Ahead of the busy days of Bordeaux’s Cartoon Movie (running this year from 5 to 7 March), we caught up with Tania Pinto Da Cunha, of Montréal- and Madrid-based sales firm Pink Parrot Media. Our chat focused on the company’s slate of projects, the type of content they seek to acquire, and selling animation at large.

Cineuropa: Could you describe Pink Parrot Media’s main activities and mission?
Tania Pinto Da Cunha: We’re an international sales company set up in 2018 by Marie-Claude Beauchamp and myself. We specialise in animation, with a focus on family entertainment. The company is active in distribution, acquisition, packaging and financing projects, as well as co-production opportunities. Our mission is to give producers a place where they feel comfortable and convinced that their projects are well considered, promoted with passion, and always handled with a personal touch. We could say that we are a boutique in the family entertainment business.

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What will be the focus of your activities at Cartoon Movie? What about the titles you're selling?
I will be joining my producers on the sneak preview of two titles, Elli and Her Monster Team - where my partner Marie-Claude Beauchamp is also serving as the co-producer – and Superklaus. I will take the opportunity, too, to discuss these titles with distributors from some territories that remain available. Elli and Her Monster Team’s sneak preview will be presented on 6 March at 6pm in Amphitheatre A, whilst Superklaus’ one will take place on 7 March at 5pm in Amphitheatre B.

Our other main focus will be to discuss some very interesting projects that are presented [at the gathering] and which still need a sales agent. Cartoon Movie is a very good place for that. It gives us the chance to spend some quality time with the best European animation producers. They’re all there!

What type of European content or IP do you seek to acquire?
We always look for high-quality animation in CGI, with strong and outstanding stories that resonate internationally. Projects for the whole family, that’s our focus. We like adventures, content with animals, and especially stories that have an important message aimed at the whole family. We’re also interested in 2D animation with a distinctive print. Again, here we need to focus on stories that can relate to an international audience, whether that happens owing to the graphics or the message. We can see when the producers have that [international appeal] in mind when they develop their project, or whether it has been done for the local market [only.] In the case of the latter, even if the project is amazing, it’s hard to present it worldwide. This is something very important for us. Speaking of IP, of course it’s always interesting to find projects with pre-existing ones, as these travel well. But that’s not the norm in Europe.

How many titles do you handle each year? What about the size of your catalogue?
We try to handle three to six new titles each year. Our catalogue is slowly growing, including 15 features and around 12 animated TV series.

What are some successful titles you’ve handled in recent years? What did you focus your efforts on?
Following the success we had with Racetime, which was sold in more than 100 countries, we continued that path with Butterfly Tale, recently released in Canada, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Poland, South Africa... In the upcoming months, it’ll be released in other countries, including the UK, US, Turkey, the Middle East, Bulgaria, Romania, the former Yugoslavia, the Baltics, Hungary and many more. Butterfly Tale carries a great message. It’s about some personal choices we have to make, maintaining the confidence to see our dreams to the end. It’s about believing in yourself and others! And it’s also a tale about environmental education, told with artistic excellence and outstanding animation.

Other great titles such as Valentina [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film] [crowned Best Animated Feature at the Goyas in 2022] and Hanna and Her Monsters [which earned a nomination for Best Animated Features at the Goyas this year] made us also very proud, with theatrical releases and sales in countries such as France, Italy, Latin America, Russia, Ukraine, Middle East and Turkey, among others.

We’re also happy with the titles we’re pre-selling to many countries, which are being received very well — Elli and Her Monster Team and Superklaus but also Unstable, The Bottanix and Norbert.

How is the role of sales agents developing within the context of animation, in particular when it comes to handling European content?
Our role is still very crucial in the animation market here in Europe. We can see that by looking at the amount of new sales companies joining us at Cartoon Movie this year. I believe that, differently from other market segments, in animation most of us bring great knowledge that helps the producer develop their projects with a strong international focus. To do that, it’s important to get involved very early in the development stage. And that is what this market, Cartoon Movie, brings to us all. For three days, every year, here in Bordeaux, we are a big family!