Skybound is developing an unscripted series to find the next great animator

Skybound, the comics and media company founded by zombies co-creator Robert Kirkman, is looking for the next Hayao Miyazaki.

Sources say The Hollywood Reporter that the company is developing a reality competition series that will focus on finding the next animation visionary. Think America’s Next Top Model or american idol but for animation geeks and masters.

The adventure will be a co-production with DIGA Studios, the banner behind unscripted shows like Selling the Hamptons, The Flipping El Moussasthe one oriented towards magic high energy trick, and Million dollar beach house. The company also produced Scream TV series, aired on MTV from 2015-19.

The series is one of the first projects from Skybound’s recently launched unscripted division, which is led by Brent Jacoby under TV chief Glenn Geller. And it comes on the heels of last fall’s acquisition of Spike & Mike’s Festival of Animation, the long-running cult short film festival. Skybound plans to relaunch the festival, which in a virtual iteration featured the early work of up-and-coming animators such as Andrew Stanton, Mike Judge and Tim Burton.

According to sources, the festival is preparing for a relaunch in early 2025 and already has more than 1,000 entries. And one of Skybound’s hopes is to try to select some of the contenders from this first round of festival applicants.

The new series also hopes to capitalize on the explosive influence and popularity of animation worldwide, from the current box office dominance of Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 to the cornucopia of shows streaming on Netflix. Skybound itself found success in the medium with its Amazon animated series Unbeatable, based on Kirkman’s comic, which won over both critics and audiences. The series is now in production on its third season.

Spike & Mike’s returns to this year’s San Diego Comic-Con with two screenings of classic animated shorts from Spike & Mike’s Vault.