Simon is adapted from the books by Franco-American author and illustrator Stephanie Blake, published by École des Loisirs. This endearing little character has already won the hearts of children around the world.
Éric Garnet, producer of the series at GO-N Productions, tells us how the audiovisual adaptation came about and quickly became an international success. Monica Levy, Co-Chief of Distribution at Federation Studios, which now distributes the series internationally, also talks about the new challenges facing Simon.
Unifrance: Why did you decide to adapt Stephanie Blake's books?
Éric Garnet: As a producer, we look for either original projects or adaptations of literary properties from children's publishing or comics. We'd known about Stephanie Blake's work for years. One day, Anne De Galard, my business partner, was reading the books to her children and thought they were great! Funny, sharp, realistic, intelligent, and, what's more, with an iconic look that's very different from what was being done at the time.
We got on really well with Stephanie straight away and developed a pretty incredible relationship. It came at a time when she'd already had a number of proposals and was beginning to think that maybe it was the right moment to move on to an audiovisual adaptation. Sometimes the timing is right, and this was perfect!
Simon was an international creation from the outset…
E.G.: Stephanie is American, and came to France when she was a teenager. She has this very American side, this culture of the great authors of children's books (Roald Dahl, for example). On the other hand, she arrived in the 1980s, right in the middle of the comic-book boom, which was very French, and she became very Parisian.
Stephanie uses the expression "best of both worlds." She's been nourished by this double culture and that's undoubtedly why Simon has managed to reach a very wide international audience.
Was she inspired by her own life?
E.G.: Stephanie has also been a young mother and has hence been able to observe her children. Simon may look like a rabbit, but he's really a little boy. He lives in an everyday world. Americans talk about "slice of life" series, like Peppa Pig or Bluey. Simon is totally rooted in a fairly realistic everyday life, with the involvement of his parents, grandparents, little brother, and friends...
Stephanie Blake co-wrote the TV adaptation. Did she want to be involved in the project from the outset?
E.G.: When authors want to get involved, we're delighted, and that's become our trademark at GO-N. We've worked with Zep on Tootuff, with Julien Neel on Lou!, and with Bannister and Grimaldi on Tib et Tatoum.
Authors live their work, they always bring something extra to the table, which is then felt on screen.
With Stephanie, there was a very good chemistry between us, but also with the director, Julien Cayot, who has been directing the series from the start. They invent a lot of things together. There were around twenty books and we're now in the fifth season. 52 episodes of five minutes each require a lot of inventiveness.
How does Simon differ from other pre-school series? What message does the series have for children around the world?
E.G.: What touches children is that Simon resembles them. They find something familiar in Simon, in his everyday life, in his first times. He's a little boy growing up, coming face to face with the adult world and the world around him. Going to school or to the dentist for the first time... it's not always easy, but he has to go anyway. They will overcome their fears. In their day-to-day lives, many children rediscover the "you've got to go" aspect and realise that it's not all bad. Overcoming everyday challenges, with good grace and in a fun way, is really what Simon is all about. He always manages to wriggle out of a situation.
When parents look at Simon or read the books, they too see things that remind them of their children. These are real-life situations. We held writing workshops with Stephanie, the director, producers, and scriptwriters, and we all incorporated stories that had happened to us. Stephanie has a small sibling group of five children and is never short of ideas.
Season 4 and Season 5 (currently in production) are completely different from the first three, delving deeper into children's imaginations...
E.G.: After three seasons in a realistic register, we and the France Télévisions team wondered what new experience we could offer our audience. For Season 4, and now Season 5, we decided to move into the world of fantasy and show what happens in children's imaginations when they invent games and play at being superheroes. It was the director's idea, but it turned out that Stephanie had already envisaged this in her books some ten years ago! She rediscovered drawings in which she had created the basis for SuperRabbit and a whole universe of superheroes with Simon. Connection!
Season 4 also has a very colourful graphic code and a very fast-paced mise en scène. It's been a huge international success.
