• At Kidscreen Summit, South Korean animation studio Neon Creation has signed a deal with New York City’s 3Beep to co-produce Neon’s 2D-animated series Bear With Us (52 x five minutes). Billed as “Powerpuff Girls for a social media generation,” the adventure-comedy is about two bears who host a podcast in which they discuss solving universal problems like avoiding a puddle. This series targets a 10-plus audience. 

• LA-based studio and distributor Viva Pictures has teamed up with UK-headquartered Kazoo Films to jointly distribute animated family films. The two companies will collaborate on marketing and promotion, with Viva managing US distribution and Kazoo covering the UK market. The first title the companies are partnering on is the upcoming CG-animated zombie-animal film Night of the Zoopocalypse from Toronto-headquartered Copperheart Entertainment, which Viva will release first in US theaters on March 7. 

• Norwegian subscription-based educational platform Kahoot! has added learning games featuring Sanrio’s biggest brands to grow its popularity in Japan. Games featuring Hello Kitty, Mr. Men, Little Miss and My Melody are now available in Kahoot!. In Japan, more than 60 million participants played 10 million learning sessions on the app in the last year—a 70% increase compared to the previous year, according to the platform. 

Pictured from left to right is 3Beeb CEO Tim Werenko and Sara Kyungwon Han-Williams of Neon Creation.