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Hawaii Film Partners and Toonzone Studios Prep Series for KidScreen Summit 2010

Hawaii Film Partners and Toonzone Studios will bring three animated television series to KidScreen Summit 2010 -- GUARDIANS OF THE POWER MASKS (trailer), ACTION DAD (pilot episode), and APE ESCAPE (38 episodes).

Press Release from Hawaii Film Partners

HONOLULU, HAWAII - Hawaii Film Partners and Toonzone Studios will bring three animated television series to KidScreen Summit 2010 -- GUARDIANS OF THE POWER MASKS  (trailer),  ACTION DAD (pilot episode), and APE ESCAPE (38 episodes). Attending KidScreen will be and Rann and Gina Watumull of Hawaii Film Partners, David Jackson of Hawaii Film Partners and Showcase for Kids, and Konnie Kwak, President and CEO of Toonzone Studios who co-produces these series with Hawaii Film Partners. Showcase for Kids distributes Hawaii Film Partners’ film and television children’s projects internationally.

GUARDIANS OF THE POWER MASKS

GUARDIANS OF THE POWER MASKS marks an historic international partnership with Honolulu-based Hawaii Film Partners, the City of Changzhou in the People’s Republic of China, and the Gangwon Information Multimedia Corporation (GIMC) in South Korea to produce an original animated TV series.

GUARDIANS OF THE POWER MASKS is a 26 half-hour episode high energy, beautifully animated show packed with action, adventure and comedy along with valuable life lessons that the kids discover along the way.  The television series is executive produced by Hawaii Film Partners Rann Watumull, Gina Watumull, David Jackson and Shauna Shapiro Jackson; and Heung-Soo Park, President of GIMC. Producer is Konnie Kwak, President and CEO of Toonzone Studios in Los Angeles.

Annie is a typical high energy American girl who loves to sing, dance, hang out with friends and shop.  She is forced to spend the summer with her grandmother Nainai and cousin Yong in rustic, Singing Rocks, China. Little does Annie know that a construction project has opened a once sealed portal to the twilight realm.  Annie discovers that she and her cousin come from a long line of warriors who battle evil forces that emerge from the twilight realm. Worlds and cultures apart, the two, under Nainai's mentoring, must learn to not only get along, but also fight the evil forces. Through the power masks, which increase the abilities of the wearer by ten times, the two, along with grandma's cat, are transformed into mighty warriors.  The clashes of cultures and assorted villains lead to many funny and harrowing adventures.

“We’re thrilled with the rich imagery, beautiful scenery and great characters that give GUARDIANS OF THE POWER MASKS a very vibrant look and enhance the adventure and excitement of the series,” says executive producer and Hawaii Film Partners’ Rann Watumull.  “There is a delightful clashing and blending of cultures and customs in the series, all done in an entertaining way -- from the story and adventures of the characters, to the wonderful music.  It certainly is entertainment that will appeal to 'tweens and indeed the whole family here in America, Asia as well as the rest of the world.”

GUARDIANS OF THE POWER MASKS truly was an international endeavor with the writing and storyboarding being a creative collaboration of the three producing partners in Hawaii, South Korea and China, and with Hawaii Film Partners and Toonzone Studios overseeing the entire process.  Rann Watumull also served as the series’ story editor and co-director.  Basic animation is being done in China at the Changzhou Carloon TV & Film Animation Industry Company at the Changzhou National Animation Industry Park two hours outside Shanghai, and at the Gagwon Information Multi-Media Corporation (GIMC) studios in South Korea.

Hawaii Film Partners retains all rights across all media throughout the world excluding Asia. Showcase Entertainment will exclusively distribute the animated TV series in these territories under their arrangement with Hawaii Film Partners.  The City of Changzhou will retain all rights in China, and GIMC will retain all rights throughout the rest of Asia.

ACTION DAD

ACTION DAD is 26 half-hour animated television episodes filled with comedy, adventure and lots of fun-filled action produced by Hawaii Film Partners and Toonzone Studios.

Teenager Liz Ramsey and her brother Mick have a seemingly normal life -- with one small exception. Their dad Chuck Ramsey is a super secret action hero working for the agency S.H.H.H.H. (Super Hush Hush High-octane Heroics & Haberdashery), and their mom Angela Ramsey is a super secret agent working for a rival agency ARGH.  This means instead of family get togethers, their days are filled with cliffhanging car chases, parachute-free skydiving, bad guys like Barron Von Dash chasing them with an army of ninjoids and tanks with laser blasting soldiers breaking down their door at dinner time.  It’s just your average day when your father is ACTION DAD.

“ACTION DAD is breaking some new ground,” says Konnie Kwak, producer and Toonzone Studios President and CEO.  “Here you have a mother and father who are caring and loving parents who both take part in the raising of their children, still care about each other -- even though they work for competing spy organizations who are out to do each other in.   ACTION DAD will be a welcome addition to everyone’s family.”

ACTION DAD is executive produced by Hawaii Film Partners’ Rann Watumull, Gina Watumull, David Jackson and Shauna Shapiro Jackson; Konnie Kwak of Toonzone Studios, and Ira Warren of Animation Development Corporation. The producer is Konnie Kwak.  Hawaii Film Partners and Animation Development Corporation financed the animated series that will be distributed internationally by Showcase Entertainment under their agreement with Hawaii Film Partners.

APE ESCAPE

APE ESCAPE, Hawaii Film Partners’ 38 two-minute animated episode series for Nickelodeon’s NickToons debuted on the cable network on July 5th 2009.  APE ESCAPE, based on Sony PlayStation's popular interactive game of the same name, was animated entirely at Hawaii Film Partners’ animation facility in Hawaii Kai on O’ahu.

