Shapes

ORIGIN: An original idea by Lingun Sung of Peach Blossom Media in Singapore. The inspiration came when he was playing with an ancient Chinese puzzle called tangrams with his 4-year-old daughter. He thought it would be a great idea to bring this to life with animation.

DISTRIBUTOR: Evergreen Entertainment

CREATOR: Peach Blossom Media

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Lingun Sung and Karen Tang

MAIN BROADCASTER: The series was financed by producer Peach Blossom Media in co-production with the Media Development Authority of Singapore.

TV SHOW: Shapes consists 39 7-minute episodes produced in Flash and available in high definition. The second season is now in production for delivery at the end of 2010.

TRAILER: Visit Evergreen’s Screening Room to watch a clip of Shapes.

DESCRIPTION: Each episode is based on a fable from countries around the world. The fables are adapted so that all the characters in the series are animals, not humans, but each episode has a message that is relevant to kids anywhere in the world. All the episodes are topped and tailed by the same character, Badger. The series has a unique visual style with every character made up of different shapes, which come together to form that character.

TV SALES: Somos TV in the U.S., Al Jazeera Children’s Channel, IRIB in Iran, TV3 in Spain, TV Slovenia, TVN in Indonesia and Malyatko TV in the Ukraine. The show has also sold into India, and a number of other territories are in negotiation.

MAJOR TOY LICENSEES: Evergreen is in talks with licensees to develop a line of toys that are entertaining while at the same time aiding early childhood development.

OTHER PRODUCTS: A collection of books based on the first season is currently in the works. DVDs will be distributed by InnoForm and will roll out soon in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Educational video games are also being developed.

STRATEGY FOR ROLLOUT: “We are delighted with the sales of the first season,” says Steve Walsh, the managing director of Evergreen Entertainment. “Deals have been [recently] concluded in Indonesia, India, Slovenia and Ukraine, with several other countries close to signing and we expect a really good response from buyers at MIP Junior.”

Walsh says he is “really pleased” that Evergreen signed on to represent the property from Peach Blossom, with which it is working on several other projects. “Peach Blossom’s got a great bunch of people working for them and I think their enthusiasm can be seen in this very upbeat production.”

On the strength of the Shapes brand, Peach Blossom’s Sung adds: “This is the kind of show that both parents and kids love to watch. So we hope to get it on air in as many territories as possible first. Then we will follow with books and all kinds of merchandising. The toys we make will be fun, but useful, as we don’t want to neglect the educational values behind the series.”