Fortiche
{{Short description|French animation studio}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Fortiche Production SAS
| logo = Fortiche Productions logo.png
| logo_caption = Logo used since 2009
| type = Private
| industry = Animation
| hq_location_city = Paris
| hq_location_country = France
| num_locations = 3
| num_employees = 350 (2022)
| founded = {{Start date and age|2009|06|03}}
| founders = {{Unbulleted list|Pascal Charrue|Jérôme Combe|Arnaud Delord}}
| products = {{Unbulleted list|Animated series|Music videos|Advertising}}
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
Fortiche Production SAS is a French animation studio headquartered in Paris with a branch in Las Palmas (Spain). It is known for the hit television series Arcane.
Development
Fortiche Production SAS was founded in 2009 and initially created commercials for Coca-Cola, Honda, Samsung, Panasonic and MTV. From the start, a combination of 2D and 3D animation has defined the studio's style, the "Touche Fortiche".{{Cite web |title=All about |url=https://www.forticheprod.com/about |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=Fortiche Production}}
They moved on to creating music videos for Freak Kitchen, Gorillaz and LIMOUSINE. These projects caught the attention of video game studios such as Ubisoft, Volition Studios, Carbine Studios and Riot Games.{{Cite news |date=2021-11-04 |title=Les Français de Fortiche bousculent l'animation avec « Arcane » |language=fr |trans-title=The French from Fortiche are shaking up animation with “Arcane” |work=Le Monde |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2021/11/04/les-francais-de-fortiche-bousculent-l-animation-avec-arcane_6100940_3234.html |access-date=2023-02-27}} For the latter, Fortiche produced game trailers in the form of short films along with music videos, most notably Pop/Stars.{{Cite web |date=7 November 2021 |title=Interview avec Arnaud Delord, co-fondateur de Fortiche et réalisateur sur la série Arcane |trans-title=Interview with Arnaud Delord, co-founder of Fortiche and director on the Arcane series |url=https://www.breakflip.com/fr/league-of-legends/actualites/interview-avec-arnaud-delord-co-fondateur-de-fortiche-et-realisateur-sur-la-serie-arcane-32108 |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=Breakflip |language=fr}}
They eventually joined the production of the series Rabbids Invasion, which aired from 2013 to 2019 for Netflix and Nickelodeon in partnership with Ubisoft, by creating the series' title sequence.{{Cite web |title=Rabbids Invasion - Company Credits |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3105674/companycredits/ |access-date=2024-12-31 |website=IMDB}}
In 2015, the French channel France 2 broadcast the 55-minute historical documentary film Le dernier Gaulois about the Gallic Wars animated by Fortiche. Motion Capture technology was used for this.{{Cite web |date=2015-12-29 |title=Des Gaulois comme on ne les a jamais vus sur France 2 |trans-title=Gauls as we have never seen them on France 2 |url=https://www.telerama.fr/television/des-gaulois-comme-on-ne-les-a-jamais-vus-sur-france-2,136135.php |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=Telerama |language=fr}}
At the 2017 industry fair Cartoon Movie in Bordeaux, the studio pitched the feature film project Miss Saturne with a pilot short film.{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.cartoon-media.eu/movie/about |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=Cartoon Movie |language=en}}
=''Arcane''=
In November 2021, Fortiche, in collaboration with Riot Games, released the series Arcane set in the League of Legends-universe on the streaming platforms Netflix and in China on Tencent Video. It was the world's most-watched series on Netflix for two weeks in November 2021 and was extremely well received by critics.{{Cite web |title=Netflix Top 10 - Global |url=https://top10.netflix.com/tv?week=2021-11-21 |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=Netflix}}{{Citation |title=Arcane: League of Legends |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/arcane_league_of_legends/s01 |work=Rotten Tomatoes |language=en |access-date=2023-02-27}}
During the six year creation of Arcane, staff numbers grew from around 15 to around 300.{{Cite web |last=Wit |first=Alex Dudok de |date=2022-01-05 |title=The Secret To 'Arcane' Studio Fortiche's Success: It's Owned By Artists |url=https://www.cartoonbrew.com/studios/the-secret-to-arcane-studio-fortiches-success-its-owned-by-artists-211970.html |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=Cartoon Brew |language=en-US}} The studio expanded in 2020 with branches in Montpellier and Las Palmas. The studio's revenue rose to {{euro}}16.4 million for 2021.{{Cite web |last=Lesniak |first=Isabelle |date=2021-11-18 |title=Fortiche, le nouveau roi français de l'animation |trans-title=Fortiche, the new French king of animation |url=https://www.lesechos.fr/weekend/business-story/fortiche-le-nouveau-roi-francais-de-lanimation-1365002 |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=Les Echos |language=fr}} Le Figaro reported that the budget of Arcane was {{euro}}60–80 million.{{Cite web |last=Kerkour |first=Tom |date=2021-12-10 |title=Arcane: un petit studio français derrière la série d'animation la plus chère du monde |trans-title=Arcane: a small French studio behind the most expensive animation series in the world |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/medias/arcane-un-petit-studio-francais-derriere-la-serie-d-animation-la-plus-chere-du-monde-20211210 |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=Le Figaro |language=fr}} In November 2021 Riot-Games-CEO Nicolo Laurent announced via Twitter that a second season was commissioned from Fortiche.{{Cite tweet|number=1462225669551575042|user=niiicolo|title=So yeah, we are working on #arcane season 2. The good news: you won't have to wait for 6 years (the time it took us to making season 1) The bad news: it's not coming in 2022 😢|author=Nicolo Laurent|date=20 November 2021}} The second and final season premiered on November 9, 2024 and concluded on November 23.
