Animasia Studios
Producer/director Matt Danner (Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again, Muppet Babies) has lined up Malaysia’s Animasia Studio to co-produce his new 2D-animated series Super Free Play with LA-based Free Play Media. Currently in late development, this 20 x 11-minute series for six to 12s stars a pair of super-powered twins trying to live as normal teens while battling otherworldly threats. Danner has already assembled a team that includes producers Sander Schwartz (Justice League, Reindeer in Here) and Bruce Robinson (Free Play’s CEO), distributor Lacey Entertainment and Emmy-winning voice actor Eric Bauza (Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck).
Serious Kids
Knowledge Kids (Canada), CBeebies (Africa and Poland), Kidstream (US), BeiN (MENA), Czech TV, HRT (Croatia), ETV (Estonia), LTV (Latvia), Channel 1 (Slovakia) and RTVS (Slovenia) are the latest broadcasters to pick up The Sound Collector (pictured, 60 x five minutes) from distributor Serious Kids. Narrated by Keira Knightly and featuring puppets, models and animation from MacKinnon & Saunders, this live-action/stop-motion series for preschoolers is about a small explorer who discovers and investigates different sounds, from the scuttling of a beetle, to the snoring of a mole. British studio Eagle vs Bat and Italy’s Enanimation co-produced The Sound Collector for ITV and RAI.
Creative Kids Group
Paramount Global has tapped New York-based manufacturer Creative Kids Group to make and distribute a collection of kits and play products featuring Nickelodeon’s iconic slime. Due out this spring in more than 40 countries worldwide, the range will include DIY and science kits, pre-made jars of slime and outdoor toys. All tolled, Creative Kids expects to distribute more than one million pounds of slime in 2024, says CMO Daniel DeLapa.
APTN & Citytv Saskatchewan
Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) and Citytv Saskatchewan have renewed Zoot Pictures/Paxolotl Media’s CG-animated preschool series CHUMS for a second season (nine x 30 minutes) ahead of the first one’s debut this spring. Francophone broadcaster TFO has also picked up a French-language version of both seasons of the toon about an Indigenous girl and her animal friends exploring Turtle Island and learning about nature.