Adult Swim Boss Michael Ouweleen Is Still Searching For That Elusive “Idiosyncratic” European Project — Annecy

Adult Swim, the iconic adult animation brand behind Rick & Morty and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, is still seeking out that elusive European project.

President Michael Ouweleen, who also runs Cartoon Network and Boomerang, is in Annecy this week taking pitches, with a message for the European creative community.

“Most of the pitches coming in are people who have a thing fully figured out, and that’s not how we operate,” Ouweleen told Deadline. “In advance of Annecy we’re getting lots of emails from people telling us, ‘I’ll be in this booth with a full season,’ but that’s not who we are. We want to meet you as a person and over time develop what the best expression of your idea is. We don’t get in and manhandle anything but if something’s already really thought through, the chances are it won’t be as idiosyncratic as an Adult Swim thing needs to be.”

Part of the problem, Ouweleen said, is that the European TV model tends to favor co-productions and government or regional funding, meaning that creatives are coming in with financing and ideas fully baked before they speak with his team.

“Soccer camp for kids in the U.S. starts really young and that is what Adult Swim is trying to do for animation right now,” he added. “We’re doing that through IDs and shorts.”

Ouweleen will be making this point in meetings and during talks at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and he was at pains to stress he is a huge fan of European shows and European comic sensibilities.

He is in fact developing one show with a British and an American creative, which he is “excited about,” and said he has been “vibing off British comedy for decades” and is a fan of the hit Saturday Night Live UK.

“They’re landing it,” he added. “It shows you how smart the format is but also how strong that cast is for a first go.”

One reason for Ouweleen’s international push is that Warner Bros. Discovery-owned Adult Swim is now available on HBO Max in numerous key territories in Europe like the UK and Germany, along with Australia, which has a rich Adult Swim heritage.

“We were seeing people going, ‘When can I get it?’ and it was frustrating,” he added. “People in Australia knew of Adult Swim in the 2000s and we were on Channel 4 obviously in the UK and they’re having a tough time. But now that HBO Max is growing there, people won’t have to watch us on VPNs anymore.”

“People will be surprised” by ‘Rick and Morty‘ spin-off

Now into its 25th year, Ouweleen said Adult Swim is “pretty much fully global.”

He is at Annecy chatting about upcoming shows like Dan Harmon’s Rick and Morty spin-off President Curtis, Joe Pera and Dan Licata’s My Two Cars and Get Jiro!, the adaptation of the late Anthony Bourdain’s graphic novel.

President Curtis follows the character voiced by Keith David as he and his eccentric staff “tackle the kind of crises that Rick Sanchez could never be bothered with,” according to the logline.

Rick and Morty is arguably Adult Swim’s most successful show but Ouweleen said “people will be surprised how different” President Curtis is.

“It’s a workplace comedy and the charm of Keith David helps a lot,” he added. “It’s been fun to watch [co-creator] James [Siciliano] grow and build a separate but related team. Even the technology is different because President Curtis has access to a certain level of technology that is cool but nothing like Rick’s level of technology.”

He sees more opportunities for character depth and possible spin-offs from new characters in President Curtis like Banks, O’Doyle and Janice.

Adult Swim is making around eight to nine shows per year and while it’s moving away from live action, Ouweleen feels its range within animation is stronger than ever, stretching from anime to dramedy to comedy to quarter-hour shows.

“We have the cred of not trying to fool anyone,” he explained. “And this is such a lovely excuse and reputation to try things. If we believe in it people will give it a shot. That’s a privileged position.”

Annecy runs till Saturday and Adult Swim execs are out in force.