Press Release from Friends and Heroes
The well-known Italian publishing group De Agostini is to show FRIENDS AND HEROES on their newly launched children's channel DeAKids. Broadcast on the Sky satellite, Friends and Heroes has been dubbed into Italian for its debut on DeAKids.
"De Agostini choosing FRIENDS AND HEROES for their new children's channel is a very thrilling development," said Alison Dorricott, Executive Producer. "DeAKids has a wide range of programming and it's good to know that FRIENDS AND HEROES will be scheduled alongside GARFIELD, BABAR, JUSTICE LEAGUE and M.I. HIGH! Soon Italian-speaking children will be able to enjoy the adventures of Macky and his friends and also hear and understand the Bible stories in every episode."
FRIENDS AND HEROES is set during the height of the Roman Empire when their army was present throughout the known world! Keen to make the programme as accurate as possible, the research team learned much about Roman life in the period, including their engineering of ships and design of dock cranes! Even Roman food has been portrayed as faithfully as possible.
De Agostini will be broadcasting all three series of Friends and Heroes which will be completed later this year with the release of Series 3 set in the intriguing heart of the empire: Rome. "We're delighted to add Friends and Heroes to the programme schedule of DeAKids and to premiere it for our Italian audience," said Pierfrancesco Gherardi, MD Digital De Agostini. "The quality of the animation and the edutainment values of the show perfectly fit our editorial line and we are confident that will be highly appreciated by our audience."
Since FRIENDS AND HEROES was first broadcast in Europe on the BBC satellite children's channel CBBC, and later on the terrestrial channel BBC2, international broadcast sales have grown considerably. Trinity Broadcast Network in the USA premiered Series 1 early in 2007 and other channels planning to launch Series 1 in 2009 include GoodTV in Taiwan and Sat7Kids in the Middle East. By mid 2009 FRIENDS AND HEROES will be broadcasting in English, Arabic, Italian, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Chinese.
FRIENDS AND HEROES is available in ten language versions including: English; Arabic; Chinese (Mandarin); French; German; Hindi/Urdu; Korean; Portuguese (Brazilian); Russian and Spanish (South American) and Manx Gaelic. "The availability of so many dubbed languages means that Friends and Heroes is appealing to young viewers and broadcasters across the world," said David Dorricott, Executive Producer. "The mid-2009 completion date for Series 3 means that we will soon have 39 x 25 minute episodes in three 13 episode series. Those ready to broadcast in High Definition will be very eager to see this programme which also has a Dolby 5.1 soundtrack."
FRIENDS AND HEROES is an exciting animated TV series featuring the adventures of Macky and Portia, two 14 year-olds. Each episode weaves in stories from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible told in dramatic, computer-generated 3D animation. As children watch our heroes' exciting escapades, they come to understand that the Bible has a great deal to offer when trying to decide what is right and what to do in today's world.
Series 1 is set in Alexandria, 69 AD; Series 2 in Jerusalem, 70 AD and Series 3 in Rome, 71 AD.
Enquiries about broadcast rights, languages and territories should be addressed to: David Dorricott -- Tel: +44 1624 811747 -- Email: mail@friendsandheroes.com.
Broadcasters and others interested in Friends and Heroes can read all about the production on: www.friendsandheroes.com.
