The European Broadcasting Union announced today that 11 of its public broadcaster members have collectively earmarked more than US$64,900 (EUR€60,000) to fund the development of My Life is a Manga (52 x 11 minutes) at France’s Blue Spirit Studios and Brain Comet.

France Télévisions is the lead broadcaster supporting this project, with help from VRT (Belgium), ARD/SWR (Germany), DR (Denmark), RTVE (Spain), YLE (Finland), BBC (UK), RTE (Ireland), NRK (Norway), RTP (Portugal) and SVT (Sweden).

Buoyed by the new funding, My Life is a Manga is on track to deliver in April 2026. “By working together, our members are not only securing the future of European animation; they’re also ensuring that young viewers across the continent have access to engaging, culturally diverse stories,” says Matthew Trustram, EBU’s head of television.

The EBU launched the co-development financing initiative supporting My Life is a Manga in 2023, as a collaboration with France Télévisions and CARTOON. It’s designed to help participating broadcasters pool their resources and support one or two Cartoon Forum projects each year. Ray & Ruby (Creative Conspiracy) and Pig & Andersen (Fleng Entertainment) were selected in 2023 to share a development fund of roughly US$140,000.

Featuring a quirky premise about a young girl turning her everyday experiences into manga stories that come to life, My Life is a Manga also made Kidscreen‘s curated list of high-potential pitches to watch out for at Cartoon Forum 2024, standing out in a crowd of 75 projects.