Fortiche Production, the multi award-winning animation studio behind the groundbreaking series Arcane, has announced its first major appearance at Annecy Festival this year. Attendees can expect to dive into the production of the hit League of Legends-inspired Netflix series and hear about what’s coming next from the studio — which will also be celebrating its 15th anniversary at the fête.
On Tuesday, June 11, during the company’s first-ever Studio Focus session at Annecy (Imperial Palace Room La Volière, 4-5:15 p.m. / 16h-17h15), Fortiche will discuss the evolution of the studio over the past 15 years and unveil news about its upcoming and future content ambitions, including a first look at one of its key projects in development. In addition to more exciting collaboration opportunities with its major partner Riot Games, as well as forging new creative and production partnerships, the studio is setting its sights on producing its own IP — all utilizing its signature graphic style that has a proven appeal among animation fans across the globe.
“Our ambition is to break down the wall between animation and live action, so that an animated film could be considered a film in the same way as a live action one,” said Jérôme Combe, Creative Director and Co-Founder. “We want to make cinematographic content with a high production value, aimed at adult and young adult audiences. We have a big project in development, which we feel can match this ambition and we can’t wait to share it with the industry and global animation fans during the festival.”
Then, on Wednesday, June 12, as part of Annecy Festival’s official program, Fortiche will take to the stage at Bonlieu (noon-1:30 p.m. / 12h-13h30), alongside its production partners and owner of the League of Legends IP, Riot Games, to present an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Arcane — the critically-acclaimed adult animated series which caused a sensation with viewers and was rewarded with multiple Annie and Emmy Awards following its 2021 premiere.
As previously announced, this session will feature showrunner Christian Linke (Riot), scriptwriter Amanda Overton (Riot), senior concept artist Arnaud Baudry (Riot), director Bart Maunoury (Fortiche) and producer Christine Ponzevera (Fortiche).
“Our route to making this amazing series started with a collection of YouTube clips that we created for Riot Games, which saw unprecedented success,” noted Hervé Dupont, the studio’s Deputy CEO and Executive Producer of the series. “Arcane was a very exciting new challenge to follow on from that success and the unique graphic style of the series has really helped set it apart. We’re looking forward to joining the Riot team in Annecy to share more of this story, of which we’re so proud to be a part.”
Fortiche’s Arcane directors will also be taking part in a not-to-be-missed festival meet and greet on Monday, June 10 (Théâtre Bonlieu, Petite Salle, 3 p.m. / 15h).
Season 2 of Arcane is currently in production and is due to premiere on Netflix in November.
