’s ZDF Studios.
Finally, the Producer of the Year award will be claimed by one of Cartoon Saloon (Ireland), Movimenti Production (Italy), Pikkukala (Finland – Spain), or Sacrebleu Productions (France).
Coaching Programme
Cartoon Forum annually undertakes its Coaching Programme, a training initiative aimed at young talents from local animation and art schools. More than 100 students will take part in this initiative that, besides presentations, case studies and masterclasses, features a mini-pitch workshop in which six projects will be presented to an audience of regional experts.
At the end of the workshop, the Occitanie region will award the best-pitched project with a participation in Cartoon Springboard 2024.
Together with this activity, 20 talents from six Italian schools will take part in a special Coaching Programme as part of our Spotlight on Italy.
Rounding up Cartoon Forum’s training activities, Les Toons d’Ici is aimed at promoting the animation industry in Toulouse and the Occitanie region to the public, with an emphasis on young people. Organised by APIFA (Association of Independent Producers of Occitanie) in partnership with the Mairie and the Metropole of Toulouse, this activity is dedicated to school pupils, who have the chance to explore the different techniques of animation through series, feature-length films and shorts born and bred in Toulouse and the Occitanie region. Both the Metropole and the Region are highly involved in promoting local talents and works to the global audience.
