Kids Kino Industry, the pitching and co-production forum for feature films and series (live-action, animation and documentaries) for young audiences, has announced the line-up for its next edition, to be held in Warsaw, Poland and online from 28 September to 1 October 2021.

Hybrid edition!

This year, we look forward to welcoming our Pitching Teams, Decision Makers and industry professionals in person in Warsaw and also online. The Kids Kino Industry team has been working on the idea of holding a hybrid event over the past few months, while at the same time closely following the situation both in Poland and other countries.

Eventually, we decided that it was important to give our Pitching Teams, Decision Makers and participants the opportunity to attend the event live in Warsaw. At the same time, we were well aware that some industry professionals may be unable to join in with the offline event due to certain travel restrictions, and therefore the programme of the Kids Kino Industry forum will also be available online.

We believe that this hybrid format will allow us to create the best experience possible and provide valuable business opportunities for those who will join us either in Warsaw or online.

2021 Kids Kino Industry official selection

This year's selection consists of 24 projects from 19 different countries*, all carefully chosen by the Kids Kino Industry team: Maciej Jakubczyk, Head of the Kids Kino International Film Festival, Katarzyna Janiak, Project Manager, and Viola Gabrielli, Head of Programme, as well as our selection committee: Sandra Le Blanc-Marissal, Commissioning Editor at Children & Youth Entertainment, NDR, Debbie Macdonald, Children’s Media Consultant & Content Creator, Alicja Grawon-Jaksik, President of the Board of the Polish Producers Alliance (KIPA) and Petri Kemppinen, Consultant & Founder of P1 Kemppinen. All the projects chosen represent different topics and genres.

The subject matter covered by the selected titles is very wide-ranging, with projects based on bestselling books and a live-action sentimental comedy for children with puppets, a colourful adventure film inspired by the extraordinary life of the explorer Alexander Laime, who spent an incredible time together with his family in the Venezuelan jungle in the 1950s, or a musical set in Yugoslavia after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, through to an animated series looking at climate change, diversity and an inclusive and conscious society, a humorous preschool series on how to deal with your emotions, and a documentary on puberty.

The pitchings and One-To-One meetings are the main core of the programme. The selected projects will be presented to Polish and international professionals from the film and new media industries, including distributors, broadcasters, investors, representatives of VOD platforms, film funds and festivals, as well as potential co-producers, among others.

A few statistics

For a better overview, here are a few statistics about the Kids Kino Industry connected with the submissions and selection.

Shortlisted from a total of 74 submissions, the 21 selected projects will join three previously chosen projects which won the opportunity to participate in the Kids Kino Industry forum through our cooperation agreements.

The projects “No Happily Ever After” (Czech Republic) and “The Olive Bunch” (Cyprus) were included in the line-up after being selected at the CEE Animation Forum, while the Finnish series “Game of Minds” (Finland) was selected from M:brane.

The selection consists of 8 live-action, 12 animated, 1 animated/transmedia, 2 live-action/animated projects and 1 documentary, and is made up of 12 films and 12 series.

The selected projects are at different stages of production and will be presented within three sections: In Development (17*), Work in Progress (6) and Market Presentation (1).

Although the pitching sessions and One-To-One meetings are the key points in the KKI programme, the event also offers a wide spectrum of masterclasses, workshops, panel discussions, consultations and many other inspiring activities for those attending.

Accreditation will be on sale from mid-August.

List of the selected projects:

IN DEVELOPMENT* **

“The Adventure of Fram the Polar Bear” – Duo Animation Production, animated/transmedia film, Romania
“Anton Starflashman” – Heimatfilm GmbH + CO KG, live-action/animated film, Germany
“Dad’s Red Dress” – Lunar Pictures, live-action series, Ireland
“Eureka” – Becklow Films Ltd, live-action series, UK
“Girls’ Stories” – Pinot Films, documentary film, Poland
“The Happy Ones” – Atom Art, animated film, Latvia
“Hello Terra” – Studio Sonica, animated series, Poland
“Lampo – The Dog That Rode The Trains” – K&K Selekt, live-action film, Poland
“My Name Is…” – Blaue Pampelmuse, animated series, Germany
“Nine Lives Left” – Wild at Heart, animated film, Greece
“No Happily Ever After” – Helium Film, animated series, Czech Republic
“The Olive Bunch” – Pixelgiants, animated series, Cyprus
“Puppets Saving Television” – Jaka produkcija, live-action film, Croatia
“Rainbow Hunters” – Lunes Animation Studio, animated series, Chile
“The Talentless” – Prikaz Film, live-action film, Republic of Serbia
“The Tales of Franz” – arx anima & NGF Film, animated series, Austria
The Wawies” – Imagic TV, animated series, Spain

WORK IN PROGRESS

“Game of Minds” – napafilms, live-action series, Finland
“Hug me. Honeyseekers” – Animoon, animated film, Poland
“I Accidentally Wrote a Book” – JUNO11 Pictures Kft., live-action film, Hungary
“John Vardar vs the Galaxy” – Lynx Animation Studios, animated film, Macedonia
“The Websters” – Fool Moon, live-action/animated film/series, Slovakia
“Welcome to Mamoko” – Pigeon, animated series, Poland

MARKET PRESENTATION

“Beanie” – Senca Studio, live-action film, Slovenia

* the title of a 25th project from Latin America will be added to the official selection in due course, in the In Development section, thanks to our newly established cooperation with comKids+BrLab.

** the line-up will be updated later for projects which are currently being worked on in the Kids Kino Lab script development workshop. If you are ready to develop your script, check the details on the www.kidskinolab.pl website. The call for submissions for the next edition opens in August.

More information, including synopses and statements from the creators of the projects selected for the Kids Kino Industry forum, will be available on the www.kidskinoindustry.pl website shortly.

About Kids Kino Industry

The Kids Kino Industry forum was established five years ago and it has since grown to become one of the most important events in Eastern and Central Europe aimed at kids and youth content. The event is attended annually by more than 270 guests working for such prominent companies as Netflix, ARRI Media, Indie Sales, New Europe Film Sales, LevelK, TVP, RTV Slovenija, Windrose, Platige Image, Beta Film, Film Republic and Canal+ Polska.

Our goal is to create a meeting place where European professionals can exchange ideas and experiences, and develop new content for children. We want to create a space that will help connect projects with potential co-producers, distributors, sales agents, broadcasters and film funds.

Kids Kino Industry (the international co-production forum aimed at children’s content, 28.09-1.10.2021) along with Kids Kino Lab (the script development workshop) are part of the Kids Kino International Film Festival taking place in September in Warsaw and twenty other Polish cities (and online).

More information about the selection: https://www.kidskinoindustry.pl/kids-kino-industry-official-selection/

JULY 2021