9 Story Distribution
The international distribution arm of Canada’s 9 Story Media Group has sold Sutikki’s preschool co-pro Moon and Me to a number of new international broadcasters, including ABC (Australia), TVNZ (New Zealand), ZPO Zappelin (Netherlands), RTE (Ireland), HOP! (Israel), NRK (Norway), Studio Canal (Pan European) and YLE (Finland).
Created by Andrew Davenport (Teletubbies), the 50 x 22-minute series is co-produced by Toronto-based 9 Story Media Group, LA prodco Sutikki and Davenport’s Foundling Bird. It first premiered on UK kidsnet CBeebies in February and made its US debut on Universal Kids last month. The stop-motion/live-action series is about a magical toy named Pepi Nana who lives in a house with a family of toy friends, which come to life at night.
Magic Light Pictures
London prodco Magic Light Pictures’ 30-minute animated film The Snail and the Whale (pictured) was presold to a host of international broadcasters, including ZDF (Germany), France Télévisions (France), SVT (Sweden), DR (Denmark), RTE (Ireland), ABC (Australia), Showmax (Africa), Czech Television (Czech Republic), Noga (Israel), VPRO (Netherlands) and RTV (Slovenia).
The half-hour special is currently in production, and will premiere in the UK on BBC One as part of the British broadcasters’ lineup of family-friendly Christmas specials this year. Directed by Max Lang and Daniel Snaddon, the animated film is produced by Michael Rose and Martin Pope at Magic Light Pictures and animated by Cape Town, South Africa-based prodco Triggerfish Animation.
The special is based on the book by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The Snail and the Whale revolves around a tiny snail who wants to see the world and who manages to hitch a ride on the tail of a humpback whale.
Entertainment One
Canadian prodco Entertainment One (eOne) is launching the first Peppa Pig music album, titled Peppa Pig, My First Album. The company is releasing the album in English-speaking territories, including the UK, US and Australia on July 19 as part of the brand’s 15th anniversary celebrations.
The album will debut on digital music platforms this summer. Julian Nott and Paul Moessl composed the music, including songs from the series and 16 newly recorded tracks.
This isn’t the first brand that eOne has made into an album, it also launched the mini-album PJ Masks: Here We Come for its superhero-focused preschool series PJ Masks in May 2017. Those tunes generated more than 150,000 streams globally in the album’s first week, according to the company.
ZooMoo
Singapore-based kidsnet ZooMoo, owned by Blue Ant Media, has greenlit a second season of the CG-animated series Leo The Wildlife Ranger (60 x 11 minutes). ZooMoo will co-produce a new batch of 52 x 11-minute episodes with Singaporean animation studio Omen Studios. Production one the second season begins this fall.
Aimed at preschoolers ages three to six, the show stars two kids who go on adventures to help animals in need while learning about wildlife and nature. Season one has been picked up by a number of international broadcasters, including Discovery (EMEA), Channel 1 (Russia), Globosat (Brazil), CJ E&M (South Korea) and Canal+ (Myanmar), as well as VOD platforms Amazon Prime (USA), Kidoodle (Canada) and Tencent (China).
The second season is executive produced by Omen Studios ‘CEO Chi Sim Tang and ZooMoo’s SVP of kids programming and development, Harry Teper.