On March 14, 2022, Riot Games announced a new equity investment in Fortiche Production.{{Cite web |last=Stubbs |first=Mike |title=Riot Games Invests In 'Arcane' Animation Studio Fortiche Production |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikestubbs/2022/03/14/riot-games-invests-in-arcane-animation-studio-fortiche-production/ |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=Forbes |language=en}} Under the terms of the investment, Riot now holds a significant non-controlling stake in Fortiche. Brian Wright (Chief Content Officer at Riot) and Brendan Mulligan (Director of Corporate Development at Riot) have also joined Fortiche's board of directors.{{cite web |date=14 March 2022 |title=Riot Games Announces New Equity Investment in "Arcane" Animation Studio Fortiche Production |url=https://www.riotgames.com/en/news/riot-games-announces-new-equity-investment-in-arcane-animation-studio-fortiche-production |website=Riot Games}}
Filmography
= Film =
- Penelope of Sparta (in production){{cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/2024/film/global/fortiche-penelope-of-sparta-1236032785/|title='Arcane' Animation Studio Fortiche Production Preps Sci-Fi Feature 'Penelope of Sparta,' Inspired by Greek Mythology (Exclusive)|last=Lang|first=Jamie|date=10 June 2024|magazine=Variety|access-date=11 June 2024}}
= Television series =
- Rocket & Groot (2017)
- Arcane (2021–2024){{Cite web |date=2024-03-27 |title=Arcane was inspired by these anime that only 90s kids know {{!}} ONE Esports |url=https://www.oneesports.gg/anime/arcane-inspired-90s-anime/ |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=www.oneesports.gg |language=en-US}}
- Miss Saturne (in production)
= Music videos =
- "DoYaThing" - Gorillaz featuring James Murphy and Andre 3000 (2012)
- "Get Jinxed" - Agnete Kjølsrud and Christian Linke (2013)
- "Warriors" - Imagine Dragons (2014)
- "Pop/Stars" - K/DA featuring Madison Beer, (G)I-DLE and Jaira Burns (2018)
- "Rise" - Mako featuring The Word Alive and The Glitch Mob (2018)
- "Enemy" - Imagine Dragons and J.I.D (2021)
- "Blood Sweat & Tears" - Sheryl Lee Ralph (2024)
- "Bite Marks" - TEYA (2025){{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I76wvt0aEE4 | title=Welcome to Noxus - Bite Marks (Ft. TEYA) | 2025 Season 1 Cinematic - League of Legends | website=YouTube }}
- "Ma Meilleure Ennemie" - Stromae, Pomme (2025){{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-RpvIuazmc | title=Stromae, Pomme - “Ma Meilleure Ennemie” (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Music Video] | website=YouTube }}
= Films =
References
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.forticheprod.com/}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbAFXJC0J5GYEkfxnGTWnvgcEypgBeAb5 Arcane: Bridging the Rift | League of Legends] - Five part "behind the scenes" video series documenting Fortiche's involvement
- [https://www.catsuka.com/news/2021-11-06/retour-sur-fortiche-prod-le-studio-derriere-arcane-la-serie-league-of-legends-de-riot-aujourd-hui-sur-netflix Videos in chronological order] on the Website of Catsuka (Cartoon-news) {{In lang|fr}}
Category:French animation studios