MarVista Inks Licensing Deals Around the Globe

LOS ANGELES: MarVista Entertainment has licensed several kids' and family movies, including the holiday film 12 Dog Days Till Christmas, to various media partners worldwide.

12 Dog Days Till Christmas centers on a juvenile delinquent whose probation officer, played by Reginald VelJohnson (Family Matters), assigns him the community service task of cleaning up a local animal shelter. That title is headed to Disney Channel Latin America, Bell Media in Canada, Zylo for France and French-speaking Africa, Jigsaw for Australia and New Zealand, V Tele for French-speaking Canada and D Smart for Turkey and Cyprus.

Netflix went for seven teen titles, including Dance-Off for Latin America, Australia and New Zealand; Pop Star for Latin America; and A Second Chance for the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. U.S. channel Mundo Fox snapped up the Spanish-language rights for 1 Chance 2 Dance and Monkey in the Middle, while Asia Television Programming took the same productions for Malaysia and Singapore. In Europe, Club RTL acquired 1 Chance 2 Dance, and in Latin America, Peru's America Television licensed All She Wishes and Zapped.

Meanwhile, MarVista recently picked up the rights for the new family-friendly titles My New Best Friend, Kids vs Monsters and Pants on Fire, which will be presented by the company at this month's MIPTV alongside the holiday-themed Merry Ex-Mas, An En Vogue Christmas and Back to Christmas.

"Movies that appeal to families for co-viewing and those targeted to kids and teens continue to resonate with global buyers across all platforms," said Vanessa Shapiro, MarVista Entertainment's executive VP of distribution. "Holiday titles remain a staple with traditional broadcast partners around the world, and the thriving SVOD market provides new opportunities to supply themed programming to engaged audiences."