MUMBAI: Toy manufacturer Mattel is close to buying Hit Entertainment for over $700 million.
Hit Entertainment produces content for children and its brands include Thomas and Friends, Bob the Builder, Barney and Mike the Knight.
The deal would provide Mattel with the chance to penetrate markets like China, where Thomas the Tank Engine is already the leading toy among pre-school children.
MUMBAI: Hyderbad-based DQ Entertainment has entered into a number of co-production and distribution deals at the recently held Mipcom in Cannes.
JCCTV and Nickelodeon India have acquired the broadcasting rights for DQE’s 52 x 11 – 3D CGI animated TV series 5 and IT that is aimed at children aged 6-10 years old. The series will be co-produced by ZDF Enterprises, Germany, Canada-based Yowza Digital Inc and Luxembourg-based Fabrique D‘Image. This deal completes the €8.6 million global budget funding to produce the series within 19 months for its global release.
Commented DQE Chairman and CEO Tapaas Chakravati, “This TV new series will be produced as a high quality 3D series and will appeal to kids worldwide. The new partnership with Yowza Digital and Fabrique D‘Image will add significant production and creative expertise and the pan-European nature of this co-production agreement has created new horizons for our Group.”
Besides, DQE has concluded an acquisition deal with Global TV, Indonesia to broadcast multiple properties including the 3D TV Series 5 and IT (52X11‘), Iron Man season 2 (52X11‘) and Casper season 2 (52X11‘) in Indonesia over a period of four years.
The company has also entered a TV licensing deal with ATV Turkey for the acquisition of Lassie & Friends (52 x11‘) and the new season of 3D Galactik Football (26×22) for broadcast in Turkey. ATV is part of Turkuvaz Media Group, and distributes content to more than 70 countries worldwide.
DQE has signed a Home distribution deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment Films, India for The Jungle Book and Iron Man and Indian TV features Feluda, Ravan, Balkand and Omkar.
The home video company will distribute the home video of the animations in India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Tibet while the revenue share would be split equally.
MUMBAI: Disney Channel is set to launch the second season of its popular art and craft show, Art Attack.
The new season will be launched on 16 October and will air every Sunday at 9.30 am.
This season will have lots of new art and crafts tips and tricks as the show host Gaurav helps kids unleash their creativity and fire their imagination. The new season promises to be fun-filled as the host takes kids on a creative journey using the unlikely treasure trove found amongst the everyday objects lying in our homes and neighborhood while demonstrating the importance of recycling and reusing.
With simple, easy-to-understand instructions that kids may use to enhance their art and craft skills, Art Attack emphasises on encouraging kids to use their own imagination to create beautiful yet functional artifacts.
Walt Disney Television International India executive director, content and creative Arnab Chaudhuri said, “Disney‘s Art Attack encourages kids to express themselves, develop their creativity and use their imagination. The show brings kids, parents and siblings together to share a fun and creative Sunday morning activity and is a wonderful example of Disney’s unique ability to provide family entertainment that appeal across age groups.”
MUMBAI: Kids channel Pogo is taking its young viewers on a magical journey with a new weekly series, Magicskool, starting 2 October.
The show will air at 10.30 am and will see Pogo‘s most popular artist and host – Rob (Harun Robert) donning the magician‘s role.
Magicskool is a high-energy magic show that blends the mysterious world of illusion with witty entertainment. In his new avatar as a ‘cool magician‘, Rob will teach the kids simple magic tricks step-by-step while amazing them with hidden camera tricks, magical brain teasers and vanishing objects.
Turner International India GM Entertainment Networks, South Asia Monica Tata said, “The launch of Magicskool gives Pogo the opportunity to provide its fans with content that is innovative, interactive and entertaining. Magicskool teaches viewers the secrets behind the most elusive and enthralling magic tricks which are coveted by kids and adults alike. All this and more as India‘s most popular kids‘ host encourages creativity to become the ultimate destination for kids to tune into.”
A highlight of the show is the ‘Masti Meter‘, where kids can nominate their favourite person to join Rob in performing incredible magic tricks with them. Kids can also enter Rob‘s world of magic online.
MUMBAI: Hyderabad-based DQ Entertainment has decided to partner Imira Entertainment, Spain‘s leading production and distribution company specialising in youth programming, Enne Entertainment Studios and Spanish broadcaster TVE on a new 3D animated series titled Escape Hockey.
