Christophe Guignement has been working in the field of children's animated television series for over 20 years. After serving as writing director, screenwriter, and artistic advisor for children's programming at TF1, he is now artistic producer and director of PAGE 49, a company dedicated to editorializing content for young audiences. He is notably the author of the animated series "Junior des idées en or" (Junior with Golden Ideas), which in season 2 led to the organization of a writing residency in Togo, "La Maison Junior," to train young screenwriters in collaboration with Angela Aquereburu and Daniel Atchali, president of the Togolese Association of Animated Cinema.
Can you tell us about the animated series "Junior des idées en or"?
The first season of "Junior des idées en or" was produced by PM SA and Gulli/Gulli Africa. For the second season, the company "2 Minutes," headed by Jean-Michel Spiner, is the executive producer.
Season 2 of "Junior des idées en or" consists of 39 five-minute episodes. It recounts the daily life of a little boy, Junior, and his group of friends against a backdrop reminiscent of "La Guerre des Boutons" (The War of the Buttons). In an imaginary city inspired by Abidjan, Junior has a special gift: he has golden ideas.
To develop this second season, we organized a screenwriting residency with 10 young talents from Lomé, Togo. The project was funded by the French Embassy in Togo, the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, CFI, and private partners.
How is this writing residency organized?
The writing residency consists of two workshops: an animation workshop dedicated to writing season 2 for Gulli Africa (M6) and a fiction workshop. In the animation workshop, participants have a channel in front of them, and that's what makes our project unique, because we learn by producing, based on a mentoring model.
The fiction workshop involves adapting the animated series. This requires creating a series bible, synopses, and scripts with the aim of producing this fiction series locally in partnership with Yobo Studios.
The training lasts 10 months and we have been delivering it in person since April. Many speakers from the animation sector have also led remote sessions.
What are the profiles of the screenwriters participating in the workshop?
The screenwriters selected to imagine this second season come from different countries: Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and the DRC. Together, they participated in this pan-African workshop, 50% of whom were women. We were quite sensitive to the idea of ensuring gender parity.
Significant experience in the field of writing was a prerequisite for the selection of participants. In total, we received 80 applications for 10 available places.
Why did you choose to develop this second season in French-speaking Africa?
After attending numerous round tables on audiovisual and animation production, I realized that a lot was being said without necessarily knowing the local reality. I thought it was necessary to bring projects back to the continent, write them on site, and give Africa a voice. That's how this residency project came about, to encourage training on the continent and to give visibility to young talent in the field, since this series will not only be broadcast on Gulli but also internationally. Participants will also have the opportunity to work in real-life situations with scheduling and budget constraints. That's no small feat.
How do you view the audiovisual production sector in French-speaking Africa?
I see a lack, a void in training for screenwriting professions. Yet every series begins with writing. Through this type of project, we are trying to fill a huge gap. Our goal is to train these ten screenwriters so that they can develop their skills and meet the expectations and needs of producers. We had a visit from the French ambassador to Togo, accompanied by the Togolese Minister of Culture and the Minister of Communication and Media, with whom we were able to discuss the various issues related to training in African countries.
We hope that these young trained screenwriters will also be able to pass on their knowledge and skills to others.