Xilam Animation opens its doors to any co-production partner

A major player in animation, Xilam is an integrated studio founded in 1999 that creates, produces and distributes original programmes in more than 190 countries for both children and adult audiences. After a successful 2022, the French company is now looking for new business opportunities, such as co-productions or the foray into the FAST segment.

“Our idea is to find new partners that commission our projects. We have a strong line-up of projects which are ready to be acquired. We are also looking for co-production partners, which is quite new for us. We currently have five studios and almost 600 artists, so we have the capacity to open the door to other kinds of discussions, which could be about co-productions and even servicing, as we have already proved to be a very good partner for servicing for some major streaming platforms,”  Morgann Favennec, EVP of Distribution at Xilam Animation, told Señal News.

“On the digital side, we are also quite strong. We have millions of subscribers over all platforms and billions of views. Therefore, we want others to benefit from that very strong and solid ecosystem we have, and we are open to bring on third-parties’ properties and talk about digital expansion,”  Favennec added.

Regarding co-productions, the company is open to work with partners from any region, and pretty much any scenario can be discussed. “Because this is quite new for us, pretty much anything is on the table. Our only condition could be that all partners share the same production values and standards. In terms of targets, right now we would not do teenagers and adults, because we are developing our own projects and they are our priority. Therefore, we would focus on kids and preschool,”  the EVP of Distribution at Xilam commented.

In terms of stories, the French company is looking for disruptive and innovative projects, although without losing its essence. “Naturally, I would have a preference for a project that would be complimentary to our DNA. We are very strong on comedy and slapstick, so maybe something a little bit different but keeping that comedy element. My opinion is that, when you co-produce, you are not just working with other but bringing something different. We learn from each other, and integrate different storytelling, techniques, and points of view,”  the executive asserted.

With a catalog consisting of over 2.200 episodes and three feature films, Xilam Animation is now actively pushing two projects: the fourth season of its hit slapstick comedy “Zig & Sharko,” and its new CG animated comedy series "Karate Sheep," which is making its debut on Netflix today.

At the same time, the company is currently working on its strategy to adopt new business and venture into new segments, such as FAST. “At some point we wanted to launch our own FAST channel in the United States, and it was very easy, as it is such a great business. Therefore, we have to change our strategy to start launching FAST channels elsewhere. Of course, we started at home, and we have a French channel that works really well, and then we also launched one in Brazil. In the United States we have lots of partners that come to us and talk about AVOD, FAST, and other kinds of non-traditional ways of doing business,”  Favennec concluded.

By Diego Alfagemez and Federico Marzullo