News

“Journey to the End of the Night,” a literary masterpiece penned by controversial French author Louis-Ferdinand Céline, is being adapted for the big screen by Joann Sfar and Thomas Bidegain.

Well-established producers Aton Soumache (“The Little Prince”) and Alain Attal (“Beating Hearts”) are developing the project through their respective banners, Magical Society (jointly led with Sfar) and Tresor Films.

The adaptation endeavor was initiated by Sfar, a Jewish comicbook artist, illustrator, thinker and filmmaker whose body of work has promoted tolerance and combatted all forms of racism through words and images.

Published in 1932, “Journey to the End of the Night” was the first novel written by Céline, whose real name was Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches. Céline, who fled to Germany in 1944 and died in 1961 after living for many years in self-imposed exile in Denmark, remains a polarizing figure due to his antisemitic views and pamphlets that promoted the Nazi ideology during the Second World War.

Mediawan Kids & Family, a leading European youth animation studio working with filmmakers Sylvain Chomet (“The Triplets of Belleville”) and Joann Sfar (“The Rabbi’s Cat”), is ramping up its international distribution pipeline with the acquisition of three premium series: “Maddie + Triggs,” “The Specials” and “Idefix and the Indomitables.”

“Maddie + Triggs” is an inclusive preschool musical comedy series produced by Turnip + Duck, an award-winning Irish studio. A spinoff of a popular podcast aimed at children aged 4 to 7, the series was pitched at Cartoon Forum in 2022 and commissioned by the BBC’s kids’ network CBeebies in the U.K. and RTÉjr Ireland’s Children’s broadcast service. The series is animated by the Bristol-based indie Sun & Moon Studios. “Maddie+ Triggs” follows the adventures of Maddie, a visually impaired 7-year-old girl, and her dog Triggs, who find music through the sounds of everyday life.

“Today, there is more awareness and appreciation of difference than ever before,...

The outfit’s first commission is six-part BBC One thriller ’Vidree’, with feature films also in the pipeline.

Former UK Film Council executive and producer of Saving Mr Banks, Sing Street and TV series The Casual Vacancy Paul Trijbits has revealed details of his new venture with French production company Magical Society.

The former head UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund has also spoken about the demise of his former company FilmWave, saying “we had all our eggs in the Netflix basket”.

Dutch-born, UK-based Trijbits and former FilmWave colleague JJ Lousberg have partnered with Paris-based Magical Society to set...

Aton Soumache and Joann Sfar’s French studio Magical Society has launched a UK arm helmed by Saving Mr Banks producer Paul Trijbits, whose drama indie FilmWave has shuttered after a decade.

Magical Society UK has landed a debut commission – the BBC’s AA Dhand adaptation Virdee, which was announced at last month’s Edinburgh TV Festival and will be produced by crime sub-label Magical North. Trijbits is running Magical Society UK with JJ Lousberg, a former Focus and Universal exec.

Magical Society UK is operating as a Jv with Paris-based Magical Society and will forge kids, animation and drama projects both TV and film. The French operation was opened in 2020 by comic book artist and filmmaker Sfar, and French animation producer Soumache, who was behind Netflix’s current most-watched animation feature, Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, and is the honorary chairman...

While at the Annecy Animation Film Festival, Mediawan Kids & Family unveiled a raft of new youth-centric shows, including “Karters” and “Witch Detectives,” on top of a licensing pact with DeAPlaneta Entertainment.

Spearheaded by animation veteran Julien Borde, Mediawan Kids & Family is a division of the international film and TV powerhouse Mediawan whose recent acquisitions include Brad Pitt’s Plan B.

Mediawan Kids & Family is partnering up with Warner Bros. Discovery Emea on the production and distribution of its animated series “Karters” for the linear and non-linear services of Warner Bros. Discovery. The action-packed series will premiere on Cartoonito for Emea, and will be distributed by Mediawan Kids & Family Distribution worldwide except Latin America.

Both “Karters” and “Witch Detectives” are being produced by Aton Soumache’s topnotch Method Animation (“The Little Prince”), whose credits include “The Three Musketeers.” “Witch Detectives” has already been boarded by TF1 and Super Rtl.

Written...

Mediawan Kids & Family, the youth entertainment division of the European powerhouse, has acquired a majority stake in Wildseed Studios, the British production company behind “The Last Bus” and “Hungerford.”

The deal marks the first international acquisition of Mediawan Kids & Family, a leading purveyor of animated series and features including “The Little Prince” and “The Little Nicholas,” which premiered at Cannes.

Wildseed Studios was founded in 2013 by Jesse Cleverly (“Eastern Promises”), former head of co-productions and acquisitions at BBC Children’s, and Miles Bullough (“Shaun the Sheep”), former head of broadcast at Aardman Animations. The company’s track record includes a number of hits such as the Netflix live action series “The Last Bus,” the award-winning feature film “Hungerford,” the children’s animation series “Dodo” for Sky Kids and the animated comedy “Counterfeit Cat” for Disney Channel. Upcoming titles include the Sky Kids Special “Ama’s Story.”

