twofour54, based in Abu Dhabi, has signed its first partnership deal, an agreement with 3Line Media of the U.K. to co-produce a fun, educational Arabic/English children's series, DRIVER DAN'S STORY TRAIN. The series will debut in the spring of 2010 in the U.K. on the BBC's flagship U.K. children's channel CBeebies.
DRIVER DAN'S STORY TRAIN is an animation and live action television series developed to introduce young, preschool age children to the delights of storytelling and reading books. The 52 x 11 minute episode series was created by well known British illustrator and children's author Rebecca Elgar, and features a cast of animated animal characters who read and explore a different children's storybook in each show.
twofour54 ibtikar will co-produce the series with 3Line Media, developing and producing the property for the Arabic-speaking region, including sourcing and producing original stories from Arab authors. The format has been developed specifically to enable the program to be localized for its viewing audience in each country. Rather than re-formatting or dubbing into Arabic, live action footage of actual children responding and play-acting to the story will be produced and will constitute a key part of the show format.
Arab animators who have been on vocational training courses at twofour54 tadreeb, the vocational training academy, will be given invaluable work placements and internships in order to gain hands-on experience working with 3Line in the U.K. DRIVER DAN'S STORY TRAIN will be produced using twofour54 intaj's production and post-production facilities in Abu Dhabi, providing even more benefits to the Arab world.
