As part of MIFA’s new Korea Business Showcase, Gwangju’s Information and Content Agency (GICON) made its first steps at the Annecy Animation Festival this Tuesday, marking a continuous trend of more and more Asian agencies represented at the class A festivals and markets.

Established to support and foster information communication and cultural industries in the Gwangju area, GICON also contributes to strengthening the competitiveness and development of animation studios through dedicated programs fostering local talents, infrastructure support, and access to many services that help reach beyond national markets.

As part of a strong Korean delegation at the MIFA this year, GICON brought five studios from the Gwangju region to the stage, each presenting what could become the next global animation IP, with a Korean twist.

Here’s a closer look at the titles:

“Makers Jam,” GraFiziX

Strange things are happening at school, and things get even worse when a system malfunction traps the Makers Jam kids inside a chaotic time loop. While repairing their broken school, they meet historical figures, gain scientific inspiration, solve problems together, and discover friendship, creativity and their hidden talents.

Brought forth by edutainment studio GraFiziX, a company with more than 20 years of experience in creating educational content for children and teens worldwide, “Makers Jam” promises a blend of history, science and fun for children and tweens. With interactive media, immersive exhibitions and many opportunities to go beyond the 26 11-minute episodes, GraFiziX is confident that this project could reach a global audience. “We want the children to move from watching to making,” added Tony Hong, CEO. “And we’re actively seeking production partners, investors and international buyers to bring this project to life.”

“Ghost Delivery,” 38°C Animation Studios

When was the last time you ordered delivery? But more to the point, what if you were a delivery person, and you stumbled face to face with a possessed client? In “Ghost Delivery,” exorcists Monkee and Monsu, disguised as delivery workers, hunt evil spirits threatening the city.

Blending Korean shamanistic mythology with modern social issues, this 30 x 6-minute episodes’ series aims to deliver action-packed, bingeable content to audiences 15+, with unique characters, a battle of good and evil, and a Korean taste of the occult.

“In our modern era, food delivery has become a universal language, yet almost no animated IP has tackled this topic yet,” added Tae Sik Shin, CEO of 38°C. “The anime market is enormous, yet Korean anime is barely in it. With this project, we aim to reach a wide audience with both a dynamic duo, Korean DNA, and a universal story about how we treat each other online.”

With support from the Korea Creative Content Agency and its own investments, 38°C comes to Annecy looking to close the gap before starting production, seeking international partners to bring this witty, on-point genre animated series to life.

“Gigabuilder,” Pingo Entertainment

Build the Future on Mars! In “Gigabuillder,” an empowering, fun, world-building TV series mixing cute pets with building machines, we follow Avin and his animal friends as they build a city on Mars through teamwork and creativity. Combining science and imagination, the 20 x 12-and-a-half minute episodes follows their adventures on the Red Planet. Season 1 has already launched in selected territories and Pingo Entertainement is now in production of a second 20-episodes season, as the “Gigabuilder” franchise already boasts toys and transformable robots vehicles. In Annecy, Pingo seeks broadcasters, OTT, IPTV, SVOD, AVOD platforms for its IP.

An energy-filled project, “Gigabuilder” is part of Pingo Entertainment strong slate, which built (in less than 10 years) powerful IPs in high-quality CGI animation for TV, game and theatrical releases. “As a global multimedia studio, we develop, produce, and license original IPs while bringing creative stories and animation dreams to audiences worldwide,” underlined Minjee Kim, International Sales and Partnerships representative.

“Elixir of the Sun,” Studio W.BABA

Presented by Studio G.BABA CEO Inchan Park, “Elixir of the Sun” is the eponymous adaptation of webtoon & web novel “Elixir of the Sun” by Soltam (novel) and Songi (webtoon), published on Korean webtoon major player KakaoPage.

An Eastern romance fantasy about the fated love between the mad Emperor Dan and Bayan, a woman with special powers, “Elixir of the Sun” blends court intrigue, fantasy and intense emotion, all of which is set to transpire in the 2D, AI crafted series. With a 20 x 12-minute episodes target and

A unique partner in the Gwangju region, Studio G.BABA specializes in building animated IP. Its original IP “B-Family,” a 2024 Korea Content Award winner, recently secured a 2 billion KRW ($1.3 million) Chinese investment for a “B-Family” second season, setting the pace for a global distribution of the series. to expand globally.

For “Elixir of the Sun,” the studio comes to Annecy seeking co-production partners, investors, broadcasters, OTT platforms, global animation distributors, along with character licensors and merchandisers.

“Quantum Heroes Dinoster,” Funny Flux

An action-packed, 26 x 11-minute animated series about multiverse heroes protecting dinosaurs and cities across dimensions. In Season 3, the team enters Dinopia, a civilized dinosaur world, to face threats endangering both worlds through friendship, courage, and teamwork.

Founded in 2008, FunnyFlux is a Korean animation studio creating family-friendly IP for global audiences. “From broadcast and YouTube to licensing, merchandising, film, and live shows, we build every path an IP travels,” added Jaegwon Oh, Funny Flux Representative here in Annecy. With many different IP, Funny Flux’ stories have reached over 160 countries in the past 18 years, with more than 10 billion YouTube views across their different series.

In Annecy, they are looking to bring “Quantum Heroes Dinoster” to a wider international audience, seeking distributors, OTT and SVOD platforms along with broadcasters.