APC Kids’ Hardball Heads to France

APC Kids has secured a deal with France Télévisions for the new live-action comedy series Hardball, distributed by the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF).

Hardball, a fish-out-of-water comedy aimed at 8- to 12-year-olds, premiered in Australia on ABC ME last year. It follows a boy named Mikey who moves from New Zealand to Western Sydney, where he ends up diving into the competitive schoolyard game of handball. The series is produced by Northern Pictures in association with Screen Australia, Create NSW and the ACTF.

Hardball has also been sold to broadcasters in Norway, Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong, Portugal and Slovenia.

Claire Heinrich, head of acquisitions, children and youth department at France Télévisions, said: “We fell in love with this series for its devastating humor, its values of team play and solidarity, its endearing hero and its colorful and unforgettable characters; Mikey and his friends are inviting us into their game and there is no doubt that Okoo viewers will like to follow them as much as we do!”

Lionel Marty, managing director of APC Kids, said: “Hardball is an original, charming series with diverse, down-to-earth characters we know young viewers all over the world are going to relate to. We’re proud to be partnering with the ACTF to bring its great programming to a French audience.”

Jenny Buckland, CEO of the ACTF, added: “We’re thrilled that children in France are going to meet the gang from Hardball and we hope they love them as much as we do.”