9 Story Media Group has inked an agreement to acquire Breakthrough Entertainment’s kids and family library — totting up to 757 half hours of animated and live-action content and bringing 9 Story’s distribution library up to more than 3,500 half hours. The buyer is also taking over Breakthrough’s kids & family development slate, and the right to produce future seasons of these properties. Breakthrough has agreed to a three-year non-compete in this demographic, but will complete its current production slate.
The deal is set to close within the next 30 days. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Breakthrough’s K&F division launched with with the worldwide success of live-action/puppetry series The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon. Today, its diverse catalog includes animated hits like Rocket Monkeys, Jimmy Two Shoes, Captain Flamingo and Wandering Wenda, based on the book by Margaret Atwood.
“Breakthrough has built an impressive catalog of popular animated and live-action kids and family content,” said Vince Commisso, President & CEO for 9 Story. “The acquisition adds significant depth and breadth to our distribution library, expands our development slate and production opportunities, and solidifies our position as one of the industry’s top suppliers for kids and family content internationally. In particular, the deal increases 9 Story’s live action offering with top titles like Anne of Green Gables, Bruno & Boots and Max and Shred.”
“Breakthrough is honored to have our award-winning kids content, produced over the last 33 years, become part of 9 Story’s high quality kids and family library,” said Ira Levy, Co-Founder and President of Breakthrough Entertainment. “9 Story’s excellence in kids media is the perfect fit to continue the legacy of Breakthrough’s kids and family catalog both domestically and in the international market.”