“Wildseed Studios is a renowned and well-established U.

Ralph Azham does not live in the same world as Dungeon . We’re pretty clear on that; this is not Terra Amata. But it’s the same kind of world: whatever Joann Sfar brings to the mix for Dungeon, that style of fantasy seems to be the way Lewis Trondheim operates.

So: we have a central smartass in a big, complicated world, full of anthropomorphic people who plot and scheme, with magic that really works and can do world-changing things but has very specific rules that need to be learned by trial and error. We have authorities who are corrupt or outright evil or just low-key incompetent – this is no surprise, since everyone is out for themselves, pretty much all the time.

Ralph Azham is our central character: another vaguely duck-like hero, like Herbert in Dungeon Zenith. He grew up in an isolated, unnamed mountain village out in the wilds of the kingdom of Astolia,...

Mediawan, the fast-rising pan-European production and distribution group behind “The Little Prince,” has launched a new division, Mediawan kids & family, to ramp up its activities dedicated to youth entertainment content and become a global one-stop shop.

Unveiled during the Annecy Animation Film Festival, this new division will bring together Mediawan’s topnotch labels, including Aton Soumache’s thriving banner Method Animation, whose track record spans 25 years and comprises worldwide hits such as “Miraculous – Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir” (co-produced with Zag) and “Robin Hood – Mischief in Sherwood; On Classics, the banner behind the BAFTA-nominated, Cesar-winning “The Little Prince,” which sold 50 million tickets worldwide. On Classics is also behind “Little Nicolas – Happy as can be” which world premiered at Cannes in the Special Screenings section and is competing at Annecy.

Spearheaded by Julien Borde, an animation industry veteran who previously held senior positions at WarnerMedia and France Televisions, Mediawan kids...

“Mister Crocodile,” “Corgi, A Royal Family” and “Piggy Builders” are among 84 TV series animated projects set to unspool at the 2021 Cartoon Forum which takes place in Toulouse, southern France, over Sept. 20-23 in an entirely in-person format.

21 countries from Europe will introduce animated projects at pitching sessions and industry networking, the backbone of Cartoon Forum’s activities. The 84 projects were selected from 141 submissions.

Targeting children and produced by France’s The Magical Society, “Mister Crocodile” is penned by Simon Nicholson and Joann Sfar and based on Sfar’s graphic novel. The series depicts the friendship between a girl and a crocodile, who asks to be her pet.

One of the most anticipated titles at the Forum, “Corgi, A Royal Family” is produced by France’s Studio Redfrog and Belgium’s nWave Studios, the company behind Ben Stassen’s “A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures,” “The House of Magic,” “Fly Me to the Moon...

After Blue (Paradis sale)The lineup for the 2021 festival has been revealed, including new films by Bertrand Mandico, Axelle Ropert, Abel Ferrara and others, alongside retrospectives and tributes, and much more.Piazza GRANDEBeckett (Ferdinando Cito Filomarino)Free Guy (Shawn Levy)Heat (Michael Mann)Hinterland (Stefan Ruzowitzky)Ida Red (John Swab)Monte Verità (Stefan Jäger)National Lampoon's Animal House (John Landis)Respect (Liesl Tommy)Rose (Aurélie Saada)Sinkhole (Kim Ji-hoon)The Alleys (Bassel Ghandour)The Terminator (James Cameron)Vortex (Gaspar Noé)Yaya e Lennie — The Walking Liberty (Alessandro Rak)Tomorrow My Love (Gitanjali Rao)Lynx (Laurent Geslin)Zeros and OnesCONCORSO INTERNAZIONALEAfter Blue (Paradis sale) (Bertrand Mandico)Al Naher (The River) (Ghassan Salhab)Espíritu sagrado (The Sacred Spirit) (Chema García Ibarra)Gerda (Natalya Kudryashova)I giganti (The Giants) (Bonifacio Angius)Jiao ma teng hui (A New Old Play) (Jiongjiong Qiu)Juju StoriesLa Place d'une autre (Secret Name) (Aurélia Georges)Leynilögga (Cop Secret...

French public broadcaster France Televisions confirmed its status as one of Europe’s biggest financiers of animation during the Annecy Festival where it unveiled its wide-ranging slate during a press conference.

In 2020, which was marked by the pandemic and two lockdowns, the broadcaster invested €32 million ($38.4 million) in the production of French animated content, €2.3 million ($2.8 million) of which went into films. As much as 7,296 hours of animated content, 70% of which were original French productions, aired throughout the year.

France 4, the group’s channel which is dedicated to kids content, also saw its market share rise in 2020, with a peak of 24.5% of children under 15 in the afternoons, according to France Televisions.

Under the direction of long-time France Televisions executive Pierre Siracusa, France Televisions’ animation unit has been thriving with innovative shows that entertain children.and enlighten them in different ways.

The key titles on the broadcaster’s current development slate include “The Weasy Family,...

Universal Music France and Mediawan’s Method Animation are joining forces on “Jam,” a animated music anthology which will showcase the greatest talents in both music and animation.

