This past week, some of the top figures in the European animation world gathered in Marseille, France, for the 2023 Edition of the CartoonNext event, which featured keynotes, panels and case studies about the future of the medium. According to the organizers, the Euro event drew 221 participants from 23 countries and featured 40 speakers, 17 keynotes, panels and case studies and eight pitching sessions.
Among the wide range of topics covered during the three-day event were the impact of anime and gaming, use of silo-marketing to transform IP, developing successful strategies of cross-platform IPs and the growth of adult audiences wordlwide. Among the keynote speakers and panelists showcased at CartoonNext 2023 were:
- Mark Gustafson (co-director of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio)
- Alexander Bulkley (producer of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio)
- Aaron Davidson (Amazon/USA)
- Adam Woodgate (Dubit/UK),
- Cristian Jezdic (Cartoon Italia)
- Samuel Kaminka (AnimFrance)
- Kate O’Connor (Animation UK)
- Justė Michailinaitė (Lithuanian Animation Association)
- Julie Kane-Ritsch (The Gotham Group/USA)
- Julien Borde (Mediawan Kids & Family/FR)
- Jean-Philippe Randisi (bRAND-WARD/UK)
- Thierry Baujard (Spielfabrique/DE/FR)
- Teddy Kossoko (Masseka Game Studio/FR)
- Eliza Jäppinen (Visible Realm/FI)
- Laurent Nicolas (WeJustKids/FR)
- Bartosz Sztybor (CD PROJEKT RED/PL)
- Alexandre Cornu (Les Films du Tambour de Soie/FR)
The event also featured two case studies focusing on recent animation success series: Marc du Pontavice (Xilam) detailed the incredible journey, technical challenges and narrative dilemmas and triumphs of his movie I Lost My Body. Eva Lee Wallberg and Christian Boeving-Andersen (Titan’s Thunder) offered an insightful look at their project The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe) and how they made their cross-media IP come to animated life.
In addition, CartoonNext spotlighted eight promising new animated projects from different countries in Europe:
Babookums, produced by Make It Happen (Lithuania)
Eli, Bimzal and the Water of Life, produced by Premierstudio Plus (Bulgaria)
Jeppe’s Pixie World, produced by Dully&Dax (Germany)
Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds, produced by Sacrebleu Productions (France)
Spanish Chapbooks, produced by Pata Palo Films (Spain)
Surkotés, produced by Surkotés (Belgium)
The Ride, produced by Mira (France)
Wonder Legends, produced by Myths and Steam (Poland)
The next events produced by Cartoon Media are:
- Cartoon Forum (18-21 September 2023 in Toulouse – France)
- Cartoon Springboard (24-26 October 2023 in Madrid – Spain)
- Cartoon Business (14-16 November 2023, Gran Canaria – Spain)
For more info, visit cartoon-media.eu