Aimed at children between the 6-to-12-year-olds and created by Enne Entertainment, Escape Hockey is a blend of comedy and space adventure that tells the story of Dan, who is abducted along with his friends to a prison planet named Plutonium.
The only way for him to go back home is to win the great Escape Hockey Tournament, the biggest sporting event in the galaxy, where the most dangerous inmates battle it out for the ultimate prize.
Said DQE Group Chairman & CEO Tapaas Chakravarti, “The watch and play format will be a great attraction for the children viewing the series. We are sure that the combined synergies of DQE, Imira and Enne Animation will make Escape Hockey a great success worldwide.”
The series will be produced in two versions, a standard television series and an interactive version which will feature the innovative gaming format ‘Watch and Play‘ – a revolutionary system that allows the viewer watch the series and play at the same time, thanks to the mini-games integrated in each chapter.
Scenes incorporated in the storyline will be played out by the viewer. This will be developed with VOD, online, interactive TV and games console platforms in mind. These videogames will also allow TVE develop the interactive potential of its web offering including skills of socialisation and community creation around the series.
MUMBAI: Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) Europe has acquired Latibaer, the Icelandic entity which owns and operates the LazyTown brand.
The announcement comes with an immediate commitment to produce a new series of the Icelandic kids TV series.
Under the terms of the deal, LazyTown‘s creator and star Magnus Scheving remains CEO of Latibaer and retains his management team, and the series production stays in Iceland.
The investment in LazyTown in particular signals the company‘s growing ambitions in the preschool space, given the synergies that LazyTown presents for the company‘s existing Cartoonito and Boomerang franchises.
The announcement follows Turner‘s consolidated preschool expansion across Europe Middle East and Africa, with the roll out of its preschool channel Cartoonito across the region on 5 September 2011.
TBS Europe president Jeff Kupsky said, “With the great fit between our existing assets in the pre-school genre, and the retention of the unique talent that is Magnus Scheving, we‘re ready to expand the LazyTown brand and will immediately be starting production on a new series. This will be supported by Turner‘s successful 360 franchise management approach which will include consumer products and digital
extensions.”
Latibaer CEO Magnus Scheving added, “We‘re delighted to have Turner on board and believe that the fit is an ideal one for us, Turner being one of the world‘s leading broadcast companies. We look forward to a bringing the LazyTown message of helping motivate children to lead a healthy lifestyle to a whole new audience of Turner viewers.”
MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide has announced the launch of a new app – CBeebies On The Go, which will allow all preschoolers around the world to take a little bit of CBeebies on all their adventures.
Developed by Tag Apps to complement the international preschoolchannel, CBeebies On The Go is a brightly coloured world full of games and activities, and home to many of the characters from the channel like Charlie & Lola, 3rd & Bird, Numberjacks and Teletubbies.
The free app is available to download from the App Store, for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad in India, Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
The app is wholly intuitive and with simple touch controls designed specifically for young fingers.
BBC Worldwide Channels director of CBeebies Investment Henrietta Hurford-Jones said, “CBeebies On The Go is a delightful accompaniment to the CBeebies channel. Kids all over the world share a natural curiosity and sense of fun, so the app is a wonderful way to make new discoveries with familiar friends.”
On TV, CBeebies claims a reach of over 53 million homes outside the UK, through BBC Worldwide’s network of channels and branded programme blocks. Local schedules are available in seven key markets – India, the Nordic region, Poland, Africa, Australia, and Asia as well as the Latin American and US Hispanic market.
MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide has announced publishing and DVD partners for the children’s channel CBeebies’ show ‘Baby Jake’.
Children‘s publishers Egmont will develop books and 2|entertain will publish DVD products for the new pre-school show which started airing last month.
‘Baby Jake’ was developed by Darrall Macqueen and combines
storytelling, humour and a mixture of live action and 2D photographic animation bringing to life the magical imagination of a young child and celebrating the special bond between two young siblings.
