Tagged With: Entertainment

Latin American distribution specialist Salsa Entertainment returned from MIPCOM 2002 with a slate of program sales for the Latin American region. The Salsa Entertainment catalogue features award-winning products from well known international producers and distributors including TV-Loonland, Scholastic Entertainment, Decode Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company.

The world of adult animation gets a decidedly urban turn with the release of THE CONTRACT on October 22, 2002. Urban Entertainment (UE) is venturing into the DVD market with its first release of an original animation project created for the Web. THE CONTRACT is the story of Bishop, a professional assassin who works his way up the ranks from an enforcer to a low-level drug dealer to the point man for international crime lord, Damien Wiles. Bishop must contend with his feelings when he is assigned to watch and eventually kill Damiens girlfriend, Cynda.

UK-based entertainment and sports marketing company CSS Stellar has acquired a majority shareholding in Target Distribution from founder shareholder Tiger Aspect Productions (MR. BEAN). In June 2002, Target had agreed to a merger with the Just Group, with Just Group proposing a 54% stake in the company to be purchased with funds raised by shareholders. This deal fell through in late summer, although Target continued to pursue a financial and strategic partner.

Korean animation studio Sunwoo Entertainment has announced the establishment of Sunwoo USA, headquartered in Burbank, California. The U.S. headquarters will be the new business development, talent recruiting and international content development arm of Sunwoo Entertainment, which has produced hundreds of episodes of television series including RUGRATS for Nickelodeon, PEPPER ANN and RECESS for Disney and THE FAMILY GUY for Fox. Jae Moh, the executive vice president of Sunwoo Entertainment, will become the CEO and president of Sunwoo USA.

Entertainment Rights, the global childrens entertainment group, is expanding its U.S. office with the appointment of Fabiola Flores Cortes as sales manager for Latin America, handling all sales of the ER catalogue in this region. She will join Gillian Kirby, who is responsible for ERs business in the USA and Canada, in the New York office.

Ken Olshansky has joined Scholastic Entertainment as the senior vice president of television programming. Formerly, Olshansky was senior vice president of creative affairs for TV-Loonland/Sunbow Entertainment, where he developed and produced GENERATION O for Kids WB!, THE CRAMP TWINS for Cartoon Network and DONNER for ABC Family. In his new position, Olshansky will oversee the development and production of various Scholastic Entertainment television projects, including international co-productions and the Soup2Nuts production group in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. has made some organizational changes and executive promotions in its North American operation. Kaz Hirai, the company's president and chief operating officer, said the new executive appointments are designed to accelerate a wide range of business objectives including the evolution of PlayStation2 as a broadband-based entertainment delivery medium. Andrew House and Jack Tretton have been promoted to executive vice presidents of Sony Computer Entertainment America.

Global entertainment company peppermint has signed a deal with DIC Entertainment to distribute their eclectic catalogue throughout Asia. Peppermint will have exclusive distribution rights for 59 different titles, representing 1174 episodes, in Asian territories, including Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea. DIC's catalog of animation and children's entertainment includes the animated series THE HURRICANES, which follows a soccer team as they tour the world, as well as the popular series' INSPECTOR GADGET and SONIC THE HEDGEHOG.

This week at MIP-TV, Gullane Entertainment announced that it has begun production on 78 new five-minute episodes of THOMAS & FRIENDS, augmenting the property's current library of 130 episodes. Produced at Shepperton Studios in England, the new episodes will begin airing in September 2002 on Nick Jr. in the UK. In the U.S., these episodes will be released direct-to-video by Anchor Bay Entertainment. The first U.S. release will be available September 24, 2002 on VHS and DVD.

German entertainment company RTV International will introduce the new animated series ROBOROACH at MIPTV 2002. Starring a cockroach superhero named Rube who can morph into almost anything and Reg, Rube's street-smart big brother, the series was inspired by a Japanese newspaper story in which scientists claimed to be able to control cockroaches through implanted computer chips. ROBOROACH is a co-production between RTV Family Entertainment AG, VIDEAL and Portfolio Entertainment. RTV International holds all distribution rights except for North America.

Gullane Entertainment has joined forces with independent animation company Collingwood O'Hare Entertainment to create a new animated preschool series called YOKO! JAKAMOKO! TOTO! UK broadcaster CiTV commissioned 52 five-minute episodes of the series. YOKO! JAKAMOKO! TOTO! is inspired by traditional Spanish, Latin American and African art and music and tells the tale of the friendship between Yoko (a bird), Jakamoko (an armadillo) and Toto (a monkey) solely through music and action.