Report 2025

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SPR25 Final Report EN (2 Mb | PDF)

TAKING YOUNG EUROPEAN TALENTS TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Cartoon Springboard has one mission: to support the young generation by providing a safe place for them to train, by offering high-quality mentorships from top-notch animation experts, and delivering workshops and unique networking opportunities.

The Springboard training event landed for the fourth time in the capital of Spain, after being previously held in the cities of Halle (Germany), Valenciennes (France), and Valencia (Spain). Cartoon Springboard held its 11th edition on October 28th - 30st in Madrid.

THE PARTICIPANTS OF CARTOON SPRINGBOARD 2025

The number of participants shows a constant interest in the event. 176 participants registered at Cartoon Springboard Madrid in 2025. This year’s participants came from 18 different countries. This shows the importance of the event worldwide for European talents and professionals.

In total, 73 participants came from Madrid Region (66 in 2024), including 16 talents with and without projects, which represents a small increase compared to last year (13 in 2024).

Among the 176 participants, 4,5% received a scholarship from CARTOON, supported by the Creative Europe Media Programme, to attend the event. The grant recipients came from the following 6 countries: Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Poland & Slovakia.

This reflects a large diversity of profiles who attended the event.

A FIRST DAY FULL OF DISCOVERIES

For the second time in the frame of the event, on the morning of Tuesday 28 October, a Job Fair featuring regional companies was held at the Ateneo de Madrid, offering young talents a chance to connect with local industry professionals and explore career opportunities. The presentations were followed by networking session between young talents and company representatives from Capitán Araña, Digitoonz, Final Frontier Group, Hampa, Mr. Klaus Studio, Peekaboo & RTVE.

Cartoon Springboard was officially launched at 2pm, with Welcome Words by Luis Lloret, Audiovisual Advisor at Comunidad de Madrid; Nuria Román Bernet, Deputy Director, Office for Strategic Projects and Business Engagement representing Ayuntamiento de Madrid and Agnès Bizzaro, Head of Content of Cartoon Springboard.

The Welcome Words were followed by a Masterclass of the famous Spanish director Sergio Pablos (The SPA Studios): “A Sneak Preview of “Ember": Acclaimed Director Sergio Pablos takes us inside the SPA Studios' eagerly anticipated upcoming film project”, where Sergio Pablos shared exclusive insights on his new feature film and shared his passion for animation.

©CARTOON 2025

To end this first day, a session allowing participants to meet the Young Talents (this session was initiated last year) was organised. This session allowed young talent with a project to present themselves on stage in front of everyone by answering a few questions. It was highly appreciated by both professionals and young talents and eased the networking for the entire event.

THE 2025 PROGRAMME & PROJECTS

Cartoon Springboard featured high-quality content again: 22 Project Pitching sessions, each 13 minutes in duration, followed by a 13-minute Q&A session with the panel of experts, and with participants in the room, hosted by the chairpersons assigned to the projects. But also 1 Masterclass, 3 Keynotes and 1 Panel by international professionals who introduced Young Talents with varied issues in our industry.

Key topics included in the programme:

“A Sneak Preview of “Ember": Acclaimed Director Sergio Pablos takes us inside the SPA Studios' eagerly anticipated upcoming film project” by Sergio Pablos, CEO & Creative Director at The SPA Studios (Spain)
“High Expectations, Hard Tomes: How to Survive in the Animation Industry these Days when you’re a Young Creative?” by Joanne Allen, Commissionning Editor at BBC (United Kingdom)
“Navigating the Internet’s many Platforms and making it a Living from Social Media, how does it work?” by Meï Champeil, Freelance (France)
“Dive into the Deep: building Worlds beyond Animation” by Reza Memari, Creative Director & co-CEO of Telescope Animation (Germany)
A special closing panel: "Made by Humans, Made with A.I." with the participation of Eliza Plocieniak-Alvarez, Creative Producer at Blaue Pampelmuse (Germany), Miklos Weigert Freelance (Hungary), Alba Sotorra Clua, Producer & CEO of Alba Sotorra (Spain), Barbara Slade, Director & Owner at Blue Arrow Productions (United Kingdom) & Mark Cumberton, Producer & COO at JAM Media (Ireland).

For this edition, the selection commitee went through 85 submitted projects, an increase of 39,3% from the previous record. This year’s selection counted 22 projects from 11 countries – mostly in concept stage, developed by European animation schools’ recently graduated screenwriters, directors or producers. The projects included TV series, web series, feature films and TV special.

Here is a quick overview of the 22 selected projects:

Format-wise, TV series led the selection with 18 works (82%), followed by 4 feature films (18%).
In terms of target audience, animation projects aimed at young adult / adult and family audiences represent 36% and 18% respectively. The remaining works are targeted at preschoolers (14%), tweens (14%), kids and teenagers (9% each).
Topics: the 22 projects selected showed how much the young generation is involved in the present moment. They were eager to talk about contemporary challenges, as they believe that you can use animation not only to entertain, but also to educate, awake consciousness, and make a difference. Personal and emotional topics were particularly showcased in this year’s selection with subjects such as sexual violence, mental health at work, the end of the world, fear of ageing, friendship, love and many more.

NETWORKING AT THE HEART OF THE EVENT

Alongside the sessions and pitching of the projects, Cartoon Springboard organized dedicated networking slots for all participants and especially for young talents. The One-to-One meetings were held for the first time this year, on the second day of the event. Open to all participants (talents and professionals), they provided an ideal opportunity to break the ice, get to know each other, receive feedbacks and connect not only on a local but also on an international level, something that was greatly appreciated by attendees and especially the young talents. In 2025, 134 meetings were held, involving 40% of the participants.

Around the programme, pitching sessions and one-to-one meetings, Cartoon Springboard creates ideal opportunities for networking, particularly during the social events (Welcome Dinner, offered by Comunidad de Madrid and Ayuntamiento de Madrid, lunches, coffee breaks, Speaker's Dinner or during the Closing Cocktail). These networking activities allowed Young Talents to deepen their knowledge of the animation market, in addition to personally meet decision makers in the sector.

11 YEARS OF TALENTS!

Cartoon Springboard 2025 celebrated its 11th anniversary! This milestone marked a decade of nurturing creativity, where young talents’ projects have been pitched, many of which have gone on to be featured in major co-production events like Cartoon Forum and Cartoon Movie.

The event continues to serve as a vital platform for emerging creators to receive valuable feedback and guidance from industry experts, helping them take the next steps in their careers.

A SPECIAL END OF THE SHOW

The event ended on Thursday 30 October with a Farewell Cocktail at Cinema Palasio de la Prensa in the heart of Madrid. This moment was the perfect festive way to wrap up the event and enjoy one last convivial gathering together.The Farewell Cocktail was followed by a special sneak preview of the film “The Last Whale Singer” by Reza Memari.

A SUSTAINABLE APPROACH

CARTOON is trying to make Cartoon Springboard greener than ever! On the one hand, CARTOON aims to show the professionals of the industry that a path to more sustainable productions is possible. On the other hand, a 100% vegetarian lunch was organised to reduce our carbon footprint. We have encouraged participants to travel to Cartoon Springboard 2025 by train wherever possible. We chose the event venues according to their location, to ensure that they were easily accessible by public transport and on foot.

FEEDBACK FROM THE PARTICIPANTS

97% of the participants would recommend the event to other professionals / talents.
55% of the participants found the event as whole:“excellent“
100% of the talents found that Cartoon Springboard has led to networking or businesss opportunities (for their projects and career etc).

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