Mediawan Kids & Family is evolving its business strategy to partner with digital-first creators on original animated series.

Until now, Mediawan has been making shows the traditional way—partnering with a broadcaster to develop an IP—and the Kids & Family division has achieved great success with the Miraculous franchise and The Three Musketeers. But the company has recently started shifting its approach to eventually get to a place where 50% of its slate will be developed under a new digital-first model.

Series made this way will initially launch on YouTube, before being sold to international broadcasters for wider distribution.

This “dual-track” strategy is the studio’s way of embracing the growing creator economy, says president Julien Borde. The plan is to partner with talented creators with established audiences to produce premium digital-first series based on their content, including vertical videos and micro-formats.

More and more creators with large followings and fresh voices are financing and producing their own shows outside of traditional funding models and experiencing success on YouTube, and Mediawan wants to tap into this opportunity with the ambitious goal of cultivating “the next generation of global franchises,” Borde notes.

“This shift is driven by the undeniable market trend of streamers, platforms and broadcasters increasingly demanding not just high-quality content, but also properties that come with built-in, highly engaged fan communities—a hallmark of digital-native content.”

The broad strokes of this digital-first strategy began to take shape when Mediawan teamed up with Kevin Tran—one of France’s most influential YouTubers with more than five million subscribers.

The potential to turn Tran’s concept of a love-hate relationship between two brothers living in an anime-inspired universe into a long-form series called Ki & Hi (pictured) attracted French commissioner Canal+ and Belgium’s RTBF, which debuted the 2D toon in October 2025. Ki & Hi is also streaming on YouTube in some territories, and Mediawan is developing short-form content and vertical videos to further engage Tran’s followers and fans of the show across platforms.

Another project in the works is what Borde calls a “landmark” partnership with Spanish-language YouTube network El Reino Infantil to build a digital-first franchise around Wadoo. This musical preschool series (39 x seven minutes) will launch on YouTube in 2026, and then Mediawan plans to sell it to international broadcasters. Importantly, Wadoo will include micro-formats and music clips as part of its brand portfolio from day one, he adds.

Since announcing its new digital-first strategy at Annecy 2025, an influx of digital brands have approached Mediawan looking to collaborate on expanding their content into long-form series, says Borde. And while it’s still too early to share any specific details about these projects, he expects to have multiple franchises—all with baked-in digital-first strategies—ready to announce at Annecy this year.

“I’m thrilled by the prospect of collaborating with an ever-growing pool of diverse digital-native talents, helping them scale their unique visions and content into premium global franchises,” says Borde. “The digital space allows for immediate feedback, community-building and genuine fan engagement, which is incredibly motivating and invaluable for IP development.”