Volume 2 – 2022

Featured in this edition: Angelb Productions, Carpediem Film & TV Inc., Cheshire Smile Animation Inc., Gladshare Media Studios, Imagine Create Media, LoCo Motion Pictures, MindWave Studios Ltd, Occasional Notes Production, Rotating Planet Productions Inc., Sinking Ship Entertainment, and Tobo.

Angelb Productions

Ladybug continues to fly! A series based on the award-winning book has been developed.

Carpediem Film & TV Inc.

The Carpediem team is now more than a year into the production of its next feature film, Butterfly Tale, a Canadian coproduction with Germany expected for release in Spring 2023. The film’s script won the ITFS Best Animation Script award in Stuttgart in May 2021. In early 2021, Kidscreen Magazine, Animation Magazine, Senal News, Licensing Magazine and more announced the development of the Butterfly Tale sequel series, Butterfly Academy, to be financed in 2022. This series was also selected for Cartoon Forum 2021.

Pre-production has started on Carpediem’s next feature film, Elli and the Ghostly Ghost Train, expected to release for Halloween 2023. Carpediem’s television slate is also now active with an animated TV series production aimed at teens, entitled Joy Eternal, set for release in Fall 2023.

Snowsnaps was covered by the press for its US sales to Disney +, and feature film Racetime almost completed an all-around-the-world deployment with new sales in the US, Italy, Taiwan and India in 2021.

Cheshire Smile Animation Inc.

Cheshire Smile has just completed the English versions of all 42 Episodes of Robotik, thanks to the CMF Versioning Fund. The new episodes will air on CITYSK in Canada starting this spring. Cheshire Smile Animation Inc. has launched its new brand with the help of Creative Saskatchewan; the makeover includes visual identity, logo and website.

Gladshare Media Studios

Gladshare’s flagship show, Vlogs Around the World, is currently working with new distributors to reach more audiences and introduce a new generation to historical landmarks that had an impact on our society.

French and Friends is currently finishing production and is being pitched to networks and streaming services, mainly in Canada.

Two new shows are in pre-production. Code it Calvin, a show that teaches coding concepts by using them in real-life situations that kids can relate to, is on the way, and is being worked on alongside Ollie of the Ocean, a show that teaches literacy skills to children in a fun and interactive way. The shows will be releasing episodes in late 2022/early 2023.

Gladshare is currently working on a new, family-friendly SVOD streaming service called GladTV, and will reveal its website and exclusive shows in the coming months.

Imagine Create Media

The Gumboot Kids continues to be a flagship property for Imagine Create. Production of Season 3 of Daisy & The Gumboot Kids wrapped up in 2021. In December, The Gumboot Kids Cozy Campfire Christmas premiered on Kidoodle.TV and Yippee.TV. Books 7-8 of The Gumboot Kids Nature Mystery series (Firefly Publishing), alongside brand-new Scout and Daisy plush (Merrimakers & Firefly), were released at major retailers and independent bookstores around the world. Scout & The Gumboot Kids is currently being translated into French for TFO.

The Gumboot Kids received a glowing review from the New York Times’ TV Critic, Margaret Lyons, who called the show “charming and calm and aspirational”. The series was also featured in a full, front-page article of the Arts section of the Vancouver Sun.

Recent accolades include a YMA Award for Space Kids (TVO Kids & Knowledge Kids). The Gumboot Kids (CBC Kids) also received a YMA Award Nomination. Imagine Create received Two Golden Sheaf nominations and four Leo Award nominations in 2021.

Imagine Create is currently in post-production on Season 2 of Baby Baby for TVO, and in production on its first 2D animation series, Run Jump Play, with partners Shaw Rocket Fund, Canada Media Fund, Telus Health Fund, TVO Kids, Knowledge Kids and Sportsnet. The animated series about autism and sports launches in 2022 alongside live-action video content and teaching modules. A number of other projects are in development, including a live-action preschool series with NBC.

The company has partnered up with Little Engine, which has recently launched a distribution arm that now represents Imagine Create’s library of children and family content.

LoCo Motion Pictures

LoCo Motion Pictures is in post-production for Detention Adventure 3, which will be airing on CBC Gem later this year. The series ranked 4th in the Web Series World Cup, and it won Best Canadian Series and Triple Threat Auteur at TO Webfest. Detention Adventure was nominated for six Canadian Screen Awards and won two! It was also nominated for a Rockie Award for Best Live Action (Youth 11-17). Its TikTok account has grown to 46,000 followers. Detention Adventure was used in three classrooms as their media literacy curriculum. Detention Adventure 3 production news was featured in Variety, TV, eh and Playback (among many).

