Volume 2 – 2020
Featured in this edition: Coconut Effect Productions, Coyote Science Inc., Digital Dimension, Echo Media, Epic Story Interactive, Fifth Ground Entertainment, Gala Média, GAPC Entertainment, Goddard/Brown, Guru Studio, Happy Camper Média, and Headspinner Productions.
Coconut Effect Productions
The comedic web series Lady Ada’s Secret Society (L.A.S.S.) is currently in production. The series won the Cayle Chernin Media Production Award in 2017, and was included in MIPTV’s Live Action Kids Pitch in 2019. The L.A.S.S. trailer was an official selection at Hollyweb, NZ Web Fest, Asia Web Awards, Bilbao Seriesland Festival and the Sicily Web Fest, among others. L.A.S.S will be launched by the end of 2020.
Coyote Science Inc.
Season 2 of Coyote’s Crazy Smart Science Show (Coyote Science), is gearing up for broadcasting on APTN, as the team prepares for Season 3 – Coyote Goes Tech. Coyote Science was bought by NITV in Australia and FNX in the United States. Like APTN, these channels are leaders in Indigenous broadcasting.
Season 1 of Coyote Science was previously nominated for a Leo for Best Children and Youth Programming and won a Leo for Best Sound Editing. The show was also featured at Science World in Vancouver.
In 2019, Loretta Todd, the creator and Executive Producer of Coyote Science, was invited to Kidscreen to speak on the Indigenous Representation: Getting it Right panel. This year, Ms. Todd is set to release her feature film Monkey Beach, based on the novel by Eden Robinson.
The IM4 Lab, the first Indigenous VR/AR/XR Lab in Canada was created by Ms. Todd. Offering hands-on workshops to Indigenous artists, media creators, storytellers and community members, 2020 will see the Lab produce a series of VR Projects.
Digital Dimension
The globally successful series Mighty Mike, a co-production with WildBrain (DHX) and Teamto, is Digital Dimension’s first project supported by Shaw Rocket Fund.
In 2019 the team completed work on supernatural comedy Sadie Sparks for Cyber Group, Brown Bag Films and Disney.
Beachbuds is the second series to benefit from the Real Time Workflow that the Digital Dimension team has developed at their studio. This technology now enables creatives to tell stories in ways that take full advantage of the capabilities of various streaming platforms.
Echo Media
Season 2 of the bold, funny and relevant webseries On parle de sexe premiered simultaneously on telequebec.tv, YouTube, Facebook and IGTV in the fall of 2019. The educational series created for 13-15 years old teenagers generated a record breaking 7+ million views.
Season 3 of the ‘On parle de’ franchise is set to tackle the subject of mental health. 35 no-taboo, funny and relevant 7-minute episodes will be produced in 2020 in collaboration with Télé-Québec. Echo Media has also just completed production on the first English version of the series in collaboration with CBC Kids. The show, which includes tons of new original content, is expected to be released on Gem in 2020.
Season 2 of the animated family series Bébéatrice premiered this fall on TOU.TV and aired on ICI Radio-Canada. Zodiak Kids is the international distributor of the series. Congratulations to the Bébéatrice creators, who received multiple nominations at Prix Gémeaux and Gala Les Oliviers!
Epic Story Interactive
Beyblade Burst Rivals is the official fast-paced puzzle battle mobile game based on Beyblade Burst. Epic Story Interactive has officially launched the game’s multiplayer feature worldwide, which received positive reviews from fans. The popularity of the game has ignited a passionate community of fans, led by the Beyblade Geeks YouTube channel, which is close to reaching 1M subscribers.
In 2019, Cartoon Network entered into a licensing agreement with Vancouver’s Epic Story Interactive to develop the Ben 10 Heroes mobile game, giving Ben 10 fans yet another way to enjoy and interact with Ben and their favourite aliens. The game launched internationally in June 2019, and received press coverage from Cartoon Network directly. The team is currently in pre-production for the show’s next season.
Fifth Ground Entertainment
FishHeads – Fifth Ground Entertainment’s science adventure series – will premiere on TVOKids on March 19.
Gala Média
While Gala Média’s Li’lDoc TV Series is already live in Canada with TFO, the show’s game app will arrive in February this year. The Li’lDoc radio series is now ready to air, with CBC Radio Canada Distribution selling licenses for the show around the world. Season 2 is in its development phase, with production planned for 2021. There’s a new Li’lDoc website, too!
