Louie

TV Kids Weekly, January
30, 2007

NAME: Louie

ORIGIN: The show is based on the illustrated
books by Yves Got that have been a huge success worldwide and have been
published in 22 countries.

CREATORS: Louie was developed for television by Marie
Caroline Villand and the rest of the creative team at Millimages.

TV SHOW: Louie is an engaging animated series for 2-
to 5-year-olds, which involves children in imaginative stories that motivate
them to draw. Like all the best television shows for young children, the series
is multi level—the stories stimulate younger viewers’ curiosity and
imagination; and older viewers, who have more highly developed small muscle
coordination, learn to draw a range of objects. The simple stories are relevant
and meaningful to the age group, providing the perfect context for learning.

Millimages is
just completing production on the first two seasons, which consists of
78×7-minute episodes or 26 half-hour episodes. A third season of 39 7-minute
episodes or 13 half hours, commissioned by France 5 following the initial
success of the property, will be going into preproduction in spring 2007.

EXECUTIVE
PRODUCERS: Roch Lener
and Jonathan Peel

COMMISSIONING
BROADCASTER: France 5

TV SALES: Louie has sold to more than 40 countries
with such key broadcasters as Super RTL, CITV, ABC (Australia), Nickelodeon and
Disney already on board.

MAJOR TOY
LICENSEES: Millimages
is currently in discussions with a potential master toy license partner.

OTHER
PRODUCTS: Worldwide
sales of Louie
books have exceeded three million copies—they are published by Albin
Michel in French-speaking Europe and associated publishers throughout the rest
of the world. DVDs from Millimages/Paramount sold over 75,000 units in an
initial launch in France. Carel SA will be handling apparel for mass market and
mail order in Europe and has set the launch for summer 2008. There is also a
confectionary deal in place with Daniel Roche with items planned to be on the
shelves from April 2007 in France, Switzerland, Belgium and the U.K. Lebrun
will be launching kitchenware and crockery in French-speaking Europe this
summer. Stationery, activity and sticker books, playsets and plush are planned
for 2007/2008.

STRATEGY
FOR ROLL OUT: Louie is already a publishing success in
several territories, including France, the U.K., Germany, Spain, Scandinavia,
Benelux, the U.S. and Japan, explains John Reynolds, Millimages’ managing
director. Millimages plans to capitalize on this by building a solid foundation
with key broadcasting and DVD partners, along with a multimedia platform that
is currently in development. Once these have been secured, plans are in place
to replicate the merchandising and licensing success that has been achieved in
French-speaking Europe across several keys areas, including apparel,
confectionary and kitchenware. Louie’s highly brandable look not only enchants children but
also inspires purchasers to buy the branded items off the shelf.