Rainbow S.p.A., m4e Ink Multi-Year Volume, Co-Pro Agreement

MUNICH/GRUENWALD/LORETO/ANCONA,
April 10: Italian animation studio Rainbow S.p.A. has reached a five-year
volume and co-production agreement with m4e, a German brand management and
media company.

The agreement grants m4e
the rights to the next season of the animated series Winx Club as well as the new TV show Pixie, which is based on the characters from Winx
Club. m4e will manage all rights
to the two titles, including TV, home entertainment, merchandising, publishing
and promotion. m4e also has the first-look rights to Rainbow’s new shows over
the next years. The company has agreed to acquire at least one show per year on
a presale basis. Additionally, the two companies will co-produce at least one
show every two years.

“For many years we [have] enjoyed a very close and trustful relationship with Rainbow,” said Hans Ulrich
Stoef, the CEO of m4e. “It is only a logical step for us to strengthen this
relationship. Rainbow is one of the leading worldwide animation producers and
has delivered fantastic results—and we are very proud to be part of that.
The agreement is a major step forward for m4e and due to the same business
philosophies, Rainbow and m4e are a perfect fit to create successful shows and
brands.”

Added Iginio Straffi, the
president and CEO of Rainbow S.p.A.: “After a positive cooperation period with
m4e which lead to a great success of our properties Monster Allergy and Winx Club on the German market, Rainbow has decided as a natural evolution of
this strategic relationship to strengthen the business relation with m4e. We
are very happy to announce that—being very satisfied with this long-term
relationship—today we have finalized an important deal that gives Rainbow
a further enhancement of the coverage of the German-speaking market.”

—By Irene Lew