Cologne-based public broadcaster WDR Mediagroup will be introducing MIPTV buyers to one of the cult hits of German television, Little Sandman. Subsidiaries RBB and RBB Media previously sold the show, and WDRmg will now be shopping broadcast, home video and VOD rights to the 24-episode series outside German-speaking territories.
Created by puppet designer and director Gerhardt Behrendt, Little Sandman (Unser Sandmännchen) premiered on East German state TV in 1959, and has remained a pop cultural touchstone in the territories where it first aired. The bedtime series followed the fantastic stop-motion adventures of Little Sandman and his young friends, sometimes introducing young viewers to new technological innovations.
WDRmg will also be showcasing animated series Kalli (39 episodes) and Lennart in Grumble Valley (26 eps.), hybrid series Timmi the Rocketeer (26 eps.), and puppet show Jan & Henry at the MIPTV market next week.
“Our co-operation with RBB Media enables us to bundle additional titles from the ARD family portfolio and make them known beyond the borders of Germany,” noted WDRmg’s Chief Content Officer, Andrea Zuska. “Plus, there is a strategic aspect to our taking over the international program sales of Jan & Henry – we’re acting as licensing and merchandising agency for this title, too, which enables us to implement an integrated brand management at the international level.”
You can sample Little Sandman on RBB’s (German-language) dedicated YouTube channel.
