Mediatoon, La Cachette, Charades, Folivari, Dandelooo execs on French animation

Today, as Cartoon Forum gets underway in Toulouse, we hear from a group of French execs about the state of the nation’s animation sector, which a recent report reveals is struggling due to an especially sharp downturn in sales to the US.

Tune in to C21FM by CLICKING HERE.

Last month, French audiovisual advocacy group Unifrance and its government agency parent CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée) released their annual report into the state of the nation’s film and TV exports.

The survey revealed a steep decline in sales of French animated programmes in 2023, with receipts falling by 11.2% to €51.2m (US$56.7m) year-on-year and, amidst this, a dramatic drop in particular in US trade, which slumped 69.7% to just €4.3m.

France’s animation sector is world-renowned, having spawned the likes of hit TV series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Adventures of Tintin and Totally Spies! and films including the animated Asterix movies. But the global content industry is currently going through its toughest period in a long time, and French animation is not immune.

Ahead of Cartoon Forum getting underway today in Toulouse, a group of French execs joined a roundtable a day after the Unifrance/CNC findings to discuss the report and broader issues across the French animation sector.

Julien Chheng, co-founder of Studio La Cachette; Yohann Comte, CEO of Charades; Emmanuele Petry, partner at Dandelooo; Thibaut Ruby, partner at Folivari; and Morgann Favennec, deputy MD of Mediatoon Distribution, spoke with Karolina Kaminska.

C21FM is live 24/7, with a block of interviews starting at 10am BST every day HERE.