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  • Higher Expenses Cut Into TelevisaUnivision Q1 Operating Income

    Higher Expenses Cut Into TelevisaUnivision Q1 Operating Income

    Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision said higher operating expenses tied to Mexican broadcasts of the Winter Olympics cut into its cash flow in the first quarter, while efforts to generate more advertising in the U.S. met with headwinds.

    The company has been working to bolster its balance sheet since Wade Davis, the former Viacom CFO who orchestrated a buyout of Univision in 2020 before merging it with Mexico’s Grupo Televisa in 2022, ceded his CEO role to Daniel Alegre, a former senior executive at Activision Blizzard.  Since Alegre joined in 2024, TelevisaUnivision has worked to streamline operations that had previously been siloed by geographic region. The company owns media assets in both the United States and Mexico.

    The company on Monday said it had replaced its U.S. ad sales chief Tim Natividad, who had a history in digital media, with a veteran, John Kozack, who had more experience with sports and traditional linear advertising.

    Operating expenses increased 11% to $752 million, due in part top marketing investments and sports costs primarily associated with the Winter Olympics in Mexico.

    “We delivered solid performance this quarter highlighted by the continued expansion of ViX and our linear distribution business, all despite a competitive U.S. sports programming backdrop,” said Daniel Alegre, CEO of TelevisaUnivision, in a statement. “Driven by disciplined financial and operational execution and the strength of our multi-platform content strategy, we made meaningful progress against our strategic priorities and we remain focused on deepening customer engagement and creating long-term value.”

    TelevisaUnivision said revenue in the first quarter rose 5% to $1.1 billion, buoyed by Mexican operations. In the U.S., revenue was flat at $708 million. In Mexico, revenue grew 17% to $367 million.

    The company said overall ad revenue fell 3% to $546 million. In the U.S., advertising revenue dipped 12% to $310 million, owing to “softness in linear networks. In Mexico, advertising revenue increased 13% to $236 million.

    Subscription and licensing revenue increased 15% to $505 million. In the U.S., it grew 12% to $385 million. In Mexico, it grew 28% to $120 million. The company attributed growth in both sectors to subscriptions to its ViX streaming service, as well as a new partnership with Hulu+Live TV.

  • Penny Chapman Uses Hector Crawford Lecture to Warn on AI, Celebrate Matchbox Legacy and Call for Bolder Australian Storytelling at Screen Forever Conference

    Penny Chapman Uses Hector Crawford Lecture to Warn on AI, Celebrate Matchbox Legacy and Call for Bolder Australian Storytelling at Screen Forever Conference

    Penny Chapman, co-founder of Matchbox Pictures and former head of drama at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), used the 2026 Hector Crawford Memorial Lecture at the Screen Forever Conference on the Gold Coast on Tuesday to issue a sharp challenge to Australian screen producers: resist the pull of the algorithm, rediscover the courage of genuine storytelling, and engage urgently with the policy debates surrounding artificial intelligence.

    Delivering the annual address to an assembly of producers, commissioners, and writers, Chapman reflected on the cultural conditions that she argued had made story itself “a rickety thing” – politically, socially, and industrially. Drawing on Naomi Klein’s book “Doppelganger,” she described how right-wing operatives had exploited a widespread public sense of narrative dispossession, and suggested parallels in the failure of the 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum. “The story couldn’t find its people,” she said.

    On AI, Chapman was measured but pointed. She cited computer scientist Virginia Dignum’s book “The AI Paradox” for its argument that human imagination is not replicable by machine iteration, while also voicing concern at Ezra Klein’s characterisation of the technology. Klein, she noted, had described AI on Andy Harris’ “The Last Invention” podcast as offering an escape from “the friction of other human beings” – a shift in human experience that she said the industry cannot afford to ignore.

    Screenwriter Craig Mazin, she added, had offered a counterpoint on his “Script Notes” podcast, arguing that the influence of mentally ill artists on culture was precisely the kind of irreducible human variable that AI cannot accommodate.

    Chapman spent a substantial portion of the lecture tracing the founding and evolution of Matchbox Pictures, which she established with Tony Ayres, Michael McMahon, Helen Panckhurst, and Helen Bowden following a conversation at the 2007 SPA Conference – also held on the Gold Coast. She described the company’s founding principles: writers at the centre of the enterprise, a pipeline for emerging talent, “make programs we were really proud of” and what she called creative honesty with each other.

    When NBCUniversal made an acquisition approach in 2009, Chapman recalled the team’s reaction as immediate alarm. The two non-negotiables they secured were the right to choose their own projects and the right to take rejected material elsewhere – a provision that allowed Ayres and McMahon to pre-sell “Nowhere Boys” to the BBC after NBCU passed, sending the show to three series and a feature film.

