Ankama-Backed, Anime-Inspired Animation House Studio Unagi Launches In Montreal

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japanese animation film “Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle” took a clear lead at the mainland China weekend box office – despite only being available for two of three days. Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway showed the film scoring $9.8 million (RMB69.4 million) in China, more than double that of second placed film “Be My Friend.” The win came despite “Haikyu!!” only being released on Saturday and measuring up against other tiles available throughout the whole of the Friday-Sunday period. “Haikyu!!” is the third Japanese film so far this year to lead the mainland Chinese box office, following “The Boy and the Heron” and “Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Earth Symphony.” It was produced by Production IG, Toho Animation and Sony Music Entertainment Japan and released by Crunchyroll in multiple territories.

Good afternoon Insiders. We’ve been all over Europe this week, so here’s Max Goldbart, back in the London-shaped saddle, to walk you through the major stories of the past seven days. Scroll on. And sign up here.

Jamie Lang The seventh edition of Animation is Film (AIF), a Los Angeles-based sister event to France’s prestigious Annecy Animation Festival, will run October 18-20 at the TCL Chinese 6 Theaters in Hollywood this fall. Launched in 2017, “The Festival embraces the highest aspirations of animation as a cinematic art form on par with live action and is a vocal advocate for filmmakers who push the boundaries of their work to the fullest range of expression that the medium is capable of,” reads the AIF mission statement.

Founded in 2015 by Yoshiaki Nishimura, former lead film producer of Studio Ghibli and two-time Academy Award nominee for producing “The Tale of Princess Kaguya,” “When Marnie Was There”), Studio Ponoc has quickly emerged as a Japanese animation studio to watch. Known for “Mary and the Witch’s Flower” (2017) and 2018’s “Modest Heroes,” their latest is the animated fantasy film “The Imaginary.” READ MORE: ‘Paddington In Peru’ Trailer: The Beloved Bear Goes On A Jungle Adventure Later This Year Released last year in Japan, Netflix is premiering the Studio Ponoc film in North America and other territories this summer, giving it the global exposure it deserves.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Ankama, the French company behind the cult favorite adult animated feature “Mutafukaz” and video game franchises such as “Dofus” and “Wakfu,” has acquired a minority stake in Inthebox, a thriving Annecy-based animation studio. The alliance will allow Ankama to “fast-track its production pipeline and benefit from Inthebox’s expertise with different techniques, such as 3D animation,” Ankama’s co-founder Anthony Roux told Variety in a conversation with Inthebox’s co-founders Mathieu Marin and Madjid Chamekh (pictured).

Ben Croll French animation outfit Blue Spirit (the studio behind Netflix sensation “Blue Eye Samurai”) will introduced an in-house digital creation and development label under the moniker Blue Spirit Creative. Offering full-service creative and graphic development for features, series, ads and games, the creative label will be run by the Paris-based team behind Digital Banana, which Blue Spirit acquired last year. “We can now offer a one-stop-shop,” says Blue Spirit CEO Olivier Lelardoux.

Ben Croll After closing out last month’s Cannes competition, Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Most Precious of Cargoes” opened this year’s Annecy Animation Festival on an auspicious note. With French productions accounting for one half of Annecy’s 12 competition slots, the Alpine showcase doubles a show of force for Gallic filmmakers writ large – a fact made all the more impressive given their sector’s relative youth.

