Secures Pre-Sale of Hit Non-Dialogue Comedy with France Télévisions, Alongside Renewal of Previous Seasons
Regulatory News:
Xilam Animation, Academy Award®-nominated French animation group, has greenlit a fourth season of its hit non-dialogue comedy franchise Where's Chicky?, following the signing of a pre-sale with leading broadcaster France Télévisions (France), which has also renewed the first seasons of the series. The new season of the 52 x 1' short-form animated series, written and directed by William Hoareau, is produced by Xilam's CGI specialist studio Cube Creative Productions, is slated for delivery in April 2025.
Where's Chicky? follows an adorable little chick who discovers a new place and/or an unknown object in each of his adventures. The new fourth season will see Chicky discover as yet unexplored objects that can be found in a child's everyday life: toys, appliances and other gadgets that for someone as small as a chick can seem gigantic, not to mention enigmatic! There will be a mix of modernity and tradition, with objects that are emblematic of childhood as well as more hi-tech gadgets.
Where's Chicky? is celebrating its 10th anniversary year and is one of Xilam's most popular digital IP, with five billion lifetime views accrued over on the series' YouTube channel. The channel has also reached eight million subscribers this summer after only five years, with views per year totalling 1.5 billion. The series has also found popularity on TikTok, with four million subscribers and 20 million likes. Xilam has previously secured partnerships for Where's Chicky? with leading international broadcasters, including in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and more, across SVOD, FVoD and AVoD platforms, and in China, the series counts more than five billion views across multiple platforms. The series also won the Unifrance Export Award for the best-selling French audiovisual program in the animation category in 2022.
Safaa Benazzouz, EVP Distribution at Xilam Animation, said: "In the ten years since its debut, Where's Chicky? has delighted audiences around the world with charming and hilarious escapades that have made viewers laugh alongside educating them about the world, its places and objects. It's fantastic to have our long-standing partner France Télévisions on board for the new fourth season, which is a testament to the ongoing success of the series as one of our leading IP, and we're looking forward to seeing what adventures Chicky takes his viewers on next.
About Xilam
A major player in animation, Xilam is an integrated studio founded in 1999 that creates, produces and distributes original programmes in more than 190 countries for both children and adult audiences. Xilam content is broadcast on television, and is also available on SVoD platforms including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon and AVoD streaming platforms including YouTube and Facebook.
With its creativity and capacity for innovation recognised worldwide, its unique expertise in CGI, as well as editorial and commercial expertise at the cutting edge of its industry, Xilam is positioned as a key player of the market. Each year, Xilam builds real successes and capitalises on its powerful historical brands including Oggy and the Cockroaches, Zig Sharko and Chicky, as well as new properties such as Oggy Oggy for a preschool audience, and Academy Award® nominated adult feature film I Lost My Body. Additionally, Xilam is serving as the animation studio for Zack Snyder's animated series Twilight of the Gods, launched worldwide on 19 September 2024 by Netflix, and also produces Chip 'n' Dale: Park Life, alongside the forthcoming horror comedy The Doomies, for Disney+. Xilam's expanding and strong catalogue now consists of over 2,800 episodes and three feature films.
Xilam employs more than 400 individuals, across its studios in Paris, Angoulême in France and Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. Xilam was ranked France's leading animation studio for the 2018-2023 period in a report by the French National Centre for Cinema and Animation (CNC).
Xilam is listed on Euronext Paris Compartment C PEA SRD long Eligibility.
ISIN: FR0004034072, Symbol: XIL
For more information, visit: www.xilam.com
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241014081546/en/
Contacts:
Marc du Pontavice Chairman and CEO
Cécile Haimet CFO
Phone: +33 1 40 18 72 00
The DDA Group
xilam@ddaglobal.com
Charlotte Newcombe Phone +44 7726 901 129
Image Sept Agency
xilam@image7.fr
Karine Allouis (Media Relations) Phone +33 1 53 70 74 81
Laurent Poinsot (Investor Relations) Phone +33 1 53 70 74 77