Co-developed with Universal Music France’s original contents department, the 15-part series will be directed by Michael Gracey, the revered helmer of “The Greatest Showman,” and is being created by Method Animation’s roster of talent, including Robert Valley, Félicie Haymoz, Sylvain Chomet and Joann Sfar.

These artists will getting an unprecedented access to Universal Music Group’s musical library and will be interpreting iconic songs that have crossed cultures and generations to deliver tales for family and adult audiences.

“Jam” fits Method Animation’s new mandate to come up with inventive animation projects skewed towards young adults.

“We are thrilled to partner with Universal Music France to create ‘Jam,’ the first ever music anthology for

animation. This partnership allows us to...

While U.S. blockbusters deserted screens in 2020, French animated features had 10-year record-breaking performance at the local box office last year, according to a study conducted by the Cnc (National Film Board) and unveiled on the opening day of Annecy Film Festival.

As French theaters were shut down for most of the year due to the pandemic, only 25 animated films were released in local cinemas last year. But the few local animated pics that were released, such as “Bigfoot Family,” “Josep” and Joann Sfar’s “Little Vampire,” represented 32.7% of all admissions for animated films in France in 2020, the highest level within the last decade.

“Bigfoot Family” was directed by Ben Stassen and Jérémie Degruson. The 3D-animated film is the sequel to “Son of Bigfoot,” and was written by Bob Barlen and Cal Brunker (“Escape From Planet Earth”). “Josep,” meanwhile, is directed by Aurelien Froment (known as Aurel) and charts the life of Josep Bartolí,...

French actor Laetitia Casta will be feted by Locarno Film Festival with its 2021 Excellence Award Davide Campari, which pays tribute to film personalities who have left their personal stamp on contemporary cinema.

The prominent Swiss fest dedicated to global indie cinema, headed by new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, has chosen to honor Casta in recognition of a career in which, after making the transition from the sphere of high fashion to the theater and film milieu, she’s risen to become “one of the most versatile acting talents of the new millennium,” the fest said in a statement.

Casta, who began her acting career in 1999 playing the beautiful young villager Falbalà in “Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar,” directed by Claude Zidi, has subsequently appeared in “Savage Souls” by Raùl Ruiz in 2001, in “Love Street” by Patrice Leconte in 2002, and in Tsai Ming-liang’s “Face” in 2009, to name just a...

Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival has unveiled much of its feature lineup including early highlights from several sidebars for this year’s online 25th edition, with the full program to be announced in July.

Fantasia’s preliminary lineup is highlighted by a glut of world and premieres including Edoardo Vitaletti’s “The Last Thing Mary Saw”; fest regular Richard Bates Jr.’s “King Knight”; Mikhael Bassilli and Luc Walpoth’s “Baby Money”; Canadian actor-turned-director Mark O’Brien’s debut “The Righteous”; “Hellbender” from John Adams, Toby Poser, and Zelda Adams; and the highly anticipated directorial debut of former Fantasia winning writer Travis Taute’s (“Number 37”) “Indemnity.”

Available to audiences across Canada, Fantasia will run Aug. 5-25 and present screenings, panels and workshops on its digital platform, hosted for the second year running by Festival Scope and Shift72. Event organizers are also closely monitoring the health and safety guidelines laid out by public officials in Montreal,...

Canadian genre festival Fantasia has unveiled the first crop of titles that will screen at its 25th edition, which is set to take place virtually August 5-25.

As per last year, the event will run on a platform created by Festival Scope and Shift72 and will feature screenings, panels and workshops, available to audiences in Canada. Organizers continue to discuss with local authorities about the possibility of adding a limited range of physical events, they said.

This year’s edition will have an enhanced focus on Japanese cinema. Below, the first wave of confirmed titles is listed, with the full program announcement to follow in late July. As previously announced, Fantasia will open with Quebec-set zom-com Brain Freeze.

Fantasia 2021 titles:

The 12 Day Tale Of The Monster That Died In 8

Dir. Shunji Iwai

Japan

North American Premiere

Agnes

Dir. Mickey Reece

USA

International Premiere

All The Moons

Dir. Igor Legarreta

Spain...

Organisers consulting with local Montreal authorities on possibility of limited range of physical events.

Top brass at Fantasia International Film Festival have announced the first wave of films including a focus on Japan for the virtual edition of the 25th anniversary festival that runs August 5-25.

The festival will screen for Canadian audiences on a platform created by Festival Scope and Shift72. Organisers are taking advice from local health authorities in Montreal on the possibility of adding a limited range of physical events.

Japanese selections include Tsutomu Hanabusa’s manga adaptation Kakegurui 2: Ultimate Russian Roulette about a deadly school...

This number will increase as Cannes, Venice and other summer festival titles are added to the mix alongside studio releases.

French cinemas reopen this Wednesday (May 19) after lying dark for six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the country’s 100-plus distributors rushing to set theatrical dates for an estimated backlog of 400 stalled films.

