Cyber Group Studios Makes Splash in Biarritz With Diverse Animated Fare

Ed Meza @edmezavar Coming off a year of major international growth, Paris-based animation giant Cyber Group Studios is presenting a wide-ranging lineup of new and returning shows at this year’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous in the French seaside town of Biarritz. Among Cyber Group’s current high-profile titles is the new super-powered kid comedy series “50/50 Heroes,” which has sold to ITV in the U.K. and Discovery in Latin America. Commissioned by France Televisions and Disney, “50/50 Heroes” follows the high jinks of Mo and Sam, a half-brother and sister duo, aged 11 and 9, who share super powers. Cyber Group has been expanding its global operations over the past year with a number of major acquisitions, partnerships and joint ventures that have resulted in a number of new projects.

The company has acquired majority stakes in leading U.K. animation studio A Productions, Italian company Graphilm Entertainment and Scrawl Animation in Singapore. The A Productions partnership has led to Cyber Group’s first commission from the BBC for the studios’ first jointly produced series, “Digital Girl,” which has also sold to Super RTL in Germany and Discovery Latin America. Cyber Group’s acquisition in Singapore, meanwhile, is seen as a strategic expansion into a vital region. “It’s a huge hub for us,” Raphaëlle Mathieu, Cyber Group’s executive vice president, told Variety. “Asia is critical. We have worked very well with China and we want to be even closer to the territory and keep on working well with CCTV.” CCTV has acquired all three seasons of Cyber Group’s flagship preschool series “Gigantosaurus” as well as “Taffy,” a co-production with Turner and France TV about a scraggly raccoon who, pretending to be a cat, weasels his way into