The sun is out on day one of Kidscreen Summit 2022, which is taking place live this week after a two-year hiatus. Many companies are unveiling new shows and co-productions at the event, and we’re bringing you a roundup of the pitches that are turning up the heat in Miami.

Frederator Studios

The New York-based prodco is developing Hammy and Olivia, a series based on a pair of Corgis that have become social-media popular  in humorous skits on platforms like TikTok (5.2 million followers) and YouTube (2.8 million subscribers). In their videos, the pooches often have conversations with their owner, Chris Equale, who created this new series concept.

Format details are not available yet, but Hammy and Olivia will blend live action and animation, targeting kids ages six-plus and their families. LA’s Genius Brands International will manage global consumer products, promotions and retail for the IP.

Slap Happy Cartoons

The Vancouver-based studio is teaming up with Andrews McMeel Entertainment to adapt a comic strip called Heart of the City (pictured) for TV, aiming to reach kids ages six to 11.

Created by Mark Tatulli, the comic strip debuted in 1998 and follows a young, celebrity-fixated girl named Heart who lives in Philadelphia with her single mother. Syndicated by Andrews McMeel Syndication, the strip appears online and in newspapers around the world, and it recently spawned a book collection entitled Heart Takes the Stage.

Sphere Media 

Based in Montreal, Sphere Media is hitting the stage in a new partnership with Mojumbi Entertainment to co-produce live-action musical series Rock Girl. 

Aimed at eight to 12s, the series is in development now, revolving around a musical misfit who rocks out on a magic guitar and is transported back to 1984, where she lives out her rockstar dreams.

Producer/composer duo Matthew Gerrard and Mladen Alexander created the comedy-adventure series concept at Mojumbi, which had previously teamed up with Sphere Media  to co-produce 2D-animated Riley Rocket (52 x 11 minutes) for Canadian pubcaster TVOKids.

Ánima 

The Mexican animation studio is collaborating with US publisher Green Kids Club to co-produce a new book-based TV series called Victor and The Infinite & Mysterious Hallway of Loos. 

Based on a YA title from the Green Kids Club library, the comedy-adventure show is about a kid who struggles to find his inner strength as part of a family of immortal beings.

Frank Saperstein (The Ren & Stimpy Show) and Rita Street (Space Chickens in Space), who penned the novel, will serve as writers and executive producers on the series, with Ánima COO Jose García de Letona also on board as an EP.