Scores central and eastern European sales ahead of NATPE Budapest
Halifax, NS - 20 June 2012 - DHX Media, a leading international producer and distributor of television programming and interactive content, has signed a number of deals across Europe, including CEE territories, as it prepares to attend NATPE Budapest next month.
Canal+ Cyfrowy in Poland has acquired further episodes of Martha Speaks and renewed the first season for its MiniMini+ HD channel. In Spain, Ypsilon Films has also taken Martha Speaks for Pay TV and VOD, and in further VOD deals MTV3 Finland has bought Grandpa in My Pocket.
In deals with key distribution agents DHX has appointed Individ to represent all 3 seasons of Grandpa In My Pocket for Russia, Kazakhstan, and the Baltics, and White Fox for The Latest Buzz and Martha Speaks for Free TV in Greece and Cyprus.
Josh Scherba, SVP Distribution at DHX Media said: “Our library of shows, both new series and established properties, continues to prove popular across Europe including significant success in CEE territories. We’re also seeing an increasing number of deals for VOD, which is proving to be a growing area for kids’ distribution.”
Keith Baber, Territory Manager at DHX Media will be attending NATPE Budapest next month with a slate that includes hit series Rastamouse and new DHX-produced show Monster Math Squad.
Stop-frame animated series Rastamouse, produced and animated in the UK by Three Stones Media and commissioned by CBeebies, has sold to over 40 territories globally with broadcasters including ABC Australia, Canal+ Poland, HOP! in Israel and BBC Worldwide Channels for Hispanic US, Latin American and Africa. The show is set for a second season of 26x11’ episodes on CBeebies, bringing the total number available to 78x11’.
In 2012, Rastamouse on CBeebies has achieved an average audience per episode of 182,000 and a 19.2% share of children aged 0-6. In addition, in the first three months of the year, Rastamouse had been requested over 288,000 times on the BBC iPlayer.
Based on the critically acclaimed books by Genevieve Webster and Michael De Souza, Rastamouse launched on CBeebies in January 2011 and has since engaged a following of preschoolers and parents alike. The series features Rastamouse, Scratchy and Zoomer of Da Easy Crew, the mystery-solving, reggae-playing band who always make a bad ting good and live by their motto "redemption, not retribution."
Rastamouse and Da Easy Crew was one of the highlights of last year’s Glastonbury and LolliBop festivals, and Channel 4’s Big Fat Quiz of the Year, and the group’s celebrity fans include Kylie Minogue, Lily Allen, Dizzee Rascal, Alexandra Burke and Simon Pegg. The series also won this year’s Broadcast Magazine award for Best Preschool Programme and was nominated for a Children’s BAFTA and a British Animation award.
A Rastamouse Company Production for CBeebies, Rastamouse is produced by Greg Boardman and Eugenio Perez of Three Stones Media, in association with Wales’s Dinamo Productions, London-based Little Roots and DHX Media, which handles worldwide TV sales (excluding the UK) and worldwide licensing and merchandising.
Monster Math Squad (50 x 12') is a CBC and SRC commission which has also sold to Discovery Kids Latin America, HOP! in Israel, Korea’s EBS, Astro in Malaysia and Now in Hong Kong.
Monster Math Squad stars loveable monsters that help children develop formative math-related skills. Got a problem with a pesky Picky Eater Monster who only wants to eat three round red things at precisely seven o’clock on Thursdays? Have no fear (well, maybe a little…) the Monster Math Squad is here! They love to use their monster math skills to help their fellow monsters in trouble.
The Monster Math Squad is mad for math and all things “mathy”… counting, measuring, sizing, sorting, exploring shapes, patterns, time… you name it, it’s all math to these monsters. For the Monster Math Squad, math can solve any problem. The series’ mission is to promote the love of numeracy, the understanding that math is everywhere, and the realization that math is fun!
Monster Math Squad is created by DHX Media’s Jeff Rosen who also created the DHX Media series Poko, Animal Mechanicals andBo on the GO!
For more information please contact:
Aimee Norman at DDA Blueprint PR for DHX Media
+44 (0) 20 8985 4708 or aimee@ddablueprint.com
About DHX Media
DHX Media (www.dhxmedia.com), together with its subsidiary, W!LDBRAIN Entertainment, is a leading international family entertainment rights creation and management company with three-award-winning production facilities, worldwide distribution and a global consumer products business. DHX Media has produced over 40 original television series, including world-recognized series such as Franny’s Feet, Animal Mechanicals, Kid vs. Kat, Angela Anaconda and Martha Speaks, and maintains a library of over 2,500 half-hours of animation and live-action programming. The company’s global licensing group oversees a diverse merchandising portfolio for proven properties, including the hit U.K. series Rastamouse, airing on CBeebies. W!LDBRAIN Entertainment, one of the world’s foremost producers of animation and family entertainment, is a studio based in Los Angeles that boasts an exceptional slate of programming, including Yo Gabba Gabba! (Nick Jr.), The Ricky Gervais Show (HBO),Higglytown Heroes (Disney), Bubble Guppies (Nick Jr.), Oki’s Oasis (Disney), The Hard Times of RJ Berger (MTV), Peanuts “Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown” (FOX), Team Smithereen (Disney XD) and the highly anticipated UMIGO, the first of its kind transmedia music property for kidsages 2-8, launching this Fall. DHX Media has offices in Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver, Los Angeles and London. DHX Media is listed on the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange).