Former Globo Group execs Luiz Filipe Figueira (pictured right) and Ivan Lee (pictured left) have launched the a new LatAm-focused distribution company called The Chain to help connect the region with the global kids content industry. 

The Chain is a development, distribution and financing company that the duo launched in stealth mode back in January. They’ve since been quietly working on securing a first group of clients, all of whom were signed in the last month, says co-founder and content managing partner Figueira. The group includes well-known studios Flying Bark in Australia and France’s Cottonwood Media. 

Flying Bark is seeking gap financing in the LatAm market to start production on a new animated project. And The Chain is working with Cottonwood to set up LatAm presales for its CG-animated series 20 Dance Street, which already has ZDF, France Télévisions and RTBF on board, says Figueira. The Chain will distribute these projects in Latin America (in partnership with Federation Kids & Family, in the case of 20 Dance Street).

On the live-action side of things, the company is representing Brazilian kids & family producer Panorâmica’s content internationally (Gaby Star, Anything for a Pop Star), as well as the works of Argentine tween/teen book author Marcela Citterio. More specifically, The Chain is developing a feature film franchise and a new musical series with Citterio, both targeting tweens. This partnership will kick off with the launch of a new book series in Brazil. 

LatAm is a large market with more than 500 million people, and The Chain hopes to help international companies connect with partners in the region, Figueira says. He adds that LatAm countries—and Brazil, in particular—have strong animation talent, and The Chain hopes to help put it on the world stage. “There’s excellent content from the region that can easily [travel] overseas,” says Figueira. “We want to connect creators from Europe and other parts of the world with Brazilian producers.”

Figueira and Lee (co-founder and business managing partner) are both heading to MIPCOM in October on a mission to acquire LatAm rights to more kids content. 

They each have more than a decade of experience at Brazil’s media conglomerate Globo Group. Figueira, whose background is in children’s content, served as head of kids programming and content strategy. Lee was a marketing coordinator for one of Globo’s channels, and he also worked as head of marketing and business at NBCUniversal in Brazil for more than eight years. 

Figueira is excited to be moving on from a buyer role at one of LatAm’s biggest broadcasters to work more closely with producers and distributors in the region and abroad. “The LatAm market is an important one, and [I want] to help producers find solutions and new windows for great content,” he says. 

Image courtesy of Ana Paula Astino.