Darrall Macqueen joint MD Billy Macqueen, who is also the executive producer of the show, said, “These deals build upon the UK master toy licence signed with Vivid in June and reinforce the early success of ‘Baby Jake’ on CBeebies itself and on the BBC‘s catch-up platforms. Since launching on 4 July, Baby Jake has been a permanent fixture in the CBeebies iPlayer ‘Top Five‘ and grew from 240,000 viewings in week one to a stunning half a million viewings in week two. We are delighted that 2|entertain and Egmont have partnered with Darrall Macqueen and BBC Worldwide to expand Baby Jake‘s success from the small screen to the high street.
BBC Worldwide, who were last month confirmed as the licensing agent for the brand, has secured a raft of partners to develop product programmes including Vivid as the UK master toy company.
Egmont has been appointed to develop the book publishing range with plans to roll-out in July 2012.
Egmont Publishing Group MD David Riley said, “Egmont are thrilled to be welcoming Baby Jake to the Egmont portfolio. Baby Jake perfectly captures the essence of childhood and we are excited to be creating books and magazines which will enable children to laugh, sing, wiggle, jiggle and scribble along with Baby Jake and his friends. We are delighted to be working with
Darrall Macqueen Ltd to bring this fantastic property to life on the page.”
2|entertain, which works in the children‘s DVD space, has also signed up to the brand with plans to publish the debut DVD in the first half of next year.
MUMBAI: Cartoon Network is releasing a CGI animated television feature based on its alien-morphing boy hero character, Ben 10.
Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens is slated for premiere in 2012 on Cartoon Network globally.
The film is being directed by Victor Cook, who also directed The Spectacular Spider-Man, Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated. Also, Silas Hickey is the executive producer and Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, Inc. is the creative director for animation.
Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens turns the clock back to 10-year-old Ben Tennyson, struggling with teachers, detention, school bullies and the dreadful fate of missing out on his weekend fishing trip with Grandpa Max, when grounded by his parents.
Desperate times call for desperate measures as Ben jumps at the chance to escape from it all at the Total Alien Immersion training programme on the far side of the galaxy. Little does Ben realise the irreversible consequences of the programme which sends him crashing back to earth stuck in his alien forms battling an all-new evil alien, Mechamorph Warrior.
“Ben 10‘s enduring popularity with kids is undeniable and this movie brings the hugely successful franchise to an exciting new level. Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens is set to be 2012‘s television movie event of the year as Ben 10‘s legions of fans around the world unite to watch him, cousin Gwen and Grandpa Max save the world from evil with awesome, never-before-seen CGI effects,” said Hickey.
Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens is written by Marty Isenberg and features the original voice actors from the Ben 10 animated series.
MUMBAI: Nickelodeon’s channel Nicktoons has announced that skateboarder/entrepreneur Rob Dyrdek will bring the world of
skateboarding to it with an original animated series, Wild Grinders.
The announcement was made by Nicktoons and TeenNick senior VP, GM Keith Dawkins.
Inspired by Dyrdek‘s real-life experiences, the half-hour comedy follows the cartoon adventures of a group of friends bonded by their love of skateboarding. The 26-episode series is produced in partnership with Home Plate Entertainment, Moonscoop and Dyrdek‘s Wild Grinders and will premiere on Nicktoons next year.
It will be preceded by a number of some shorts and other original multi-platform digital content launching this fall. Agogo Corporation, Telegael Teoranta and Copernicus Studios are also co-producers on the HD production.
Dawkins said, “’Wild Grinders’ is a great fit for Nicktoons because it has the comedy and adrenaline boys love. Rob Dyrdek brings an authentic look at the skateboard culture and a diverse cast of characters who reflect our audience. We think they‘ll enjoy this dynamic journey of a 12-year-old skater and his friends. I wanted to make a cartoon that made me laugh. I have always tried to create programming that was funny. Skateboarding is a backdrop to our main characters comedic situations, but not necessarily our primary focus,” stressed Dyrdek, who also is voicing the lead character and is the executive producer.
Rooted in fun, humour and a genuine take on the attitude and spirit of today‘s skateboarding, Wild Grinders follows a quick-thinking skater kid, Lil Rob, his right hand dog, Meaty, his nerdy inventor buddy, Goggles, and his middle school friends, known as the Wild Grinders.
Lil Rob and his thrill-seeking crew, who come from all walks of life, find themselves amid many zany skateboarding adventures in and around their hometown of Sprawl City, from shrink rays that make “getting through the living room” an imaginative adventure to a story about cursed pumpkin zombies; the show features the bright appealing look of original artwork.