NATPE News

A view of the NATPE floor. © NATPE.

The Big Market In The Big Easy. NATPE is one of the leading television markets and conferences in the world. Last month's event in New Orleans offered animation and special effects companies a rare opportunity to showcase their work to a global audience. NATPE 2000 held a vast array of exhibitors gathered in pavilions such as Animation/Licensing sponsored by KidScreen; Cable sponsored by ATVC (Asociacion Argentia de Television por Cable); HDTV/Visual Effects sponsored by SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers); Independent Producers sponsored by Variety and GAIT (Global Association of Independent Television); New Media sponsored by Digitrends and many other international producers and distributors. The conference featured panel discussions, hands-on workshops, a "salute" to the syndicator Roger King and the IBA advertising awards. Highlighting how animation programming gets from pitch to premiere, west coast editor of KidScreen Magazine, Virginia Robertson, headed various step-by-step case studies entitled "Toon Tales: How We Made It To The Tube." Top industry players gathered at "TV American Style" to discuss the ever changing landscape of the world of television. Sponsored by Microsoft Windows Media, "The Webstation Lounge" brought the world of the Web to the convention floor with scheduled workshops, lunches and access to the latest Internet developments. This year's event also featured multiple discussions on the ever-growing parallels between the television and Internet markets, diversity in broadcasting and the firm hold family entertainment is taking in the industry.

Below is a list of the various production companies and distributors which offered programs at the market.

Dargaud-Marina unveiled its new animated children's series Mamemo at NATPE 2000. This pre-school targeted series is written and directed by Martine Peter and Olivier Battesti and produced by Mameli and Tapage Nocturne. Mamemo focuses on the tale of a small child and his imaginary cow. Featuring music and songs sung by the characters, the series centers around the daily activities of children.

DECODE Entertainment brought to NATPE a full slate of animated fare. Leading off the slate was the second season of the Fox Family hit animated series Angela Anaconda. TV Guide named the show as one of the Top Ten New Children's Series for 1999. The second season has been picked up by Fox Family Channel (U.S.), Cartoon Network Europe (U.K., France, the Netherlands, Spain), NRK (Norway), RUV (Iceland) and SCV (Singapore). Produced by DECODE in co-production with C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures, Angela Anaconda is a 2D, collage-style animation that combines photo elements with illustrations. Also new at NATPE was What About Mimi?, a series directed at girls. Executive produced by DECODE in association with Germany's EM Entertainment, What About Mimi? is a proprietary project for Vancouver-based Studio B. DECODE will distribute the show worldwide with Teletoon (Canada) attached as a broadcast partner. The show centers on 11-year-old Mimi Morton, her confidante Wimbleton the Cat and all the mayhem the two problem solvers get into. In addition, DECODE also featured their animated series Weird-Oh's, Watership Down co-produced with Alltime Entertainment and based on Richard Adams' classic novel and seasons 1-3 of Freaky Stories.

Netherlands-based distributor Greenlight International and Canada-based production company Class Entertainment Inc. debuted Stitches In Time, a new pre-school animation, at NATPE. Each episode has a budget of US$350,000 and has already been sold to broadcasters which include TV2 in Denmark, MTV in Finland and Telepool in Germany. The limited series of six half-hour specials follows the adventures of Stitches, a magical bunny, who through his escapades learns the meaning of Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas.

ITEL brought two animated specials and an animated rabbit to visitors at NATPE. The Sissy Duckling, a modern adaptation of the classic Ugly Duckling tale, is an animated film written by actor/screenwriter Harvey Fierstein. The musical story is narrated by Sharon Stone and features the voices of Fierstein, Ed Asnor and Melissa Etheridge. The 38-minute tale tells the story of Elmer, a duckling who would rather play make believe than hit baseballs. The young duckling is ridiculed by the community and family members, however he follows his heart and becomes the hero of the tale. ITEL also presented the first animated rendition of the children's book Goodnight Moon. The story focuses on the world of sleep and dreams. The special features many famous lullabies like "Hush Little Baby" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." These segments feature the voices of Lauryn Hill, Natalie Cole and Tony Bennett. ITEL also launched the new animated series The Tales Of Little Grey Rabbit. Based off Alison Uttley and Margaret Tempest's storybooks, the series is being produced by United Productions in association with U.K. animation studio Cosgrove Hall Films. Currently the show is airing on the U.K.'s CITV as of January 2000. Produced and directed by Jean Flynn, the show follows the daily adventures of Little Grey Rabbit and his friends Squirrel and Hare. British stars Pauline Collins, Hugh Laurie and Andrew Sachs provide the voices.

