India in Discussions for Local Offshoot of Annecy Animation Festival

He’s a well-read man who enjoys the classics. He hangs “with fellas who run a weed store.” In other words, Sylvester Stallone’s Dwight “The General” Manfredi from Paramount+’s upcoming Tulsa King is a “different animal from what you would normally see in a gangster film.”

Ben Croll Fueled by a robust educational pipeline and the steady influx of foreign investment, France’s animation ecosystem continues to expand. In 2021, animated programing accounted for 33% of international audiovisual sales, making episodic animation the country’s leading television export. And as the sector grows, so too will its gravitational pull, bringing in new voices, fresh perspectives, talents with more diversified backgrounds. “There are more and more gateways,” says producer and Ikki Films CEO Nidia Santiago. “We’re seeing greater bridges between animation and other art-forms, and those bridges are coming about more naturally than ever before.” Trained in live action, Santiago founded her Ikki banner with an eye on features and shorts. Since 2011, the outfit has garnered industry prestige and festival acclaim – and with it, new opportunities from the television world.

Emiliano De Pablos The rise of Spain’s animation power promises to provide one of the leading narratives at this year’s Cartoon Forum.   In one of its strongest representations ever at the Toulouse event, eight high-profile TV series projects from Spain will be pitched, trailing only France.   To complete its standout presence, a spotlight on Spain will take place at the Forum, with several networking activities to promote local industry, backed by Spanish trade promotion broad ICEX in collaboration with Diboos, the country’s toon and VFX federation. In recent years, the animation scene has experienced a historic growth, becoming a key sector in the rapidly growing local audiovisual market. 

The Santa Fe International Film Festival (SFiFF) has announced its first 15 feature titles. These films are part of the Special Presentation section and will be followed by a full schedule of competition films, short films, panels and events. SFiFF starts October 19 and will run through October 23.

EXCLUSIVE: Toronto’s Elevation Pictures has picked up North American rights to Warren Pereira’s feature documentary Tiger 24, executive produced by The Gotham Group. The film has begun a limited theatrical release which includes a week’s run at the Laemmle’s Monica Film Center (Los Angeles), starting September 30. It will subsequently release on all transactional VOD platforms in North America on November 15.

EXCLUSIVE: Tippett Studio and Ultra 8 Pictures today announced that Phil Tippett’s directing feature debut Mad God has sold to a host of key international territories following a theatrical run in the US.

Christopher Vourlias Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales has closed a raft of deals on the animated feature film “Yuku and the Himalayan Flower,” from directors Rémi Durin and Arnaud Demuynck. The children’s animated feature, with graphics by Paul Jadoul, tells the story of Yuku, a little mouse who lives with her family in the basement of a castle and decides to embark on a quest to find the legendary Himalayan flower. The film, which premiered at the Annecy fest and played in the Locarno Kids strand of the Locarno Film Festival, is produced by Artémis Prods. (“Mandibules”) and co-produced by Vivement Lundi! (“Flee”), La Boîte Prods. (“March of the Penguins”), Les Films du Nord and Nadasdy Film. 

EXCLUSIVE: Global Screen has sealed a fresh round of deals on the 3D-animated feature My Fairy Troublemaker, about a mischievous, rookie tooth fairy who gets stuck in the world of humans on her first mission.

Tilda Swinton is gracing the red carpet at the 2022 Venice Film Festival!

Thandiwe Newton is being honored!

Ed Meza @edmezavar French animation group Xilam continues to book sales of hit toon series while enticing buyers with new offshoots of flagship properties. Xilam’s most popular shows remain “Oggy and the Cockroaches,” about a lazy cat who is constantly pestered by three roaches, and “Zig & Sharko,” which follow the adversarial relationship between a ravenous brown hyena and a good-natured great white shark. The company’s highlights at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous TV market in Biarritz include two new “Oggy” shows. “’Oggy’ has been on the market for almost 25 years,” explains Morgann Favennec, Xilam’s executive vice president of distribution. “It’s been broadcast everywhere. It’s still huge in India, for instance, which is why we will be launching a new Oggy called ‘Oggy and the Cockroaches: Next Generation,’ introducing a new character, which is an Indian elephant.”

Italian director Paolo Sorrentino has been named as jury president of Morocco’s Marrakech International Film Festival, which will run as a physical event for the first time in three years from 11 to 19 November.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Paolo Sorrentino, the Oscar-winning director of “The Great Beauty” and “The Hand of God,” is set to preside over the jury of the Marrakech International Film Festival. The popular fest will make a comeback this year after a pair of editions were canceled due to the pandemic. The upcoming fest will take place Nov. 11-19. Sorrentino’s jury will award the Étoile d’Or to one of 14 feature-length films set to compete at the festival, which aims at showcasing rising filmmakers from around the world. The helmer follows the footsteps of prestigious directors and talents such as Martin Scorsese and Tilda Swinton, who presided over previous years.

Florence Pugh made a sparkling statement on the 79th Venice International Film Festival red carpet on Monday. The actress is in Italy for the premiere of Olivia Wilde's forthcoming film  where Pugh stars opposite Harry Styles. Pugh brought her grandmother as her date for the premiere, and the two walked the red carpet in perfect style.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Coming off a year of major international growth, Paris-based animation giant Cyber Group Studios is presenting a wide-ranging lineup of new and returning shows at this year’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous in the French seaside town of Biarritz. Among Cyber Group’s current high-profile titles is the new super-powered kid comedy series “50/50 Heroes,” which has sold to ITV in the U.K. and Discovery in Latin America. Commissioned by France Televisions and Disney, “50/50 Heroes” follows the high jinks of Mo and Sam, a half-brother and sister duo, aged 11 and 9, who share super powers. Cyber Group has been expanding its global operations over the past year with a number of major acquisitions, partnerships and joint ventures that have resulted in a number of new projects.

Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight is an annual celebration of our best Scottish food and drink - and the chance for Aldi to showcase some of their favourite local producers.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Top international news agencies, including the Associated Press and Reuters, are up in arms against the Venice Film Festival over what they claim are restrictions to access footage of the fest’s star-studded red carpet activities and press conferences. In past years, the agencies have been able to give their clients more or less unlimited amounts of Venice footage, excluding live feeds. Upon arrival on the Lido this year, with no forewarning, agency video teams collected their red carpet accreditation on opening day and were then handed a form to sign telling them there is a 90-second limit, the groups allege. The 90-second limit is allegedly due to Italian media regulation that was always in existence, but is only being enforced this year.

Lady In The Lake was paused on Friday (August 26) in Baltimore after an unknown assailant brandished a gun a crew members.Production on the Apple TV+ series, which stars Natalie Portman, Moses Ingram, Y’Lan Noel, Mikey Madison and Brett Gelman, was halted as a precautionary measure.Variety reports that the Baltimore police department confirmed to the publication that a group of locals approached producers working a shoot on Park Avenue in the downtown area at around 4pm on Friday.The group threatened to return that evening to shoot somebody if filming didn’t stop, and they also told crew that $50,000 would have to be paid before production could resume.The Park Avenue shoot has since be scrapped and another location is being sought following the threat, the police added.Series producer Endeavor Content said in a statement: “Friday afternoon, on the Baltimore set of our production Lady In The Lake, prior to the arrival of the cast and crew, per their call time, a driver on our production crew was confronted by two men, one of whom brandished a gun directed at our driver, and then they fled the location.“We are working with the Baltimore Police Department as the investigation is ongoing. The safety and security of our crew, cast and all who work across our productions is our highest priority, and we are thankful no one was injured.