    Over 18 years, Matchbox generated AUD$1.4 billion ($1 billion) in production across 81 titles, with credits including “My Place,” “The Straits,” “The Slap,” and “Blue Murder.” Chapman named a long roster of alumni – among them Sophie Miller, Hannah Carroll Chapman, Warren Clarke, and Amanda Higgs – who had gone on to careers as commissioning editors, screenwriters, and producers.

    She credited the company’s team dynamic with much of its longevity. Ayres, she said, had instilled the guiding hiring principle that shaped Matchbox’s culture. “‘Never employ anyone you don’t want to have a meal with,’” she quoted him as saying, “and it worked.”

    The company’s run came to an end earlier this year when Universal International Studios announced in February that it would close Matchbox, citing shifts in the broader production landscape, with Tony Ayres Productions also folding as part of the wind-down.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

    The lecture’s closing movement turned to the relationship between creators and commissioners, which Chapman argued had become too transactional and too deferential to platform metrics. She singled out the so-called “second screen rule” – the practice of having dialogue repeat plot points for viewers assumed to be distracted by their phones – as both creatively corrosive and self-defeating. She held up “Bluey” and “Heated Rivalry” as examples of storytelling that treats audiences as active, intelligent participants rather than passive consumers.

    “Prosecuting our right to tell Australian stories also comes with responsibility – to make stories that matter,” Chapman said. She invoked the Chinese translator Yang Xianyi’s prediction, made in the 1990s, that Australia would one day wake to its natural and spiritual potential. “It’s 2026 and folks,” she told the conference, “we’re awake.”

    Chapman’s lecture was one of several sessions making up the first day of Screen Forever 40, the three-day industry conference marking the 40th edition of the Screen Producers Australia gathering. SPA CEO Matthew Deaner opened proceedings with a survey of the sector’s policy landscape, citing the introduction of Australia’s new streaming regulation framework among the year’s landmark developments.

    A series of State of Play panels examined theatrical exhibition, broadcast and streaming commissioning, and international sales – the latter drawing executives from Fifth Season, DCD, All3 Media, Boat Rocker Studios and Bankside Films for a candid assessment of what is and isn’t traveling in the global market. The day closed with “Second Act: Reimagining Australia’s Screen Future,” a forward-looking session featuring ABC managing director Hugh Marks alongside producer Tony Ayres, Rachel Perkins and others, moderated by Virginia Trioli.

  • Taylor Swift Seeks Trademarks for Her Voice and Image to Fight AI Fakes

    Taylor Swift Seeks Trademarks for Her Voice and Image to Fight AI Fakes

    In brief

    • Taylor Swift files three trademark applications tied to her voice and likeness.
    • The move could help her challenge AI-generated fakes and unauthorized impersonations.
    • Matthew McConaughey previously used a similar legal strategy.

    Taylor Swift is moving to protect her voice and image from misuse by artificial intelligence through a new legal strategy, according to a report from Variety.

    On Friday, Swift’s company, TAS Rights Management, filed three trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Two are sound trademarks covering the phrases “Hey, it’s Taylor Swift” and “Hey, it’s Taylor.” The third is a visual trademark covering a specific image of Swift performing on stage.

    The filings come after AI-generated fakes have repeatedly targeted Swift.

    “Very broadly, trademarks can be used to protect distinctive sounds and visuals and the name, image, and likeness of an individual insofar as it’s used in conjunction with goods or services, meaning that Taylor Swift’s use of trademark law here is fairly normal,” Kirk Sigmon, founding partner at IP and Technology law firm KellDann Law, told Decrypt.

    “The unique thing here is the use to protect against AI misuse. Pragmatically, these efforts might be useful to protect herself against misuse from other identifiable actors, such as companies using AI to falsely suggest she endorses a product or service,” he said.

    In 2024, then-candidate Donald Trump shared fabricated images on Truth Social suggesting Swift and her fans supported his presidential campaign. The incident led to Swift publicly endorsing Kamala Harris for president. In 2025, Elon Musk’s xAI faced backlash after Grok generated nude images of Swift despite the company’s rules banning pornographic depictions of real people.

    Still, Sigmon said, enforcing those rights online may prove more difficult in practice.

    “It might be surprisingly difficult for her to enforce her rights against AI misuse on the internet writ large, because those creating salacious content with her image are likely doing so anonymously, making them harder to track down,” Sigmon said.

    Swift’s move follows a similar action by actor Matthew McConaughey, who secured trademarks from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in January, including protections for his signature phrase “alright, alright, alright” from the movie “Dazed and Confused.”

    While trademark law has so far not been used to protect a person’s general likeness, voice, or persona in court, legal experts say the filings reflect growing concern in the entertainment industry over AI tools capable of replicating artists without consent. However, Swift’s level of celebrity may prove to be her greatest asset in getting the trademark approved.

    “Taylor Swift is very recognizable in many ways, including but not limited to her voice and overall image,” Sigmon said. “One might quibble about the amount of distinctiveness she could argue, but that isn’t likely to outright prevent her from a trademark. It’s also likely she’ll have an easy time showing that her [name, image, and likeness] is associated with a good or service—for instance, her music, fan goods, etc.”

