On Friday, June 17, Annecy Festival 2022 organized a series of panel discussions tackling animation’s new growth influences. With the animation industry experiencing an exceptional impetus, accelerated by the platforms incessant hunger for content, professionals discussed how studios structure themselves and create new alliances to sustainably support this growth and better respond to future challenges.

With Karine Riahli, Lawyer at Spring Legal and Jessie Hughes, Head of Strategy, Operations, and Business Development at Amazon Studios, Sandrine Nguyen, SVP, Episodic and IP at Mikros Animation, participated to a round table about the strategic role of intellectual properties in animation that was moderated by Yann Marchet.

Feature animations and animated series are based on intellectual properties. Whether created or acquired from other markets (books, comics, video games, etc.), they are becoming a major strategic issue for developing new projects and attracting already existing communities. The panelists discussed the pros and cons of each model, underlying the importance of partnerships in the production process but also in the development strategy. As such, Sandrine Nguyen shared insights on concrete examples such as The Coop Troop, which premiered at the festival and Gus, The Itsy Bitsy Knight, which has expanded beyond animation through a toy line from Mattel.

Sandrine stressed that creation, creativity and authentic storytelling are at the center of any successful IP project. She emphasized the necessity for producers to stay true to the IP’s DNA and to work closely with creators and IP owners to ensure that the existing fan base support and adopt the new developments.

See below the original IP projects from Mikros Animation that were presented during the conference.

For more information about IP at Mikros Animation, visit our dedicated section here.