Edebé, ZDF & Yowza in Co-Pro Deal

CANNES: Edebé Audiovisual Licensing has signed up the German broadcaster ZDF and the Canadian studio Yowza Animation as co-production partners on its series Four and a Half Friends. 

Aimed at kids 6 to 10, the 26×26-minute property tells of the adventures of Charly, Stefi, Radish, Fred and their mangy street dog called Dandy. The show is based on a set of best-selling books from German author Joachim Friedrich, which have sold more than 20 million copies in 40 countries. The series will head into production shortly, slated for completion by 2013.

Nicole Keeb, the head of international co-productions and acquisitions for children’s and youth programming at ZDF, commented: “We are very happy to be on board of Four and a Half Friends, because we believe in light detective stories for kids and on top: this series is based on a very popular German book property, which helps to create a certain awareness.”

"We are very happy to partner up with Edebé Audiovisual on this project and look forward to seeing the popular books by Joachim Friedrich come alive in animation," added Alexander Coridass, the CEO of ZDF Enterprises. "This will be a great addition to our ZDFE Junior portfolio and we are sure that our clients will be as excited about this show as we are."

Heather Walker, the head of business development at Yowza Digital, said: “Our brand is quality. We only engage in projects that offer the level of quality we ask for, and surely Four and a Half Friends is one of them.”