Serious Lunch Rolling Out Trio of Kids’ Shows at MIPJunior

Serious Lunch is set to launch three brand-new series at MIPJunior, from live-action for teens and families to animated series for preschoolers and toddlers.

Leading the boutique distributor’s slate is the See-Saw Films-produced The New Legends of Monkey, which follows a young woman’s quest to restore peace to the world by reawakening the Monkey King and two other faded gods. Starring Chai Hansen, the series is inspired by Wu Ch’eng-En’s classic novel Journey to the West.

Produced for Netflix, ABC and TVNZ, Serious Lunch is offering all home video, free and pay linear and catch-up rights.

Leila Ouledcheikh, Serious Lunch’s director of global sales, said: “Kids and families love to watch drama together, but very little is suitable. See-Saw has gently bent the expectations by playing with some modern ideas of gender and power, with an eccentric streak of humor and some cracking action.”

Hakan Kousetta and Jamie Laurenson, executive producers from See-Saw, added: “We wanted to make the series slick and fun—something that you could watch as a family and genuinely all enjoy.”

Monty & Co, a British preschool sitcom puppet series from Pipkins Productions that Serious Lunch is representing worldwide, centers on the titular wallaby who lives with a rainbow of other characters above a bring, buy and mend shop. The toddler series Tik Tak from VRT/Ketnet uses non-verbal, non-narrative imagery, music and games focused on colors, shapes, animals and a cast of toddlers of all abilities from all over the world to stimulate children’s cognitive development. Serious Lunch is representing the series for worldwide distribution rights outside of Benelux.

Ouledcheikh said: “It’s exciting to be bringing such a wide range of new programming to MIPCOM, each of the three programs has a uniqueness in the marketplace, and the aspect of offering a tutorial for toddlers and the world around them is increasingly relevant in today’s societies.”