MAM
Cartoon Network US teams up with Threadless for design challenge
MUMBAI: US kids broadcaster Cartoon Network Enterprises (CNE) and Threadless, a design company, have unveiled plans for a first-ever Adventure Time design challenge.
a Up and running now, artists and fans of the animated series created by Pendleton Ward can log on to atrium.threadless.com/adventuretime to submit designs inspired by Finn, Jake, Lumpy Space Princess – heck, even the Ice King – and the rest of the cast of characters and designs featured in the Land of Ooo.
The theme of the programme around which artists are asked to create their designs is “adventuring.”
To participate in this month-long design challenge, artists submit their designs and have members of the Threadless community vote on them.
The top-rated and most impressive designs will be selected by CNE and Ward, and they will be offered as T-shirts sold exclusively at Threadless.com. A winning artist will also be selected and will receive a bunch of prizes, including a signed piece of original art from the show, $2,000 in cash and a $250 Threadless gift certificate.
Artists have until 4 July to submit their design and the winner will be announced on 25 July.
CNE VP US consumer products Pete Yoder said, “The Adventure Time fanbase has been incredibly active, loyal and passionate since the launch of the brand. This partnership with Threadless gives us a highly-creative and organic way to tap in to that rich fan community and give them the chance to design some exclusively-inspired merchandise.”
Threadless founder Jake Nickell said, “Threadless strives to give our global community of more than 100,000 artists new opportunities to design cool things for meaningful organisations and businesses. Through Threadless Atrium, CNE has the opportunity to discover how powerful and fun it is to work with their own communities to dream-up and create products through community-based design and voting. Adventure Time is a perfect fit with the passions and interests of our community and we‘re excited to offer this cool challenge to them.”
Adventure Time’s first season was watched by more than 37 million people, according to Nielsen Media Research. New fans have been watching new episodes from the second season.
From the mind of Ward, the show is produced in partnership with Frederator Studios with Fred Seibert serving as an executive producer. Teeming with imposing mountains, lush green plains, accessible forests, ubiquitous prairies and winding rivers, the Land of Ooo is filled with bizarre characters in need of unique assistance. Whether it‘s saving Princess Bubblegum, defeating zombie candy, mocking the “oxy-moronic” Ice King, or rocking out with undead music wiz Marceline the Vampire Queen, with Finn and Jake it‘s always Adventure Time.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