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  • Paris and Lyon prepare as Nice mayor opposes 2030 Olympics ice hockey venue

    Paris and Lyon prepare as Nice mayor opposes 2030 Olympics ice hockey venue

    Far-right mayor opposes plan for football team to lose stadium access due to 2030 Winter Games’ ice hockey.

    Published On 28 Apr 2026

    French organisers of the 2030 Winter Olympics are looking at alternative locations for ice hockey outside of Nice, including Paris and Lyon, because of a political deadlock involving the coastal city’s new mayor.

    Like the Milan Cortina Olympics, the French Alps project has split snow sports in storied mountain resorts and skating in a snow-free city, the Mediterranean resort of Nice.

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    Nice was to turn the city’s football stadium, Allianz Arena, into a temporary hockey rink.

    But Nice’s newly elected far-right mayor, Eric Ciotti, opposes the plan, refusing to allow the resident football club to lose access to its stadium for months because of the games. Ciotti, a former conservative allied with the National Rally party of Marine Le Pen, was elected last month.

    The 2030 Games organisers said on Tuesday they have worked with officials from Nice and its wider region, as well as the French government, to find solutions for placing ice hockey within the Olympic hub in Nice. A temporary ice rink, intended as a replacement for the originally planned Allianz Riviera stadium, was studied at other stadiums, mainly for men’s hockey matches.

    “Technical, scheduling, and financial analyses highlighted the limitations of these options, particularly due to their very high cost and impact,” organisers added.

    “With a focus on efficiency and budget optimisation, the (organising committee) has decided to broaden its investigations by examining the use of existing facilities in other major metropolitan areas such as Lyon or Paris, particularly those offering a minimum seating capacity of 10,000,” they added.

    Results of their explorations will be presented to the organising committee’s executive board on May 11. The final venues are expected to be confirmed in June when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decides the list of sports and events.

    “The analyses carried out are leading us to turn towards existing facilities that are better suited and more sustainable. Several options are being studied to ensure hosting conditions that fully meet our requirements,” said Edgar Grospiron, the former Olympic champion freestyle skier who leads the organising committee.

    The Paris Entertainment Company, which operates Adidas Arena and Accor Arena in the French capital, said last week it submitted a bid to host ice hockey. Both venues were used during the 2024 Paris Summer Games.

    French Alps Games organisers said a second competition ice rink for skating is still planned at Nice’s exhibition centre, and other ice events scheduled in Nice remain unchanged.

  • How the US-Israeli war is collapsing the sanctions regime on Iran

    How the US-Israeli war is collapsing the sanctions regime on Iran

    For years, sociologists and political scientists have warned that sanctions do not work. They do not topple targeted governments; instead, they hurt their citizens. And yet, the use of sanctions has only expanded, with the US leading the charge. As a result, there is now increasing evidence that this over-reliance on such punitive measures has led to their growing ineffectiveness. The US-Israel war on Iran has made that all the more obvious.

    The conflict carries the potential to push further the process of weakening the effect of US sanctions, which had already been ongoing, and reshape the preferences of both regional and global actors through different mechanisms, including de-dollarisation, alternative trading methods such as barter, and informal transfer networks like hawala.

    The US relies on the dominance of its currency in global trade to leverage the sanctions it imposes. Sanctioned states are unable to carry out sanctioned trade because buyers and sellers process payments in dollars.

    The spread of cryptocurrency as an alternative payment method across the world has provided a way to circumvent this problem. Over the past few years, Iran has come to heavily rely on cryptocurrency for financial transactions.

    A report by blockchain data platform Chainanalysis shows that cryptocurrency flows to sanctioned entities went up remarkably in 2025, with their value rising 694 percent to a record $154bn – up from $59bn in 2024. In the final quarter of the year, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) alone accounted for 50 percent of value received – a total of $3bn.

    Iran converts cryptocurrency holdings into renminbi, which is then used to buy Russian goods or conduct trade across Asian markets – embedding itself further into an alternative financial architecture that strengthens the renminbi.

    The war on Iran may now expand the pool of economic actors willing to use cryptocurrency to deal with the Iranian state and entities. When Tehran took control over the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint through which approximately 20 percent of the world’s oil and LNG passes, it began demanding transit tolls from vessels navigating the strait.

    The fees, typically starting at $1 per barrel, were payable in Bitcoin or renminbi, and reports have shown that a number of vessels and companies paid. Unlike stablecoins such as USDT, Bitcoin is fully decentralised and cannot be frozen by any issuer.

    With approximately 175 million barrels currently loaded onto tankers in the Gulf, even partial toll collection could make considerable revenue if the strait reopens.

    The use of renminbi is also significant. China is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, and it pays in its own currency. But other countries have also started using the renminbi. In 2024, 30 percent of China’s external merchandise trade was paid for in its currency.

