Campaign Profile

Anne Chérel, chief commercial officer at STUDIOCANAL, a CANAL+ company, and Chloé Marquet, head of international sales films and TV, discuss the studio’s expanded English-language slate, new children’s properties including the 70th anniversary MIFFY & FRIENDS, and the company’s plans for Mipcom next week.

What new titles will you be highlighting to buyers in Cannes?

Anne Chérel: STUDIOCANAL is delighted to be present at Mipcom again this year, with several new and very diverse projects. We have two great titles in kids’ content. First, we are especially proud of our new TV series MIFFY & FRIENDS. Based on the world-renowned children’s classic, this new CGI animated series offers a fresh and contemporary vision of the much-loved bunny Miffy, the iconic star of Dick Bruna’s legendary book series, celebrating her 70th anniversary in 2025.

Friendly, spontaneous and enthusiastic, Miffy is now a big sister, and has plenty of fun friends to play with in an exciting, diverse and contemporary world. As Miffy keeps growing, there are always things to learn, small problems to overcome, and plenty of opportunities for creative fun. The series is bound to excite and engage today’s preschool children and all the people who love Miffy the “sweet, lively little bunny” around the world!

International sales are handled by STUDIOCANAL and Superights for the world, excluding the Netherlands and Japan, which are handled by Mercis.

Also based on the hit comic book series La Rose Ecarlate by Patricia Lyfoung (Editions Delcourt), THE SCARLET ROSE is a compelling adventure animation series, set in 18th century France. After witnessing her father’s murder by a mysterious stranger over a precious notebook, Maud leaves her village for Paris, seeking justice.

Taken in by her stern, aristocratic grandfather, she is thrust into the intricate world of the court of Versailles. But the fearless and driven Maud is more drawn to the daring exploits of the Fox, a masked outlaw who steals from the rich to help the poor. Inspired by his example, Maud becomes THE SCARLET ROSE, a vigilante on a mission to track down both the Fox and her father’s murderer. Her journey spans from Paris to Venice, and finally to Constantinople, home to the secret that her father had sought to protect at all costs.

The series chronicles the journey of this bold and fiery teenage girl on a thrilling quest filled with secrets, intrepid escapes, and adventures across Europe and beyond.

Mipcom is also a very timely moment to introduce our scripted originals: the crime thriller SINGAPURA is one of our new CANAL+ Original Creations. When Justine and her family move into a luxurious condo in Singapore, she is thrust into the elite but deceptive world of French expatriates. In this suffocating environment, she finds an ally in the free-spirited Elisa, but their friendship is cut short when Elisa’s body is discovered in a nearby swamp – a shocking event in the safe and orderly streets of Singapore.

Detective Adam Wong must find the culprit to avoid a diplomatic incident that risks tarnishing the city’s image. Justine, seeking justice for her friend, will become a valuable insider, helping Adam navigate the condominium’s darkest secrets. Together, they embark on a dangerous investigation that threatens to shatter the perfect facade of this closed community.

Written by Emma Marleau, the acclaimed screenwriter behind some of France’s most successful TV procedural dramas (Captain Marleau, The Coroner, Candice Renoir), SINGAPURA is an unsettling psychological thriller set within the elite French expat community in Singapore. This limited prestige series explores themes of desire, privilege, and corruption, all unravelled through a gripping murder investigation.

What are your other priorities for the upcoming Mipcom market?

Chloé Marquet: We are also taking advantage of the current momentum towards some of our priority titles. First of them, THE SENTINELS has just been released on CANAL+ simultaneously across 30 countries, to critical acclaim.

This new action drama is set during the First World War… but with a twist. 1915, somewhere on the battlefield. French Private Gabriel narrowly escapes death. But whilst his family is told that he died, he has in fact been selected to take part in a top-secret research programme designed to create a new kind of fighter. Inoculated with a mysterious serum, he is not only completely healed, but stronger and faster than a normal human being. But survival comes at a price: to see his family again, he must join the Sentinels, a secret group of elite soldiers charged with the perilous mission of ending the war.

With its ambitious production value, this action-packed series, inspired by a powerful comic, offers a fresh and strong take on the war genre. A great project that is both unique and perfectly fit to delight audiences around the world.

Set to be released very soon in its first commissioner’s territory Belgium, English-language series THIS IS NOT A MURDER MYSTERY is a unique and visually stunning whodunit.

Young René Magritte’s life is about to change when he’s invited to participate in a private art exhibition at an opulent English estate, owned by the flamboyant Lord James. It’s 1936 and the art world is abuzz with the rise of surrealism. Fellow guests include Salvador Dali, Lee Miller, Man Ray, and Max Ernst – all artists on the brink of global fame.

But after a wild night, Magritte wakes up beside the dead body of a young woman, with no memory of the previous evening. As more bodies fall and Scotland Yard arrives to lock down the estate, Magritte must uncover the truth to clear his name. Is everything what it seems, or nothing at all?

With a bold and unique tone, and providing genuine entertainment, the series, premiering at the upcoming Ghent Film Festival, has great commercial potential, with whodunits having recently proved once again to be a very successful genre.

Fresh from its world premiere at Venice Film Festival with a warm response comes A PROPHET, the Series. This eight-part series is a visceral, raw and high-stakes portrayal of life in a brutal French prison where Malik, a young African immigrant, must try to survive after being incarcerated for drug smuggling. Alone and vulnerable, he meets Massoud, a powerful and shady businessman who offers him protection in exchange for Malik’s obedience. But Malik soon realises that he is just a pawn in Massoud’s game, and that the only way to survive will be to take power for himself.

