POOCHINI, the 26-episode series produced by San Francisco-based animation house Wild Brain, Inc. and Germany's EM.TV debuted in the U.S. on September 7, 2002. Wild Brain has partnered with The Television Syndication Company, Inc. (TVS) to distribute POOCHINI in the U.S. market. Stations are currently being cleared in each of the 210 U.S. markets, with over 50% of the country already on board including New York, Chicago and Philadelphia among the top 30 stations. POOCHINI launched internationally in 2001, debuting in Germany (ProSieben) and Australia (Nickelodeon), and network launches are set in other major territories including France and the U.K. "Breaking into the U.S. television broadcast market is challenging for an independent so we decided to take advantage of our international relationships to launch in the global market first," commented Jeff Ulin, CEO, Wild Brain. POOCHINI is based on Wild Brain's short films A DOG CARTOON and stars the privileged pup Poochini, who goes from riches to rags when he is adopted by the middle-class White family. The series is directed by Dave Thomas (CartoonNetwork.com's MANTELOPE), working alongside Emmy Award-winning supervising director Dave Marshall (TINY TOONS, FREAKAZOID), art direction consultant Maurice Noble, Emmy-nominated story editor Jim Gomez (THE WOODY WOODPECKER SHOW) and the voice talents of Billy West (THE REN AND STIMPY SHOW). Founded in 1994, Wild Brain, Inc. creates content for film, TV, commercials and various interactive platforms. Wild Brain has created memorable animated commercial campaigns for Hershey's, KFC's Colonel Sanders and Pillsbury's Jolly Green Giant, along with cutting-edge spots for Sony, Coca-Cola, Ford, Nike, The Wall Street Journal and other leading brands. Wild Brain's film projects include the direct-to-video feature FERNGULLY 2, the cel-animated sequences for Universal Pictures' THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY & BULLWINKLE and DUDLEY DO-RIGHT, along with Wild Brain's Annie Award-winning CG short, HUBERT'S BRAIN.
Wild Brains Dave Marshall, co-director of FernGully 2, discussed how he tailored the pre-production process of FernGully 2 to guarantee the best final film for the budget.
