Corinne Kouper, SVP Development & Production, and Co-founder at Teamto
TeamTO is a French leading CGI studio founded in 2005. It is currently renowned for outstanding quality and award-winning series, and it has offices in LA, Toronto, and Beijing. Corinne Kouper, SVP Development & Production, and Co-founder explains the company's evolution and expresses her desire to work closely with the Latin American region.
How was the evolution of TeamTo since its foundation in 2005?
"When we created TeamTO in 2005, we never imagined that 15 years later we would have 400 employees, two state-of-the-art studios, offices in LA, Toronto, and Beijing, 20 animated series, and a feature film. What a journey! Using our experience in the new CG animation field, we built our company, gained largely on Disney's 'Rolie Polie Olie,' the first-ever CG preschool show for which we won two Emmies. Since then, we have dedicated our company to developing the most interesting creative talent and the best software and technology to maintain the extremely high standards we want to achieve. We have produced many of our originals, like acclaimed series like 'Jade Armor,' 'Presto! School of Magic,' 'Mighty Mike,' and 'Angelo Rules,' as well as famous shows for companies like eOne's 'PJ Masks' and 'Ricky Zoom,' Netflix' 'City of Ghosts,' Disney's 'Elena of Avalor' and 'Sofia the First,' and Activision Blizzard's 'Skylanders'".
What are the current main challenges of creating kids' content?
"The main challenges are securing creative talent getting financing. Financing depends on getting a broadcaster's interest, and strong creative talent is the way to get that interest. Another challenge is finding the right voices and vision to create compelling stories and then get broadcasters to share the risk of developing a project early on to bring it to greenlight. In France, we are lucky to benefit from an intelligent system combining tax credits and subsidies. However, the industry has been restructuring a lot in the past three years. Uncertainty remains around channel ownership changes, losses due to the pandemic, and quota negotiations related to global platforms that trigger CNC funding".
What are the values you want to transmit in TeamTO's shows?
"To our viewers, we want to project team spirit, togetherness, and empathy while at the same time presenting a bright and funny outlook on life. Most of our shows have a lot of comedy and teamwork in them, like 'Presto! School of Magic,' 'Jade Armor,' and 'Angelo Rules'. For our partners like eOne, Disney, and Netflix, we stand for quality above all else because well-written and well-produced shows last longer, appeal to a greater audience, and find the best platforms. We also love to challenge ourselves by always explorings something new and different: whether it's preschool, 2D-style CG or hybrid animation, music-based shows, slapstick dialogue-free comedy, or a family film inspired by a graphic novel. We like to push new boundaries".
What is the business potential of TeamTo's shows for Latin America?
"All our series are great for Latin America because the stories are full of action, comedy, and inspiration. The characters are fun, resourceful, and full of life, just like Latins. We want the market to get to know our shows even better and repeat successes like 'Mighty Mike,' which has been doing so well on Cartoon Network that the channel will air its second season. We also want a cultural exchange with Latin America. I traveled to Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia for the last 30 years, and I am eager to form a creative bridge with those countries to find new diverse voices that could lead to an interesting collaboration with our studio".
By Romina Rodríguez