France may in general have suffered last year a sales’ decline and export slow-down but “Submarine Jim“‘s characters don’t seem to be bothered as they weather this storm with a smile on their face.
Xilam’s latest production, in which a naive young dolphin (Jim) takes charge of an “inverted” submarine full of fish and sea water, is a road trip/slapstick comedy adventure blending laugh-out-loud children jokes and subtle references aimed and at an older audience.
Created by Frédéric Martin, the acclaimed director of “Oggy Oggy” and a Xilam alum, “Submarine Jim” is produced with Super RTL and France Télévisions and already has licensed multiple territories and broadcasters, including the BBC (U.K. and Ireland), RTS (French-Switzerland), RTBF and VRT (Belgium), NPO (Netherlands), YLE (Finland), NRK (Norway) and Noga (Israel), as well as Warner Bros. Discovery in EMEA, Latin America, Southeast Asia and South Korea.
During the Unifrance Rendez-vous, where Xilam presented the series to international buyers, Variety spoke with the teams behind “Submarine Jim.”
“Sitcoms work particularly well in contained settings, so I started looking for one… and landed on a submarine,” explains Frédéric Martin. “Then came the question: what’s unique about this submarine? Simple: it’s obviously filled with water! One logical question led to another, until we landed on having an aquarium on wheels, where the fish experience Planet Earth as if they were exploring Mars.”
Xilam developed this series with children 6-10 as its main audience in mind, adds Caterina Gonnelli-Linden, Chief Content Officer at Xilam. “But, for sure, adults can laugh out loud watching the episodes, as we’ve woven within the storyline deeper themes and situations such as, ‘What does it mean to be a good leader?’ and ‘How do you figure out an efficient work split between very different people?’ If you think about it, this comedy draws a lot of ingredients from workplace comedies, but with a light touch.”
Martin didn’t set out to target adults specifically, but he wanted the show to have jokes and different levels of reading. The stories had to work for 6–10-year-olds first, but if the teams could add a second layer of humor through workplace-comedy situations, along with little references here and there during the writing / storyboard stage, he was happy with it.
For visual development, Miam worked with François Maumont, also a Xilam alum. “François developed the visual style using his own brushes and inks, which we then scanned and digitized. From there, the real challenge for Clémence Bourson, our art director, was to preserve that handmade quality and achieve the same look on screen.”
With its distinct 2D approach, “Submarine Jim” stands out from the very first minute. Although set in an easily recognizable French setting, the series feels universal both by its humor and rhythm, a feat the team at to maintain at the same level for the whole 52 x 11-minute episodes.
“I would say that the concept lent itself very easily to the writing of all the 52 episodes,” confides Gonnelli-Linden. “Writers were very inspired by the large cast of characters and by their zig-zagging quest, as this was virtually an infinite sandbox to play with. I felt that the whole production, although very demanding in terms of design assets, was smooth.”
For the executive, every step felt cohesive and coherent, something she interprets as the sign of a clear creative vision, and a universal appeal.
“Because the show is so character-driven,” adds Martin, “we felt that the emotions our characters go through and the crazy situations they find themselves in could resonate with kids anywhere. The French setting gives it a strong identity, while the humor and rhythm help make it universal. And of course, we wanted to put the lovely French town of Macon on the map!”
From a sales point of view, “Submarine Jim” feels like great material. And the wave of sales Xilam already proves that there’s definite interest for a road-tripping inverted submarine and its crew. “We’ve sold the series to broadcasters around the world,” underlines Safaa Benazzouz, EVP Distribution at Xilam Animation. “Our goal is now to sell the series to a partner is the U.S., and start a digital strategy by securing a SVOD global window, and of course a YouTube channel.”
Xilam’s YouTube channel are a big part of the company’s strategy, with billions of views accounted on IP-dedicated channels (“Oggy and the Cockroaches,” “Zig & Sharko”) along with YouTube-first hits (“Where’s Chicky”).
As the Le Havre Unifrance Rendez-Vous rounds its final corner and teams now prepare for Cartoon Forum, Europe’s biggest co-production event for animated TV series, Xilam is in the starting blocks for a second season. “As I said before, it is very easy to write hundreds of stories revolving around our characters,” shares an enthusiastic and hopeful Gonnelli-Linden. “The concept can sustain multiple seasons, with situations and settings that are so ‘topsy turvy’ that they will never feel outdated. Given that the signs we’re getting from the market are very positive so far, we’re feeling pretty comfortable about a second season.”
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