Animated series The Wild Staff is at the end of its development phase, and the production team is looking for partners to co-produce the TV series at the end of 2020.
GAPC Entertainment Inc.
ScienceXplosion, an awesome new STEM-based series launched this past fall on TFO’s digital platforms, including educational platform Idéllo, before airing on television. ScienceXplosion is a follow up to popular sister series MathXplosion, bringing back the adventurous magician, scientist, and funster, Eric, along with his good friend ‘VOX’ to help teach and guide him along his ‘edventure’.
Je Suis Prêt will launch on TFO in June 2020. This snackable series will be a collection of bite-sized episodes for preschoolers about discovering, experiencing and accomplishing everyday firsts with humour, confidence…and even a few mistakes along the way.
GAPC Entertainment will be producing Dre Annie (working title), an entertaining, unabashed, and informative sex education series for preteens based on the highly popular pre-teen NTR series from the Netherlands, The Doctor Corrie Show. Adapted for French Canada, and UNIS TV, the series will explore puberty and sexuality from a variety of angles and perspectives. This exciting new project is set for production in the fall/winter of 2020.
In 2019, GAPC Entertainment begun production on So You Want To Be A Muslim?, a feature-length social issue documentary about Muslim converts, for the CBC’s documentary Channel.
2020 will be a bustling year for GAPC Entertainment! They have some very exciting projects in the works, including Polkaroo Counts, a short form numeracy series set to launch on the eve of TVO’s 50th anniversary in the fall of 2020. The team is also working on O C’est Pour Ottawa, Welcome, and The Whiskers.
Goddard/Brown
ABC Singsong premiered on TVO Kids in October 2019, with additional episodes in production this year.
The Big Block Singsong YouTube channel has clocked up over 20 million views. The music from the animated series has been nominated in this year’s JUNO Awards for Children’s Album of The Year. This is the third JUNO nomination for Big Block Singsong!
In 2019, the Goddard/Brown film 9 is Terrific When It’s Scientific aired as part of Sesame Street’s 50th anniversary season. This year, the New York International Children’s Film Festival will be screening a Goddard/Brown film produced for Sesame Street, C is For Cars.
If that wasn’t enough reason to cut some cake, Goddard/Brown celebrates their 10th anniversary in 2020.
Guru Studio
Guru Studio’s newest preschool series Pikwik Pack was the second Most Screened Program at MIPJunior in 2019. The series is set to air on Disney Junior US next year! Playmates Toys and Scholastic Publishing have come on board as the show’s master toy and publishing partners.
Underwater adventure series Big Blue is set to debut on CBC Kids and ICI Radio-Canada Télé.
Guru Studio has wrapped production on Season 4 of Netflix Original series True and the Rainbow Kingdom, which consists of all new episodes, seasonal specials, music videos and comedic shorts. True and the Rainbow Kingdom is soaring around the world with new international broadcast deals including Globosat Gloob (Brazil), Discovery Frisbee (Italy), RTS (Switzerland), DR Ramasjang (Denmark), e-Junior (U.A.E.), Star Channel (Greece), TVB (Hong Kong) and Hop! (Israel).
Guru Studio is so hot right now! The company was voted number one in the Kidscreen Hot50 Awards for Production, and placed in the top 10 kids’ entertainment companies for Distribution and Licensing. Meanwhile, True and the Rainbow Kingdom’s YouTube channel has clocked up 150 million views, earning Guru Studio its first Silver Play Button. True and the Rainbow Kingdom also launched on Amazon in 2019, with True and Bartleby plush figures becoming the platform’s top 2 best-selling preschool plush toys!
Happy Camper Média
All shorts (49 x 90 seconds) of Super Agent Jon Le Bon! have been picked up by Zodiak Kids as the international distributor. Zodiak Kids has also picked up the first season of Super Agent Jon Le Bon! (39 x 7 minutes) which is under production and will have its World Premiere in Winter 2021.
Super Agent Jon Le Bon: How to Save the World in 90 Seconds won the Prix Gémeaux for Best Animated Series in 2019.
Headspinner Productions
Thanks to the CMF Export Program, Headspinner Productions have produced a Hilarious House of Frightenstein sizzle reel in time for Kidscreen 2020.
Cabin 51 is currently in development with Corus Entertainment, while Rocket Launch Media has signed on as distributor for Empy the Wondrous Whale.
Headspinner Productions has teamed up with YouTuber Denis Kopotun to create an animated kids’ TV series, Denis and Me. The show has received funding from the WildBrain-CMF Kids & Family Development Program.
