Report 2024

Talking Business in European Animation

Cartoon Business is a seminar event dedicated to the business models of the animation industry. This industry is going through a period of unprecedented change (general market recession, new technologies, new players, growing ecological awareness, etc.). It has never been so important to provide answers to the questions raised, particularly on the financial and commercial aspects that are worrying the industry. The 2024 edition of Cartoon Business was organised from 18 to 20 November in Brussels.

Welcome to Brussels

The 2024 edition of Cartoon Business turned the spotlight on animation in Belgium. Demonstrating a strong ambition for co-production, both within Belgium and internationally, the country’s cultural and economic funds have joined forces to put together a programme dedicated to the Belgian animation industry, with a focus on local studios/companies and talent. The cultural and economic funds are very active in animation. Please find more information on animation in Belgium here.

For the first time at Cartoon Business, on the afternoon of Monday 18 November, a Job Fair featuring regional companies was held at the Comics Art Museum, offering young talents a chance to connect with local industry professionals and explore career opportunities.

5 companies presented their works: Vivi Film/Studio Souza/Creature, Submarine, The Pack, nWave Pictures and Creative Conspiracy/Spicy Acorn.

The presentations were followed by networking sessions (during 1 hour) between young talents and company representatives within the Comics Art Museum.

Almost 25 talents were registered for this first Job Fair. This initiative was highly appreciated and had multiple goals: to break the ice on the first day between young talents and regional professionals, to connect to the new generation of graduates entering the job market, and to create employment opportunities that benefit both companies and young talents seeking work.

After the Job Fair and a first coffee break within the Comics Art Museum, for the third time during Cartoon Business, CARTOON organised One-to-One meetings between all the participants attending the event. During these speed dating sessions, participants started their first exchanges on possible collaborations. This opportunity enabled participants to meet and get to know each other from day one, and to exchange ideas not just at a local level but also at an international level. Based on the participant’s choices, CARTOON sent a list of meetings organised with the different companies of interest.

150 meetings took place in two hours with 74 participants (20 minutes per meeting).

The 2024 Programme

Cartoon Business was officially launched on Tuesday 19 November at 9:00am at Autoworld (conference venue for Tuesday and Wednesday, another emblematic place in Brussels) with the Welcome Words of the Head of Content of the event, Vanessa Chapman. After presenting the history of Cartoon Business and explaining the content selection process based on the current market trends, she warmly thanked all partners who were actively supporting the event: Creative Europe - MEDIA Programme, and of course Screen Flanders, screen.brussels, Wallimage, Flanders image and Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.

Keynotes, panels and case studies

On a bigger scale, Cartoon Business, during two days, aims at enabling European animation companies to improve structurally, gaining a better access to finance, developing brands rather than individual projects, multiplying European co-productions, enhancing synergies with other business sectors that contribute to brand expansion and notoriety (licensing, publishing, gaming...) in order to be less fragile economically and more competitive on a global scale.

Cartoon Business proposed a set of 14 conferences (panels, case studies, keynotes and round table) from European experts working in different fields (private equity, financing, broadcasting, production, law, distribution, video game, etc.).

Topics & Trends from Cartoon Business 2024

The main themes addressed at this edition were as follows:

• How to survive on the market today? Even through the situation of the industry might seem in a state of “Doom and Gloom”, the speakers, through their speeches, were confident that the animation industry has a bright future ahead. All it has to do is find new opportunities and ways of thinking through cooperation, debates, research, open-mindedness and networking. At least, Cartoon Business gave a boost of confidence the industry needed.

• The business models impacted by new technologies such as A.I.: during a heated but lively debate about A.I., our speakers had a lot of pros and cons to talk about. The main point was: the genies is out of the bottle, we have to cope with it and find financial ways to implement it but A.I has to stay a tool to help human beings rather than something that will replace them.

• Platforms such as online gaming ones, social media and many others are a way to reach new audiences that might not be reached on the usual platforms the animation industry is using. There’s a gigantic audience that can be reached through those platforms, such as for example Roblox.

As this year’s edition took place in Brussels, we had the opportunity to put Belgian’s animation in the spotlight within the programme.

The first session was dedicated to doing business in Belgium. Belgium is an amazing place where businesses can be done easily and some valuable grants and investments are available to help greenlight the productions. The cultural and economic funds were presented during this first session. The presentation was followed by two local case studies with the projects “The Polar Bear Prince” (Maipo Film, Vivi Film and Belga Production) and “Savages” (Nadasdy Film, Haut et Court, Panique!, Hélium Films and Beast Animation). These case studies were presented to highlight how to access local finance and operate with multiple regions and cultural funds.

We also had a closer look at the local animation industry that is thriving in the country with a case study on the local Studio 100, who celebrate their growth to time and gave an overview on how it became a worldwide entertainment and distribution company.

This year, two screening of 2 short local films was organised before the lunch breaks on Tuesday 19 November and Wednesday 20 November to highlight local creations. The following 2 short films were screened:

• "Silent Panorama” by Nicolas Piret (Zorobabel)
• “The Miracle” by Nienke Deutz (Lunanime, Keplerfilm & Les Productions de Milou)

Business Clinic

This year Cartoon Business has introduced a new initiative: the Business Clinic. This consultancy opportunity had the purpose to connect participants attending the event with specialists during coaching sessions on business issues they are facing and trying to find a solution, or at least some ideas on how to fix it.

8 consultants from 3 countries were chosen before the event for the Business Clinic depending on the needs of the market. The meetings were organized on Tuesday and Wednesday evening at Autoworld (from 6pm to 7pm). During the event, more than 40 inspiring meetings took place between 8 consultants and 30 participants.

This initiative was a success and highly appreciated by the participants.

The quality of the seminars organised by CARTOON is primarily due to the high-level quality and prestige of the speakers. This year in Brussels, CARTOON gathered 30 key animation professionals from 10 countries to fill its keynotes, panels and case studies (the «Speakers»). The level and diversity of our 30 panellists contributed to a wide scanning through innovative animated contents, distribution and financing.

About the speakers

The participants of Cartoon Business 2024

The Cartoon Masters are aimed at all professionals wishing to undertake high-level training in animation skills or for professional updates on industry developments. The number of participants this year shows a high interest in the event. 207 participants registered at Cartoon Business in 2024, more than the number of last year (115). This year’s participants came from 26 different countries. This shows the importance of the event worldwide for professionals.

Key Figures

Some figures for all the participants:

This reflects a large diversity of profiles who attended the event.

A sustainable approach

Regarding our sustainable policy, CARTOON is trying to make Cartoon Business greener than ever! On the one hand, we aimed at showing the professionals of the industry that a path to more sustainable productions is possible. On the other hand, a 100% vegetarian lunch was organised to reduce our carbon footprint. We have encouraged participants to travel to Cartoon Business 2024 by train wherever possible. We chose the event venues according to their location, to ensure that they were easily accessible by public transport and on foot (the Comics Art Museum, Autoworld, Le Roy d’Espagne, Restaurant Le Petit Chef, etc.)

We are happy to announce that the next edition will take place from 12 to 14 November 2025 in Brussels.