As a result, French cinemagoers will have access to the richest and most diverse offering of films in the world over the coming months, spanning festival titles, local mainstream comedies and dramas, world cinema and studio blockbuster fare, as the summer advances.

As of May...

Exclusive: Shout! Studios and Studiocanal have made an exclusive deal to distribute the new animated family feature Little Vampire in North America. Directed by Joann Sfar, the Annecy International Animated Film Festival winner is a production of On Animation (The Little Prince) and Sfar’s Magical Society. Deal was made by Melissa Boag, Shout’s Senior Vice President of Family Entertainment, Jordan Fields, Vice President of Acquisitions at Shout! Studios, and Loubna Berrada, VP International Sales for StudioCanal.

“We are beyond happy to have found the perfect home for The Little Vampire in North America with Shout! Studios. We know our Little Vampire and his endearing friends will be in great hands with the Shout! team, and we can’t wait for US and Canadian audiences to see the film which focuses on values which are particularly essential these days: tolerance, kindness,...

Emmanuel Mouret’s Les Choses Qu’On Dit, Les Choses Qu’On Fait, aka Love Affair(s), leads France’s César Award nominations with a total 13 including each of the top acting categories as well as Best Director and Best Film. The official 2020 Cannes Film Festival selection is followed by Albert Dupontel’s comedy/drama Adieu Les Cons (Bye Bye Morons) and François Ozon’s Eté 85 (Summer Of 85) with 12 each. The latter was released locally last summer and played Toronto in September.

Other titles to make the cut this morning include the Oscar shortlisted Two Of Us (Deux) from Filippo Meneghetti with Best Actress nods for leads Martine Chevallier and Barbara Sukowa as well as Best Original Screenplay and Best Debut Feature.

In the Foreign Film category are Sam Mendes’ 1917, Todd Haynes’ Dark Waters, Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round (also Oscar shortlisted on Tuesday), Jan Komasa’s La Communion...

Awards ceremony will take place on January 19, 2021.

Italian director Filippo Meneghetti’s debut feature Two Of Us leads the nominations in the 26th edition of France’s Lumière awards, which were unveiled online today (December 14).

The awards, which are voted on by some 130 international correspondents hailing from 40 countries, are France’s equivalent of the Golden Globes.

In spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has delayed numerous releases this year, they have retained their traditional time slot and the awards ceremony will take place on January 19, 2021, in line with previous years.

Meneghetti’s Two Of Us is also France’s submission...

France’s exhibitors and distributors are aiming for a quick restart when theaters are allowed to reopen, whenever that may be.

During the first lockdown, which lasted nearly three months, many French distributors took the streaming route, opting to release their films on transactional VOD services and in some cases, sell rights to SVOD platforms such as Amazon or Netflix. But this time around, key distributors like Gaumont, Studiocanal and Le Pacte, who had movies playing when theaters shut down on Oct. 29, told Variety that they’re planning to re-release their pics when cinemas reopen, even if a date is still unknown.

Among the films that will return to theaters are Gaumont’s “Bye Bye Morons,” a black comedy directed by Albert Dupontel; Le Pacte’s “DNA,” directed by Maiwenn; Studiocanal’s “Little Vampire,” an animated feature by Joann Sfar; and comedy “30 Jours Max” from Tarek Boudali.

“We will...

Several major distributors return to UK cinemas this weekend.

France, opening Wednesday, October 21

A dozen new films opened in France this week into a complex reality for the country’s distributors and exhibitors following the introduction of a night-time curfew for Paris and eight other major cities on October 17. It was announced yesterday (Oct 22) that the measure will be extended to more than half the country this Saturday (Oct 24) following a further surge in cases over the past week.

Prior to the announcement, a dozen distributors had taken the plunge to release films on Wednesday against already difficult odds. In the backdrop,...

When organizers of the Deauville American Film Festival, which runs Sept. 4-13, forged ahead with this year’s edition, they knew they were running a risk. Though France eased out of lockdown throughout May and June, the national government maintained a summer-long ban on large public gatherings — thus sealing the fate of festivals including Cannes and Annecy.

Unlike Cannes, which rebranded as a label and put its market component online, and Annecy, which went entirely digital, the Normandy-set “Deauville fest sought to maintain its original vision, banking on the hope that the government would ease physical gathering restrictions by early September.

“In no case did we plan to go online,” says Deauville artistic director Bruno Barde. “I always said the festival would have a physical component, or would not happen this year. Cinema exists in the relationship between the film and the viewer. To only do virtual screenings is thus to sever the link.

"Friends for eternity." Studiocanal in France has released the first official teaser trailer for a cute animated movie titled Little Vampire, the latest creation from acclaimed filmmaker Joann Sfar. This fun French animation, with the title Petit Vampire in French, is about a "little vampire" who lives in a haunted house with a merry group of monsters. He's been 10 years old for 300 years now, it's been a long time since anything amuses him. His dream? Go to school to make friends. But his parents don't hear it that way, the outside world is far too dangerous. Accompanied by Phantom, his faithful bulldog, Little Vampire escapes the mansion in secret, determined to meet more children. Featuring the voices of Camille Cottin, Alex Lutz, Jean-Paul Rouve, Louise Lacoste, Claire de La Rüe du Can, and Quentin Faure. The teaser is only available in French so far, but it's still worth a watch...

