Miam! Distribution Boards French Adult Animated Series ‘Mare The Mermaid’ (EXCLUSIVE)
France’s Miam! distribution has picked up distribution rights to Silex Animation’s adult animated series “Mare the Mermaid,” one of the continent’s big buzz titles in adult series animation, after impressing at Cartoon Forum in 2023. Commissioned by France Télévisions for their young adult platform Slash, the show is set for delivery in Q4 2026.
The show’s official synopsis reads: “Breaking free from society’s expectations without making a splash is tough when you’re a mermaid princess who doesn’t quite fit the mold. And it’s even tougher when your mom, the Queen, decides to throw your family into a reality TV fishbowl!
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“‘Mare the Mermaid’ tells the story of Princess Pelagie, who ditches her royal life and swims off to college under a new alias: Mare. Her mission? To escape the media’s spotlight and her mom’s watchful eye. But as she quickly learns, blending in isn’t as easy as slipping on a seaweed disguise. As she navigates a sea of secrets and fish-out- of-water situations, she realizes that embracing her true self is the only path forward.”
Silex co-founder and producer Judith Nora, who is producing with her Silex Priscilla Bertin, said that her company couldn’t wait to get on board as soon as they were introduced to “Mare.”
“The project was pitched to us in an email, and my partner and I only took 10 minutes to answer,” she says. “It’s the first time we’ve ever done that because finding young adult series with such strong writing for female audiences with female leads is so rare.”
French-American filmmaker Samuel de Ceccatty directs the series, a comedic spin on modern-day influencer and reality TV culture written by Iris de Jessey and Thomas Colineau, with Ana Tortos as the show’s graphic author.
The writing team comes from mostly live-action backgrounds, which will give the show a more grounded approach. For the cartoon comedy, production will lean more heavily on de Ceccatty, an up-and-coming filmmaker who made a splash with his 2022 animated short “Lilith & Eve,” which premiered as an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival.
Although he was raised in France, de Ceccatty was strongly influenced by the American half of his family – he speaks English with no noticeable accent – and imported animated series that were popular with other kids his age. He believes there is a significant audience in France that is being underserved when it comes to local adult animation and that “Mare” could help to fill that gap.
“There is such a huge audience already there for this kind of show,” he told Variety. “American adult animated shows are already huge in France; ‘The Simpsons’ voice actors are superstars, for example. This show, for me, is a great opportunity to make a show for the French audience specifically but one that can hopefully resonate internationally, as it’s a new twist on an existing genre.”
According to Nora, “Mare’s” influences are similarly born from international live-action TV. She says that comedies like “Sex Education” are referenced during writing sessions as often as animated fare like “The Simpsons.” That mix of sensibilities and the introduction of something new to the French adult animation scene won her over when she first heard about “Mare.”
The “Mare” team is hopeful that their show can reciprocate the influence that international shows have had on its development and production. To ensure the show has the best chance to flourish in the global marketplace, artists avoid using written language on the screen, and every joke has an English-language alternative planned. In fact, the writers and artists have a WhatsApp group dedicated to coming up with English-language alternatives to any wordplay in the original French scripts. The show is also being produced in the default global 10-episode, 22-minute format.
Although extra effort is being made to keep the show accessible to international audiences, de Ceccatty says it’s also embracing its uniquely French roots, especially aesthetically.
“American adult animated shows have a very similar look. In most of those shows, you know there is going to be a suburban landscape. That’s not how it will be in our show. Ours will be very urban, and the backgrounds and architecture will be heavily influenced by the city of Paris. New York apartments have a certain vibe on TV, and we want our apartments to have their own Parisian vibe. These touches should feel very fresh for the international audience and help establish a quirky, romantic kind of setting.”
Mélanie Erréa, Miam! distribution head of sales and acquisitions, says that while “Mare” does represent something new for their lineup, the company’s previous work in helping establish a European audience for adult animation, particularly titles featuring women leads, will help when it comes to finding homes across the continent for the new show.
“We’ve been working with the talented team at Silex for five years now, and we distributed their adult 2D series ‘Brazen,’ adapted from the comics of Pénélope Bagieu. It was a giant when we launched that show in France in 2019-20, and it worked out extremely well internationally as well. We have more than 30 broadcasters carrying the show. When we launched ‘Brazen,’ there was no slot for that kind of show. We had to convince broadcasters to bet on the series, and the ratings were a success, so we’ll use the same strategy for ‘Mare the Mermaid.'”
Miam! sales and acquisitions manager Lucille Janvier agrees, adding that market conditions are perfect for a show like “Mare” to break out.
“It feels like ‘Mare’ is arriving at the perfect time for us and for the international market. It features these relatable, strong girls and discusses contemporary topics like identity, sexuality and friendship. So we’re really ready to distribute this show.”
Miam! will be proudly showing off “Mare the Mermaid” at all the major markets this fall, including the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Le Havre and Mipcom.
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