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Yoram Gross-EM.TV Takes Off as Flying Bark Prods.

Yoram Gross-EM.TV, a leading producer of children's animated programming and family entertainment, revealed their new corporate identity Flying Bark Prods.

Following the acquisition of the remaining 50% of Yoram Gross-EM.TV by EM.Ent. GmbH at the beginning of the year, the company is now being re-branded and re-structured with the new Flying Bark identity. The primary divisions of Flying Bark Prods. include Greenpatch Prods., Forest Interactive and Trackdown.

The divisions housed within Flying Bark Prods., based in Sydney, aim to deliver a complete and diverse package of services. Therefore, Flying Bark will be diversifying to include not only animation and puppetry in its portfolio, but also childrens and adults live-action programs and films.

The name change symbolizes the innovative approach of the company. With Flying Bark Prods., we intimately connect the strengthening of production skills in high quality entertainment as well as the intensification of activities within the interactive segment, said Susanne Schosser, md of EM.Ent. GmbH and Junior.TV GmbH & Co. KG.

Geoff Watson, md of Flying Bark Prods. underlines that, The new name reflects the new direction the company is heading in. Flying Bark Prods. will continue its strategic relationships with its many international and Australian co-production partners as well as pursuing new production opportunities.

Flying Bark, which also incorporates Flying Bark Distribution, is the companies production services and distribution division. Their focus will be on producing internationally recognized childrens entertainment. The company boasts a production staff of experienced animators, character designers, editors and scriptwriters.

Greenpatch Prods. is the creative heart of the company, which will continue to develop Australian programming. This division is primarily Australian owned and controlled (55% by Australian shareholders, including some of its key creative employees and 45% by Flying Bark Prods).

Forest Interactive, the multimedia division of the group, will continue its development of new content delivery platforms and interactive games. Forest Interactive is soon to announce its first partner with the proprietary mobile trading card platform, MobiStax. Forest Interactive produces products such as interactive DVD board games, DVD authoring, web games, CD-ROMs, branded content and mobile.

Trackdown is 51% owned by Flying Bark Prods., with the remainder being owned by Australian film industry music professionals. It includes a digital recording studio based on the Flying Bark premises as well as Australias premier purpose built scoring stage located at the Entertainment Quarter, adjacent to Fox Studios Sydney. Trackdown Digital (TDD) provides full audio production services for film, TV, multimedia and music recording for Flying Bark as well as a large variety of local and international clients.

Yoram Gross was founded in 1968 and, since EM.TV took a 50% shareholding in 1999, it has operated under the name Yoram Gross-EM.TV PTY Ltd. In January 2006, EM.Ent. GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of EM.TV AG, acquired the remaining 50% of Yoram Gross-EM.TV PTY Ltd. from company founders Yoram and Sandra Gross.

The unveiling of Flying Bark Prods. coincides with the release of the companys first new production, ZIGBY, which will run through Greenpatch Prods. ZIGBY is a new 3D-animated project for pre-schoolers, with ABC Australia confirming their intention to co-produce.

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Rick DeMott
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