A new 13 x 10-minute series being billed as the first CG series from Africa is currently in pre-production at Johannesburg, South Africa studio AnimMate. "The series will be entirely produced by African talent in South Africa," Tanja Botha of Johannesburg-based Animation Africa, which is distributing the series, told C21 MEDIA. "It's a first for Africa.

Spanish production companies MSL and Grupo Trimagen have recently signed a joint venture agreement to create animated programming. The new international company, MSL-TRIMAGEN, will develop, produce and market a wide range of animated series and feature films. The company is currently working at the head offices in Madrid and Barcelona on several projects, including BUNNIBAL, a 26 x 13-minute animated series currently in pre-production.

Last October, MIPCOM 2001 Personality of the Year, MTV's Tom Freston, stated in response to the events of September 11th and the diminished attendance of the market, "TV will bounce back." This year's MIPTV, which took place in Cannes from April 15 to 19, 2002, showed strong evidence that the television community is on the way to recovery. Organizer Reed Midem reported over 2,600 buyers from 1,052 companies attended the market and representing an increased number of buyer companies, up 20% from last year.

Barcelona-based animation house Neptuno Films and Megatrix, a Spanish kids' content multi-platform provider, have sealed a co-production deal to produce the animated series 2020. Aimed at 8 to 12 year-olds, the series focuses on the everyday life of a middle-class family in the year 2020, but the series' creators say it is an ironic reflection on what is happening now. 2020 will consist of 26 half-hours animated in Flash for broadcast on television and the Internet. The first episode will be launched in April 2002 at MipTV, and the remaining episodes are scheduled for delivery in fall 2003.

This week's updates to the Calendar of Events include:

Canadian family entertainment company CINAR Corporation has recently repaid an existing bank loan which was due on October 15, 2001. The corporation had US$26 million outstanding as of November 30, 2000 and this amount has now been repaid in the current fiscal year.

According to organizer Reed Midem, MIPCOM concluded its 2001 run with a grand total of 1244 exhibiting companies, up nearly 5% from the previous year. Although attendance was down almost 15% from last year, the optimistic attitude of the participants, despite the troubling world events, made this year’s MIPCOM a success. As MIPCOM’s Personality of the Year, MTV CEO Tom Freston stated, “TV will bounce back.” MIPCOM Junior saw encouraging signs for the international children’s programming business.

Pepper’s Ghost Productions’ CGI-animated series TINY PLANETS has been licensed to Germany’s Super RTL network and ITV1 in the U.K. The show recently received two BAFTA Interactive awards nominations and is scheduled to debut in the U.K. and Germany in the first quarter 2002.



French children’s cable and a satellite channel Canal J has partnered with Nickelodeon U.K., Spain, Australia and Latin America and acquired Japanese anime series YU-GI–OH, which will be broadcast in France in spring 2002.

German distributor peppermint and U.S. animation studio Wild Brain have entered into a strategic partnership for Asia and the U.S. Under the terms of the deal, peppermint will distribute Wild Brain's Flash animation catalogue throughout Asia, while Wild Brain will represent peppermint’s animation catalogue under the pepperkids label for TV distribution, home video and DVD, licensing, publishing and merchandising throughout the U.S.

C21 MEDIA reported that Varga Holdings and Australian producer Screentime are co-producing ANIMATED POPSTARS with the U.K.'s Target as the distribution partner. The series follows the adventures of a pop group on tour. It is based on the popular live-action show POPSTARS, where a group of unknowns is groomed to be the next big thing. Varga has also recently signed a co-development agreement with Happy Life (Sweden), which has already spawned three new pre-school projects MUFFIN, DARTANGYANG and PIGGY WIGGY, BJORN THE BEAR AND L’ORANGE.