    The toll mechanism is particularly significant in encouraging more companies to use the renminbi precisely because it has made the costs of dollar dependence impossible to ignore. Countries that have long endured the inconvenience of dollar-denominated trade are now facing its geopolitical risk in real time – watching the US weaponise the dollar access against allies and adversaries alike through secondary sanctions, waivers granted and suspended at will, and a blockade that disrupts global energy markets regardless of a country’s relationship with the US.

    However, de-dollarisation via cryptocurrency and renminbi represents only one layer of the alternative financial architecture that the war is accelerating. Beneath the on-chain economy lies a more informal but equally significant set of mechanisms – hawala networks and barter arrangements – that the war and blockade may push further into the mainstream of regional and global trade.

    Hawala is an informal transfer system that has existed for centuries. It operates through a network of brokers who enable payments in different locations without the physical movement of money. In the case of Iran, hawala works through trusted intermediaries – often shell companies established in various countries – that facilitate transactions on behalf of Iranian entities without directly linking deals to Iran, allowing for continued import and export activity.

    The system produces shared benefits – commercial activity, transaction fees, employment, and demand for legal and logistics services – that give host countries a direct economic stake in its continuation. Beyond material advantage, these arrangements strengthen bilateral ties that host governments regard as strategically valuable amid mounting energy security concerns. Hawala, therefore, does not only help Iran evade sanctions – it quietly recruits regional economies as stakeholders in that evasion, embedding circumvention into the normal functioning of regional commerce.

    The war is likely to enhance the appeal of already existing barter arrangements and attract a wider range of regional and global actors. In 2021, for example, Iran and Sri Lanka signed an agreement for the latter to repay its debt in the form of tea exports. A barter agreement also exists between Iran and Pakistan. India is now considering oil for rice swaps, and there is the potential for expanding exchanges of industrial goods with Russia. Each of these bypasses conventional banking channels, removing exposure to secondary sanctions and dollar-denominated settlement.

    Most notably, Iran may now extend this model to the Strait of Hormuz itself, turning transit toll revenues into commodities traded across regional, Asian, and European markets and transforming a wartime chokepoint into a node within a broader barter-based alternative economy.

    Nevertheless, dollar dominance is unlikely to unravel overnight. About 80 percent of global oil transactions remain dollar-settled, and the currency still makes up about 57 percent of global foreign exchange reserves – against just 2 percent for the renminbi, whose tight capital controls limit its convertibility and hinder its viability as a true reserve currency.

    What the US-Israeli war is accelerating is not immediate substitution but gradual erosion – a slow-motion shift whose endpoint remains uncertain but whose direction is increasingly difficult to reverse.

    Taken together, de-dollarisation, hawala networks, and barter arrangements divulge a structural paradox at the heart of the US-Israeli war strategy towards Iran. The war has generated an outcome its architects did not anticipate: Rather than dismantling Iran’s resistance infrastructure, it has internationalised it, expanding what analysts describe as an “axis of evasion”. If this trajectory is maintained, the long-term casualty may not be the Iranian state but the sanctions regime itself – and with it, the dollar’s hegemonic role as the tool of Western geopolitical imperialism.

    The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

  • Zoe Saldaña Boards Animated Feature ‘Julián,’ From Cartoon Saloon, Ahead of Annecy Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)

    Zoe Saldaña Boards Animated Feature ‘Julián,’ From Cartoon Saloon, Ahead of Annecy Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)

    Zoe Saldaña, who won an Oscar with “Emilia Pérez,” her sisters Cisely and Mariel Saldaña and their production company Cinestar Pictures have joined forces with five-time Academy Award nominated studio Cartoon Saloon, Melusine Studio, Aircraft Pictures and Sun Creature on the animated feature “Julián,” which is set to have its world premiere at the Annecy Festival this June. The Saldañas will also serve as executive producers on the film.

    “Julián”

    Courtesy of Cartoon Saloon

    New Europe Film Sales has boarded the film as its international sales agent, alongside CAA Media Finance, which will handle sales in the U.S.

    “Julián” is described as a “joyful, visually rich animated adventure” about a 7-year-old boy who spends a transformative summer with his estranged grandmother in Brooklyn. Inspired by her magical storytelling and the world around him, Julián dreams of becoming a mermaid – sparking a dazzling journey from the borough’s sunlit streets to the mystical depths of the sea.

    Adapted from the bestselling picture book “Julián Is a Mermaid” by Jessica Love (over 600,000 copies sold worldwide), the film is the feature directorial debut of Academy Award nominee Louise Bagnall, known for her acclaimed short “Late Afternoon.”

    Bagnall previously held key creative roles on Cartoon Saloon’s major features, including “The Breadwinner,” “Wolfwalkers” and “My Father’s Dragon.” It is written by Juliany Taveras, a Dominican-American writer from Brooklyn.

