APC Kids scores new international deals for ‘DinoCity’, including Discovery Italia

APC Kids, the children’s entertainment division of co-production and distribution group APC Studios, has secured a wave of international sales for its preschool series DinoCity, produced by Riki Group in partnership with Animax Production animation studio. The series began rolling out in Europe earlier this year and will premiere in Russia on Karusel TV this Friday 23 October.

The hit 2D animated series will be heading to Discovery Italia, which has picked up free TV rights for broadcast on its channel Frisbee, and All Media Latvia in the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) which has secured non-exclusive SVOD rights. APC Kids has also licensed free TV rights to TG4 for the Republic of Ireland and Minika for Turkey.

These new partners join recent sales, which include: Piwi+ (Canal+ Group, France) taking pay TV rights, along with YLE (Finland), ERT (Greece), Ketnet (Flemish Belgium) and MBC (MENA) securing free TV rights. APC Kids also licensed the exclusive free TV rights and non-exclusive SVOD rights to Menart in the Balkans (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia). The series has already successfully debuted on DeA Junior (Italy) and Tiny Pop (UK).

Lionel Marty, Managing Director of APC Kids, says: “After receiving a hugely positive response to the show’s premiere, we’re delighted to be building on the success of DinoCity by announcing new global broadcast partners. DinoCity is not only fun and adventure-filled but focuses on important themes such as family and friendship which will resonate with new audiences across the world.”

Sandro Sgrulloni, Programming & Content Acquisition Senior Manager at Discovery Kids, says: “We’re very happy that DinoCity is landing on Frisbee. Frisbee is a colourful place where kids can be given full rein to their imagination and we’re sure the stories of this ordinary family – to which the audience can relate – and the everyday situations that turn into amazing adventures, will bring fun and excitement to our viewers.”

Anna Mysskaya, Riki Group Head of International Department, commented: “DinoCity was initially created to harness the demand for truly global animation and we are so excited to see how this story will find viewers all around the world. It rarely happens that the world premiere of a project takes place outside of its origin country and so we are delighted to follow in the success of DinoCity’s debut in Italy and the UK. These new partnerships with Discovery Italia, All Media Latvia and TG4 are testament to the show’s broad appeal and we’re looking forward to shortly debuting the series on Karusel TV channel. We’re sure local Russian viewers will have the same positive reaction as we’ve seen from international audiences so far.”

DinoCity is an original preschool series created by Riki Group, in partnership with Animax Production animation studio, which portrays a family of dinosaurs in a perfectly urban setting. Little Ricky and his elder sister Tyra manage to turn most everyday situations into something quite extraordinary. Their parents will often gladly join them in their playfulness and follow their crazy reasoning, in order to help them channel all that energy and imagination… and to make sure they do not turn the house upside down.

APC Kids co-invested in the production of the 52 x 5’ international version of the series and holds exclusive distribution rights in all territories excluding Russia, CIS and China.

 

APC Kids lands Kid-E-Cats toy distribution for Spain and Portugal with Bizak

APC Kids has appointed Bizak as its toy distribution partner across Spain and Portugal for the new toy range based on CTC Media’s popular animated series, Kid-E-Cats. Handling local distribution, Bizak’s roll-out is scheduled to start in Q2 2021.

In addition, APC Kids has finalised a deal with Spain’s RTVE for Kid-E-Cats season three, following its success with seasons one and two on its Clan channel as one of its top preschool shows. Last year, El Ocho was appointed as the property’s licensing agent in Spain and Portugal.

Owned and managed by CTC Media and produced by Studio Metrafilms, Kid-E-Cats is one of the leading pre-school series across Russia. It has recently been commissioned for a fourth season and currently airs on Nick Jr in over 170 territories. It is currently available worldwide on Netflix.

The first three seasons have seen great success internationally, alongside the consumer products roll-out, with more than 70 licensees and 1,400 product lines worldwide, and the 24 Kid-E-Cats educational mobile games, which have now garnered 39 million downloads to date.

Lionel Marty, managing director of APC Kids, said: “As Kid-E-Cats’ global appeal continues to grow, it’s great to be able to bring additional ways for children to enjoy and interact with the loveable characters. We are thrilled Bizak is on board to roll out the toys in Spain and Portugal where we have seen great engagement – and excited to see the show going from strength to strength with our partners RTVE. We can’t wait to see the product at retail this year.”

Aitor Eguía, Bizak’s product manager, added: “At Bizak, we are convinced of the success of Kid-E-Cats in Iberia and we are going to put all our efforts so that Cookie, Candy and Pudding become children’s most beloved characters.”

The series tells the story of three kittens: Cookie, Pudding and their kid sister Candy who are forever ready to jump into action with endless enthusiasm and energy. Their imagination also knows no bounds, and these kitties are capable of the most absurdly funny problem-solving suggestions.

Panini to launch Kid-E-Cats stickers and trading cards across the UK and Europe

The popular pre-school animated series, Kid-E-Cats is making its way to the collectables space thanks to a new pan-European partnership between the brand’s owner CTC Media and the stickers and trading cards specialist, Panini.

The partnership, facilitated by APC Kids, will cover the UK and Ireland, Benelux, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, the Nordics, Greece, CEE, and Turkey. Across each of the territories, Panini will produce stickers, trading cards, and photocard collectables for the series.

Additionally, in Germany, Spain, and Italy, Panini will create sticker books and magazines, as well as publish a series of children’s books across Spain and Germany.

Lionel Marty, managing director of APC Kids, said: “We are delighted to welcome Panini on board for Kid-E-Cats and are confident in the expertise they will bring to the partnership as we strengthen and support our merchandise offering for the series as it continues to grow in popularity worldwide.”

Lluís Torrent Suñé, managing director of Panini Espana, added: “We have a long history of creating engaging content for kids all over the world and with harnessing the synergies that exist with APC Kids and CTC Media, we are excited to bring the Kid-E-Cats Collectible products to the marketplace.

“We feel privileged to be selected to work on such a cute and funny television series and look forward to working alongside APC Kids to create a complete program of Publishing products in selected countries such as Spain.”

Kid-E-Cats follows the adventures of three kittens, Cookie, Pudding, and Candy, who are always ready to jump into action with enthusiasm and energy. Their imaginations make them capable of some absurd problem-solving suggestions, while through life’s lessons they learn to look before they leap.

A third season is now ready to broadcast, while series one and two are currently available on Nick Jr internationally in over 170 territories following a partnership between APC Kids and Nickelodeon International that was signed in 2017. A further ten special episodes will be broadcast soon.

Ksenia Gordienko, director of animation, CТС media, said: “We have a very successful partnership with Panini in Russia on our Kid-E-Cats brand and we truly hope that this success will be scaled in other European territories. Growing the brand across Europe together with such respected partner like Panini is a great pleasure and honour for us.”