The upcoming edition of Cartoon Next has unveiled its full programme ahead of its return to Marseille from 8-10 April, promising a jam-packed agenda of keynotes, panels and networking opportunities bringing together major players from animation, gaming, broadcasting and digital media.

Organised by the same Cartoon Media team behind industry gatherings such as Cartoon Movie and Cartoon Forum, the event aims to explore how storytelling is evolving across multiple platforms and technologies, while offering professionals an insight into emerging production and distribution models.

This year’s line-up will feature speakers and contributors from leading companies including Fortiche Production, CD PROJEKT RED, ARTE, the BBC, France Télévisions, Paramount, Unity Technologies, Brown Bag Films and Ubisoft, among many others active across animation, gaming and immersive media.

Alongside the traditional programme of case studies, keynote talks and panel discussions, the organisers are introducing a new feature titled Next Ideas Labs, a series of small-scale round-tables designed to encourage closer interaction between participants and leading experts.

Taking place on 9 April, the sessions will gather between ten and 15 professionals per table for hour-long discussions addressing key questions facing the creative industries. One lab will focus on “The Professional of Tomorrow”, examining which skills will be essential in the coming years and how industry professionals can prepare for evolving production environments. The discussion will be hosted by Kelly Vero, CEO and CTO of NAK3D and a veteran game developer whose credits include work on franchises such as Tomb Raider, Transformers and Candy Crush Saga, alongside Cathal Gaffney, chief innovation officer at Brown Bag Films and co-founder of the Dublin-based animation studio.

A second round-table will explore how stories can expand beyond a single screen and thrive across multiple platforms, a topic increasingly relevant as animation IP develops simultaneously across film, television, games and interactive media. The session will be led by Japhet Asher, director at Polarity Reversal and a pioneer of cross-platform storytelling who previously worked on digital initiatives for BBC Children’s, together with Eliza Jäppinen, CEO of Visible Realms, a company developing digital-first intellectual property for gaming platforms such as Roblox.

Participation in the Next Ideas Labs will be limited in order to maintain an intimate discussion format, with selected attendees able to exchange ideas directly with speakers and other industry professionals.

Beyond the conference sessions, the programme will also include two screenings of French-produced shorts supported by the region: Sulaimani, directed by Vinnie Ann Bose and produced by Girelle Production, and To the Woods, directed by Agnès Patron and produced by Sacrebleu Productions.

On day 2 and day 3, pitching sessions of select projects will take place. This year's line-up includes Annabelle Ranson's series B-860K: Synchtrails (France), Virgile Trouillot's series Bobby and the Bottle Brigade (France/Ireland, staged by Something Big together with Kavaleer), Simone Rea's series Cosmic Loom (Italy), Iryna Sosimovych's series Illogical Adult World (Ukraine, produced by Salt Cinema), Juha Fiilin's feature Orphan Yakuza (Finland, a Fiilin Good Films production), María Ruisánchez and Álvaro León's Pink Noise (Spain, produced by LaMola Studio), Shabnam Rezaei and Steve Smith's series Stink (Austria/UK, a co-production between Big Bad Boo Studios and Beakus), and Dave Minogue's series and VR game The Wing-Ed Freaks (Ireland, staged by Adventurverse Studios).

Networking will remain a central component of the event, with participants able to join one-to-one meetings aimed at facilitating exchanges between creators, producers, broadcasters and digital-media specialists. Organisers emphasise that the gathering’s relatively compact scale encourages informal discussions and collaboration opportunities among professionals from different sectors of the creative industries.