The list of the five finalists for the MIPJunior Pitch 2024 has been revealed. The competition gives an opportunity to reach influential global, multi-platform children’s commissioners, and will be staged live at the forthcoming International kids screenings and co-production market in Cannes on 19-20 October 2024.
Providing invaluable visibility to a jury of influential decision-makers and attending international buyers, this year’s MIPJunior Pitch (targeting three to six years) attracted over 110 submissions from 34 countries and 98 companies. Finalists hailing from Brazil, South Africa, Germany, and the UK have been shortlisted based on criteria of demonstrating originality, potential universal appeal and for brand extensions, licensing and merchandising, and also where the subject matter touches on areas such as diversity and inclusion and sustainability.
Moderated by Sixth Sense Media MD Sallyann Keizer, the winner will be determined by a jury including: M6 / Gulli children acquisitions director & international TV channels children programming director Maud Branly; Disney Branded Television executive director, content acquisitions and partnerships Rick Clodfelter; Grupo Globo licensed content head Luiz Filipe Figueira; FUNdamentally Children founder and CEO Amanda Gummer; and BBC children’s commissioning (zero to six) senior head Kate Morton.
The five finalists are:
- Monsieur Roscoe (United Kingdom), Company: Beakus, Genre: Animation
Synopsis: Monsieur Roscoe follows the capers of a rather silly happy-go-lucky basset hound called Roscoe. Every day he opens his store, Roscoe’s Repairs, and is visited by townsfolk carrying broken objects that mean the world to them – a bobble hat with detached bobble, a broken bell with no ‘ting’, or a deflated football.
Roscoe loves nothing more than helping people, so he sets about finding a ‘fix’ for the broken objects. Of course, he never takes the easy option, and is usually found cycling around town in search of tools, parts, and very often food! Larger-than-life, Roscoe is loved by everyone despite his antics. He’s also accompanied by Fry, his goldfish companion, who tries to advise Roscoe along the way. This comes in especially useful when Roscoe forgets his ‘words’ – Roscoe doesn’t actually speak the same language as the townsfolk, and though he does his best he sometimes forgets important words. With Fry’s help – and a callout to the audience – Roscoe learns new words every day, helping him to complete the task, and also become that little bit more understood. ‘Monsieur Roscoe’ is an animated series that encourages bilingualism through heartfelt stories of fixing and friendship.
- Bia and the Beats (Brazil), Company: Birdo, Genre: Animation
Synopsis: Bia is the most excited, intense and musical five-year-old you’ll ever meet. She uses music as inspiration to do everything. Whether it’s a pop-funk tune to build up her confidence and rock out in her dance performance or a rock n’ roll hit to boost her courage and play with the older kids. But Bia’s relationship with music goes far beyond…
When she puts her favourite headphones on, Bia’s musical energy becomes so powerful that it explodes into funny little creatures: THE BEATS! Every song inspires a feeling in us, and every one of these feelings takes shape in a Beat. When Bia brings them to life, that’s usually when everything turns into the craziest music video!
- Dogs Need Jobs (United Kingdom), Company: Dominion of Drama Ltd, Genre: Animation
Synopsis: When Mum brings home a new dog, Nikki, she urges siblings Casey and Terri that “dogs need jobs” to keep their brains stimulated and their bodies busy. The kids take this order literally and they attempt to get Nikki employed in a real job (ranging from fire-fighter to tax accountant, from landscape gardener to trial attorney) which she invariably messes up (by being a dog) with a mix of hilarity and chaos but also learning about real-world jobs in a kid-friendly way (akin to Richard Scarry “Busytown” books).
Each episode, Casey and Terri get Nikki a new job in the ‘real world’ with hilarious and sometimes disastrous results. We play the conceit straight, but the job placements are actually make-believe and played out in the siblings’ backyard akin to the way Muppet Babies playfully brought fantasy play to life. Based on the new picture book by Jeff Norton.
- Pumpkin Finds Her Queen (South Africa), Company: Paper Jet, Genre: Animation
Synopsis: Pumpkin Pie comes off from a long generation of magical healers but like all magic, there are rules. To access her special gift, Pumpkin needs to complete a task from their family book of magic, The Komvandaan. This book reveals itself to family members at times of great learning. When Pumpkin transfers to a prestigious new school, she struggles to navigate this new world of wealth and cruelty, especially from the mean girls, The Swishers.
As Pumpkin struggles to fit in, she loses sight of her magical task and begins to lose her identity. Her family soon suffers the consequences and begins to lose their magical gifts. Pumpkin must journey in a battle not only to conquer the bullies on the outside, but the bully within, or else risk losing both her identity and her family’s heritage. Through a celebration of original South African music, magical realism and heart, this is the story of a little brown girl’s journey to self-acceptance and learning that it is our differences that make us special. One curl at a time, Pumpkin finds her Queen.
- Littlest Robot (Germany), Company: Toon2Tango GmbH & Co.KG, Genre: Animation
Synopsis: Welcome to the wonderful world of the Littlest Robot– Fantastical stories of adventure and discovery of a simple little robot no bigger than a teacup. With no apparent special robot functions, his animal friends soon find out through their adventures together that it’s actually his ability to learn from his and their feelings (and to help them do the same in the process) that makes him so very special.
A new story starts the moment Littlest Robot’s switch on the side of his head flicks to the ‘on’ position, then he and his friends are off again, embarking on yet another one of their many wondrous adventures. And should Littlest Robot become overwhelmed by a situation or problem at some point, he simply reboots himself by switching off his switch until he is refreshed again and better equipped to resolve it. These are thought provoking honest stories about a very eclectic group of friends, each with unique personalities and differences, becoming aware of themselves and others and finding out how they fit together as a group. The more challenges they face and discoveries they make, the more they learn and grow as individuals, and the tighter their bond of friendship gets.
The overall theme for the MIPJunior 2024 programme is ‘Expand Your Playground’ and will again be held at the JW Marriot Cannes across the weekend preceding MIPCOM (21-24 October 2024).