    Cinestar Pictures was founded by Zoe, Mariel and Cisely Saldaña with an eye toward “reshaping the American storytelling landscape with a commitment to diverse, character-driven narratives that reflect the authentic fabric of contemporary society,” according to a statement. “Championing honest portrayals of women and a true depiction of today’s America, Cinestar produces compelling, multicultural stories for a global audience.”

    “Cisely, Mariel and I were deeply moved by the story of ‘Julián’ and its gentle, powerful message about self-expression and acceptance,” Zoe Saldaña said. “Louise Bagnall’s remarkable adaptation is a celebration of individuality, imagination and the courage to be exactly who you are. We’re so excited to help share this heart-warming film with audiences around the world.”

    “Julián” is brought to life through hand-drawn 2D animation at 12 frames per second, crafted by over 150 artists across Ireland, Luxembourg, Denmark, and Canada.

    The film is produced by Cartoon Saloon (Ireland), Aircraft Pictures (Canada), Melusine Studio (Luxembourg) and Sun Creature (Denmark) in association with Wychwood Media, Crave, Guru Studio and BCP Asset Management.

    “Julián” is produced with the support of Screen Ireland, Film Fund Luxembourg, Telefilm Canada, the Canada Media Fund, Danish Film Institute, West Danish Film Fund, Coimisiún na Meán, Ontario Creates, Viborg Kommune, RTÉ, DR, Elevation Pictures, Elysian Films, Wildcard Distribution, Angel Films, Folklets and Arthaus.

  • Israel clears first shekel-backed stablecoin after two-year review

    Israel clears first shekel-backed stablecoin after two-year review

    Israel’s Capital Market Authority, the governing body that licenses and supervises financial innovators, has cleared the launch of a shekel-backed stablecoin issued by Bits of Gold, a licensed Israeli crypto operator, according to a LinkedIn announcement.

    Branded as BILS, the stablecoin is fully backed and pegged 1:1 to the Israeli new shekel, operating on the Solana blockchain after a multi-year regulatory pilot. It is the first government-approved fiat-backed stablecoin in the Middle East.

    BILS is built to support real time payments, on-chain trading and programmable finance with local currency exposure instead of reliance on dollar pegged tokens. Development also involved Fireblocks, with auditing provided by EY.

    The dollar monoculture

    The global stablecoin market has ballooned past $316 billion in total capitalization, per CoinGecko. Over 99% of that is pegged to the US dollar. USDT and USDC dominate so thoroughly that stablecoins are essentially a dollar monoculture.

    The approval to launch BILS reflects the rising global adoption of regulated stablecoins as the sector expands rapidly. By bringing the shekel onto the blockchain rails, Israel seeks to strengthen its currency’s role in digital payments and counterbalance the influence of dollar-pegged tokens.

    Restricted rollout

    Israel’s regulators are restricting the early offering to a predetermined scale, likely institutional and qualified participants first. The Capital Market Authority is also imposing strict conditions around technology risk management, information security, business continuity, and ongoing reporting.

    Israel’s regulators are simultaneously preparing a broader Stablecoin Law, expected to be circulated for public comment soon, that would formalize the entire regulatory framework for digital currency issuance.

    The Bank of Israel has been exploring a central bank digital currency, but that decision isn’t expected until after 2026 at the earliest. BILS is a private-sector product operating under government supervision.

    Israel’s crypto trajectory

    Israel’s regulatory posture toward crypto has shifted gradually from outright skepticism to cautious engagement. The country has deep bench strength in cybersecurity and blockchain development, a natural byproduct of its tech-heavy economy and mandatory military service that funnels talent through intelligence units like 8200.

    According to Bits of Gold’s announcement, the token enables holders to hold a digital shekel in a private wallet, transfer shekels instantly at any hour, and trade digital assets against the shekel around the clock.

  • Crypto Detective ZachXBT Severely Criticizes This Altcoin and Its Founder! “Compared It to FTX and SBF!”

    Crypto Detective ZachXBT Severely Criticizes This Altcoin and Its Founder! “Compared It to FTX and SBF!”

    ZachXBT, a crypto detective who has recently issued warnings for many altcoins, has now criticized Worldcoin.

    Accordingly, leading blockchain researcher ZachXBT harshly criticizes Sam Altman’s altcoin project Worldcoin ($WLD) (now World) and compares its practices to Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX scam.

    ZachXBT’s statements coincide with the start of the trial in the lawsuit filed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk against OpenAI.

    ZachXBT responded to a post by Elon Musk calling OpenAI CEO Sam Altman “Altman the Swindler,” criticizing Altman, Worldcoin’s token economy, and insider selling.

    FTX Analogy!

    ZachXBT described $WLD as a “predatory, low-volume cryptocurrency.” He also compared its implementation and the $WLD token to the fraudulent tactics of Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX.

    Altman and his company argued that, similar to companies linked to SBF and FTX, they launched with a low circulating supply of $WLD tokens.

