From Casablanca, via San Francisco and Paris, to Addis Ababa: Mounia Aram on why African Animation Is About to Have Its Naruto Moment

From Casablanca, via San Francisco and Paris, to Addis Ababa: Mounia Aram on why African Animation Is About to Have Its Naruto Moment

Mounia Aram didn't arrive in the animation industry through a straight door. Born in Casablanca and raised outside Paris, she came through a betrayal, a depression, a phone call to her sister in San Francisco — and a brother-in-law who happened to work in Japanese animation. That's fate, she says. And she means it. Today Mounia Aram is one of the leading voices in African animation — founder of the Mounia Aram Company, Africa Council Chair at the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and a passionate advocate for diversity in kids content globally. But none of that was planned. She spent years searching for her voice — through improv theatre, fashion shows, and a university degree in Arabic languages that led nowhere obvious. What she built from all of it is anything but obvious: a company, a global network, a mission, and now a memoir. In this episode, we talk about: — what anime taught her about the power of culture as a brand — why AI is an opportunity, not a threat, for emerging animation studios in Africa — the women who didn't support her — and the male allies who did — the family fight that turned out to be the most liberating thing that ever happened to her — and what it means to keep believing in yourself when the people closest to you don't Mounia's memoir Route Détournée is out now in French — with an English edition on the way.

Making Television Travel (Without Losing Its Passport) — Marc Lorber on producing TV formats across twenty countries

One of the biggest myths in television is that you can take a successful show from one country and simply reproduce it somewhere else. In reality, formats may travel — but they almost never work unchanged. They have to be rebuilt — culturally, creatively, sometimes even structurally. That’s something my guest Marc Lorber has spent decades doing, producing television across more than 20 countries. From stand-up comedy clubs in New York… to working with David Lynch… to building productions across Europe, the Middle East and beyond. In this episode of Unwritten+, Marc shares the stories behind a career spent translating stories across cultures — across scripted series, unscripted formats and international co-productions. A few things we talk about: • Why casting is often the make-or-break moment in unscripted television • What really determines whether a format can travel internationally • Why a producer’s job is often simply to find the way to “yes” And a question that stayed with me after our conversation: • At what point does a format stop being an adaptation — and become its own show? It’s a longer episode than usual. But when someone has spent decades producing television in more than twenty countries, the stories are simply too good to rush...

Simone Baumann: Finding Your Voice Between Systems — with a Side of Leberkäse*

Simone Baumann was still a teenager when she left Eastern Germany to study philosophy in the Soviet Union. She arrived in Rostov-on-Don in the early 80s to empty supermarket shelves, ration coupons for butter, water running only twice a day and a city she wasn’t allowed to leave. No internet. No quick call home. No exit strategy. But somewhere between translating philosophy texts with a dictionary at night and listening to professors debate ideas that couldn’t officially be published, she learned something that stayed with her: how to think in context. How to read a system before reacting to it. And how to listen differently. Today, she leads German Films, representing contemporary German cinema internationally. When you hear her speak, you realize that international careers aren’t built on glamour. They’re built on moments that stretch you. On cultural friction. And on learning to observe before you act. *And for the non-Germans here: Leberkäse (literally “liver cheese”) is a Bavarian classic that contains neither liver nor cheese — just warm, finely ground meat baked into a loaf, sliced thick, and best eaten with sweet mustard in a bread roll.

Jarmo Lampela: Watching Before Belonging — with a Hint of Sisu

The new Unwritten+ episode is with Jarmo Lampela, director, teacher, and Head of Drama at Finland’s public broadcaster. Jarmo talks about growing up between places, spending his childhood moving, observing, adapting. About learning early how communities work. About noticing class, distance, and belonging - long before having language for it. We talk about: – directing without pretending to have all the answers – teaching by starting with a simple question: why are we here? – living between very different cultures and absorbing ways of life rather than passing through them – and how being an observer can quietly shape how you work with people Along the way, you also get a glimpse into Finland, not as a brand or a myth, but as a lived place, and into a certain kind of quiet endurance that’s hard to translate, but easy to recognise once you hear it. If you work across cultures or simply with other humans, there’s a lot to learn here. Not in the form of instructions, but through the way Jarmo approaches people, responsibility, and work.

Pedro Lopes: Building Stories Across Time, Formats, and Borders
On history, conflict, and why stories sometimes refuse to stay on screen

Unwritten+ is back — and we’re starting the year with something new: our first-ever video episode. I’m excited. And yes, a little bit terrified. Which usually tells me it’s the right move…   🎙️ Pedro Lopes: Building Stories Across Time, Formats, and Borders On history, conflict, and why stories sometimes refuse to stay on screen   Our guest is Pedro Lopes, Director of Content at SPI in Portugal — an International Emmy–winning writer, academic, and storyteller who has spent years building narratives at scale: telenovelas, high-end series, international co-productions… and now, micro dramas.   We talk about: – what a background in history gives you as a writer – why “drama is conflict” still matters, no matter the format – why international co-production is basically a marriage without dating - why deadlines are the most honest collaborators – how being a father sharpened his sense of responsibility as a storyteller – and what happens when a story doesn’t quite stay on screen   Pedro is expanding into micro dramas — the short, vertical format that started in China, spread across Asia and Latin America, and is now one of the most talked-about shifts in our industry. Not as a gimmick, but with the same care for craft, responsibility, and audience. It’s thoughtful, grounded, occasionally very funny — and a strong way to open the new season. Season two starts here.