Canada’s TELETOON Is On Board Squish

PARIS/TORONTO: Cottonwood Media and its co-production partner Shaftesbury have entered into a development deal with Corus Entertainment’s TELETOON in Canada for the animated comedy series Squish.

In addition, French children’s network Gulli has ramped up its existing development deal for the series into a pre-buy of all digital and broadcast rights for France. Gulli and Cottonwood had entered into a development deal for the series in mid-2015. The 52×11-minute series targets kids aged 6 to 11 and is based on the best-selling graphic novels by Jennifer Holm. It is set for delivery in 2017.

Squish tells of the secret life of amoebas trying to survive in the cutthroat world of single-celled organisms. The series is executive produced by Cottonwood Media’s producer and founding partner David Michel (Get Blake!, Redakai). John Derevlany (Johnny Test, Angry Beaver) serves as showrunner.

Michel commented: “It is very exciting that Squish is moving into the key Canadian market. Cottonwood’s raison d’être is to produce premium content for global channels and having a top North American partner such as TELETOON reaffirms this goal. We are confident that TELETOON will help the TV show attain the same massive success the books have had in both Canada and the U.S.”

“Squish has already succeeded in entertaining kids in Canada through its graphic novels and we are thrilled to develop this concept for TELETOON,” said Athena Georgaklis, the director of content at TELETOON. “We look forward to joining this list of talented writers and producers to bring these stories to life.”

Caroline Cochaux, the managing director for France and international at Lagardère Active (Gulli), added: “We are still delighted to be a part of this new animation company’s first production, we are proud to be partnering up with Cottonwood Media on this adventure. Comedy is a beacon of Gulli’s programming and a natural fit for our young audience, so we are especially enthusiastic about working with all this creative team for Squish!”

“We’re looking forward to working with Cottonwood, TELETOON and Gulli to bring this scientifically hilarious series to life,” said Ryan St. Peters, the VP of kids and family at Shaftesbury.