The 46th edition of the Deauville American Film Festival is set to open with Lee Isaac Chung’s critically acclaimed drama “Minari,” and will close with Douglas Attal’s fantasy-filled French movie “How I Became a Super Hero.”

“Minari,” one of the 15 films that will screen in competition at Deauville, was a standout at Sundance where it won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award. “Minari” tells the autobiographical tale of a Korean American family who moves to Arkansas to start a farm in the 1980s. Chung’s fifth film, “Minari” is inspired by the filmmaker’s own childhood and stars Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho and Scott Haze.

Deauville’s artistic director Bruno Barde described “Minari” as an exceptional film reminiscent of John Ford’s movies. Barde said the selection of the film in competition underscores Deauville’s “desire for a rigorous popular cinema.”

Meanwhile,...

One of the rare festivals to be hosting physical edition in the coronavirus era, the Deauville American Film Festival is set to world premiere 10 anticipated movies that are part of Cannes’s 2020 Official Selection.

The Deauville roster of Cannes pics was curated by the Normandy-set festival’s artistic director Bruno Barde out of the 56 films selected by Cannes’ director Thierry Fremaux.

These include many prestige French films, notably Maïwenn’s “Adn,” Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar’s “A Good Man,” Lucas Belvaux’s “Home Front,” Bruno Podalydès’ “French Tech,” Charlène Favier’s “Slalom,” alongside Farid Bentoumi’s “Rouge,” Ludovic & Zoran Boukherma’s “Teddy” and Farid Bentoumi’s “Red Soil.”

Other non-u.S. pics from Cannes set for Deauville include Francis Lee’s British film “Ammonite” and Yeon Sang-ho’s South Korean movie “Peninsula.” The only American movie of the pack, Jonathan Nossiter’s “Last Words,” will play in competition.

“A town, beaches, views?...

Disney Plus and Disney Channel have swooped for a pair of animated TV movies based on the popular “Miraculous” franchise, produced by L.A.-based banner Zag and Mediawan-owned “The Little Prince” producer On Kids & Family.

The two film projects, titled “Miraculous World: New York – United HeroeZ” and “Miraculous World: Shanghai – Lady Dragon,” have been acquired by the Mouse House’s streaming platform and channel for global premiere rights outside of Brazil and China.

Second window rights have been snapped up by France’s leading commercial network TF1, Brazil’s Gloob (Grupo Globo), Canada’s family channel Télé-Québec and the U.K.’s Pop for regional rights.

Created by Zag and produced by Zag and On Kids & Family, the 3D-cgi-animated TV movies will be directed by Thomas Astruc, the creative force whose “Miraculous” series is a global hit airing in more than 120 territories.

Winner of the 2018 Teen Choice Award for animated series,...

Veteran French animation producer Aton Soumache and renowned comicbook artist-turned-filmmaker Joann Sfar (“The Rabbi’s Cat”) are launching Magical Society in the run up to the online Annecy Animation Film Festival.

The Paris-based mini-studio is already boasting a slate of a dozen ambitious animation, hybrid and live action projects in various stages of development, with about 30 topnotch international creative talents attached, notably Leo Sanchez Barbosa, the character designer of “How to Train Your Dragon,” and Viktor Antonov.

Magical Society is a rebranded company stemming from Sfar’s production vehicle Nice Pictures, which was acquired last year by Soumache’s Mediawan-backed On Entertainment. Sfar’s latest animated feature “Little Vampire” is part of the official selection of Annecy’s online film festival.

The outfit’s roster of titles includes the series “Monsieur Crocodile,” “Monsters’ Shrink,” the 3D animated feature “La chanson du Renart” (“The Fox’s Song”), as well as a hybrid...

One delight every year at Annecy is its showcase of new films by established talent, on-the-rise directors and names near off the radar. France has all three in 2020:

“Bigfoot Family” (Ben Stassen, Jérémie Degruson, nWave Pictures, Octopolis)

Probably the biggest box office bet of any title in main competition at Annecy this year. Sold by Charades, directed by pioneering 3D cineaste Ben Stassen, an Annecy regular, and Jérémie Degruson, and fruit of their one-stop-shop studio in Belgium, a tiny tot skewing comedy marking a follow-up to 2018’s “Son of Bigfoot,” which grossed a significant $50 million worldwide.

“The Blossom Crown” (Raphaël Penasa, U.S., France)

One of the most talked-up of Digital Experience pitches at Mifa this year mixing genre and gender as the viewer is invited to share the memories of central character Nigel, in which he discovers that his sibling is a transgender girl, and explore his ancient family home.

France’s 2020 Annecy festival and accompanying Mifa market won’t be the first such events to go completely online this year, but certainly stand out as one of Europe’s largest to do so. The prestigious animation gathering, which normally draws toon heavyhitters from all over the world, will stream June 15-30.

