Sales and deals are coming fast and furious, with several key announcements this week that include the following:
‘ HIT Entertainment is developing two new animated series: For the Birds, created by former Warner Bros. writer-producers Tom Ruegger and Randy Rogel; and Zip Zip Zippy, a music-based hybrid live-action and animation preschool series created by Jeanine Kay and Luciana Brafman Bienstock.
‘ Coolabi has chosen King Rollo Films to animate a 52 x 11 min. series based on the Poppy Cat series of books. The series will debut on Nick Jr. U.K. in 2011.
‘ American Greetings Properties has announced multiple international deals for its animated series Strawberry Shortcake’s Berry Bitty Adventures series and The Strawberry Shortcake Movie: Sky’s the Limit. The company announced broadcast deals with Disney and M6 in France, Cartoon Network in the U.K. (series only), Astral Media’s Playhouse Disney in Canada, Disney in Latin America, Al Jazeera in the Middle East, and Hop! in Israel. Home video rights have been acquired by SND Groupe/M6 in France, Magna Home Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand, Prime Pictures in the Middle East and Magma D.D., Cass Films and Mirax in Eastern Europe.
‘ CAKE Entertainment reached several international deals for Angelo Rules, its second co-production with Paris-based animation studio, TeamTO. The major deal is a worldwide sales agreement with Turner Broadcasting’s Cartoon Network in all territories excluding the U.S., Italy, France and Japan. And in Italy, RAI has picked up the rights to the series.
