{"id":3049,"date":"2026-06-26T13:07:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T13:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3049"},"modified":"2026-06-26T13:07:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T13:07:56","slug":"studio-tf1-makes-major-animation-play-with-yes-chef-25-million-family-feature-about-an-animal-pastry-competition-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3049","title":{"rendered":"Studio TF1 Makes Major Animation Play With \u2018Yes Chef,\u2019 $25 Million Family Feature About an Animal Pastry Competition (EXCLUSIVE)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nStudio TF1 is making one of its most significant investments in animated features in recent memory, boarding \u201cYes Chef,\u201d an original $25 million family comedy set inside the high-pressure, fur-flying world of a televised pastry competition.<\/p>\n

Read more Pixar Makes a Splash With New Short \u2018Loving Dory\u2019 Featuring Nemo and Dory, Teases \u2018Gatto\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe ambitious project, unveiled during the Annecy Animation Film Festival, is being produced by Studio TF1 and Matthieu Zeller\u2019s Octopolis and nWave Pictures (\u201cChickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness\u201d). The film is expected to be released in 2028. <\/p>\n

\n\tBased on an original idea by Clara Oheyen and Matthieu Zeller, \u201cYes Chef\u201d is written by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin, whose credits include Disney\u2019s live-action \u201cMulan\u201d and Skydance Animation\u2019s \u201cSpellbound.\u201d Annie Carrel and Benjamin Mousquet, who previously worked on \u201cChickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness\u201d and its sequel, \u201cChickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog,\u201d are directing.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe project marks a notable step for Studio TF1 as it builds up its film distribution operation in France while also leaning on the expertise of its animation studio Blue Spirit and its international sales team, led by Rodolphe Buet and Alice Damiani. As such, Studio TF1 will roll out the film theatrically in local cinemas, on top pf handling international sales, making \u201cYes Chef\u201d a full-scale play across development, production, French distribution and global sales.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a project on which Studio TF1 has fully partnered with Matthieu Zeller from the very beginning and we\u2019ve been working hand in hand,\u201d Nathalie Toulza Madar, the managing director of Studio TF1, told Variety <\/em>in an interview alongside Zeller during the Annecy festival. <\/p>\n

\n\tToulza Madar also confirmed \u201cthere isn\u2019t another recent animated project like \u2018Yes Chef,\u2019 where the studio is investing so fully alongside an outside partner.\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s what makes this association quite strong,\u201d she added, noting that Studio TF1 and Zeller also just collaborated on \u201cLes Gendarmes,\u201d a comicbook-based film. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe animation on \u201cYes Chef\u201d is being handled by nWave Studios, Octopolis and Blue Spirit, while UMedia is on board as tax shelter partner. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe move comes at a time when French animation continues to punch above its weight internationally, driven by a deep talent pool of artists, directors, writers and technicians, even as the sector faces new pressures from AI and shifting production models. One of the most visible recent examples is \u201cMinions & Monsters,\u201d the latest installment in Illumination\u2019s billion-dollar \u201cDespicable Me\u201d franchise, which was co-written and directed by French animator, Pierre Coffin. Zeller, a former high-ranking executive at Studiocanal, also has a track record in delivering reasonably budgeted indie European animation movies that work well in theaters. The \u201cChickenhare\u201d sequel which he produced drew 858,000 admissions in France last year. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYes Chef\u201d \u2014 \u201cOui Chef\u201d in French \u2014 unfolds in an anthropomorphic animal world around a long-running TV pastry contest hosted by charismatic chef Andr\u00e9 Lamour. The competition, which has been on the air for 20 years, brings together duos of contestants, including a grandmother sheep and her teenage lamb grandson, deer cousins, twin cat sisters and other animal bakers.<\/p>\n

\n\tBehind the scenes is Jeanne Gazelle, a frazzled producer panicking over declining ratings. With the help of an army of small rabbits operating cameras, lights and the entire studio machinery, she pushes the show toward increasingly spectacular challenges \u2014 until the stunts become so outrageous that they barely have anything to do with baking anymore. As the competition spins out of control, the contestants rebel with a cry of \u201cNo Chef,\u201d taking back the show and returning it to what Zeller describes as the heart of baking: working together, sharing something, and taking pleasure in making and eating a good cake.<\/p>\n

Read more Adult Swim Announces Cartoon Network Docuseries, Plus Two Anthology Anniversary Specials From \u2018Robot Chicken\u2019 (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a real comedy in that world,\u201d Zeller said. \u201cThe trials pile up with all the comedy and spectacle you can imagine \u2014 flour, eggs, falling meringues, fur exploding everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tZeller said the idea grew out of several converging trends, from the enduring popularity of baking shows to the explosion of baking videos on TikTok and the broader family appeal of food as entertainment.
\u201cWe built our conviction around the fact that this is a universe where we are legitimate as French and European creators,\u201d Zeller said. \u201cIt\u2019s also something that is quite new, and it carries meaning \u2014 around family bonds, sharing and being together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe added that baking and cooking are \u201cvery much a family thing,\u201d which made the project fit naturally with the kind of broad-audience animated features nWave has been making, \u201cto bring children, parents and grandparents together in a movie theater,\u201d Zeller said.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film is also designed as a new original IP, rather than an extension of an existing franchise \u2014 a point that both Zeller and Toulza Madar emphasized.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s clearly a new brand, but one that very clearly has IP potential,\u201d Toulza Madar said. \u201cFor now, we are starting with the feature film, which is already a big endeavor, knowing that it has the potential to be developed in different formats.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tZeller said the theatrical release is central to that strategy. \u201cWe have the conviction that building IP begins with the feature film. There are other ways to build IP, but our belief is that it is through the theatrical release, through the theatrical event, that you build its life,\u201d he argued. <\/p>\n

\n\tAt $25 million, \u201cYes Chef\u201d sits in the same budget range as nWave\u2019s recent features: modest compared with major U.S. studio animation, but ambitious by European standards. Zeller said the film will use the 3D animation techniques nWave has long practiced, while continuing to evolve the studio\u2019s visual language. The project will also mark a technical shift: it will be the first nWave film made entirely with a Maya-Houdini pipeline, developed in coordination with Blue Spirit.<\/p>\n

\n\tStudio TF1 was at Cannes this year with several titles, including L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Nemes\u2019 World War II drama \u201cMoulin,\u201d which played in competition and stars Gilles Lellouche as French Resistance hero Jean Moulin.<\/p>\n

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Read more Australian TV Host Karl Stefanovic Speaks Out After Exit From Nine Entertainment Over Tommy Robinson Podcast: \u2018I\u2019m Free, Truly Independent\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

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Studio TF1 has boarded \u201cYes Chef,\u201d a $25 million family comedy set inside the high-pressure, fur-flying world of a televised pastry competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2048,2544,2545,678],"class_list":["post-3049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-annecy-animation-film-festival","tag-matthieu-zeller","tag-nathalie-toulza-madar","tag-studio-tf1"],"yoast_head":"\nStudio TF1 Makes Major Animation Play With \u2018Yes Chef,\u2019 $25 Million Family Feature About an Animal Pastry Competition (EXCLUSIVE) - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3049\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Studio TF1 Makes Major Animation Play With \u2018Yes Chef,\u2019 $25 Million Family Feature About an Animal Pastry Competition (EXCLUSIVE) - 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