The Annecy Festival and its MIFA market really don’t stop this week: raw figures from the animation industry were shown. TF1 promised a higher investment in children’s animation for next year. There were also announcements from players such as Tencent Video, Mediawan Kids & Family, WB Animation and Carton Network Studios, making this a much richer market. The event featured events for all audiences and keynotes to broaden the vision of the attendees.
One of the most important panels yesterday was “Share with Warner Bros. Discovery” at the Imperial Palace’s Verdi Theater. Adina Pitt and Zia Sands of WBD, moderated by Agnes Agustin, talked about the acquisition strategy that complements the content coming from their studio. Zia Sands talked about the two main channels in their catalog, Cartoonito, «a leading IP channel that only does animation programs» aimed at the 4- to 6-year-old audience and Cartoon Network, whose target ranges from 6 to 11 years old where comedy is the main theme in all content. Andina explained that WBD is very flexible in its acquisition approach due to the very fragmented nature of the current market: they are in the market for outright acquisitions, pre-purchases and co-production model deals for diverse, engaging and universal content that has longevity. Zia also highlighted WBD’s ability to close complex deals in Europe, where languages and particularities are in every market.