    ZachXBT stated that Worldcoin collects biometric data from people in low-income countries in exchange for small amounts of $WLD. He added that this authentication technology has created a black market for verified accounts.

    ZachXBT also noted that the token supply is increasing at an unsustainable rate, is artificially inflated, and that insiders are regularly selling their $WLD tokens through over-the-counter transactions.

    *This is not investment advice.

  • Annecy Unveils 2026 Lineup

    Annecy Unveils 2026 Lineup

    The Annecy International Animation Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its 2026 edition (see full lineup below), setting the stage for another wide-ranging showcase that highlights the rapid global expansion of feature animation, and the surprising strength of European production.

    Announced Tuesday, the official feature competition includes 11 films, with France again playing an outsized role — six of the titles are French productions or co-productions — even as the selection stretches across Asia and the Americas. In total, 26 countries are represented across the feature slate.

    “If you look at the entire selection for official competition, a large majority of the films are from European producers,” artistic director Marcel Jean said. “French producers, but also Spanish, Belgian, Italy. The Scandinavian countries, Eastern European countries. We heard about a crisis in European animation production, but when you look at the quality of these films, and the amount of films, this doesn’t look like an industry in crisis.”

    Among the headline titles in competition is Viva Carmen! from Sébastien Laudenbach, returning to Annecy after winning the Cristal in 2023 for Chicken for Linda!, co-directed with Chiara Malta. The new feature, an animated take on the classic opera, will premiere in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.

    Also in the lineup is In Waves from Phuong Mai Nguyen, an adaptation of A. J. Dungo’s acclaimed graphic novel, which will open Cannes Critics’ Week. Both films underscore Annecy’s role as a long-term incubator for projects, having previously been presented at the festival as works-in-progress.

    “We want to follow a project from the very beginning,” Jean said. “[2025 Oscar winner] Flow was a work in progress in Annecy, [2026 Oscar nominee] Little Amelie was a work in progress. This year in competition, you have Viva Carmen! which was a WIP. In Waves was a WIP.”

    Other competition highlights include Decorado from Alberto Vázquez, The Sunrise File from Rupert Wyatt and Émilie Phuong, and Tangles from Leah Nelson, alongside entries from China, Japan and Singapore.

    Running parallel, the Contrechamp sidebar — Annecy’s platform for more formally adventurous features — will open with Welcome to Dolly’s House, a Taiwanese film from directors Seven Ych, Rady Fu and Tree MutaIt, blending the world of YouTube creators with fantasy elements.

    “There’s a great diversity of film, of features, and countries represented, but all of great quality,” Jean said of the section. “The films in the non-competitive sections would have found a place in competition 10 years ago.”

    Beyond the competition, Annecy will honor two pillars of animation with its Honorary Cristal Awards.

    Prolific animator, writer and producer Mike Judge, co-creator of King of the Hill and creator of Beavis and Butt-Head, will be recognized for a career spanning more than three decades and his role in shaping adult animation. Judge will also give a masterclass and present a preview of the upcoming 15th season of King of the Hill, alongside co-creator Greg Daniels and showrunner Saladin K. Patterson.

    “Mike Judge was a target for me for a long time,” said Jean. “We almost had him in 2020, when the pandemic hit. I think now, because of the general political situation, it was important to have somebody like Mike Judge, such a strong advocate for free speech and free thinking — the guy who made
    Idiocracy, a prophetic classic — it was important to have him in Annecy, to discuss with him the role that adult animation can play in the discourse about the world we live in.”

    Annecy will also fete the Brothers Quay, the stop-motion auteurs whose work has influenced generations of filmmakers, including Peter Greenaway and Christopher Nolan. The duo will each receive an Honorary Cristal and deliver a masterclass.

    “We noticed there is a kind of revival of stop motion animation and the Brothers Quay basically revolutionized the world of stop motion animation in the 1980s,” said Jean. Their influence was absolutely incredible on hundreds of young animators and young filmmakers. So we’re really 40 years late in honoring them.” He added that, for Annecy, “honoring the Brothers Quay is a way of preserving the balance between the major studios, industry giants and die-hard independent filmmakers. The day Annecy stops celebrating this type of artist, we will have lost touch with our origins.”

    Stop-motion will be a major focus across the 2026 edition, with a tribute to Aardman Animations, creators of Wallace & Gromit and Shaun The Sheep, marking its 50th anniversary, and Travis Knight set to attend for the first time to present footage from his upcoming feature Wildwood. The Incredibles director Brad Bird will also appear to discuss his long-gestating project Ray Gunn, while Ricky Gervais will host a masterclass on his upcoming Netflix adult animation Alley Cats.

    Alongside the festival, Annecy’s Mifa animation market will once again serve as a key engine for development and dealmaking, awarding its Animation Industry Prize to seven French producers behind recent international successes Little Amélie, Butterfly and Arco — films that have traveled from Annecy to the César Awards, the Golden Globes, and the Oscars.

