Cyber Group Studios’ new action-adventure-packed series, The Tern, was the #1 attended screening program at Cartoon Forum the annual conference, held between 19-22 September this year in Toulouse, France. Cartoon Forum is Europe’s biggest showcase for animation and TV series.
One of the most anticipated French projects on the market, The Tern, a series that blends European and Japanese graphic styles, screened on Tuesday, 20 September to a crowded theater of viewers. The show was the lead series among the 80 animated TV projects submitted this year from 19 European countries, totalling 473 hours of content, and garnered a phenomenal response from the public, potential partners, and press.
Cyber Group Studios chairman and CEO Pierre Sissmann said: “The reception we received to The Tern was astounding and very exciting. It is a wonderful series with a gripping storyline that is sure to be a hit with viewers in all markets.”
Cyber Group Studios senior VP creative development and Bee Prod producer Pierre Belaisch said, “The Tern is a beautiful production filled with action, adventure and suspense that will appeal to a wide audience. We look forward to sharing the series with our global partners.”
The Tern (10×26’) is based on an original story from two acclaimed artists: Julien Dinse, author of more than 60 animation scripts for key production companies, including Cyber Group Studios, and Christian Lachenal, a veteran musical director and scriptwriter, who has worked on numerous comedy series such as 50/50 Heroes from Cyber Group Studios. Graphic designs were created by renown French artist Tony Valente, writer and illustrator of Radiant, the first French manga published in Japan, and Charles Barrez, art director and Graphic Bible Author of the hit TV series Gigantosaurus (seasons one-three). Directing The Tern is Slimane Aniss, who developed the animated action-adventure series Baidir and Ewilan’s Quest previously presented at Cartoon Forum. Aniss spent more than a decade working on commercials and video games as art director, director and Independent motion designer for companies such as Sony, Sega Ubisoft, and Dior.
The Tern follows flight paths around the Earth. A fleet of massive dirigibles travels tirelessly above the devastated planet, veiled with toxic clouds and mists. Within the Tern, the remnants of humanity live in compliance with strict laws, under the command of their inflexible captain, the Compass. It has been a long time since the last dreamers abandoned hope of returning to land. And yet, someone appears to be sending signals from the ground. Those impossible images haunt their unique witnesses, a group of three teenagers. Their enthusiasm and hunger for truth will prompt them to take great risks to uncover this apparently perfect micro-society’s dark secrets.