Gallic animation house GO-N Productions was named Producer of the Year at the latest edition of Cartoon Forum, while fellow Paris-based house APC Kids claimed the top tribute in the Investor/Distributor category. Rounding out the tributes, Portuguese public broadcaster RTP was exalted and awarded Broadcaster of the Year, very much reflecting the wider industry trends that have seen public broadcasters take pride of place at the Toulouse-set animation co-production forum.
Founded by Eric Garnet and Anne de Galard in 2004, GO-N Productions has turned their in-house series “Simon Super Rabbit” into an international preschool animation powerhouse. Boasting more than 200 short episodes – with a fifth season currently in production and slated for delivery in 2025 – the “Simon” series has found more than 30 global broadcast partners while racking up several billion views on YouTube and Giphy. At this year’s Cartoon Forum, GO-N pitched “Annette, Apprentice Witch” (pictured above), a 2D computer animated comedy adapted from a still-ongoing French comic-book series.
The family entertainment division of wider co-production/distribution house APC Studios, this year’s Investor/Distributor honoree boasts a strong catalogue of both animation and live-action kids fare. APC Kids has found more than 150 international homes for the 2D preschool series “Kid-E-Cats,” landing deals with more than 30 free-to-air broadcasters and the major SVOD platforms, and has recently rolled out “Sheep’s Hotel,” a new 2D comedy from the same producers. The distributor has found success with titles like “Zoe & Milo,” “Kididoc,” and “DinoCity.”
For the past two decades, Portuguese public broadcaster RTP has turned a daily programing block named Zig Zag into appointment viewing for local family, preschool and children audiences. Offering consistent programing across RTP’s free-to-air channels, the animation block has also spun off as a standalone platform called Zig Zig Play. By showcasing homegrown fare, the broadcaster has helped to nourish and foster the domestic animation industry. Among the studios supported by RTP is Ocidental Filmes, which developed the preschool series “Mr. Passenger” for the Portuguese broadcasters and recently won the Producer of the Year tribute at this year’s edition Cartoon Movie back in March.