    “We are here to help artists, to promote and to put a spotlight on project or on completed movies,” said Annecy Festival CEO Mickaël Marin. “Not just at Annecy, but at other festivals and markets. Because the production process for animation is a long process. We can have a project coming from a pitch at Mifa, then going to Annecy for a WIP session, then the next year in competition and then we support them through to the Oscars.”

    Mifa will also launch a series of closed-door workshops on artificial intelligence and private investment, aimed at fostering open discussion among industry professionals.

    “We see that there are a lot of fears, questions and everything at all levels,” said Véronique Encrenaz, head of the Mifa market. “The idea is that professionals gather and discuss and can give their approach of AI and private investment [and] how we can work together on that.”

    The sessions, which will run over a three-year period, are designed to generate practical outcomes for the industry, including recommendations for future regulation and collaboration.

    For Jean, the breadth of both the festival lineup and the market activity reflects a medium that has matured rapidly in recent years.

    “Globally, most countries now have experience in doing animation features, experience that did not exist 10 years ago,” he said. “The evolution of production around the world means now the quality is there everywhere.”

    Full 2026 Annecy Lineup

    Competition

    Viva Carmen!, dir. Sébastien Laudenbach, (France)
    Iron Boy, dir. Louis Clichy, (France, Belgium)
    Decorado, dir. Alberto Vázquez, (Spain)
    The Sunrise File, dir. Rupert Wyatt, Émilie Phuong, (France, Luxembourg)
    In Waves, dir. Phuong Mai Nguyen, (France, Belgium)
    Lucy Lost, dir. Olivier Clert, (France)
    Nobody, dir. Shui Yu, (China)
    Tana, dir. Ji Zhao, Ke Er Zhu, (China)
    Tangles, dir. Leah Nelson, (Canada, USA)
    The Violonist, dir. Ervin Han, Raúl García, (Singapore, Spain, Italy)
    We Are Aliens, dir. Kohei Kadowaki, (Japan, France)

    Contrechamp

    58th, dir. Carl Joseph Papa, (Philippines)
    A New Dawn, dir. Yoshitoshi Shinomiya, (Japan, France)
    Blaise, dir. Dimitri Planchon, Jean-Paul Guigue, (France)
    O filho da puta, dir. Érica Maradona, Otto Guerra, Tania Anaya, Sávio Leite, (Brazil)
    Muyi, dir. Julien Chheng, (France)
    Pelelui: Guernica of Paradise, dir. Goro Kuji, (Japan)
    The Orbit of Minor Satellites, dir. Christopher Sullivan, (Japan)
    Spacetime Chronicles, dir. Stefano Bertelli, (Italy)
    The Obsessed, dir. Wataru Takahashi, (Japan)
    Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope, dir. Beñat Beitia, Elio Quiroga, (Spain, Chile, Argentina)
    Welcome to Dolly’s House, dir. Seven Ych, Rady Fu, Tree Muta, (Taiwan)

    Works in Progress

    A Gwei, dir. Hui Yi, (China)
    Baahubali: The Eternal War, dir. Ishan Shukla, (India)
    Desechable, dir. Carlos Gómez Salamanca, (Colombia, Spain)
    Igi, dir. Natia Nikolashvili, (Georgia, Greece)
    Killtube, dir. Kazuaki Kuribayashi, (Japan)
    The Wolf, dir. Benjamin Massoubre, Fursy Teyssier, (France, Luxembourg)
    Le Projet Shiatsung, dir. Brigitte Archambault, (Canada)
    Monkey Quest, dir. David N. Weiss, (Japan, USA)
    Ogresse, dir. Cécile McLorin Salvant, (Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, USA)
    Snoopy Unleashed, dir. Steve Martino, (Canada, United Kingdom)
    Steps, dir. Alyce Tzue, John Ripa, (USA)
    Séraphine, dir. Sarah Van Den Boom, (France, Luxembourg, Switzerland)
    Astro Boy Reboot, dir. Nicolas Hess, (France, Germany, Japan)
    Cars: Lightening Racers, dir. Nathan Chew, Travis Braun, Frank Montagna, (USA)
    Common Side Effects, dir. Benjy Brooke, (USA)
    Hide and Seek, dir. Fabienne Giezendanner, (Switzerland, France)

    Midnight Specials

    Company Sports Day, dir. Yong-Seon Lee, (South Korea)
    Gregor, dir. Manu Gomez, (Belgium, France)
    Sekiro: No Defeat, dir. Kenichi Kutsuna, (Japan)
    Soul Shift, dir. Christian Franz Schmidt, (Germany)
    Zsazsa Zaturnnah, dir. Avid Liongoren, (Philippines, France)