It has been a high-profile 12 months for Mediawan Kids & Family thanks to subsidiary Method Animation’s involvement in the Ladybug & Cat Noir franchise, which has been enjoying box office success worldwide with a first feature film adaptation.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Eurozoom, a leading French distributor for Japanese animation, has forged a strategic partnership with major French animation producer Special Touch Studios, led by founder and CEO Sebastien Onomo. “We both share the same passion for animation and want to tell bold stories with a particular attention to professional diversity,” said Eurozoom’s CEO-Founder Amel Lacombe, who added that they were jointly working on a six-animation feature lineup. Leading the pack is “Melvile,” directed by Romain Renard and Fursy Teyssier.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent ANNECY, France — José Miguel Ribeiro, Nuno Beato and David Doutel and Vasco Sá, iconic figures in modern-day Portuguese animation, will unveil new projects at this year’s Annecy. They will be joined by newer talents – Vier Nev, behind “A Mind Sang” – João Carrilho, Patrícia Figueiredo and Natália Azevedo Andrade – who together deliver an eloquent snapshot of the burgeoning state of Portuguese animation. Over the last 30 years, Portuguese animation has won ever more prizes for usually 2D short films of dazzling beauty, experimentation and sometimes social point.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Nearly a lifetime ago, in 1975, Terry Gilliam submitted his five-minute short film “Miracle of Flight” to the Annecy Animation Festival in France. An absurdist gem about homo sapiens’ disastrous desire to take to the skies — using the same cut-out technique made famous by the irreverent interstitials and opening credits Gilliam designed for the British sketch comedy series “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” — the film screened, but won no prizes.

Ahsoka composer Kevin Kiner discussed his Star Wars influences for the Disney+ series at Deadline’s Sound & Screen Television live-music event. He also revealed an homage to Star Wars composer John Williams in episode 5.

Jamie Lang Catalonia‘s animation scene is flourishing thanks to a motivated and well-trained base of artists, generous government backing and early involvement from public broadcasters. One need look no further than this year’s Annecy Animation Festival for proof of the Catalanimation boom.

The stars of House of the Dragon are hitting the red carpet in Paris!

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent In the run up to Annecy Animation Film Festival, French studio Gaumont has appointed Sébastien Rossi as creative director for its Kids & Family division, and unveiled a flurry of new shows. Rossi, who was previously head of CG at the company, will take part in the development and production of internationally-driven series and movies from France and Europe under his new role.

Some of the cast of House of the Dragon attended a photo call for season two at L’Automobile Club on Thursday (June 6) in Paris, France.

Love Island is back, bringing with it another season of romance, drama and iconic catchphrases, not to mention the return of a summer staple - personalised water bottles.The Islanders are rarely seen without their named water bottles, which have become a trend among viewers wanting to stay hydrated in style this summer. While there's a practical reason for the villa contestants to have their bottles labelled (to prevent mix-ups or losses), it's also sparked a trend that's led fans to want their own version to stay hydrated this summer.

Now and then we come across a designer lookalike that we just can't pass by, why spend a fortune on a designer piece when you can get the look for A LOT less? If you follow all things fashion then no doubt you've probably seen that the 'old trend', bouclé, has been having a bit of a fashion moment- a resurgence should we say since early spring. Arguably it was Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel who put it on the sartorial map over 60 years ago, but this fabrication hasn't lost its sense of style.The high street allowed us to fall in love with the boucle jacket all over again and it's certainly played an important role in our transitional wardrobes, but we've been quick to notice the designer-inspired trend has been updated for the summer season- and we're all over it.

EXCLUSIVE: Studiocanal and The Picture Company have acquired the rights to the French film Rodeo. The companies plan to transplant the premise to the U.S. and tap into the underground world of street motocross racing.Helmed by first-time filmmaker Lola Quivoron, the original won the Coup de Coeur Jury Award in the Un Certain Regard Section of Cannes in 2022. It was based on Quivoron’s experiences photographing the French city’s urban dirt bike community and the people she met inspired the film.

Jamie Lang Animation veteran Guillaume Dubois has partnered with Ankama‘s Anthony Roux to launch Studio Unagi, a new animation studio based in the Canadian animation, vfx and gaming hotbed of Montreal. The banner’s inaugural slate of projects includes “Bestial” and “Sacré Coeur,” both of which are produced by Ankama, the studio behind the cult favorite adult animated feature “Mutafukaz” and video game franchises such as “Dofus” and “Wakfu.” Studio Unagi will specialize in creating 2D animation and Japanese-style animation and will develop content for YouTube and video games. ‘Bestial’ is a new animated series set in the Krosmoz universe, the setting of Ankama’s “Dofus,” “Wakfu” and “Waven” online video games.