ER Racks Up New Sales

LONDON, April 17: Entertainment
Rights (ER) has reached a number of new international broadcast deals for
animated kids’ properties like Postman Pat-Special Delivery Service (SDS),
Toopy & Binoo, Casper’s
Scare School and George of the
Jungle.

Postman
Pat—Special Delivery Service (SDS) has been sold to broadcast partners in Denmark, Sweden, Australia and
pan-regionally in the Middle East and Iceland. A number of additional deals
agreed at the market will be announced shortly. Commissioned by the BBC and
introduced to international buyers at MIPTV for the first time, the new series
is set to air in the U.K. on CBeebies this fall. It sees Pat promoted and
outfitted with a host of exciting new vehicles and supporting characters.

Meanwhile, the preschool
series Toopy & Binoo has
been licensed into Korea, and also received a pick-up from a commercial free-TV
channel in the Middle East, among others. The new sales join Cartoon Network
(Latin America), RAI Sat (Italy), Tiji (France), RTP (Portugal) and Kids
Central (Singapore) as broadcasters of the program, while in the U.S., PBS
serves as the brand’s exclusive online and video distribution partner. Based on
the bestselling Canadian children’s books by author Dominque Jolin, the program
follows the exploits of Toopy, a large and loveable mouse, and a tiny cat named
Binoo, who are inseparable friends and enjoy life to the fullest.

Meanwhile, ER’s newly
acquired third-party CG-animated series Shelldon has elicited interest from broadcasters worldwide,
including those in the U.K., France and multiple Scandinavian and Asian
territories, where deals are expected to be signed and announced over the
upcoming weeks. Primarily targeted at children 4 to 8, Shelldon aims to entertain as well as educate children
about marine life and creatures that live in the sea. The animated George of
the Jungle series has been sold to
broadcasters in Norway (NRK), Russia (Central Partnership), Scandinavia
(pan-regionally via Nickelodeon), Belgium (VRT), Finland (VRT), Netherlands
(Netherlands Public Broadcasting), Ireland (RTE), Denmark (TV2) and Iceland
(RUV). The lineup of new broadcasters join France 3 and France 5, where the
series launched in October 2007, as well as Super RTL in Germany. George of
the Jungle premiered in the U.K.
on Nickelodeon in fall 2007 and on Cartoon Network in the U.S. in January 2008.

Finally, the new
CG-animated series Casper’s Scare School received pick-ups in the Netherlands (Jetix), Denmark (DR.TV),
Finland (MYV 3), Norway (NRK) and the Middle East (Cartoon Network). The series
is currently in production for TF1 in France and for Cartoon Network Europe.

Chloe van den Berg, the executive director of international at
Entertainment Rights, commented: “We have been delighted by the interest from
broadcast partners all around the world in the new additions to our already
extensive Entertainment Rights, Classic Media and Big Idea portfolios. Postman
Pat-Special Delivery Service (SDS),
Toopy & Binoo, Shelldon, Casper’s Scare School and George of the Jungle have each been incredibly well received at the
market, and as a result a number of deals have already been agreed with key
broadcasters.”

—By Irene Lew