EXCLUSIVE: France‘s Folivari is setting up an international distribution arm for its toons.
The company has hired former Dandelooo acquisitions and sales exec Melissa Vega to head up the division, which will be called Folivari International. The launch comes as Folivari celebrates its 10th birthday.
Its first two titles will be original series Nino Dino and Kiki & Ailen. The former follows a temperamental Tyrannosaurus rex, who has adventures with his friends Cléa, Max, Alfred and Zéphyrine. Kiki & Ailen follows two naïve young extraterrestrials who misconstrue everything they see on Earth and need their adopted duck friend to help them avert resulting disasters.
The distributor is also working on a slate of third-party acquisitions of “demanding” animated content with “strong international potential.”
Vega is a co-founder of the unit alongside Folivari bosses Damien Brunner, Sarah Delmas and Thibaut Ruby. She has 13 years’ experience in animation and kids content, including 10 years at another French animation firm, Dandelooo, where she worked on developing its distribution business and managing acquisitions and sales of shows such as Ernest and Celestine, Royals Next Door and Pompon Little Bear. At Folivari International, she will be Head of Distribution and Acquisitions.
She joins Folivari at a tough time for the feted French animation sector, which has seen sales falling to levels not seen since 2015. A Unifrance report covering 2022 show a 5.3% fall to $61.7M as global rights deals fell away.
Folivari has been a key player in the landscape since 2014, when Damien and and Didier Brunner, the producer of cult French animated film The Triplets of Belleville, and Ruby created the business. Delmas joined in 2015 as Head of Development, and it went on to produce the likes of The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales (2017) and The Summit of the Gods (2021), which both won a César Award and a Prix Lumière for Best Animated Feature Film, as well as TV shows such as Ernest & Celestine: The Collection and Samsam: Cosmic Adventures, which is currently being broadcast in France.
In 2018, Folivari launched animation studio FOST, based in Paris and Angoulême, which specializes in 2D animation and pre-production for 3D projects. Since launch it has worked on films such as Wolfwalkers for Apple TV+), My Father’s Dragon for Netflix, The Summit of the Gods and A Trip to Gibberitia for Studiocanal) as well as TV series Stillwater for Apple TV+, Splinter Cell for Netflix and Silly Sundays for Warner Bros. Discovery.
“Folivari and FOST have long been on my radar as one of the most major and trusted animation companies and studios in France,” said Vega. “It is an honour to join the team to not only ensure that its award-winning original content reaches more audiences globally, but to also use my experience to source the most high-quality animated content for Folivari International’s exciting slate in 2024 and beyond.”
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