EXCLUSIVE: OuiDo! Productions, the French animation house known for family-friendly fare such as Alvinnn!!! and The Chipmunks and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+, is moving into the adult animation market.

The Paris-based company has announced the creation of joint venture Everybody on Board, with animation producers Didier Creste and Joé Baudot, focused on developing and producing animated films and series for adult audiences, a relatively untapped market in France.

Creste and Baudot have established themselves as leading voices in adult animation in France through productions such as the feature film Mars Express, which was acquired for North America by GKIDS, and two seasons of the cult animated series Lastman.

The partners officially launched the company at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on Wednesday with the unveiling of its first project, Prudence, which they bill as the first fully French-produced animated horror feature film.

Directed by Jérémie Hoarau (Lastman), the near-future set story follows Ina and Claude, commercial divers who join the crew of an underwater station located 200 meters below the ocean’s surface.

Their mission is a last-ditch attempt to contain a catastrophic oil spill. Working in isolation, cut off from the outside world and subjected to extreme conditions, the crew faces an even greater threat when the station’s doctor becomes infected by a highly contagious parasitic worm. The parasite removes all inhibitions from its hosts, unleashing their most extreme impulses as it feeds on their endorphins like an emotional vampire.

“Adult animation is a rapidly growing segment, and France has all the creative talent needed to develop ambitious projects in this field,” said Sandrine Nguyen, CEO of OuiDo! Productions.

“With Didier Creste and Joé Baudot, whose expertise in this field is widely recognized, we have found the ideal partners to expand into this market. Everybody On Board is built on a shared belief: animation has no age limit. Horror remains one of the most successful genres worldwide, making Prudence the perfect project to launch our collaboration.”

Creste, Managing Director of On Board Productions, added: “Partnering with OuiDo! gives us access to a strong production infrastructure and international expertise built over the past 25 years, while also working with a company that is fully committed to the creative process. It’s the ideal framework for developing projects that match our ambitions.”

Prudence is an 80-minute feature film written by Hoarau and Laurent Sarfati. Executive production is handled by JeSuisBienContent, while Tandem Films will distribute the film in France.

Additional Everybody On Board projects are currently in development and will be announced in the coming months.