Producer and distributor John Adams Television unleashed Dinosaurs Of The Deep at NATPE. In development with the U.K.'s Partridge Films, the CGI natural history special explores the life of ancient marine reptiles. "Marine dinosaurs are fascinating subject matter, and have hardly been featured to date on film and TV," commented director John Adams. "Using current scientific research and computer graphics animation, Dinosaurs Of The Deep will recreate these intriguing prehistoric animals and the environments in which they lived, and tell the story of life in the Mesozoic seas."

Mip Interactive, the on-line marketplace for television programming, came to NATPE. The company offers Web surfers information on programming from around the world giving the television industry a year-round market right on their computers. Mip Interactive brought to NATPE their new service which provides members of their Web site with exclusive weekly worldwide television programming news. Produced by WIT -- World Information Tracking -- with news feeds from its network of correspondents based in 15 countries, the weekly report comprises a dozen headlines that highlight the performance of newly launched television programs, and ratings for existing shows. All genres will be covered in the report, which focuses on 8 leading territories in the industry: U.S.A, Canada, Japan, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Also available in the "Mip Interactive Trends" section provided by WIT is a monthly Top 10 report that lists the top performing broadcast television programs in these 8 countries. In addition, Mip Interactive have chosen Animation World Network's headline news to provide the world with the most up-to-date affairs in the animation industry. Mip Interactive's sales team attended the market with the goal of reinforcing brand recognition and market position for the service in the Americas. In addition, Mip Interactive registered new members, as well as pursued new industry alliances in order to further enhance the service.

Nelvana Limited loaded its plate full of animated delights for NATPE. The Toronto-based company is currently producing their newest book-based animated series Maggie And The Ferocious Beast for Nick Jr. and Teletoon. The series to set to debut on Nick Jr. in Summer 2000 and on Teletoon next fall. Maggie is based on the books by the mother and son team of author Betty Paraskevas and artist/illustrator Michael Paraskevas. The series takes place in the fantasy world called Nowhere Land where 5-year-old Maggie meets her imaginary friends -- the big yellow "ferocious" beast and well-mannered pig named Hamilton. Nelvana also showcased their second primetime network series Committed. The show is currently scheduled to broadcast on Canada's CTV Network and the U.S.'s Fox Family Channel. Based on Michael Fry's weekly comic strip, Committed tells the story of a working mom, her three kids and stay-home writer husband. The 13-episodes are scheduled to start airing on CTV and Fox Family in late 2000. Committed will be the first primetime animated series on CTV. Senior vice president of programming at CTV, Susanne Boyce had this to say about Committed: "The writing is excellent; the creative is grounded in a smart, unpredictable script." After recently obtaining the North American TV and merchandising rights, Nelvana will also be distributing the Japanese animation series Cardcaptor. Currently airing on Japan's public TV network, NHK, the series is targeted at girls aged 6-11 years old. The series is produced by Kodansha, one of Japan's leading book and multi-media publishers. With help from Kero the Card Master, a young girl must capture all 70 of the ominous playing cards she accidentally unleashed on the world. The adventure series is the first acquisition of anime for Nelvana.