While platforms and broadcasters fight over available content, with kids and family one of the tentpoles of subscriber retention, the market for animation has never been more demanding — both in quality and audience expectation.

One big challenge in making the transition to online is the inability to stream many of the key titles from Annecy’s Official and Contrechamp competitions in their entirety due to licensing rights and other contractual conditions.

However, several studios and key sales agents have confirmed to Variety that they are planning alternative means of promoting their upcoming content while still entertaining eager Annecy badge-holders.

The new animation opuses by Joann Sfar, Rémi Chayé, Mariusz Willczynski and the duo composed of Ben Stassen and Jérémie Degruson will headline the online event unspooling 15–30 June. Forced this year to reinvent itself online as a result of the ongoing health crisis (read our news), the Annecy International Animated Film Festival (running 15 - 30 June) - the biggest event of its kind - has unveiled a tantalising selection of 20 titles for its two feature film competitions, The Official and Contrechamp.Out of the 76 original candidates, artistic director Marcel Jean has chosen ten titles which will battle it out for The Official’s 2020 Cristal. Shining bright among them is Little Vampire by France’s Joann Sfar, who already triumphed in Annecy in 2011 with The Rabbi’s Cat. The filmmaker’s new opus was produced by Aton Soumache on behalf of The Magical Society (a company born out of Mediawan...

Annecy 2020, the world-class French animation festival, is going online this year due to the pandemic. The official selections for feature films and Vr works were revealed on Monday.

There are 20 features competing in the two categories (Official and Contrechamp) from France, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Chile, Mauritius, and Egypt. Standouts from the Official category include Takashi Yamazaki’s “Lupin the 3rd: The First,” the latest in the popular “gentleman thief” heist franchise, which GKids picked up for theatrical release this year; “Calamity: A Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary,” the biopic about Martha (Calamity) Jane’s empowering journey West in 1863, from French director Rémi Chayé (“The Long Way North”); and “The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks,” an experimental drama about Stalin’s reign of terror from Russian director Andrey Khrzhanovsky.

The Official competition also includes Seven Days War” (Japan), an anime about young adult social rebellion from Yuta Morano; “Bigfoot...

Films by Joann Sfar, Rémi Chayé, Takashi Yamazaki and Andrey Khrzhanovsky to compete for festival’s Crystal award.

The Annecy International Film Festival has unveiled the 20 works that will compete in its main feature-length competition and Contrechamp competition, aimed at works by emerging talents.

The French lakeside animation festival and industry event will run online June 15 to 30, following the cancellation of its 2020 physical edition due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

French filmmaker Joann Sfar’s comedy Little Vampire and Japanese animator Takashi Yamazaki’s adventure tale Lupin III: The First will be among the 10 feature animations competing for the Crystal award...

The Annecy International Animated Film Festival, which this year will be held online June 15-30 due to the coronavirus pandemic, on Monday announced the films selected for its Official and Contrechamp feature film competitions.

The selections include Little Vampire from Joann Sfar, whose The Rabbi's Cat won Annecy's Cristal for best feature film in 2011; Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary from Remi Chaye, who won the audience award in 2015 for Long Way North; and The Nose of the Conspiracy of Mavericks from Andrey Khrzhanovsky, whose The Grey Bearded Lion was honored at Annecy in 1995.

Earlier this year, the ...

The Annecy International Animated Film Festival, which this year will be held online June 15-30 due to the coronavirus pandemic, on Monday announced the films selected for its Official and Contrechamp feature film competitions.

The selections include Little Vampire from Joann Sfar, whose The Rabbi's Cat won Annecy's Cristal for best feature film in 2011; Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary from Remi Chaye, who won the audience award in 2015 for Long Way North; and The Nose of the Conspiracy of Mavericks from Andrey Khrzhanovsky, whose The Grey Bearded Lion was honored at Annecy in 1995.

Earlier this year, the ...

France’s 2020 Annecy Festival, the highest-profile animation gathering in the world, has unveiled its main Feature Film competition and major Contrechamp sidebar.

There are no U.S. titles in either section: America’s presence, both studios and global platforms, will most likely make itself felt when Annecy announces its work in progress and screening events sessions from later this week.

The difficulties of transferring online a lineup with even works from prominent European animation auteurs, plus such Japanese franchise installments such as “Lupin III; the First” was seen Monday when the Annecy Festival confirmed that not all of the films in official competition and Contrechamp may be screened online in their entirety.

“In the event that certain films cannot be offered to all festivalgoers, we have requested the producers provide a minimum 10-minute extract or produce a short documentary presentation,” the festival said in a statement Monday.

Made up in...

Exclusive: Studiocanal is coming to Efm with shark attack thriller Something In The Water, which is being produced with Noel Clarke (Bulletproof) and Jason Maza’s (Bulletproof) production company Unstoppable.

The UK project will follow five female friends who come together to celebrate a wedding in a beautiful, remote location. One day before the wedding, as a treat, they go on a boat trip which descends into the stuff of nightmares.

