Brazilian toon Bia and the Beats strikes the right chord at MipJunior pitch competition

Nico Franks 21-10-2024 ©C21Media

Birdo’s Bia and the Beats won the MipJunior pitch competition

MIPJUNIOR: Bia and the Beats, a musical preschool show from São Paulo-based studio Birdo has won the MipJunior pitch competition here in Cannes.

Pitched by Birdo co-founder Paulo Muppet, the 26×7′ animated series uses music to help children understand their emotions and follows an excited, intense and musical five-year-old girl.

When she puts her headphones on, her musical energy becomes so powerful that it explodes into funny little creatures that embody different feelings.

The panel said the project “broke gender stereotypes” with “global appeal” through the music featured, while it also had commercial potential and “well represented” diversity.

This year, the competition focused on preschool projects for children aged three- to-six and was open to any creator or producer eager to collaborate with coproduction partners.

The panel of judges who selected the project consisted of Kate Morton, senior head of children’s commissioning 0-6 at the BBC; Rick Clodfelter, exec director of content acquisitions and partnerships at Disney Branded Television in the US; Maud Branly, children’s acquisitions director at M6/Gulli in France; Luiz Filipe Figueira, head of licensed content atnGlobo Group in Brazil; and Amanda Gummer, founder and CEO at FUNdamentally Children in the UK.

The pitch competition was moderated by Sallyann Keizer, MD at Sixth Sense Media in the UK.

Last year, The Adventures of Team Pom, an animated comedy series from Canada’s Wind Sun Sky Entertainment about kids with a shared passion for synchronised swimming, won the MipJunior pitch competition.

Also pitched during the session were Monsieur Roscoe from Beakus in the UK; Dogs Need Jobs from Dominion of Drama in the UK; Pumpkin Finds Her Queen from Paper Jet in South Africa; and Littlest Robot from Toon2Tango in Germany.