Former Netflix EMEA Exec Alexi Wheeler Launches Wheel In Motion With France’s Superprod Group – Annecy

Naman Ramachandran “Second Chance,” the directorial debut of Indian filmmaker Subhadra Mahajan, has been picked up for international sales by Thailand-based Diversion ahead of its world premiere at the 2024 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The film is set to debut on July 2 in the festival’s Proxima Competition section. The film tells the story of Nia, a young woman from the city who returns to her family home in the western Himalayas after a decade-long absence.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Dominique Boutonnat, the president of the National Film Board, France’s most powerful film institution, has received a three-year prison sentence, including two suspended, over sexual assault charges. Boutonnat has stepped down from the CNC in the wake of the verdict on June 28 and is being replaced by Olivier Henrard, Variety has confirmed.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Amelie” and “The Intouchables,” two of France’s all-time biggest box office hits, will be re-released by their respective studios, UGC and Gaumont/Studiocanal, during the Olympic Games. With three to four million Olympics fans expected to descend on Paris during the Olympics, French studios are looking to capitalize on the presence of these floods of international visitors and lure them into air-conditioned theaters. These re-released movies will be subtitled in English which will mark a first in France, at least in recent history.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Aiming to expand its footprint within the scripted space, Banijay Entertainment’s French label Screenline Productions has formed a creative partnership with the writers duo Matthieu Rumani and Nicolas Slomka. Screenline just collaborated with Rumani and Slomka on the series “Trash,” an upcoming Prime Videomini-series inspired by the real-life events of “Loft Story,” the French adaptation of “Big Brother” which marked the country’s first reality show of this kind in 2001.

The Kelce brothers are taking over Cannes!

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Flow,” a director-driven animated feature which world premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and just swept three awards at Annecy Film Festival, has been embraced by a raft of major distributors in key territories, including the U.K., Japan, South Korea, Germany, Spain and Italy. The movie is represented internationally by Charades.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Trialed for alleged sexual assault on June 14, Dominique Boutonnat, the president of the National Film Board, France’s most powerful film institution, is facing a three-year suspended prison sentence. Boutonnat was indicted in February 2021 for the alleged sexual assault of his then 19-year-old godson in August 2020, during a vacation in Greece.

Inside Out 2” just scored the biggest box office previews of 2024. Disney and Pixar‘s latest animated outing grossed $13 million in Thursday previews domestically, with $22.3 million worldwide. The family-friendly sequel is projected to launch between $80 million and $90 million this weekend.

Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week we’re talking to leading German producer Fabian Gasmia, whose credits include Olivier Assayas’ Personal Shopper, Leos Carax’s Annette and, more recently, Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry starrer Treasure, which has its North American premiere at Tribeca last weekend. Gasmia, who set up production banner Seven Elephants in 2018 with directors Julia von Heinz, Erik Schmitt and David Wnendt, talks us through building that outfit, his “special relationship” with France and why he thinks German cinema is having a “renaissance.”

Crunchyroll Senior Vice President of Global Commerce Mitchel Berger was in ebullient mood as he gave a talk on the growing global reach of anime at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival this week.

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 Since 2019, 98 animated titles have benefited from France’s tax-rebate on international productions (TRIP) scheme, representing 27% of all projects and reflecting a wider industry desire to make the country a global toon boom hub. This year’s Annecy Animation Festival will share the fruits of that program – which offers an across-the-board 30% tax rebate for international productions, with an additional 10% bonus to projects that partner with local VFX houses — showcasing internationally funded, made-in-France projects like Illumination’s “Despicable Me 4” and Studio Ponoc’s anime fantasy “The Imaginary.” Meanwhile local artists are currently hard at work bringing Illumination’s “The Super Mario Bros.

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.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mediawan Kids & Family is unveiling a raft of prestige animated feature projects at the Annecy Film Festival, including “Meow-woof” by Louis Clichy (“Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion”) and “Twisted” by Lino DiSalvo (“Playmobil”). Emmanuel Jacomet, who worked for over a decade alongside Aton Soumache and Dimitri Rassam on high profile IP’s such as “The Little Prince,” “Miraculous Ladybug” and “Playmobil,” took over the film division of Mediawan Kids & Family under a year ago with the ambition to develop a mix of mainstream franchise-based projects and auteur-driven 2D titles.

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 — Banijay Kids & Family, behind hit “Totally Spies!” and “Mr Bean: The Animated Series,” has unveiled first deals on “Froggie,” crowned best TV pilot at early June’s Cartoons on the Bay Pulcinella Awards. In deals which suggest one way much Annecy-announced business will go, Spanish pubcaster RTVE and top French kids channel Gulli, have acquired rights to Spain and France respectively. Both are among the biggest and most established players in Western Europe’s children’s entertainment.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The French far-right party Rassemblement National (National Rally, or RN) made historical gains on June 9, dominating the European elections by a landslide with 31.5% of votes. Fronted by the Rassemblement National’s 28 year-old lead candidate Jordan Bardella, the victory prompted French President Emmanuel Macron — whose party Renaissance came in second with 14.5% of votes — to dissolve the National Assembly and call early Parliamentary elections.

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.

EXCLUSIVE: Non-fiction agency Indox, launched by former Dogwoof exec Luke Brawley, has boarded Visions du Reel competition title Mother Vera and will use the pic to launch a new boutique service focused on representing non-fiction and progressive media works in the UK and Ireland.