Animation Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum

The Animation Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum at MIA I Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo 2025 has seen an increased number of represented countries, as well as an ever-wider variety of themes and creativity in the projects. The applications received were evaluated by the selection committee composed by Mounia Aram, Founder & CEO of MA Company (France/ Morocco); Yago Fandiño Lousa, Head of Children’s Content – RTVE-Clan (Spain); Roberto Genovesi, Director of Rai Kids (Italy); Alexis Hofmann, Founder & CEO, Asphalt Jungle Productions (France); David Levine, Founder & CEO of Lightboat Media Ltd (UK); Cecilia Padula, VP Head Kids & Family brands South Europe, Middle East & Africa, Paramount (Italy); Patricia Vasapollo, Responsible Family & Fiction, HR/ARD (Germany).

The selection of 2025 participants composes of 7 Feature Films and 9 TV Series, and presents unreleased projects that debut on the market at MIA alongside projects that are not new to the market presentation but have demonstrated solid progression in the development process, ready to be brought in front of a new audience of institutions and possible financial partners to approach the production phase. Within the production structure of all 16 selected projects, a very strong and heterogeneous female presence can be noted as well as recurring, powerful, and contemporary topics, shaping the future of animation on worldwide screens.

Three Italian projects were selected among all submissions received in 2025, one feature film and two animated series: THE TREASURE OF THE WYRM (IL TESORO DEL BIGATTO) directed by Francesco Vecchi, produced by Small Boss, is a co-production between Italy, Czech Republic and France taking us through the misty landscapes of the Po Valley, through the imaginative and reckless journey of the old hermit Anselmo and the search for a legendary giant pumpkin; PROFUMINA by Caterina De Mata, Luca Di Cecca and Annalisa Corsi, produced by the Italian L&C S.r.l, stars a young skunk who lives in Puzzolandia. She is different from all the other skunks because she doesn’t smell, and for this she is mocked by her classmates, but her generosity is the true resource through which she will be appreciated; ROC AND LOLA (ROC E LOLA), directed by Andrea Giro and produced by Primal Shape, is another imaginative Italian TV series that makes us reflect on how differences (those between a hedgehog and a balloon, the two protagonists) can be overcome to discover friendship and strong bonds, building mutual trust.

Among the animated Feature Films, exciting up-coming high-end projects have been included in this year’s selection, as well as renowned authors’ profiles, including director Eléa Gobbe-Mévellec (Les Hirondelles de Kaboul), presenting her latest feature project THE NORTHERN STAR (SERVEKA), produced by Hausboot and Les Films du Cygne (Czech Republic, France), a moving story of escape and redemption following a seventeen-year-old refugee from North to South Korea; and new feature project, debuting into animation, by the visionary filmmaker Miguel Llansó (Crumbs, Infinite Summer, Jesus Chose You the Way to the Highway) MISSION NEW AFRICA a co-production of Lanzadera Films, (France, Portugal, Romania, Spain) where dangers, impossible technologies, KGB chases, androids, and an operation that echoes prophecies, with the electrifying background of this Ethiopian-set jazz-funk tale; Spain leads with cyber-adventures, but in a different tone, with LIKE!, new animated project directed by Nacho La Casa, produced by Capitán Araña S. L., where the love for soccer of a 13-year-old girl crushes with the nightmare of her phone being hacked by the coach’s daughter; legends revived in THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY (ZLATNATA PEPERUTKA) by Goce Cvetanovski, produced by Makedonska Krepost, a co-production between North Macedonia, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil and Spain takes us into the heart of the Colombian rainforest with a dazzling adventure of a group of friends who, amid threats and dangers, are led toward the legendary El Dorado and must face a witch. From Indonesia, FLY ! by Tjia Kian Kok Pelix, produced by ArtCodeStory, a moving coming-of-age story that takes us into the world of the spirits, souls and ghosts,  following the journey of an 11-year-old boy coping with the loss of his father, and their shared passion for kites; Magic returns with YAP YAP by Jens Møller and Solène Azernour, produced by the prestigious Autour de Minuit (a co-production of Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden), tells the story of the shy twelve-year-old Naa, who, thanks to her grandmother, discovers an unexpected magical world within the concrete city where she has moved with her mother: a secret forest where humans cannot enter, which becomes her secret refuge.