APE ESCAPE is executive produced by Rann Watumull, Gina Watumull, David Jackson, Shauna Shapiro Jackson; Fred Seibert and Kevin Kolde of the Frederator Studios; Rick Privman, and Yumiko Miyano of Sony.  The producer is Konnie Kwak of Toonzone Studios.

He was just an ordinary ape at the zoo -- that is until a "pipo-helmet" invented by the brilliant but absent-minded Professor was accidentally dropped into his cage.  Putting it on, this regular ape instantly became Spector, Future Ruler of the World.  With designs of conquering the world, Specter develops his own intelligence-boosting helmet that makes the apes smarter – but not that much smarter! -- and they even start to look a little more human.  Because the helmets are flawed, they cause both the humans and Specter nothing but stress, confusion and comedic destruction, yet always with a good-natured attitude (Think Harpo Marx of the Ape Escape world!)

Lucky for us, the Professor and his 13 year-old niece Natalie, and Jimmy, his 12-year old protégé have all sworn to stop Specter at all costs. It’s thanks to them that the human race just might stand a chance! Or does it?

“This is an historic project in that it marks the first time a television program was animated in Hawaii for a national TV network,” says Rann Watumull.  “We wanted to create a synergy between the interactive game and the animated episode series, and bring the APE ESCAPE characters to life in a very humorous and fun-filled program.  We’ve specifically written the episodes for an audience ages 6-13 who have never played the game. Yet we also have made it entertainment that will be appealing to any age,” he concludes.

Hawaii Film Partners has fully financed the production of APE ESCAPE and has worldwide rights across all media with NickToons being awarded the broadcast rights in the United States for a three-year period.  Showcase Entertainment will be distributing APE ESCAPE internationally under their distribution arrangement with Hawaii Film Partners.  The project is a co-production with Frederator Studios, one of the largest and most prolific independent animation studios in development and production for features, books, television, and video.  Some of their recent projects include The Fairly Odd Parents!, My Life as a Teenage Robot and Chalk Zone for Nickelodeon, and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! for Nick Jr.

ABOUT HAWAII FILM PARTNERS

Hawaii Film Partners recently completed production on the feature film YOU MAY NOT KISS THE BRIDE, starring Rob Schneider, Dave Annable, Mena Suvari, Katharine McPhee, Vinnie Jones, Tia Carrere, Ken Davitian and Kevin Dunn.  The film was directed by Rob Hedden from his original screenplay. The romantic action adventure comedy, set in Chicago and Tahiti and filmed entirely on location in Hawaii. is produced by Rann Watumull, Gina Watumull, David Jackson and Shauna Shapiro Jackson.  The film will be distributed internationally by Showcase Entertainment under their agreement with Hawaii Film Partners.

Hawaii Film Partners’ first project was FLIGHT 29 DOWN, the acclaimed and award-winning international hit television show for Discovery Kids that is still airing in over 100 countries as well as on Discovery Kids.  Filmed entirely in Hawaii, FLIGHT 29 DOWN is the episodic live action series that debuted on Discovery Kids on NBC in October 2005 and continued production for three seasons.  The show also received a Writers Guild of America nomination for Children’s Episodic & Specials for DJ McHale’s outstanding script for the episode “Scratch.” FLIGHT 29 DOWN was produced by Stan Rogow (“Darcy’s Wild Life” and “Lizzie McGuire) and directed by DJ McHale. Rann Watumull, Gina Watumull and Shauna Shapiro Jackson are executive producers.

Rann and Gina Watumull are co-founders and senior executives at Hawaii Film Partners based in Honolulu.   With the goal to help build a valuable and indigenous film industry in Hawaii, Hawaii Film Partners is dedicated to producing motion pictures and television productions on the Hawaiian Islands using location services and personnel.

David Jackson and Shauna Shapiro Jackson are president and executive vice president respectively of Showcase Entertainment, a worldwide film distribution company, and are co-owners and senior executives of Hawaii Film Partners along with Rann and Gina Watumull. Goodsill, Anderson, Quinn & Stifel, Hawaii’s largest law firm also is a minority owner of Hawaii Film Partners.

ABOUT TOONZONE STUDIOS

Konnie Kwak is President and CEO of Toonzone Studios, an animation studio based in Los Angeles focused on children’s programming. Having worked for the Korean Government and closely with China, Ms. Kwak has been able to co-produce shows like GUARDIANS OF THE POWER MASKS and ACTION DAD.  Toonzone is fast becoming a strong force in animation and children’s programming as well as a strong partner for co-productions and independent financing for projects.  In addition to Toonzine Studios’ projects with Hawaii Film Partners, the company has signed a co-production agreement with Animation Development Company to produce pilots for network television.

Earlier in her career, she worked at Yeson Animation Studios and was successful in transforming them into one of the most prolific studios in Korea and was production executive for all the studio's productions, including “Dilbert,” “Sammy,” “Ed Edd n Eddy,” “Fairly Odd Parents,” “Family Guy” and “Oh Yeah!” Cartoon Season 2.  Joining Toonzone Studios in 2001 as vice-president, she was involved with the production of Sony's feature “Eight Crazy Nights,” Fox's Emmy-award winning “The Simpsons” and “King of the Hill;” Disney's “The Proud Family;” Nickelodeon's “Chalkzone,” and Warner Bros. “Mucha Lucha.”

ABOUT ANIMATION DEVELOPMENT COMPANY

Animation Development Company LLC invests in, licenses and develops animation concepts for potential television broadcast or cable series. ADC’s principals are Howard Miller, President & Chief Executive Officer and Ira Warren, Finance & Acquisitions Consultant.

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