Annecy 2026 : Breaking Records and Redrawing Corporate Strategy from Annecy to Tokyo
This is your French update, live from Annecy 🛶
Thursday June 25th 2026
TOGETHER WITH :
LE BIG STORY 📥
Is European Animation the King of the Screen, or a Masterpiece in Search of Money?
The legacy economic playbook that historically funded European animation has flipped. For decades, independent studios relied on a rigid, top-down system of broadcaster pre-financing—securing network…
A CAFÉ WITH ☕️
High Advertising Standards Merge with Social Media Codes as Follow Group Eyes €35 Million
The frontier separating corporate advertising from organic social media feeds has effectively dissolved. In an ultra-competitive branding landscape, Follow Group has cemented its position as a primar…
FROM THE FRENCH MARKET 🤝
Adult Animation Dominates Streaming Strategies Amid Shifting Demographics and Global Financial Crises
The historical marketing playbook that neatly confined animation to children’s daytime slots has been permanently dismantled. According to a landmark industry study published by the regulatory body A…
SPONSORED BY MANGA PRODUCTIONS
At Annecy 2026, Manga Productions is unveiling Henna, a new animated short film in collaboration with BiliBili.
Set in rural Saudi Arabia in the 1950s, the film follows a young deaf girl who discovers her voice through the ancient art of henna. Created entirely by Saudi artists and creatives, Henna combines a distinctive visual identity inspired by regional traditions with a universal story about self-expression, creativity, and belonging.
The project reflects Manga Productions’ ongoing commitment to developing Saudi talent and bringing authentic local stories to international audiences. Previous works include The Journey, winner of the Septimius Award for Best Experimental Film, which helped establish Saudi Arabia as an emerging force in global animation.
Meet the team at Annecy to learn more about Henna and Manga Productions’ growing slate of animation projects and international partnerships.
LE PETIT UPDATE 🗞️
Miyu Productions has officially propelled director Lia Bertels and Grammy-winning jazz maestro Cécile McLorin Salvant’s adult animated musical feature Ogresse into active pre-production, deploying an intricate 2D and stop-motion pipeline divided across studios in Brussels, Angoulême, and Bourg-lès-Valence.
Belgian public broadcaster RTBF is successfully leveraging its Auvio streaming platform to expand the domestic footprint of its critically acclaimed, festival-winning auteur documentaries while simultaneously launching advanced AI-driven pilot experiments to reconstruct lost historical archives.
MoDem MP Erwan Balanant fired back at the right-wing Alloncle public media bill by unveiling a 26-point counter-report demanding multi-year funding guarantees for public broadcasters, punitive Arcom powers to halt billionaire media interference, and the creation of a sovereign European public social network.
Independent distributor Jour2Fête is positioning the Folivari-produced aquacentric social drama Miss Mermaid as its marquee summer release, deploying a heavy urban display campaign and leveraging indie star Aloïse Sauvage’s million-strong digital following to target a 100,000-admissions long-tail box office run.
French animation powerhouse TeamTO has partnered with The Tetris Company to develop Tetris World Builders, a 52-episode 3D CGI animated adventure series executive produced by Sonic the Hedgehog veteran Chuck Williams that translates the iconic puzzle game into a character-driven STEAM educational property.
The European Audiovisual Observatory exposed a stark theatrical paradox showing that while animated features account for a mere 11% of global releases, they capture a massive 26% of box office admissions, fueled by a newly realigned hierarchy where China commands 40% of global ticket sales.
TF1 Chief Executive Rodolphe Belmer confirmed the network’s long-term strategic interest in acquiring historical commercial rival M6, though any potential consolidation remains legally frozen until May 2028 due to strict antitrust regulations governing DTT frequency renewals.