Zephyr Secures Lana Longbeard Presales

Zephyr Animation, the production arm of APC Kids, has secured the first presales for the animated adventure comedy Lana Longbeard, co-produced with Copernicus Studios.

The series, about a feisty, forward-thinking 11-year-old girl who is the heir to her father’s adventuring ship, has been picked up by Warner Bros. Discovery in EMEA, SUPER RTL in German-speaking Europe, M6 Group’s Gulli in France and CBC in Canada.

Lana Longbeard was originally created by Tony Mitchell and Andrew Power at Copernicus Studios. Baljeet Rai (Atomic Puppet, Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese, The Unstoppable Yellow Yeti) is co-author of the bible and story editor, along with Alice Prodanou (Star Stable: Mistfall, Hotel Transylvania). The series is directed by Franz Kirchner (Rabbids: Mission to Mars, Rabbids Invasion, Mighty Mike, Angelo Rules).

David Sauerwein, producer and CCO of Zephyr, said: “Lana Longbeard is a laugh-out-loud vibrant, fun comedy series with a hefty dose of adventure and a lot of heart with Lana, a gutsy, charming and open-hearted character, at its core. We’re very proud and excited to have assembled such a wonderful team to bring our series to life.”

Paul Rigg, co-founder of Copernicus and executive producer, commented: “Heading to Annecy with the knowledge that Lana Longbeard has been presold to a number of hugely respected international players re-affirms our belief that we have a series that audiences will love. The series has the perfect mix of storytelling, fun characters and sense of adventure to capture the imaginations of young viewers.”

Lionel Marty, president of Zephyr, added: “As we head into production, we are thrilled to have secured such respected broadcast partners to introduce Lana and look forward to expanding the reach of this highly anticipated series in the coming months.”

Thorsten Braun, CEO of SUPER RTL, said: “Already the joint development of this adventurous, loving, humorous series has convinced us that Lana Longbeard and her very special family on the Mighty Windbreaker will play their way into the hearts of the audience. A crew could hardly be more diverse, and we are delighted that the ship is now setting sail and that SUPER RTL can be on board.”

Julien Figue, deputy executive director of M6 Group’s kids’ channels, added: “We are delighted to support Zephyr for the creation of this new original series. This comedy that mixes humor and action fully meets the expectations of M6 Group’s youth channels’ audience. We are thrilled to welcome this new heroine. Courageous and determined, no doubt Lana will find her place in France among kids’ favorite heroes.”