10 UK Projects To Watch Out For At Cartoon Forum 2018
The 29th edition of Cartoon Forum, the pitching and co-production forum for animated TV projects, will take place in Toulouse from 10-13 September 2018, with 86 projects from across Europe being presented.
The UK will have the opportunity to showcase 10 projects. Let us know your favorites below!
390
TV series – 52 x 3’30 | Teenagers 12-15
Producer/Companies: Calon (UK) and Telegael (Ireland)
Are you a seven stone weakling who’s tired of trading his lunch for a punch? Have you always dreamed of owning an invisible fish? Have you longed for a smart phone that actually makes you smart? And is your life-long ambition to raise the dead? If so, then “390” is the show for you!
A Bear Named Wojtek
TV special – 30′ | Family
Producer/Companies: The Illuminated Film Company (UK) and Filmograf (Poland)
“A Bear Named Wojtek” tells the fantastic journey of an orphaned Syrian brown bear who was adopted by Polish soldiers during World War II, becoming a beacon of hope and an emblem of their fate. A half hour animated film, “A Bear Named Wojtek” is essentially a love story for one’s homeland: an important subject in times of refugees, nationalism and xenophobia. It relates the experience of the Polish people during World War II through the true story of Wojtek and his friend Peter Prendys, a driver in the 22nd Artillery Corps of the 2nd Polish Army. The journey takes Wojtek and Peter from the Persian mountains to Egypt, travelling through Italy and on to Scotland, ending at Edinburgh Zoo.
Big Lizard
TV series – 52 x 7′ | Pre-school 4-5
Producer/Companies: Beakus (UK)
Cosima and her Dad are astronauts. When they become marooned on a new but prehistoric planet, they meet an array of fun and intriguing animals, including the unique and talented Big Lizard. In this 3D CGI series with a Plasticene look, Cosima has a blast hanging out with her new-found friends. They are like one big family, with Big Lizard surprising her and Dad all the time. Inspired by the prehistoric Devonian period where the Coelacanth fish first walked on land, this funny and visually rich situation comedy for pre-schoolers shows us a completely new view on life, full of silliness and adventure!
Flix
TV series – 52 x 11′ | Children 6-11
Producer/Companies: Eye Present (UK) and Pictor Productions (Ireland)
The world can be baffling and exciting when you are 10 years old. It’s even weirder if you are the only dog in a town full of cats. Flix lives with his cat mum, dad and sister in a place that seems in every way like it wasn’t designed for him. But Flix is an outgoing dog who is willing to try anything, even if it means pretending he enjoys mice cream and watching laser pointers. Together with his two best cat friends and fellow misfits, Munchkin and Tabi, he’s ready to take on the world and see if there might just be something in his delusions of grandeur. The truth is he is just as much puss as pug and he takes it all in his stride. “Flix” is based on a book by Tomi Ungerer.
Invasion of the Moofaloo
TV series – 26 x 11′ | Children 6-11
Producer/Companies: Giggle Media (UK)
Invasion of the Moofaloo is about 3 heroic sheep and an invasion of alien cows!. Flossy is a former military mascot, Byron lived in the grounds of an art college, who all fuelled his boundless imagination. And Moe used to be a mad inventor’s pet/lawn mower. Only they know that an alien invasion is underway! Prince Moolang, 37th in line to the throne, turned the sheep into a super rocket-powered army to aid his invasion but he didn’t expect them to use their new rockets against him. Moolang has to invade Earth – it’s the only way he’ll ever get his father, the king of the Moofaloo to notice him. But Flossy, Moe, and Byron will do everything in their rocket power to stop him.
Milo
TV series – 52 x 7′ | Pre-school 4-5
Producer/Companies: Fourth Wall Creative (UK)
Milo the cat, Lofty the giraffe and Lark the bird are best friends. Milo lives with his parents at their dry cleaning store called Scrubby’s. Within the basement of Scrubby’s is a huge, friendly machine called Suds who houses all the clean clothes. In each episode, Milo, Lofty and Lark visit Suds who prepares vocational outfits for them to wear and the gang are transported to the world of that vocation. When the friends head out to play in their outfits, Crafty Mr Croc and his army of Busy Bees are always around causing mischief, and Milo and his friends use the methods of their newly discovered job role to outwit their nemesis. The series is based on role play within different vocations.
