With full financing in place and a pilot episode available, MJTV has signed a presale agreement with Canal J in France and has appointed the newly renamed Lagardère Entertainment Rights (formerly Europe Images) as worldwide TV distributor for the property. MJTV holds international licensing and merchandising rights to the brand and Happy Audience has worldwide home entertainment rights.
The 26 x 30’ live action comedy drama series for 6-14 year olds and a family audience,
is produced by Moi j’aime la télévision and I Love Television, co-produced by Genao Productions in France and Be-Films in Belgium. It will be available for broadcast from spring 2013. This is the first 26 episode scripted series shot in stereoscopic 3D with stereographers and digital experts Parallell Cinema ("David Guetta live 3D", "Rendez-Vous 2012") behind the rigs. Production starts in October 2012.
From the creators of the hit Nickelodeon show Genie in the House, Which is Witch? boasts a wealth of talent. Headwriter Grant Cathro ("Genie in the House" for Nickelodeon and " As The Bell Rings. " for Disney) leads a writers team including Lee Pressman ("Shaun the Sheep", "Rastamouse" for the BBC), Arnold Widdowson ("Me and My Monsters", "Grandma's House" for the BBC) and stand-up comedian and writer Bennett Arron. The show will be directed by a team of first class directors including Andrew Margetson ("S Club 7"), Jean François Didelot ("Genie in the House"), Rob MacGillivray ("Dream Team") and Phil Ox ("Popetown" for MTV, "Genie in the House"). The show is filmed in English with a British cast of young, multi-talented actors. Tim Lawrence, Gia Ré Lodge-O'Meally, Betsy-Blue English, Sean Joseph Young.
Jack fancies himself as a genius musician on his way to Pop stardom, but right now, he is just another 16-year-old trying to survive High School. That is, until a young Witch and a teenage Fairy come crashing into his life!
In Which is Witch?, two story worlds collide – magic mirrors meet teenage acne. Cheerleaders date frogs. Love potions and poisoned apples lead to crazy teenage situations.
Expanding the Genie in the House format into a whole new dimension, Which is Witch? combines fantasy, comedy and music in a brand new way.
It’s a family show powered by realistic stories about teenage lives lifted out of the ordinary with a dash of fairy tale magic and a splash of pop and dance. It’s funny, it’s slapstick, it’s fantastic, but it can also be touching and real, balanced in tone between comedy and soap.
MJTV’s Phil Ox says: “Which is Witch? is a great family show - it’s funny, but also touching and real, and features great music. It's exciting television competing with the best-known North American dramas and we are confident that there will be high demand for a modern series filmed in 3D. Genie in the House has been a fantastic success for Canal J and broadcasters across the world. Which is Witch? targets an even broader audience from kids to young teenagers - it will be one of our flagship shows, with an absolutely smashing cast and the perfect combination of comedy, pop, dance and magic."
Commenting on the deal, Emmanuelle Bouilhaguet, Managing Director Lagardère Entertainment Rights says: “As a distributor, I have been looking for quite a while for the next big thing and Which is Witch? is exactly that, one of the rare live actions series for kids aged 8-12 which isn't produced by a US studio and is now available to all broadcasters internationally. We are delighted to be able to offer to the market a high quality show.”
Sandrine Nguyen, Genao Productions's Managing Director adds: “Which is Witch? marks Genao's first step into the world of live action production. We are extremely happy to be co-producing this new series with the creators of Genie in the House. Which is Witch? won us over in a blink! It fits perfectly with our wish to develop the live action youth sector. This new coproduction with Phil OX will not only allow us to both increase our production activities for an audience we already know very well, but also to take part in a new technology adventure, by introducing stereoscopic 3D into live action.”
Caroline Mestik, Head of Programming at Canal J comments: "Canal J is the channel of choice for 8/12 years old and Which is Witch? connects ideally with our audience. It's our next big thing, built to be our signature show next year with a fantastic casting of characters, comedy, romance, fantasy, music, dance and a lot of special effects."
Source: Moi J’aime la télévision (MJTV)