Currently in production, the public and professionals attending the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market will have an exclusive opportunity to discover the first episode of the animated series Samuel, presented on June 15 in the presence of its director Emilie Tronche. Damien Megherbi, producer of the series at Les Valseurs, tells us how he discovered this endearing character and began collaborating with Tronche to develop and bring him to TV and digital screens in France and abroad.
Unifrance: How did the character of Samuel come about, and how did you discover him?
Damien Megherbi : In June 2020, I see a video appear in my news feed on social networks, posted by a certain Émilie Tronche. I click and discover the animated slice-of-life of a little boy named Samuel, who's in love with Julie, a girl in his class. I'm moved, I sense the unique vision of an author, with a style and writing that are at once pared down, and yet from this purity and the freedom of animation, something strong is born. In particular, there's a musical sequence, accompanied by an ABBA song, that brings out the emotion. I wrote to the director, Emilie Tronche.
She'd developed this idea at the end of the first lockdown, just after finishing the short she was making as part of the "En sortant de l'école" collection for France Télévisions, after graduating from EMCA in Angoulême. The idea came to her quite spontaneously, based on childhood memories. Emilie didn't yet have the idea of turning it into a series, but she was making two more episodes that were as equally as fresh as the first.
I wasn't immediately thinking of a serial format myself, but I was keen to work with Emilie. The idea of developing a digital series came to me a little later, and we started working on it together. As the series relies heavily on music and dance, we came up with the idea of developing episodes specifically for TikTok.
Can you sum up the concept of the series in a few sentences? Who is the target audience?
DM: We follow a little boy named Samuel, who recounts his daily life, both ordinary and extraordinary, in a diary. We see him develop from his last year of elementary school, in the first part of the season, to his entry into junior high, in the second part.
It's a touching tale, told with the innocence of childhood, that resonates as much with pre-teens and teens through identification, as with young adults and adults through nostalgia. There's a great deal of subtlety in the writing and direction, and in the depth behind the apparent naiveté. The series can be watched by nine-year-olds and upwards, but it's a lot of fun as an adult too. The core target audience might be teenagers and young adults, but we've tested the series on audiences of all ages, from the very young to adults, with consistently enthusiastic feedback.
What makes the series so unique and original?
DM: It's an innovative double-series format. On the one hand, a first audiovisual format of 21 episodes, each lasting just 4'15''. In its formatted version, the audiovisual series can be broadcast in linear format, but also on social networks. On the other hand, there's a second series dedicated to purely digital distribution. This second format has been written and developed for the TikTok social network, with the same universe and characters as the audiovisual series, but with vertical episodes, a simpler narrative, and a duration of less than one minute for each of the 20 episodes that make up this second series. These episodes can be viewed independently of the audiovisual series. They can also be viewed separately and out of order, in line with TikTok usage.
This second format, broadcast on TikTok, may appeal to a younger audience, in the hope that some of them will be curious to discover the audiovisual series. The audiovisual series has a more substantial narrative arc, spanning 21 episodes. In France and Germany, it will be broadcast on the Arte.tv platform, but also on YouTube and Arte's Instagram account: @arte_asuivre. In Spain, the series will be adapted and broadcast in linear format by the national channel RTVE, and also by Televisio Catalunya in Catalonia.
We're convinced that this dual audiovisual and digital series, with its fresh writing and multiple modes of distribution, will be able to reach, particularly on social networks, an audience that doesn't really watch linear television anymore.
At the same time, the series is set in the 2000s, in an era of innocence before the digital revolution, and will thus arouse a sense of nostalgia that can win over a more adult audience.
Emilie is surrounded by a team of animators, but it is she who gives voice to all the characters, which is another original feature of this series.
In addition to animation, music plays a very important role in the storytelling...
DM: Emilie conceived all the animated sequences and the series' narration according to the titles that make up the playlist of this double series.
Often, when a character wants to recount a particular passage in his or her daily life and is unable to express his or her emotions, we escape from reality through the magic of an animated sequence that blends music and dance, sometimes with suspended poetic moments. A striking soundtrack accompanies the entire series. ABBA's "The Winner Takes it All," for example, accompanies the key moment of the first episode. Each episode has an iconic song to highlight a special moment. In the TikTok version of the series, some episodes are even just pure choreography. We will be acquiring the music rights for worldwide linear and internet broadcasting, with the exception of the USA. We have an option to extend the rights to this territory, which we will be able to confirm as broadcast opportunities arise.
Who are the partners behind the series? What convinced them, especially Arte?
DM: Just as we were starting to develop the series, we were contacted by Arte France's digital team, who had also seen Emilie's first attempts posted on social networks. We had the idea of developing a TikTok version of the series, and this idea appealed to Arte, which was about to launch an account on the social network. We then worked with Arte to further develop the audiovisual series over twenty episodes. I'd like to thank Marianne Lévy-Leblond, Lili Blumers, and Guillemette Trognon for the trust and creative freedom they gave us, their great understanding of the specificities of this unique series, and at the same time all the expertise they brought to the table, in particular their knowledge of social network audiences, uses, and features that could have a creative impact..
In September 2021, we presented the series in development at the Cartoon Forum in Toulouse. It was a great and unexpected success, with a standing ovation at the end of the pitch. It was at this point that interest from Spanish channels began to emerge, and we set about adapting the series into Spanish and Catalan, with Pikkukala as Spanish co-producer. The Spanish channels wanted to broadcast the audiovisual series in linear format. We therefore worked on a version with standardized episode lengths for the audiovisual series. We didn't have this obligation for Arte, which plans to broadcast the series only digitally in France and Germany.
At the same time, we began financing the double series, and eventually received support from the Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Charente, and Réunion regions, the Mairie de Paris, Pictanovo, Procirep, and the CNC via multiple funds. We've had rave reviews for the project at every presentation.
The series is currently in production, and we'll be showing the first episode at the Annecy Festival. For the acquisition of music rights, we are working with Cristal.
What are Samuel's particular attributes for reaching international audiences?
DM: It's a series with a universal dimension, about the passage from childhood to adolescence. The original version is rooted in France and has many French references, but that never poses a problem of understanding. The writing and emotions can speak to everyone. In Spain, we're working on a genuine adaptation, with translation, Spanish voices, but also modifications to certain French music and references. This opens up the potential for distribution in South and Central America. We have initial interest in Australia, Quebec, and Finland, and the idea of producing an international English version as well.
It's also a series with an authorial vision, close to the editorial line that Les Valseurs has developed in its film projects. Even if Tronche's creativity had to be integrated into a more industrial process, with an animation team around the director, to produce 100 minutes of animation, in Angoulême, Paris, Tourcoing, and Barcelona, Emilie's authorial approach remains at the heart of the series, and this gives her the opportunity of embodying the series and creating a closeness with young audiences all over the world.
There is thus great potential for engaging audiences around the series, and also the possibility of creating intellectual property that could give rise to derivative works. For example, we already have interest from publishers for a graphic novel adaptation.
What are your ambitions for Samuel after this selection in Annecy?
DM: The official screening of the first episode of the audiovisual series will take place on June 15 in Annecy, in the presence of Emilie Tronche. Arte plans to broadcast the series at the end of 2023. Our aim at Annecy is to interest foreign broadcasters, to anticipate any adaptation or dubbing needs. It would be ideal to get pre-sales during the festival. For the time being, we're not associated with a sales agent, although we have some interest and wouldn't rule it out for the future.
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Annecy International Animation Film Festival - 2023
Feature film and short film festival
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