HIT Entertainment, one of the world’s leading independent children’s entertainment producers and rights owners, and Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana Studio, have partnered for the first time to produce 52 twelve-minute episodes of Mike the Knight, a new preschool series created by Alexander Bar.
Press Release from HIT Ent. & Nelvana
LONDON/TORONTO/NEW YORK – Tuesday, 7 September, 2010 – HIT Entertainment, one of the world’s leading independent children’s entertainment producers and rights owners, and Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana Studio, have partnered for the first time to produce 52 twelve-minute episodes of Mike the Knight, a new preschool series created by Alexander Bar.
Set in the medieval land of Glendragon, Mike the Knight takes viewers into a rich, CG-animated world of castles, quests, dragons and trolls. With his rallying cry, “Be a knight, do it right!”, the heroic Mike brings the excitement and enchantment of medieval times into the life of the modern preschooler. Mike the Knight was created by Alexander Bar (Lunar Jim) and is written by Marc Seal (Head Writer, Bob the Builder).
Animated in Toronto, Canada at Nelvana Studio, Mike the Knight will be executive produced by Chris Rose, Vice President, New Content Development, HIT Entertainment; Marion Edwards, Vice President, Current Content, HIT Entertainment; Jocelyn Hamilton, Vice President, Programming and Production, Corus Kids; Irene Weibel, Vice President, International Development, Corus Kids; Jamie Piekarz, Director of Content, Treehouse; Tracey Dodokin, Supervising Producer, Nelvana Studio and Jackie Edwards, Content & Acquisitions Manager, CBeebies.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Corus’ Nelvana Studio and Treehouse – a veritable ‘round table’ of preschool programming expertise – on this fantastic project. The show is a unique combination of originality, adventure, heroism and warmth, coupled with timeless and valuable life lessons,” said Karen Barnes, Executive Vice President, Programming & Development, HIT Entertainment. “Nelvana has the unparalleled animation expertise to bring the show to life in exceptional ways; and the working relationship we’ve developed with Treehouse has been a complete delight. Mike the Knight certainly has an exciting future.”
"We are excited to partner with HIT Entertainment on this fantastical series for preschoolers that allows imaginative play to take centre stage,” said Jocelyn Hamilton, Vice President, Programming and Production, Corus Kids. “This is an exciting example of an innovative partnership that leverages the considerable talents of both companies to make an outstanding show."
Mike the Knight has begun production and will be delivered to broadcasters in Fall 2011. To date, the series will air on the preschool network Treehouse in Canada and has been pre-sold to broadcasters worldwide with additional territories to be added. Nelvana Enterprises will represent the series in broadcast and Home Entertainment in Latin America and France as well as broadcast in the US, while HIT Entertainment will represent Mike the Knight in all other territories globally.
About Nelvana StudioNelvana Studio is a globally recognized animation studio that develops and produces award-winning animated properties and brands including the literary classics Babar and Franklin as well as shows such as The Backyardigans and Handy Manny. Nelvana Studio is owned by Corus Entertainment Inc., a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children’s book publishing and children’s animation. The company’s multimedia entertainment brands include YTV, Treehouse, W Network, CosmoTV, VIVA, Movie Central, HBO Canada, Nelvana, Kids Can Press and radio stations including CKNW, CKOI and Q107. Corus creates engaging branded entertainment experiences for its audiences across multiple platforms. A publicly traded company, Corus is listed on the Toronto (CJR.B) and New York (CJR) exchanges. Experience Corus on the web at www.corusent.com.
About HIT EntertainmentHIT Entertainment is one of the world's leading independent children's entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT's portfolio includes properties, such as Barney, Bob the Builder, Thomas & Friends, Pingu, Fireman Sam, Angelina Ballerina and Rainbow Magic. HIT represents Chapman Entertainment’s Fifi and the Flowertots and Roary the Racing Car in North America, as well as Wallace & Gromit™, Shaun the Sheep, Timmy Time and Aardman Classics from Aardman Animations. HIT also acts as representative for The Wiggles in the UK. Launched in 1989, HIT’s lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. HIT is a part-owner of US-based preschool channel, PBS KIDS SproutSM. For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
