Fat Rock hammers out a distribution deal with Universal

Santa Monica, California-based Fat Rock Entertainment has inked a three-year deal with Universal Pictures Visual Programming (UPVP) for the worldwide distribution of its films on TV, home video and DVD. UPVP will also handle theatrical distribution outside North America and China.

Launched late last year, Fat Rock’s strategy is to produce and distribute moderately-budgeted G-rated features through North American theater chains during weekend mornings and other non-peak hours. The agreement with Universal will cover six films, including Fat Rock’s own Savanah’s Pajamas and titles based on Hasbro toy brands Super Soakers and My Little Pony. Fat Rock will begin rolling out the first wave of films, including the 3-D CGI My Little Pony title, in the latter half of 2004.

DIC offers an educon reprieve for U.S. stations

Help for U.S. TV stations scrambling to meet their educational kids programming quotas is on the way. L.A. producer DIC Entertainment recently began offering up programming packages featuring FCC-compliant shows culled from its catalogue. Under the current FCC regulations, TV stations must air three hours of kids educon a week. The DIC Network lets stations choose from one of three three-hour blocks featuring series such as Sabrina the Animated Series, Stargate and Southern Star’s mid-1980s series The Berenstain Bears.

Beyond boosting sales of its series, DIC’s goal with the network is to establish another advertising platform for companies trying to reach kids. On behalf of DIC, Tribune Media will sell three minutes of advertising out of every hour of the Entertainment/Informational blocks, with partner stations selling the remaining time. So far, DIC has sold the blocks to 480 channels in 200 markets, and the programming will launch in September.

Editor’s note: The electronic version of this article has been edited from the original print version in order to correct or clarify some information that it contained.