Dreamweavers Wins China Tales Incubator Contest

Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, in partnership with Toon Boom Animation and China’s WeKids, has chosen to proceed into development with Dreamweavers, one of the animation concepts submitted through their China Tales Incubator program.

Beijing-based Bingo Animation Studio’s Dreamweavers follows Eve, a budding creative who is invited into a fantastical textile world, where her costume-making dreams include a magical twist that sees her create enchanted clothing that may one day earn her the title of the Dreamweaver.

The program welcomed China-based animators, writers, illustrators, storytellers and artists to submit kids’ animation concepts, with the best entry proceeding into development. Nelvana, WeKids and Toon Boom Animation hosted six workshops in Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen. The larger goal of the joint China Tales Incubator initiative is to present the selected concept to an international market for distribution, licensing and merchandising.

“We are proud to foster China-based talent and offer original, cutting-edge kids’ animation to global audiences,” said Athena Georgaklis, head of development at Nelvana. “The chosen project, Dreamweavers, was particularly intriguing because of its emphasis on the strong female characters who would later serve as role models for girls ages 4 to 7.”

Sean Chu, founder and CEO of WeKids, added: “We are excited to be part of this historic partnership with Nelvana and Toon Boom Animation, and work with some of the most talented Chinese creators in order to bring the concept of Dreamweavers to life. China continues to play a significant role in the international animation market, and this new project offers viewers Chinese content with a universal appeal.”