Folimage, Ink & Light, and Netflix Among the 2018 CARTOON Tributes Nominees

Cartoon Tributes are professional awards given by Cartoon Forum participants  for the most positive and influential broadcaster, investor/distributor and producer of the year. The aim of the Cartoon Tributes is to reward outstanding achievements, companies or personalities that have had a positive and dynamic influence on the TV animation industry over the past year.

A total of 14 companies and personalities are among the nominees for these awards, French companies coming up most with 4 nominations, followed by Finland, Italy, Ireland and the United Kingdom, 2 nominations each.

Names such as the arty Folimage (Producer of the year nominee) or the family-friendly Ink and Light Finnish/Irish company (Producer of the year nominee) pop up in the nominations, along with the mega-names of Gaumont Distribution (formed in 1895, of course) and the US intrusion of none other than Netflix, which has also started to showcase European animation.

The nominations in full:

Producer of the Year

• Akkord Film Produktion | Germany: Akkord Film Produktion (Germany) Akkord Film produces feature films and series for animated family entertainment. "Raven the Little Rascal" (2012), "The Big Race" (2015) and a 52x12’ TV series (2016) with 2 Minutes are based on adventures of Little Raven. More series are in development. Their latest project "Rabbit Academy" will be pitched at the Cartoon Forum this year.
• Ánima Kitchent Media | Spain: It is a company incorporated in Spain by Mexico’s Ánima Estudios, with offices in Madrid and Gran Canaria. Ánima combines creative skills and production abilities with a strategic vision, turning content into international brands. With more than 17 years of experience, Ánima’s catalogue includes shows such as "Cleo & Cuquin", "Piny" or "Jelly Jamm". This year, Ánima Kitchent Media will pitch its new project "Flo and the Intrepids" at the Cartoon Forum.
• Folimage | France: The French studio Folimage focuses on creating stop-motion TV series, shorts and feature films. They are currently producing a second season to both of their series: "Ariol" and "Don’t Die Dumb" (broadcasted by Arte in fall 2015). At the Cartoon Forum this year, its project "Looking for Santa"will be pitched, as well as two co-production's projects: "Maëlys Mysteries" and "We are the Artists".
• Ink and Light | Finland / Ireland: It produces original content to engage and entertain children and families everywhere. Their previous shows have been picked up by broadcasters including RTÉjr, YLE, Disney CMEA and SRC. Its TV series project "Happy Go Hopscotch" is in production and has been pitched at Cartoon Forum 2016. Its project "Harry and Bip - Summer Season" will be pitched at Cartoon Forum 2018.
• The Illuminated Film Company | United Kingdom: The Illuminated Film is an animation studio created 25 years ago. Producer Iain Harvey formed the company in 1993 & since has a vast catalogue of programmes including: "The Very Hungry Caterpillar & Other Stories", animated special "War Game", & children’s favourite "Little Princess". This year, they will pitch at Cartoon Forum their latest project "A Bear named Wojtek".

Broadcaster of the Year

• Deakids | Italy: De Agostini launched in 2008 DeaKids, its main kids pay TV channel and in 2012 DeaJunior, its brand-new pay TV on Italian Sky platform channel focused on pre-school TV shows. It uses original formats to bring kids closer to the worlds of science, music, animals and knowledge. ("I, Elvis Riboldi", "Jamie’s got Tentacles" and "Little People, among others…)
• Finnish broadcasting company (YLE) | Finland: Finnish-speaking YLE TV2 airs over 1,000 hours of programming for the 2-12-year olds. Pikku Kakkonenmagazine show is one of the biggest brands at YLE. Its main focus is the 3-6-year olds. For the 7-12-year olds, YLE has an interactive brand named Galaxi. BUU-klubben is aired by the Swedish-speaking channel YLE Fem. TVseries found at Cartoon Forum: "Animanimals", "The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales", "Brewster the Rooster", "Snowsnaps", "Pikkuli" and "Puffin Rock", among others…
• Hopster | United Kingdom: Hopster helps kids to learn through the shows they love, striking the perfect balance between learning and fun. Hopster subscribers get access to all the best kids shows made even better with academically-vetted learning games, available in over 100 countries on App Store and Apple TV. ("Animanimals", "The Treehouse Stories", "Cloudbabies", among others…)
• Netflix | USA: Netflix (USA) is the world’s leading internet entertainment service with 125 million memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Netflix is more and more investing in animation, including European animation. ("Gigantosaurus", "Lily's Driftwood Bay", "Mr. Magoo", "Pablo", "Paprika", "Puffin Rock", "Boj", among others…)
• TF1 Unité Jeunesse | France: It broadcasts about 750 hours of programs every year. Content ranges from animated series, short programs and magazines to games and special events. The TF1 group has developed a large range of complementary businesses for the child audience as TFOUMax (SVoD platform reaching 700 000 subscribers), MYTF1 (the catchup and AVoD platform), licensing, games, music, partwork, musical shows activities… at TF1 Entertainment. They already broadcasted: "Mirette Investigates", "The Day Henry Met...", "Zorro, the Chronicless", "Banki & Forst: la banquise en petard" and "Ariol".

Investor/Distributor of the Year

• 9 Story Distribution International | Ireland : a content creator and distributor of kids & family focused intellectual property. Recognized around the world for best-in-class brands such as "Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood", "Wild Kratts", "Numb Chucks" and "Peg + Cat", 9 Story represents over 2,500 half hours of animated and live-action programming.
• Connectoon | Italy: ConnecToon was founded in June 2009. It originates from the union of the best operators in the field, who boast decades of experience. It is an international distribution and producing company specialising in sales, pre-sales and co-production of animated series and feature films. Its experience ranges from television distribution to licensing deals. ("Galactik Kid", Balloopo", …)
• Gaumont Distribution TV | France: Formed in 1895, Gaumont is the first and oldest film company in the world, with offices in Paris and Los Angeles. Its film library encompasses over 1100 titles and recently includes "The Intouchables", the highest-grossing French language film ever. Its animated catalog comprises over 800 half-hours, broadcast in 130+ countries. Current productions include "Noddy", "Trulli" Tales, "Belle & Sebastian" and "Furry Wheels".
• Miam ! Animation | France:  Founded in 2016, MIAM ! Animation is a production and a distribution company. MIAM ! has a distribution catalogue with exclusive worldwide media distribution rights of 9 series, all produced by talented French producers. ("Mr. Carton", "No-No", "Petit Malabar", among others…)

All professionals attending the Cartoon Forum will vote on site for their favourite nominee in the 3 categories. Winners will be announced on Thursday 13 September during lunch.

CARTOON Forum was created in 1990 to boost the co-production and distribution of European animation for television and new media platforms, Cartoon Forum has helped 753 animation series obtain financing to the tune of over 2.5 billion Euros. The main partners of Cartoon Forum Toulouse are Creative Europe - MEDIA, CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée), Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée Region, Mairie de Toulouse, Toulouse Métropole, Casino Barrière and France Télévisions. CARTOON is organising Cartoon Forum, along with Cartoon Movie, a co-production forum for feature-length animation; the Cartoon Master training seminars; and Cartoon Connection, a programme intended to explore ways of reinforcing cooperation between EU and non-EU animation professionals.