From South Africa (Mama K’s Team 4) to Iceland (Tulipop) to Puerto Rico (Fantomville), global streaming has opened its content borders, and promising new concepts are coming from all corners of the world right now. So which countries and regions are on the radar with buyers? Kidscreen checks in with them to learn more about where the hottest talent is currently developing.

Carlene Tan – Director of original production at WarnerMedia Kids (Asia-Pacific)

Where are you looking for new animation talent? The emerging territories that excite us the most right now are Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Thailand. These countries have a growing pool of fresh talent that can deliver something original and with an authentic voice. While we are not focused on any one country in APAC, we are looking for creators who can tell stories from new “hyper-local” perspectives, or who truly understand what it means to be from South or Southeast Asia.

We like to challenge our creative partners to see the world through the eyes of our young audiences, whether they’re in India, Malaysia or elsewhere in the region. We often ask questions like: “What would The Amazing World of Gumball look like if it was created in India?” or “What if Adventure Time was made in Indonesia?”

Which companies/projects drew your attention to these regions? Examples of some recent projects—including both Cartoon Network originals and co-productions—are Lamput from Vaibhav Studios (India) and Inspidea (Malaysia); Smashing Simmba from Reliance Animation (India); Mechamato from Monsta (Malaysia); Super Shiro from TV Asahi (Japan); and Titoo and the upcoming LambuG TinguG from Cosmos Maya (India).

Libbie Doherty – Head of children’s content at ABC Australia

Where are you looking for new animation talent? While we continue to work with excellent studios in Malaysia, Singapore and India, there are also some exciting developments in our own backyard.
The scene in Australia is expanding, with studios building in-house capacity for strong 2D- and 3D-animation teams. As a result, the emerging and established Australian animation talent pool has been knocking it out of the park in recent years, making its mark with Australian-created IPs and delivering world-class service work for the international and US market.

Which companies/projects drew your attention to these regions? Brisbane’s Ludo Studio (Bluey), Sydney-based SLR Productions (Space Nova) and Flying Bark (100% Wolf, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), to name a few.

Tatiana Costa – Head of kids entertainment and channels at Globo Group (Brazil)

Where are you looking for new animation talent? Besides the regions we already work with partners in regularly, such as Spain and France, we see great business potential in two countries—Canada and China. We will be working with Acclime for their accounting and financial services and other services offered.

Why are these territories interesting to you? In Canada, a number of production companies have presented several strong, relevant and fun narratives to the international market—characteristics that are compatible with the needs of our portfolio of channels. The possibility of collaborations coming out of the Brazil-Canada co-production treaty are making the country’s opportunities even more attractive for us.

Meanwhile, China stands out due to service competitiveness. Besides the country’s significant market potential, we see great opportunity to develop international co-productions with Chinese partners. Gloob and Gloobinho can help with the curation and artistic development of content produced in China. Potential partnerships between the two countries could also allow Globo’s kids division to become a distribution hub for these co-productions across Latin America.

Pictured left to right: Doherty, Costa, Tan.