Simon has been sold in over 150 territories worldwide. How did you convince buyers?
E.G.: At the time, we did a lot of marketing and press preparation for the launch of Season 1 at the MIPJunior screenings, and it went down very well. We made it to the top of the viewing charts, and buyers took the risk.
And they were right to do so, as the series has been a ratings success almost everywhere it's aired. When children spot the program, they watch it again and again. This made it easier to sell subsequent seasons.
What new opportunities for international distribution does working with Federation Studios offer?
E.G.: By joining the Federation group, with Monica Levy and her team, we intend to go even further. And it got off to a good start, since one of the only territories in which Simon had not yet been sold on a linear channel was Germany. This was achieved at the end of the year with the sale to ZDF for its KiKA channel.
Monica Levy: Simon is like a gift from heaven. We're handling a program that's already a huge success and that buyers love. They renew their deals almost automatically. It's a pleasure, because you're reuniting with clients with whom you've already worked on other programs, and you're adding a new success. Simon is in the same vein of quality children's programming that we propose to children's channels, and at the same time the series is very different from anything we've offered before at Federation Studios. We have a lot of live action, and a pre-school series. This collaboration also opens doors to other genres. We also love the series, its atmosphere, and the feelings Simon inspires. In fact, when the sales people talk to the networks about Simon, you can feel this love for the program. It's a real pleasure to distribute Simon. And we can't wait for Seasons 5 and 6.
E.G.: At the moment, we're working on Season 5, but we hope there'll be more! Federation has a dedicated and very efficient team. It also has experience with programs directed at younger audiences, and a well-developed network of buyers, which should open up new opportunities for the series.
There are still quite a few countries where it hasn't aired on linear channels and/or on platforms.
M.L.: One of our challenges for Simon is sales in the USA. It's a harder market to break into, and that goes for everyone. We're doing our utmost to create as many opportunities as possible in this territory. Maybe it won't be on Cartoon Network or Disney, but we could very well run it on SVOD and AVOD services. It's a challenge, but the series is doing so well in the rest of the world that we're sure it will work in the US too. With children's programs, once you've sold well, you know you're going to sell again. With fiction, it's just the opposite. The chances of resale drop year after year. Children want more, and channels buy back what works well. So we're very confident about the future.
Feedback about the series has been very positive worldwide.
M.L.: Feedback has also been very positive about the collaboration between GO-N and Federation! Buyers tell us they love GO-N and are very happy to see us working together.
E.G.: We make a very good match. There was even a buyer from the Asia-Pacific zone who, when I announced that the Federation teams would be handling sales from now on, told us how delighted she was to see two of her favorite companies working together.
M.L.: We sometimes have sales meetings together too, which is great.
Simon has become a very strong IP, which now also exists beyond the television screen.
E.G.: Yes, the success of the TV series has been matched by its digital success. GO-N accompanied the broadcast of the series with the creation of a dozen digital channels, which generated over three billion views and over 7.5 million loyal subscribers.
This multi-exposure, after the literary success (+5.5 million books sold) and the audience success on TV, has enabled Simon to become a truly international IP on a par with English-language IPs.
And it's on the strength of the IP's reputation and popularity that we can envisage the next step: Licensing & Merchandising. This is a highly competitive market, but Simon is a very fresh property compared with its competitors. We have already set up an initial network of agents (France, Spain, Italy, China, Korea, etc.) who are starting to generate the first licenses (plush toys, figurines, Tonie Box reading light, etc.).
At the same time, we are organizing partnerships to promote the property, and are due to launch our first musical show in France at the end of the year, before moving on to Spain, Italy, and Portugal.
This requires very close liaison with the international sales team, as we have to select the best IP partners in each country from an ever-growing number of operators (linear channels, SVOD operators, streamers) and negotiate the possibility of disseminating the series as widely as possible, with flexible programming and exclusivity windows. This requires real expertise and the ability to manage and negotiate on a country-by-country basis.
And here again, we're in good hands.
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