Spain’s Peekaboo and GoldBee, Germany’s KiKA Win Tributes at Cartoon Forum

Capping an Iberian flavored edition that featured eight pitch projects and a spotlight on the national industry, Spanish outfits GoldBee and Peekaboo Animation won tributes at this year’s Cartoon Forum, with the Barcelona-based GoldBee named Investor/Distributor of the Year and indie production house Peekaboo Animation claiming the Producer prize. Rounding out the tributes with continental flair, Germany’s KiKA was awarded Broadcaster of the Year.

Founded in 2013 and now boasting a catalogue over 2,500 titles strong, GoldBee specializes in half-hour children’s and family content, distributing animation and live-action productions to partners around the world. Projects like the Mexican-Spanish co-production “Cleo & Cuquin” and the British chiller “Scream Street” are but some of GoldBee’s notable titles. In keeping with German-Spanish pas-de-deux of this year’s tributes, the Barcelona-based GoldBee has found particular success with ZDF Studios productions “Ziggy and the Zootram” and “Henrietta.”

Fellow Barcelonan Peekaboo Animation won Producer of the Year, and was on hand at Cartoon Forum to pitch the 2D project “Best Friends Forever… Stranded!” (pictured above). The independent studio is currently developing new seasons of hit shows “Mironins” and “I, Elvis Riboldi,” which sold to Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and Canal+ in different territories. “At Peekaboo we create, draw, write, produce and finance our own shows, with the aim of surprising the international market with fresh, innovative ideas,” the company boasts.

A joint venture co-run by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF, KiKA can’t be beat. Offering both linear and non-linear services, targeting youths from preschool all the way to pre-teens, and promising violence-free entertainment, KiKA is Germany’s leading family content provider. Projects like “Odo”, “Stinky Dog”, “Edmund and Lucy”, “Sir Mouse”, and “Animanimals” all air on the broadcast platform without any commercial breaks.

The three prizes were awarded ahead of the Cartoon Forum’s final pitch sessions. Running over Sept. 19 – 22 in the Southwestern French city of Toulouse, this year’s edition saw French studios bring a whopping 37 projects to the table, while also reflecting the growing strengths of the German, Spanish and Irish animation industries. Studios from Italy, Poland, Belgium and Denmark also introduced a number of titles, making this session a truly pan-European event.

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