How French TikTok Hit ‘Broos’ Is Aiming To Become A Short-Form TV Series
Backed by French-German broadcaster Arte, French Tiktok and Instagram sensation The Broos (Les Gros in French) pitched a longer-form version of the project at Cartoon Forum last month.
The project, developed as a 12 x 4.5-minute series, is being adapted, written, and directed by Broos creator David Mirailles and Bobby Prod narrative director Youssef El Kouch.
Adapted from the eponymous comics, The Broos turned into a Tiktok hit with nearly six hundred thousand followers. Using a sketchy black-and-white style and witty dialogue, the series captures the everyday adventures of two average French guys, Adam and Seb. From couch hangouts to car trips and parties, the series follows their evolving friendship, depicting a kind of bromance which is not commonly portrayed in French fiction.
Yet on Tiktok, where another Arte-funded series Samuel gathered more than seven million views earlier this year (out of 25 million views across all platforms), this type of content is definitely trending, allowing the Broos creators to project themselves into further development of this heartfelt story.
Ahead of their pitch at Cartoon Forum last month, Cartoon Brew spoke with Mirailles and Bobby Prod development manager Gabrielle d’Andrimont about how they intend to bring this social media sensation to a broader audience, while retaining the elements that made the show such a success on social media.
Cartoon Brew: How did you approach the adaptation of Broos into an animated series?
David Mirailles: It happened quite naturally, because I had been wanting to experiment with longer formats for a long time. Even when writing the capsules, I tended to lengthen them each time, from a minute to a minute-and-a-half, then two minutes. I definitely wanted to expand the stories and go more in depth of the characters. In the early days of the project, episodes were supposed to be eleven minutes long, then we settled for the four-and-a-half minute format which allows me and Youssef to develop the story, without losing our rhythm and touch.
@lesgroos
What is the place of fiction on platforms such as Tiktok as of today?
Mirailles: I think there’s a lot of vacant space to be filled. When we started our capsules in 2021, there was very little fiction shared on Tiktok, and even now there’s still a lot more that could be done. In France, Samuel was a big hit, and I think animated fiction clearly has its place on this platform. Content also tends to get longer. From my perspective, there are a lot fewer short gag videos, and users now expect more quality content from creators. Which is what we provided, and now we want to expand that to an even bigger audience. That’s why we will continue this project with a double narrative, with a 12 x one-minute series published only on social media to develop a cross-media approach.
How does the Broos project fit into Bobby Prod’s editorial line?
Gabrielle d’Andrimont: It’s very different from anything we’ve done until now. Broos is a much more tender kind of content than what we usually produce, but if you look more closely at it, it still has what you can find in every Bobby Prod series. That is to say short format, humor, a tone which is also quite radical in its execution, and artistic direction which is assumed with a deep down sincerity. And that’s exactly the kind of values we are looking for at Bobby. Innovative projects, new voices from young authors, while still keeping our house style.
To achieve this, what type of broadcasters or partners are you looking for?
D’Andrimont: As of today, we’ve finished the development phase and already have an agreement with Arte as producer and main broadcaster. We are therefore looking for the right partners that will allow us to go into production, hopefully as soon as January 2025. Our main goal now is to attract international broadcasters, other channels for pre-purchase, or an international sales agent/distributor who can add its skillset to the project. Even though the project is mainly aimed at a French-speaking audience, Broos universal story and touching characters have the power to go beyond. With adequate dubbing, this series has international potential and could reach a global audience of young adults who’ll relate to this modern bromance.
Could you elaborate on this particular ‘bromance’ that’s taking place between the main protagonists?
Mirailles: For me, it was really important to depict this type of relationship between two mal characters. The Broos idea actually came to me after watching two young men that were on a school trip together. On the surface, they had a kind of toxic masculinity vibe, but as soon as nobody was watching their relationship changed altogether. They were in fact very supportive of each other, and caring, and it really touched me. I remember saying to myself : “Even though I’m very close to my male friends, some of whom I’ve known since kindergarten, we rarely express such love and affection to each other.” I think it’s really important today that this becomes a new normality, and that everyone can benefit from healthy male friendships. I hope we can share this feeling with our series.
