The Annecy Festival along with the MIFA market are very active this week around business meetings, networking and market trends with conferences. The core of the market started strong with a good turnout at the Palais Imperial, welcoming attendees to their booths where the entire industry is represented, media companies, country delegations, production companies, religious and educational institutions, and software solution providers.

Earlier in the morning, at the Imperial Palace's Verdi Theater, Qing Fan of Tencent Video, the giant Chinese streaming platform with more than 117 million subscribers, 200 million viewers, 167 hours of content produced per year and an average of 15.25 million hours per month of streaming time, presented content on its two main channels. In terms of children's content for kids up to 7 years old, the company presented more than 40 originals created since 2016: it will launch "Supertato" in co-production with BBC Studios, Coup Troup with France Televisions, and "Pet Hotel", a co-production between LA and China distributed by Worldbrain. About cartoons for tweens, teens and young adults, the firm commented that there are more titles in production, such as "Deep in the Bowl", "The Story of Mi", "Detective X" and "Lord of the Mysteries", about a young superhero who travels back in time to the Victorian era in a sort of Sherlock Holmes style. On Tencent Video's content production strategy in 2024, Qing Fan commented: 'It will be less aggressive in producing new content and focus on developing new seasons of successful titles. However, the company will continue to acquire new content, especially for children over the age of 7'.

During the “What's New?” panel of Mediawan Kids & Family, the children's division of a major French broadcaster, Julien Borde, President of Mediawan Kids & Family, boasted of an excellent 2023/2024 season and stressed that it is the first European animation production studio in Europe. Before giving the floor to his partners to present the new content in the pipeline, he shared the news that seasons 6 and 7 of the Miraculous series, a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, are in production. Accompanied on stage with the entire Mediawan family: Katell France, Emmanuel Jacomet, Arthur Colignon, Cédric Pilot, Jean Yves Patay, François Bardoux, Jesse Cleverly, Wildseed Studios and Bruno Felix, Submarine Studios; the executive shared all the news and what is in the pipeline for her production labels WildSeed, Palomar, Method Animation, Cinema presenting titles such as the "3 Musketeers", "Robin Hood 4", "Sonic Boom", "Astro Boy" reboot, to name a few.

Finally, and with a full stage in the Salle de l'Europe at the Imperial Palace, Cécile Lacoue, director of studies, statistics and forecasts at the CNC, produced a report on the French animation market, both audiovisual and cinematographic. 'In 2023, there was a 30% upturn in the audiovisual industry, increasing investment from €182.3 million to €237.6 million and in terms of content produced from 221 hours to 278 hours. Costs have remained high from one year to the next. There has been a change in the type of content produced, with short-format production suffering a significant decline. At the same time, animations of 11 to 15 minutes and 23 to 26 minutes experienced a considerable increase'. The report also shows that major broadcasters have increased their investment in content production. Internationally, 54 productions have obtained tax benefits, 70% of which came from the United States. There has been a 64% drop in orders to French producers from abroad, with France in 4th place with 39 productions, Japan in first place with 226, and the US in 2nd place with99 the UK with 48 productions.

What is said in the hallways? Chantal Chauzy, director of animation, distribution and acquisitions at All Rights Entertainment (France): 'We are looking for good quality 3D content for the family, especially for children. We notice that the market is changing year by year, with bigger attendees of course.' Tim Werenko, co-founder of 3BEEP (USA): 'The show is in full swing. Being the second season after COVID, everything seems to be back to business as usual. I consider MIFA to be the place to do business within the animation industry.' An anonymous producer commented, 'It's a very active market, but difficult for a producer because you see a lot of buyers, the market seems to be around co-productions and looking for financing is complex.' Sergio Iribarne, production director at Smilehood: 'The market has evolved significantly since our launch in 2011, and we are constantly revising and innovating our storytelling techniques. Our main goal here in Annecy is to find artists and service providers around the world who share our company values and who can offer fresh and artistic content to collaborate with us'.

Today, Wednesday, one of the most popular events is expected to be the “Share with Warner Bros. Discovery” conference at the Verdi Theater of the Imperial Palace. There will also be the “Share with Disney Branded Television” conference, and finally Crunchytoll presents “The World of Anime” at La Chambre de Métiers et de l'Artisanat - Mont-Blanc.

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