Based on the iconic Bafta, Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix, nine César-winning and Academy Award-nominated Jacques Audiard film (released in the UK by STUDIOCANAL), this reimagined gritty crime drama is a compelling tale of survival and social hierarchies, reflecting on how modern societies treat their most vulnerable.

How does your slate reflect any changes in content strategy at STUDIOCANAL?

Anne Chérel: Our Mipcom 2025 slate is only beginning to reflect our current momentum, with a lot of exciting and ambitious projects coming really soon. With a growing global appetite for daring, premium English-language TV series, we are accelerating: under the leadership of M-K Kennedy, MD of STUDIOCANAL Worldwide Television, and with the recent appointment of Paul Gilbert as SVP English-language series, we are developing and producing an expanded and bold slate of premium series hailing from the UK and US, which STUDIOCANAL will produce via our recently launched in-house producing arm. Additionally, we’re providing extended support for all the producers under the STUDIOCANAL umbrella whose editorial profiles lean in this direction.

With all this, our goal is to be the home of audacious ideas, empowering the best writers, directors and producers to deliver the kind of series that audiences everywhere want to watch and talk about.

We’re currently in development on Ronan Bennett’s ARMY OF SHADOWS (for Channel 4 and CANAL+), a show we’ll produce ourselves. And with our producers at Urban Myth Films, we recently wrapped photography on APOLLO HAS FALLEN, the second instalment of the global hit Has Fallen franchise commissioned by CANAL+, and started rolling cameras on HIT POINT (UKTV), currently shooting on location across London.

As recently announced, we’re also excited to be developing a series based on the MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE books, which we’ll coproduce with our partners at Strong Film & Television. With this series, we’re expanding our play in premium series beyond the more male-skewing action space we’ve explored these last few years and stepping enthusiastically into the space for younger audiences and family viewing, with a series that will feature two brave, brilliant and wickedly funny young teen girl detectives solving murders at their otherwise very proper boarding school. Think Enola Holmes action-adventure meets Agatha Christie whodunit. We’re so excited for this one!

And soon, we’ll be looking for a network or broadcaster home for SWEPT AWAY, our forthcoming adaptation of Beth O’Leary’s bestselling novel. That will mark our inaugural venture into the world of romcoms.

2026 is shaping up to be very exciting and a year of real growth and expansion for us!

You also have recently broadened the scope of your teams. What can you tell us about that?

Chloé Marquet: Along with Paul Gilbert’s appointment, we have recently reorganised our Worldwide Television division to provide greater clarity for partners and producers across our European and worldwide territory footprint and our growing slate of international series.

Alix Lebrat, whilst retaining her position as chief operating officer, is now SVP of series for France and Southern Europe, overseeing French and Spanish-language slates, as well as all series opportunities arising in Italy and Greece. Nicolas Loock has been appointed SVP of series for Northern Europe. He retains responsibility for all German series, adding Poland, Scandinavia and the Benelux to his remit, and serving as the primary contact for producers under the STUDIOCANAL umbrella based in the region. He will also continue to oversee the group’s developments in Asia.

How will CANAL+ Group’s takeover of MultiChoice change things for STUDIOCANAL?

Anne Chérel: By integrating MultiChoice, the pay TV leader in English-speaking and Portuguese-speaking Africa, CANAL+ finalises the largest acquisition in its history and creates a unique combined company. This true global media and entertainment powerhouse serves more than 40 million subscribers across close to 70 countries, and increases the group’s ability to invest in creative and sporting content throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. As CANAL+’s in-house studio and first European studio, STUDIOCANAL will be key in this new combined company.

The compelling series SPINNERS, a coproduction between MultiChoice’s African streaming service Showmax and CANAL+, produced by Federation MEAC and Natives At Large, was already a perfect example of our collaboration. We’re very happy to confirm Season 2 has just wrapped, and is coming soon in 2026 on both CANAL+ and MultiChoice’s platforms Showmax and DStv.

How is your international coproduction strategy changing?

Chloé Marquet: The importance of production value as a differentiator is as important as ever. We have to deliver on noteworthy casting, high-concept storytelling and aspirational settings in order to compel audiences to tune in and come back. So, more than ever, partnerships play a key role to achieve the goals we’re setting. And for us, the key is always to work with everyone – streamers and traditional distribution partners alike.

With ambitions to both entertain audiences and provide them with stories that resonate with our time, we’ll continue boosting our international coproductions: we are more than ever driven by our ambition to offer the most appealing content, and our in-house English-language ambitious slate is a great example of that commitment.

How is the global economic downturn affecting the market for content?

Anne Chérel: There is always an audience for great content, and we’re privileged to have access to incredible creative talent. Our answer is an ambitious slate of strong IPs – APOLLO HAS FALLEN, MIFFY, MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE, to name just a few – including literary adaptations, like SWEPT AWAY and PLAYING NICE, among others, and bold new IP meant to return, like THE SENTINELS and SPINNERS.

What other trends in the global content business are you seeing?

Chloé Marquet: There’s a growing appetite for local content adaptations – something we’re excited to tap into, thanks to our very rich library with strong remake potential and a range of entertainment formats (WEREWOLVE, HIT THE MIC!) we’re looking to expand.