Gaby Dellal (3 Generations) is aboard to direct the film which is the first to come to market for Studiocanal UK CEO Nicola Shindler who will produce the project in-house for the Euro studio. Script comes from Scottish novelist Cat Clarke, based on her original idea.

BAFTA-winning producer Shindler, well known for a string of hit UK TV series including Happy Valley and Last Tango In Halifax, told us about the movie, “As well as being a brilliant thriller and a really good shark movie,...

Mediawan has come on board two English-language premium scripted series, Brian O’Malley’s steampunk spaghetti Western show “That Dirty Black Bag” and Gilles de Maistre’s “Big Five.”

Aimed at family audiences, “Big Five” will be set in South Africa, and will follow the adventures of Daniah de Villiers, the young actress in “Mia and the White Lion” who will play the lead role.

The half-hour series will be produced by Mai Juin Productions, a Mediawan subsidiary. “Mia and the White Lion” traveled to nearly forty territories and grossed approximately $37 million worldwide.

“That Dirty Black Bag” is being produced by Palomar, the Mediawan-owned Italian shingle behind “The Name of the Rose” and the thriving American banner Bron Studios, whose credits include “Joker.” The series is being developed in three seasons comprising eight-episodes each.

The international casting of “That Dirty Black Bag” is being finalised and production is due to start in May.

Mediawan has acquired a majority stake in Radar Films, the French production company behind “Belle and Sebastian,” one of France’s most successful family movie franchises.

Headed by Clement Miserez and Matthieu Warter, Radar Films has been producing French and English-language films, teaming up with France’s top studios, including Gaumont and Snd. Besides “Belle et Sebastien” which traveled to dozens of territories, Radar Films also produced “The Secret” with Jessica Biel, and “The Love Punch” with Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson.

With Mediawan as its new owner, Radar Films will aim at ramping up its English-language production input, said Miserez. The producer said the banner will also start making ambitious TV series for French and international audiences.

“The media industry is going through turbulent times, especially in France with the upcoming audiovisuel reform, so forging an alliance with Mediawan is a great opportunity for an independent production company like Radar Films,...

Joann Sfar, the French comic book artist and filmmaker, recently wrapped "Fashion Week", a graphic novel inspired by the headline-making robbery at Kim Kardashian West's Paris hotel room in 2016.

Sfar is also developing a French film loosely based on the incident, reports variety.com.

Also Read:?Kim Kardashian shares emotional letters from late father

Sfar is co-writing the script with Marion Festraets ("Chefs") and will be directing the film, which he said will be a comedy exploring the themes of feminism, masculinity and patriarchy in today's society.

Titled "Fashion Week", the film will address "violence against women, the relationship between the very rich people and the less rich, the world of fashion and the encounter between figures of new and old worlds," Sfar told Variety.

The plot of the movie will revolve around a group of older thieves who plan to rob a famous influencer during her trip to...

Joann Sfar, the French comic book artist and filmmaker, recently wrapped “Fashion Week,” a graphic novel inspired by the headline-making robbery of Kim Kardashian West in her Paris hotel room in 2016. Sfar is also developing a French film loosely based on the incident.

Sfar is co-writing the script with Marion Festraëts (“Chefs”) and will be directing the film, which he said will be a comedy exploring the themes of feminism, masculinity and patriarchy in today’s society. Titled “Fashion Week,” the film will address “violence against women, the relationship between the very rich people and the less rich, the world of fashion and the encounter between figures of new and old worlds,” Sfar told Variety.

The plot of the movie will revolve around a group of older thieves who plan to rob a famous influencer during her trip to Paris and find themselves embroiled in the whirlwind of Fashion Week in the French capital.

Aton Soumache’s On Entertainment (“Playmobil”) is allying with Joann Sfar, the revered French comicbook artist and filmmaker, on an ambitious live action mini-series inspired by French aviator and author Antoine de Saint Exupery’s 1943 philosophical and self-reflective parable “The Little Prince.”

The project, which is still at an early development stage, is being conceived as five mini-movies filled with fantasy and adventures which will mix live action and CGI in the veins of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Jungle Book,” Soumache told Variety.

On Entertainment, which is now part of Mediawan, bought a majority stake in Sfar’s company Nice Pictures, and will soon unveil its rebranding along with a slate of high-profile series and film projects.

Sfar said “The Little Prince” has played a meaningful role in his career. His 2008 adaptation of “The Little Prince” became a New York Times bestseller and allowed him to break through internationally.

After having been successfully adapted into a pair of live-action movies, “Le Petit Nicolas,” based on the popular series of French children’s books from the ’60s, will be back on the big screen in an hand-drawn animated feature directed by Gilles de Maistre (“Mia and the White Lion”) and Amandine Fredon.

“Le Petit Nicolas, une enfance rêvée” is being produced by French animation powerhouse On Entertainment (“The Little Prince”), in co-production with Foliascope (“The Tower”), Luxembourg outfit Bidibul Productions (“A Cat in Paris”) and Canada’s Kaibou. Charades, the banner behind the Oscar-nominated “Mirai,” is handling international sales and will introduce the project (currently in pre-production) to buyers at Cannes.