Mustard and Ketchup
TV series – 26 x 22′ | Family
Producer/Companies: Animation Garden (UK)
Mustard & Ketchup are gay badgers who entertain the world as popular light entertainers. With good, strong, positive thinking life never lets them down! As the first ‘out’ gay couple fronting a family animated TV Show, Mustard & Ketchup provide positive and age appropriate representation for the LGBT community. Their sexuality is incidental to their madcap adventures, and this is the most powerful statement their show can make in relation to visibility of gay characters in the media.
Odo
TV series – 26 x 7′ | Pre-school 4-5
Producer/Companies: Letko (Poland) and Sixteen South (UK)
“Odo” follows the adventures of a little owl who can’t sleep when he is supposed to. All the other owls, including Odo’s parents, are nocturnal and sleep during the day. But Odo is different. He’s the only daytime owl in the forest. To keep Odo busy while they sleep, his parents send him to the Forest Summer Camp where he mixes with young birds of all types and learns all about life in the woods. Odo, as the sole representative of owl-kind at this time of day, is determined to prove that owls are every bit as capable as all the other birds and that, even though he is little in size, he can make a big impact. “Odo” is a show about a little owl’s refusal to be what society expects him to be.
The Wild Truth
TV series – 39 x 7′ | Children 6-11
Producer/Companies: Anthem Studios (UK)
The Wild Truth is a show about wildlife with an imaginative twist. The characters, two quolls named Blu and Fleck, interact with real footage and a narrator, bringing a twist to the wild life genre. Why is that monkey stuffing it’s face? Is it stress? What are elk antlers great for? Hanging laundry of course! Due to their over-active imaginations, Blu and Fleck don’t always tell the truth, resulting in hilarious descriptions of events and animals. This also brings with it a subtle interactive element as Walter, the narrator, brings Blu and Fleck into line by highlighting ‘false facts’ and ensuring the truth comes out. The Wild Truth is great fun comedy driven viewing.
Wow Cow
TV series – 52 x 7′ | Children 6-8
Producer/Companies: ALT Animation (UK) and Avalon Television (UK)
Wow Cow is a cow who’s a chat show host. The ideal job for a cow wowed by everything! With her insatiable desire for knowledge, she interviews anyone and anything. A volcano, a washing machine, a snail or a skyscraper. The guest list is endless! To Wow Cow there is no such thing as a silly question, as when she doesn’t know something she is not afraid to ask! She’s amazed by the things her guests reveal about themselves and throws herself into all kinds of feats in pursuit of understanding and fun, helped by her best friend, Bea, plus the trio of oddballs who make up the show’s house band. An exciting mix of chat, facts and fun, Wow Cow will inspire kids to find the “wow” in anything.
About Cartoon Forum
30 minutes to convince the buyers
The pitching sessions are the core element of the Cartoon Forum; each project is presented in 30 minutes to all potential partners gathered in the same room.
A new category has been created: Short Pitch sessions, where several projects will be pitched in 10 minutes.
The screening of trailers in front of all participants during the traditional breakfast «Croissant & Coffee Shows» gives a taste of the project and encourages people to attend the pitching sessions.
The human touch: the soul of Cartoon Forum
Around the sessions, the Cartoon Forum creates golden opportunities to network: at the Welcome Dinner, the giant buffet lunches, or even on the dance floor during the Farewell Evening. Business without stress!
A highly efficient formula
Since 1990, over 734 projects pitched at the Cartoon Forum, with a total budget of 2.5 billion EUR, have secured their financing and are now in production or broadcasted worldwide.
On average, more than one project out of three presented at Cartoon Forum secures financing and enters into production.
Meet the buyers
Almost all European broadcasters and major media investment groups attend the Cartoon Forum each year to get a sneak preview of the latest animation projects for television and pick the future hits.
Which project can be pitched?
Producers can submit a TV project (series or TV special) in development, totaling at least 26 minutes:
- beyond the concept stage, sufficiently polished and developed
- and not yet with all the finance assembled
It can also be a transmedia project. Check here for the regulations or submit your project!
Who attends Cartoon Forum?
International animation professionals from the TV and new media industries
- Broadcasters, distributors, investors, new media platforms, game companies
- Producers, authors, directors, studios, press…