TeamTO Beijing Office signs maverick deal with Chinese distribution partner Taikong Works.
PARIS & BEIJING -- Leading European CGI studio TeamTO is pleased to announce a distribution agreement with Taikong Works for all rights to its theatrical feature film Yellowbird in China. The maverick deal is the first to come from TeamTO’s Beijing office established in June 2016.
The agreement will see Taikong Works distribute Yellowbird throughout China across all platforms including cinemas, digital media and traditional broadcast; a theatrical release is planned for Chinese New Year (January 2017). Taikong Works -- a strong brand and licensing entity in China -- will also roll out ancillary rights and promotions alongside the film release.
“Our partnership with TeamTO represents our belief in the massive potential of the Chinese film market, and the opportunity for Chinese investment in the international film industry,” commented Kexin Liu, co-founder of Taikong Works.
Headed by international executive SHU Ye (with 12 years of experience in the Franco-Chinese film industry), TeamTO’s Beijing office was established to create partnerships between its own studios in France and Chinese animation companies, with the intention of co-producing premium content for global audiences.
“The traditional relationship where international companies outsource to Chinese animation companies is quickly evolving into a more bilateral relationship, with co-production, co-finance, and co-distribution in a global market of high-quality projects flowing in both directions,” TeamTO president and Yellowbird director Guillaume Hellouin.
TeamTO’s feature film Yellowbird, which features top Hollywood talent Seth Green, Elliott Gould, Christine Baranski and Dakota Fanning, was sold by Simon Crowe from SC Films International in more than 50 markets, and was released theatrically in over 35 countries.
TeamTO is renowned for producing some of the most sophisticated CGI animation in the market such as their own Emmy-winning series Angelo Rules, Activision Blizzard’s Skylanders Academy, eOne’s PJ Masks, Disney’s Elena of Avalor and Sofia the First, and Ubisoft’s Rabbids Invasion.
Taikong Works was founded in 2008 by Chinese producer and director Jinsong Hu and Kexin Liu. The company started out creating both 2D and 3D original content, expanding into film co-financing, production, distribution and licensing, while extending the multi-platform potential of its properties with video games, publishing, comics, and consumer products.
Taikong Works’ iconic animation includes the Legend of the Moles series, one of the top five box office hits in China. The Draco Monster animated series received more than seven hundred million views per season, revolutionizing how Chinese animated series are produced and marketed, and Dinosaur Pico was nominated for the New Chinese Films Talents Fund Forum category at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.
Source: TeamTO
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