“Little Nicholas” marks the first 2D animated feature undertaken by Aton Soumache at On Entertainment, whose credits include the Cannes-premiering, BAFTA-nominated “The Little Prince” and the upcoming “Playmobil: The Movie.” Foliascope is the company launched by animation veteran Pascal Le Notre,...

Mediawan, the listed company launched in late 2015 by three media industry veterans, saw its annual revenues increase by 13% to 276.1 million euros ($331.10) at constant perimeter and doubled its profits to $32.5 million in 2018. The company also saw its Ebitda margin reach 19% to $55.3 million, a near 100% year-on increase.

An integrated media group specializing in production and distribution for both film and TV, Mediawan was launched by Xavier Niel, the founder of Lliad, the company that operates France’s third-biggest telco group, Free; Mathieu Pigasse, the CEO of Lazard Banque and the founder of Les Nouvelles Editions Independantes, which owns Le Monde, Les Inrocks and Nova Radio; and Pierre-Antoine Capton, the owner of Troisieme Oeil Productions, France’s No. 1 independent TV producer.

Within the last year, Mediawan scored a flurry of major acquisitions to feed its pipeline of premium fiction, animation and documentaries. After acquiring the documentary production company Clarke Costelle & Co. (“Apocalypse: The Second World War...

Mathieu Amalric's Barbara is showing exclusively from February 24 – March 25, 2019 on Mubi in the United States.Mathieu Amalric's Barbara is a deliberately mystifying work, a study of deceptive surfaces and identity hiding in performance and multiple personae. Amalric's early films as a director, from his documentary on the illustrator polymath Joann Sfar to his raucous 2010 road movie On Tour, were obsessed with artists and the compromises made in order to exist, but he's never made anything so beautifully stranded in the act of creation. Barbara moves from the real to the imagined, fiction to non-fiction, the intimate to the guarded and workshopped, to show the speed with which a performer has to move from a solitary practice space to center stage surrounded by an audience, and the thin boundary separating our public and personal lives. Barbara is like watching a magician reveal his secrets only to suddenly realize we were being mesmerized the whole time.

Charades, the French sales company behind Mamoru Hosoda’s Oscar-nominated “Mirai,” has acquired “Grab,” an animated feature directed by Jeremy Clapin and produced by Xilam, one of France’s leading animation companies.

“Grab” is co-written by Clapin (“Skhizein”) and Guillaume Laurant, the high-profile screenwriter of “Amélie” and “A Very Long Engagement.”

Xilam Production was created by Marc du Pontavice and is listed on the Paris stock market. Its credits include “Space Goofs,” “Oggy and the Cockroaches” and Joann Sfar’s “Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life.” Du Pontavice also produces live-action films through his banner One World Films, including “Close Enemies,” with Matthias Schoenaerts and Reda Kateb, which competed at the Venice Film Festival.

“Grab” will be delivered in the fall. Set in Paris, it follows Naoufel, a young man who is in love with Gabrielle. In another part of town, a severed hand escapes from a dissection lab, determined to find its body again.

I don’t read enough books aimed at kids to really know the shapes of subgenres these days, and so it’s dangerous for me to speculate. But I’m pretty sure the 5 Worlds series is not the only graphic novel series these days marching down the trail that Kazu Kibuishi’s Amulet series blazed.

I’m not saying that to point a finger: the opposite, in fact. I think there’s a whole bunch of books like this: fantasy adventure stories for middle-grades readers, told in graphic novel form, with groups of spunky kids and their quirky adult allies racing to save their entire, weirdly-constructed worlds from some manner of Dark Lord that particularly resonates with kids.

What I am saying is that I won’t be able to explain the places the 5 Worlds series breaks away from that subgenre, and what ways it’s faithful to it. I...

Dungeon Fortnight #2

Hyacinthe was still basically an innocent at the end of the two albums collected in The Night Shirt, but the back half of the Early Years sub-series, collected in the English-language book Innocence Lost , definitively turns him into the older, cynical Keeper that we see in Dungeon Zenith. He starts off still as the somewhat deluded and not-particularly-effective nocturnal vigilante The Night Shirt, but keeps learning the world has greater and greater depths of suffering and venality and nastiness than he ever expected.

Even what he thought would be his triumphant moment — saving his love, the assassin Alexandra, and falling into bed with her — is sordid and twisted. This is the point in the long Dungeon series when that Gallic fatalistic philosophy really starts to kick in: that the world is horrible and will never be right, and that random events toss us around, no matter what we want.

Sounding a bit like “Interview with the Vampire”, Canal Plus is teaming up with French comic book artist-turned-director Joann Sfar on “Monster’s Shrink”, an English-Language live-action series inspired by Sfar’s novel, “The Eternal”, Variety reports. “Monster’s Shrink” follows Rebecka Broke, a warm, funny and neurotic New York-based psychoanalyst who’s just learned her husband was found […]...