Halifax, NS – 17 September 2014 – DHX Media, a key player internationally in the creation of content for families and children, has inked a deal with Doodle Entertainment, the production arm of brand communications company Squint Opera, for worldwide distribution rights of its first-ever television series, Messy Goes to Okido (52 x 11’). CBeebies is already on board to broadcast the animated educational series in Spring 2015.
The concept for the television show, which is co-executive produced by Serious Lunch, is based on the art-and-science magazine for kids, OKIDO, which is supported by the Wellcome Trust. ‘Okido’ is a portmanteau of ‘Okay, I do!’, which encapsulates the spirit of curiosity and adventure that drives Messy and friends to keep exploring the world around them. Communicating educational subjects in a highly visual and imaginative way, the show is a mixture of live-action backgrounds with 3D and 2D animation.
Messy Goes to Okido is a comedy adventure series starring Messy, a little blue monster who lives in your house. If there’s jam in the kitchen or odd socks under the bed, then Messy has been about. He’s furry and purry and always wants to go to Okido, a magical land where his friends Zoe and Felix live. They love to see Messy, he is huge fun from the second he arrives by trampoline at their house. Together they can do ANYTHING especially when helped by the scientists, Zim, Zam and Zoom who have a huge laboratory on telescopic legs where they make a rocket to go to the moon, or a voice changing machine. Everything in Okido is larger than life. You might find out what gravity or language means, but not before having a brilliant time
Squint/Opera jointly owns the property with the magazine creators and publishers Sophie Dauvois and Rachel Ortas. DHX Media will manage worldwide sales and licensing of the brand.
For more information, please contact:
Aimee Norman at DDA Blueprint PR for DHX Media
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8985 4708 or aimee@ddablueprint.com
About DHX Media Ltd.
DHX Media Ltd. (www.dhxmedia.com), a leading broadcaster, creator, producer and marketer of family entertainment, is recognized globally for such brands as Yo Gabba Gabba!, Caillou, Teletubbies, In the Night Garden, Inspector Gadget, Johnny Test, and the multi-award winning Degrassi franchise. DHX Media Ltd. is the owner of Family Channel, the most-viewed children’s television channel in Canada, as well as Disney Junior (English & French) and Disney XD. The Company markets and distributes its library of more than 10,000 episodes of entertainment programming worldwide, and licenses its owned properties through its dedicated consumer products business. DHX Media Ltd.’s full-service international licensing agency, Copyright Promotions Licensing Group Ltd. (CPLG), represents numerous entertainment, sport and design brands. DHX Media Ltd. has offices in Toronto, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Halifax, London, Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Munich and Amsterdam, and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker DHX.
About SQUINT/OPERA
Squint/Opera is a creative animation and communications studio offering full design and digital production services across character creation, moving and still image, interactive design and editorial content. We populate digital platforms with rich and engaging story-led content and distribute and market it across all channels.
About OKIDO magazine
Okido is a popular kids’ magazine that communicates an understanding of science and nature to very young children in a playful and creative way. Okido magazine uses original art and contemporary illustration, crazy games, recipes and poems to stimulate creativity and inspire scientific interest with humour, joy and energy! The magazine has a devoted and growing readership and has won two awards from the Wellcome Trust.
It is currently sold in Waterstones, 120 outlets of WHSmith’s nationwide, the Tate Galleries, The V&A Museum of Childhood, Pollock’s Toy Museum, Foyles, as well as a
host of other galleries, bookshops and boutiques all over the UK, with Global retail outlets and subscribers from Russia to Australia and from Japan to the USA and Europe.