Madrid, Spain-based PPM Multimedia brought their whole catalogue of animation containing series and features to NATPE. Crab Island is a traditionally animated feature centering around the pirate ship Caon and its crew led by Captain Dimitri. They look for treasures, fight against slave traders and, most of all, sing, dance and play music. The Dream Robber is a 3D animated feature following the adventures of Nina, a little girl, who challenges the evil plans of a mad scientist bent on controlling the world by changing people's dreams into nightmares. Ahmed, The Prince Of The Alhambra is a traditionally animated feature based on "The Tales of The Alhambra" by Washington Irving. The adventures of Ahmed have already been broadcast on SuperRTL, TSR, TéléQuebec, YTV, MTV (Hungary), SKY (L.A.) and Polish TV. The film was also released at the end of November 1999 in France's cinemas. Leading off PPM's series slate was Doc Disaster, a traditionally animated show. Dr. Disaster and his assistant Charlie make mayhem out of every minor illness that their patients may have. A clay animation series, Doc Franky, follows a nutty doctor's dream of building a monster to rule the world. However, the doctor spawned Norbert is a good, sensitive monster with a poetic spirit, who, with help from two mischievous neighbor kids, thwarts the doctor's renewed plans to create an evil monster. A traditionally animated series, based on the 75-minute special, Pumby, follows the escapades of Pumby the adventurer, his girlfriend Blanquita and his friend Professor Chivete. The first 13 episodes will be ready in Spring 2000 and pre-sales have already begun. PPM also lined up 13 new episodes of its clay animation series Snailympics. The first season of the show already airs on Der Kinderkanal in Germany, Nickelodeon in the U.K., RTP in Portugal, VPRO in Holland, and has distribution in Benelux, several Arab speaking countries, Eastern European countries, and Asia. Truca Films and co-producers La Cinquieme (France), Teletoon (France), Megafun Productions (Canada), Canal9 (Spain) and PPM Multimedia (Spain), are preparing two new installments of 13 episodes each to be produced during the next two years. Viewers will enjoy the Snailympic Games challenge of watching the unathletic "sportsmen" try to conquer each new challenge. PPM will offer even more co-productions at the market. With Tabano Arts And Animation Films, PPM is developing Megaram, a new 2D/3D animation series closely linked to the Internet. The show chronicles the adventures of Nelson, Mila, Speedy, Robert and Professor Microscopius who battles against Dr. Destroyer, an eccentric scientist intending to take over the means of controlling and transmitting information over the Web. Based on traditional animation production techniques, 2D animation is being integrated with 3D animation for the series. PPM would like to develop this concept for TV and Internet simultaneously. They are currently looking for financing with the main TV broadcasters in Europe with a budget of US$6 million. With Milimetros Dibujos Animados, PPM presented the animation series Elfy. The show's adventures take place at Dragon Hill where the great dragons of mythology, tired of man's persecution, come to gather. Elfy and his friend Kevin are mysteriously warped to this universe, where practically everything is possible. The new clay animation series, Capelito is being produced in association with Estudio Rodolfo Pastor. Capelito is a young mushroom who lives in a cabin in the woods and has the ability to transform his cap into any kind of hat simply by pressing his nose. By changing his hat, Capelito can pretend to be an explorer with a pith helmet or a painter wearing a beret and does so with his forest friends. This is a series of 26 episodes, 5 minutes in length, addressed to a pre-school audience. The plasticine animation features no dialogue, just sounds. Two episodes have already been produced: "Capelito Painter" and "Capelito Egg-Cosy." Capelito won the prize for Best TV Pilot in the Annecy '99 animation festival. PPM and Estudio Rodolfo Pastor are still looking to finance the third installment of the series and have received confirmation of a 20% investment by NHK International Japan. The total budget is of US$1 million.

Sony Pictures Family Entertainment tried to "steel" the spotlight at NATPE with their a 3D CGI series entitled Max Steel. Premiering in the U.S. on Kids' WB! in February 2000, Columbia TriStar International Television hopes to distribute the 13-episode series to the international market for broadcast in early 2000. Sony partnered with Emmy Award winning special effects and computer animation company, Netter Digital Entertainment to produce the series, which follows the story of Josh McGrath, who gains super-powers after an accident at his father's corporation. Using his super-abilities, Josh becomes the secret agent Max Steel to fight the evil presence of DREAD, a mercenary organization bent on world domination.

Munich-based Telcast International, a leading international full-service producer, distributor and marketer of 3D programming, chose NATPE 2000 to present its new 3D High Definition System for television. Telcast presented Halloween 3D, a one-hour three-dimensional mystical ghost story set in Scotland. The Halloween 3D worldwide broadcast premiere is scheduled in February 2000, during PRO-7 Germany's 3D month -- a special televised event organized by Telcast and PRO-7 and featuring all 3D programming. Thomas Hohenacker, President of Telcast said, "The production value and marketing opportunities this program offers, is sure to convince broadcasters who haven't organized a 3D event yet that 3D is a great way to raise awareness and ratings." Telcast's NATPE 3D program line-up also included a special on Sydney, Australia and several natural history programs such as Mega-Shark 3D, a 1-hour docu-drama on the mystery of the Megalodon extinct shark. All of Telcast's 3D's programs are also available for television, video and DVD.

Varga Holdings brought along cows, bears and much more to NATPE. Living Large With Lilly was the first animated series that Varga offered the market in New Orleans. The series is targeted toward pre-schoolers and tells the story of a large, lovable cow who desperately seeks to make her dreams come true. The show is directed by Balazs Pal and Csaba Varga and produced by Andras Erkel and Lauren Levine. In a co-production with Michael Woodward Creations, Varga brought to the buying table Rambling Ted. Marketed toward pre-schoolers, the story follows Rambling Ted the bear and his friends Chomper the greedy raccoon, Forty Winks the hedgehog, Twitcher the paranoid squirrel and Sunny Bunny. The series centers around the many mishaps Ted gets into with his interesting inventions. The full presentation of the series at NATPE coincided with the release of two hardcover picture storybooks "Rambling Ted's Brilliant Adventure" and "Rambling Ted's Terrible Mix-up" by Harper Collins.

Connecticut, U.S.A-based Wreckless Abandon Studios presented their non-violent family and children's programming to the attendees of NATPE. The production company specializes in clay animation, stop-motion production and 3D computer animation for the commercial and entertainment industries. Wreckless Abandon offers a full range of services from development and production to post-production and marketing. They presented two original clay-animated half-hour primetime TV holiday specials for broadcast and distribution.