The Television Series presents a heterogeneous selection, aimed at a diverse audience and creatively rich in content, structure, and techniques used: surprising and powerful stories, with an emotional involvement that reflects on many topics of our present. Two very ambitious productions comes from North America: ANCIENT CHINA OF MARS by Andrew Leung, already concept designer for Disney and Marvel productions such as The Lion King, The Jungle Book, Black Panther, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, La La Land and many more. Produced by Snarky Elephant Productions (USA), Ancient China of Mars is a dramatic series with comic undertones in mockumentary style that tells the story of a Chinese family forced to flee to Mars from the uninhabitable planet Earth, devastated by climate change and economic inequality. But they find themselves stuck in a transit station called “Ellis Island”, among immigrants and the shattered dreams of people with no home, and must restart their lives amid the struggles for a better future; ARGONAUTS by Simon Duric, Lee McQuade, produced by Echo Lake Entertainment (Northern Ireland, USA), once again takes us into a future where humanity has spread among the stars, colonizing strange new worlds. Among corporations, cults, and warlords, chaos reigns, and watching over all are the Gods of Olympus. Baby is the lost child on a desert planet, raised by a robot, who will stumble into adventures among the gods, together with a quirky group — the Argonauts. Set in a mythical place between dream and reality and dealing with contemporary issues DEEP WOODS. LOST AND FOUND, produced by Rymanco Films (Canada, Cyprus) and directed by Jim Miller, Hazel interacts with the world through her phone, but once she enters an enchanted land inhabited by magical creatures and ancient secrets, without Wi-Fi she discovers a different way of facing life’s challenges. Social topics and environment collide in ELECTRO ANDES by Nacho Malter, Damian Fernandez Gomez and produced by the Argentinian studio Bellolandia, follows the vicissitudes of two twins who lost their grandfather because of a mining company. Under the command of the Resistance, they embark on a mission to sabotage the mining facility and in its depths unleash the evil spirit of an ancient deity. From Argentina to Brazil, IZZI’S SUPER FAN CLUB (O SUPER FÃ CLUBE DA IZZI) by Paulo Muppet, produced by Birdo, is the surprising series starring twelve-year-old Izzi, who founds a fan club for the superhero team The Guardians of Hope. She never thought the heroes would notice her, but she is invited to spend the summer managing the kids’ section of the official fan club, inside their legendary headquarters, the majestic Hope Tower. Myths, tradition and modernity merge also in LEGENDS OF BULAN by Duru Azubuike, produced by Magic Carpet Studios (Nigeria), takes us centuries ago to Bulan, a world in perfect harmony, where humans, nature and spirit lived in unison thanks to the power of Ubuntu. Seven outcasts, each marked with a mysterious sign, are united by destiny and by a long-buried prophecy, and must confront their past and themselves; And if outcasts shall be, then THE REJECTS, produced by Bonnie and Braw Cartùns (Canada, UK), is the show of its time, where the heroes are in fact a group of petty egomaniacs: Sherlock Holmes goes to live with his enemy Moriarty and Dr. Watson sets off to solve the only case left unsolved, recruiting a band made up of sidekicks of well-known protagonists from the animated world. Together they will discover that the so-called heroes they once supported are in fact the problem, and they are determined to prove their worth and save the world from a supernatural catastrophe.

ANIMATION PITCHING FORUM | OFFICIAL SELECTION 2025

ANCIENT CHINA OF MARS by Andrew Leung (USA)
Produced by Neal Ludevig (Snarky Elephant Productions)

ARGONAUTS by Simon Duric and Lee McQuade (Northern Ireland/ USA)
Produced by Kyle Castellanet (Echo Lake Entertainment)

DEEP WOODS. LOST AND FOUND by Jim Miller (Canada/ Cyprus)
Produced by Lucy Tsoy (Rymanco Films)

ELECTRO ANDES by Nacho Malter and Damian Fernandez Gomez (Argentina)
Produced by Micaela Gabot (Bellolandia)

FLY ! by Tjia Kian Kok Pelix (Indonesia)
Produced by Ellen Xie (ArtCodeStory)

THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY (ZLATNATA PEPERUTKA) by Goce Cvetanovski (Argentina/ Brazil/ Colombia/ Macedonia/ Spain)
Produced by Goce Cvetanovski (Makedonska Krepost, Blurr stories, Technoscope FIlms, The G7)

IZZI’S SUPER FAN CLUB (O SUPER FÃ CLUBE DA IZZI) by Paulo Muppet (Brazil)
Produced by Luciana Eguti (Birdo)

LEGENDS OF BULAN by Duru Azubuike (Nigeria)
Produced by Ferdy Adimefe (Magic Carpet Studios)

LIKE! (Spain)
Produced by Nacho La Casa (Capitán Araña S. L)

MISSION NEW AFRICA by Miguel Llansó (France/ Portugal/ Romania/Spain)
Produced by Georgiana Maliovski (Lanzadera Films, Special Touch Studios, Spamflix, Vampires in the Sun)

THE NORTHERN STAR (SERVEKA) by Eléa Gobbe-Mévellec (Czech Republic/ France)
Produced by Vladimir Lhotak and Alexandre Charlet (Hausboot, Les Film du Cygne)
 
PROFUMINA by Caterina De Mata, Luca Di Cecca and Annalisa Corsi (Italy)
Produced by Caterina De Mata (L&C S.r.l)

THE REJECTS (Canada/ UK)
Produced by Rick Mischel and John McEwan-Whyte (Bonnie and Braw Cartùns)

ROC AND LOLA (ROC E LOLA) by Andrea Giro (Italy)
Produced by Andrea Giro (Primal Shape)

THE TREASURE OF THE WYRM (IL TESORO DEL BIGATTO) by Francesco Vecchi (Czech Republic/ France/ Italy)
Produced by Matteo Pecorara (Small Boss)

YAP YAP by Jens Møller, Solène Azernour (Denmark/ France/ Germany/ Sweden)
Produced by Nicolas Schmerkin (Autour de Minuit)

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