Emma Makes Waves was the most successful series project at Cartoon Forum 2026, which closed last Friday in Toulouse, France. This was the 37th edition organized by Cartoon, the Brussels-based European Association of Animation Film. The project and its artwork were created by Italian artist Giulia Iacopini. With the support of French producer La Cabane Productions, which discovered her online, and Belgian producer Thuristar, the project was also given the largest and most prestigious room at the annual event dedicated to financing new European animated series and TV specials.
Emma’s story follows a nine-year-old city girl who, like Iacopini herself, spends her holidays on the Sicilian island of Pantelleria. The pitch attracted 214 attendees, ranking first among projects involving at least two countries and second for buyer attendance, with 84 buyers.
Among projects presented by a single country, Ernestine caught the attention of 65 buyers. It is based on the award-winning debut graphic novel by French cartoonist Salomé Lahoche, who drew inspiration from iconic series such as BoJack Horseman and The Simpsons to create a decidedly unconventional character for young adults. That audience is becoming increasingly prominent among the target groups for projects presented in Toulouse: this year, 26% of the titles were aimed at teenagers or adults. Here, too, the protagonist is a young girl—children as protagonists have almost disappeared!—who even smokes and thinks things that are better left unsaid. Often, in fact, she keeps them to herself. Very funny.
Also original is The Roots of My Hair, an adaptation of the colorful graphic novel by French author and illustrator Lou Lubie. Its original French title, Racine, conveys more clearly the connection between hair roots and one’s roots of origin. The six 13-minute episodes tell a story of liberation and reclaiming one’s identity, aimed at teenage girls, particularly girls with curly Afro hair, though not only them. French companies Gao Shan Pictures and Bigger than Fiction are producing.
There were fewer pitches this year than at previous editions. Of 111 projects submitted, 65 were selected, ten fewer than in 2025. For the first time, the schedule even made room for a new roundtable bringing together three public broadcasters—Télé-Québec, VRT-Ketnet and France Télévisions—to discuss the familiar challenge posed by OTT platforms and, above all, how to engage young people whose viewing habits have changed and who now move across multiple digital platforms. The approaches discussed included adapting to an on-demand environment, moving beyond linear television and pursuing multiplatform strategies.
According to Cartoon general manager Annick Maes, the additional projects that might have been selected were French. “We want the Forum to remain European,” she said. Despite the considerably smaller selection—and we have always maintained that around 80 projects were too many—the reported number of participants remained more or less unchanged: 897 people from 35 countries, including 243 buyers. The number of companies represented increased to 421.
And yet the crisis can be felt. Even something that might seem trivial, such as one fewer party, means one fewer opportunity to network. The famous sightseeing excursions disappeared some time ago. Those trips often served as a form of team building among participants, or at least as further opportunities for informal networking. We would hate to see more of the elements that made this format successful disappear. Cartoon Forum was founded in Italy back in 1989 as a traveling event. We hope some of that spirit can be recovered at the next edition, scheduled for September 13–17, 2027, when the Forum will take place in Toulouse for the 14th time.
In the meantime, Cartoon will launch a new initiative by the end of this year. “It will be called Cartoon Talents, a platform where talent will have the opportunity to present themselves,” Maes explained.
Returning to this year’s edition, Italy presented just one project: an ambitious four hours of animation divided into eight 30-minute episodes. To Be Tween grew out of the multiple award-winning anti-bullying TV special To Be for Rai Kids. Maurizio Forestieri and Anna Lucia Pisanelli of Graphilm are now developing it as a 3D series that expands the range of social issues it addresses to include, for example, incel culture—associated with “involuntary celibates”—and gender-based hatred.
While the number of Italian projects cannot be compared with previous editions, the number of Italian participants rose slightly thanks to several initiatives. A delegation of publishers and literary agents, including representatives from outside Italy, returned this year through the partnership with the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the world’s largest international fair in the sector, whose next edition runs April 5–8, 2027. The Italian Trade Agency, or ITA, participated for the first time. Its support gave 15 Italian production companies visibility and promotion, discounted participation and a dedicated space for meetings.
Toscana Film Commission was also among the Italian institutions in Toulouse. Animation is now an established presence in the region, and the commission has begun collaborating with Cartoon to support new talent. At the next Cartoon Springboard in Madrid, November 4–6—an event that gives the next generation a chance to take its first steps in the industry and learn from international professionals—the Florence-based commission will present a new call for applications.
This will be the second call, opening in November, for the free six-month Animation AI Product Manager Lab. The course combines online teaching with in-person sessions in Prato and Pistoia, with support from the European Social Fund and in collaboration with Cartoon Italia, the association of Italian animation producers.
“The first course had 14 participants who developed seven projects,” explained Martina Capaccioni of Toscana Film Commission. “Participants receive help developing their creative ideas. We expect to welcome a similar number to the new course.”
The program combines traditional animation practices with generative artificial intelligence, helping participants explore new approaches to storytelling, character development and production workflows. It is open to applicants from Italy and elsewhere in Europe, with no age limit. This is the “Tuscany system,” supporting every stage from training through production.
Capaccioni also announced that a new €4 million production funding call will open by November. The maximum awards will be €250,000 for feature films and TV series, €25,000 for short films and €20,000 for documentaries.
Read more: AFM 2026: Where The Global Independent Film Business Comes Together
