Eric Garnet
The hit pre-school animated series "Simon" from GO-N Productions is growing in popularity not only in France but also internationally. Linear broadcasters and digital players have been on board from the launch of the title, which currently has four seasons. "'The last season 'Simon Super Rabbit'' is focused on kids' imagination," Eric Garnet, President of the company, described to Señal News. "This new season is full of adventures, action, and fun," he added.
"Simon" has increased the linear channel's audience. "Season 4 is like an audience booster on France Televisions, getting almost record rating audience", indicated Garnet. GO-N International has also just launched the series in Israel on Hop!, in Tele Quebec in Canada, and recently in Cartoonito in Italy with amazing ratings. "'Simon' was number one in the summer on Tiny Pop in the UK, that's a great achievement, and we are considering season five," he anticipated.
Season after season, "Simon" is getting more and more fans around the world, which makes a great IP into a franchise. "Nowadays, we have a big volume of content, with four seasons and 208 episodes, and we have a strong on-air presence as well as a very strong fanbase not only on TV but also on digital and i-players," stated Garnet. The next steps for GO-N are focused on a licensing and merchandising strategy in order to expand "Simon" reach.
After conquering several territories in Asia, "Simon" tent to be strong in India and Latin America. "'Simon' was broadcasted on NHK in Japan and is also now on EBS in Korea, and the last year Simon was on CCTV in China, which was a massive success," asserted GO-N executive. "Simon reached number five between all channel shows and number one between the foreign shows", he added.
NEW PROJECTS
Eric Garnet also commented the company is co-producing and developing a new show called "Monster Shaker" (52x11') alongside with DeAplaneta. The new series is a comedy starring nine-year-old Justin, who winds up with a magic shaker that he can use to make tons of crazy monsters with awesome powers. "The collaboration with DeAPlaneta is fantastic; the creative team is amazing," Garnet said. "We are also developing new IPs, new shows, new projects, but they are still in an early stage, and we have recently acquired the rights of two book properties," he added.
ANIMATION LANDSCAPE
According to Garnet, the current animation landscape presents tremendous opportunities for animation producers and distributors. "There are more places where our shows can be broadcasted, and more children can watch our content, but the linear channels remain to be the key players," he analyzed. "We see a lot of interest and appetite for content, and the challenge is how to finance it, taking into account that the cost of production is higher," he concluded.