Mondo TV Group has presold its brand-new 2D animated comedy series Annie & Carola to the leading Italian public children’s broadcaster RAI Ragazzi — part of RAI, Italy’s national broadcasting company. The first 26 episodes of the 52 x 11′ series will be delivere to RAI by the first half of 2023, with Mondo TV S.p.A. providing animation services. The show follows the adventures and mishaps of two unusual teens: Shy super-geek Carola and her outgoing BFF Annie … who is a robot.
The agreement grants an exclusive license for a period of seven years from the date of completion of the episodes for free TV, pay TV, pay per view, VoD and ancillary rights for the Italian territory.
The show, which is a Mondo TV Studios’ project, is now entering its pre-production phase in Tenerife. Annie & Carola is a co-production between Mondo TV Studios, MB Producciones, Mondo TV S.p.A and Spanish public broadcaster RTVE. It was created by writer and producer Myriam Ballesteros (Lucky Fred, Lola & Virginia, Mimi and Mr. Bobo). This important pre-sale will provide a major boost to the show’s production budget, and bolsters its the international potential.
Annie & Carola is the story of Carola, a lonely, nerdy girl with no social skills, who desperately wants a best friend — someone who will share her love of science, always agree with her and protect her from the terrifying teen world at school. So, she decides to build herself one. But things don’t go quite as planned, and her robot companion, Annie, turns out to be her complete opposite! Disguised as a “foreign student,” the excitable, emotional Annie keeps dragging Carola into all the situations she hates and making Carola confront her fears. But despite all their differences, Annie and Carola complement and help each other, learning to be true friends.
“This is a show that is relevant to teens, but especially teen girls and the world they live in. We are therefore thrilled to be bringing to the screen two powerful and inspiring characters such as Annie & Carola in a show that is not only highly original and very funny, but it also has a strong storyline and, importantly, the backing of a number of leading broadcasters and producers,” said Maria Bonaria Fois, CEO of Mondo TV Studios. “This show also has strong potential across multiple media. In fact, our main goal is to build a strong IP with 360-degree development that will allow us to reach our audience through multiple devices, platforms and media. We’re very happy to have the collaboration of RAI for a show that we are certain will entertain, engage and amuse audiences across Italy.”
Mondo TV and the show’s partners believe it stands out for its sparkling dialog and hilarious scenarios, as well as its special focus in each episode on the emotions of its animated stars — and teens in genearal. In addition, the colorful cast of characters are each hiding a secret which will be unveiled at different points in the series, driving the story and allowing these characters to evolve in unexpected ways.
Luca Milano, Director Rai Ragazzi, added, “Annie & Carola is a brilliant show with a strong storytelling and engaging characters. We are confident that it will captivate also those kids and tweens that may tend to move away from animation. We are pleased to introduce Annie and Carola to our public on RAI’s TV channels.”
Mondo TV Group is one of Europe’s largest producers and distributors of animated content. Founded 50 years ago as a third-party film distributor, the Group now comprises several entities, including animation prodco Mondo TV S.p.A. Mondo TV Studios. Based in Tenerife and operating across Spain, Italy, Portugal, LatAm and Spanish-speaking U.S., the studio provies 2D and 3D animation services to third parties as well as on international co-productions. These services range from animation for children and fiction for adolescents, families and adults, to forays into new segments such as video games. Learn more at mondotvstudios.com.
