Boxwars wins international pitch

MIPJUNIOR: Australian prodco BES Animation has won the International Pitch here in Cannes with a gameshow that uses recycled cardboard as its inspiration.

Boxwars, which started out as a live event at music festivals in Australia involving battles between contestants, is a live-action series. It sees teams compete against each other to build objects out of cardboard, such as Roman chariots, which are then used in a mock battle.

Judy Whittle, BES’s co-director, told C21 the company had created one 22-minute full episode as a pilot and are planning on a season being 26×22’.

“We’re very excited because when we first saw the Boxwars guys in action we thought this would make a great TV show,” she said. “Making the pilot we thought it could be a fun show for all generations.”

Bruce Kane, BES’s other co-director, told delegates that the company was looking for coproduction partners, straight licensing deals, and that ABC in Australia was already interested in commissioning the show.

Kane told C21 he felt the format would work internationally because the idea was universal.

“You can make this on a lower budget in a territory where budgets are lower, and you can do the bells and whistles with a coproduction partner, in multiple countries,” he said.

Boxwars was one of five programmes shortlisted from hundreds of shows around the world. Other finalists included Stinky Dog, produced by Paris-based Dandelooo. The 52×13′ animation, which follows the adventures of a stray dog and his friend Flatty Cat, was recently the most attended pitch at Cartoon Forum in Toulouse.

Jackie Edwards, one of the judges and head of BBC children’s acquisitions and independent animation, told C21 there was “really strong competition” between the shows.

“They are in different stages of development, a lot of the time you’re judging apples and oranges, so we’ve got to take a view on what the potential is, how innovative it feels,” she said. “A lot of those shows ticked a lot of those boxes but at the end of the day we all felt Boxwars was the thing that stood out the most.”