Cartoon Network’s Africa Creative Lab to screen winning shorts at DISCOP

WarnerMedia will reveal the winning shorts at DISCOP Johannesburg, which is taking place at the Sandton Convention Center from Wednesday, 20 November to Friday, 22 November. This comes a year after announcing Cartoon Network Africa's Creative Lab winners.

The initiative started in June 2018 as a pan-African call for pitch competition. The aim was to find African talents and bring to life local stories through animation as well as unearth talent from a range of backgrounds.

"In our quest to develop genuine African stories with unique aesthetics and a sense of humour, which truly connects with our local viewers, we're excited that the stories we have received — and ultimately produced — are unique in their genre and style," says Ariane Suveg, programming director and head of Kids Content.

"They truly stand out from what we've seen before, and thus, are aligned with our channel positioning. Cartoon Network is all about being unique and surprising. We are equally proud to participate in this project and bring these locally animated content pieces to an audience that is hungry for original, genuine and catchy stories," adds Suveg.

"Through Cartoon Network Africa's Creative Lab, which birthed the first 100%-African animated content production led by Cartoon Network, it becomes clear that Africa has talent and creatives also deliver very rich and diverse creative projects with engaging characters and unexpected stories," says Suveg.

"We [aimed] throughout the process to keep and preserve the original idea of each creator. It is key to keep the creator at the center of the whole creative process. This is a challenge when you work with parties sitting in different African countries and in Europe. Still, at Cartoon Network, we selected those original ideas for their creative strength and uniqueness. It was, therefore, crucial to preserve it throughout the production journey," Suveg concludes.

In the DISCOP panel discussion on Wednesday, 20 November, WarnerMedia Africa will present how international television channels, such as Cartoon Network, Boomerang or TNT, work to create a brand experience that feels relevant for a local African audience. This is in line with WarnerMedia's plans to commit to developing African animated content in 2020.

The three winning Cartoon Network Creative Lab winning shorts will premiere on Cartoon Network (DStv 301) on Saturday, 11 January 2020 at 17:15 CAT. 

For more information, visit www.cartoonnetworkafrica.com. You can also follow Cartoon Network Africa on Facebook or on Instagram.