    Annecy Presents

    Brave Cat, dir. Gabriel Osorio, (Chile)
    Julián, dir. Louise Bagnall, (Ireland)
    Born in the Jungle, dir. Edmunds Jansons, (Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic)
    Dante, dir. Linda Hambäck, (Sweden, Denmark, Norway)
    The Promise of the Clock Tower, dir. Yusuke Hirota, (Japan)
    Dudley & the Invasion of the Space Slugs , dir. Cherifa Bakhti, (Luxembourg, Belgium, France, India)
    The Ribbon Hero, dir. Yuki Igarashi, (Japan)
    La Fille dans les nuages, dir. Philippe Riche, (France, Belgium)
    Little Trang Quynh: The Legend of the Golden Buffalo, dir. Tranh Lam Tung, (Vietnam)
    The Last Whale Singer, dir. Reza Memari, (Germany, Czech Republic, Canada)
    Monster Mia, dir. Verena Fels, (Austria, Spain, Germany)
    Samurai Ballerina – L’Étoile de Paris en fleur, dir. Goro Tanigushi, (Japan)
    The Keeper of the Camphor Tree, dir. Tomohiko Ito, (Japan)
    Yugly, dir. Yanis Belaid, Jérémie Degruson, (Belgium)

    WTF

    Babyface, (United Kingdom)
    Broc!, (Hong Kong)
    I’m Glad I Know That Now Thank You: Phones, (United Kingdom)
    I Have an I Have a, (United Kingdom)
    I’d Rather Be a Concorde, (Belgium, Finland, Portugal)
    King Kong vs. Pinocchio, (Canada)
    We’re Kinda Different, (Canada)
    Pigeon Businessman, (United States)
    Six Finger Satellite “Simian Fever”, (United States)
    Skin Flick, (France)
    Smokedog, (Australia)
    You Are Not Part of the Cake, (Taiwan, United Kingdom)
    What Is, Is Now?, (The Netherlands)
    cour.com, (United Kingdom)

    Perspectives

    Acid City, (United States)
    Bucketman, (Japan)
    That Night, (Iran, United States)
    Chance, (Iran)
    Decaer’s Downfall, (Colombia)
    Entelechia, (Chile)
    Paper Daughter, (United States)
    The Comet, (Canada)
    The Boa Woman, (Peru)
    The Tribulations of Ajadi, (Nigeria)
    Misophonia, (Malta)
    Because Today Is Saturday., (Portugal, France, Spain)
    Rest, (Japan)
    Sundruð, (Iceland, France, Belgium)
    Three Pariah Cats, (Colombia)
    Once in a Body, (Colombia, United States)
    City of Roses, (Brazil)

    Off-Limits

    Adage, (United Kingdom)
    Core Dump, (Germany)
    From Apple to Egg, (Estonia)
    The Stars Have Been Watching Us for a Long Time, (United States)
    Merrimundi, (Chile)
    Symbionts, (Switzerland)
    XYZ, (Portugal)
    Evacuations, (United States)

    Young Audience

    A Dog’s Life, (The Netherlands)
    Round Trip, (Italy)
    Cosmonaut, (Switzerland)
    En, Ten, Týky!, (Slovakia, Czech Republic)
    Night Owls, (Switzerland)
    Piccolo Piccolo, (France, Switzerland)
    Cloudfish, (France, Belgium)
    On the Doormat in Front of My Door, (Germany)
    Towards the Forest, (Switzerland)
    Being Distanced, (Unknown)

  • Spotify Hits 293M Premium Subs and a Profit Record, But Stock Tanks on Outlook

    Spotify Hits 293M Premium Subs and a Profit Record, But Stock Tanks on Outlook

    Audio streaming giant Spotify posted a first-quarter revenue gain and ended March with 293 million paying premium subscribers, up from 290 million as of the end of 2025. Monthly active users (MAUs) grew to 761 million from 751 million.

    Management had previously forecast 293 million premium subs and 759 million MAUs.

    But the audio streamer forecast second-quarter earnings and premium subscribers below Wall Street expectations, pushing the stock down about 12 percent in pre-market trading.

    Revenue growth for the quarter accelerated to 8 percent, or 14 percent on a constant currency basis, to get the company to €4.5 billion. Operating income hit at a record €715 million in the first quarter. Profitability has returned to the investor spotlight after price increases and cost cuts.

    Spotify predicted operating income of €​630 million ($736 million) for the second quarter, below analysts’ estimates.

    Said co-CEO Alex Norström: “We surpassed 760 million MAU, delivered on the subscriber growth we aimed to achieve, and saw healthy engagement from existing users, reactivations and new users alike. Since the global rollout of our more personalized free experience, users in key markets like the US are listening and watching more days per month. All that reinforces our confidence in sustained user and subscriber growth, low churn, and continued progress on revenue and margin.”

    Added Spotify co-CEO Gustav Söderström: “We’re well positioned because of our large, engaged user base, deep creator relationships, and years of investment in personalization and infrastructure at scale. Together, these create a platform that can take advantage of this moment and unlock entirely new growth vectors that will enable us to climb new mountains previously unimaginable. We see significant room to grow across users, formats and engagement and to expand what Spotify is and can become over time.”