MindWave Studios Ltd

MindWave is developing its new series, Berry’s World 360, about a rabbit who changes colours according to his moods. The series will launch on YouTube, regular linear video and 360 video as well! MindWave hopes to film its feature film Potholes in 2022.

Occasional Notes Production

The Candy Cane Kids Holiday Show took centre stage at Calgary’s Bella Concert Hall – Taylor Centre on December 4, 2021. The filmed version was shown in Calgary classrooms and family events throughout November and December. It was featured in The Calgary Herald’s holiday themed shows.

The film was selected and received a Laurel from The Toronto International Film Festival for Best Children’s Film. It was nominated by YYC Music Awards for Best Children’s Recording in 2021 and was certified by the Canadian Radio Television Communications Commission as a Canadian film. Music is available on Spotify and Apple Music.

Its first large stage show was produced with the support of Rise Up YYC, Calgary Arts Development and Tourism Calgary. Occasional Notes is looking to book a series of live stage shows in 2022, with a long-range goal of sharing the show on the Broadway Across Canada circuit as they seek sponsorship to market the production across Canada.

The Candy Cane Kids Holiday Movie is being promoted by Canadian educators for its focus on Canadian culture, original homegrown Canadian music, and interactive dance styles. Both the movie and live show are part of the Calgary Teachers’ Conventions in February.

Rotating Planet Productions Inc.

Animated series Zamzoom’s Animal Adventures is on TVOkids and TFO, and Rotating Planet is planning its international launch. The series was screened at various film festivals, including Kids First! and Nenagh Children’s Film Festival.

In 2022, Rotating Planet is working under 2DucksMedia, an innovative Indigenous production company developing unique IP for children and youth.

Sinking Ship Entertainment

Sinking Ship is currently in production on its biggest series to date, Jane, in partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute and airing on Apple TV+. This marks the second Apple Original Series produced by SSE, joining the Daytime Emmy Award-winning show, Ghostwriter, which recently premiered its second season on Apple TV+.

The multiple award-winning series Dino Dana returned for its fourth season on Amazon Prime Video and TVOkids. Dino Dana: The Movie stomped onto the big screen – Amazon Prime Video’s first ever live-action kids’ movie based on an original series.

The Dino Dana Museum Experience featured a fully immersive experience with Dino Dana: The Movie, a touring exhibit, an AR experience, and a camp guide, debuting at the Museum of Discovery and Science in June 2021. It garnered 652 million impressions with a reach of 778,000 during its opening weekend and was the museum’s highest paid attendance in 2021. The film is playing in theatres including the Kentucky Science Center, Orlando Science Centre, Peoria Riverfront Museum and the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Sci-fi family series Endlings returned for its second season in 2021. It won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction/Set Decoration Scenic Design for a Drama or Daytime Fiction Program.

Sinking Ship acquired the distribution rights to the new live-action preschool series The Fabulous Show with Fay and Fluffy, produced by Lopii Productions. Drag duo Fay Slift and Fluffy Soufflé star in this cabaret-style series.

Alma’s Way, produced by Fred Rogers Productions and distributed by Sinking Ship Entertainment, was named one of Common Sense Media’s Best TV Shows of the Year. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Sinking Ship Entertainment will internationally distribute the movie adaptation of Sophie Kinsella’s best-selling YA novel, Finding Audrey, being produced by Northern Ireland’s Paper Owl Films.

Deadline exclusively announced that HBO Max acquired non-exclusive rights to the first two seasons of the Emmy-award winning math comedy, Odd Squad, for Latin America. Odd Squad Mobile Unit won two Daytime Emmy Awards.

Sinking Ship Entertainment received a total of 23 Daytime Emmy Award nominations, and won three Canadian Screen Awards including Best Children’s or Youth Fiction Program or Series for Odd Squad Mobile Unit and a Webby Award for Lockdown in the category Video Series and Channels: Science and Education. Sinking Ship was also named the Banff Innovative Producer of the Year in 2021.

Tobo

Tobo’s first animated series, Dounia, won several awards this year, including the Prix Gémeaux for Best Webseries and Best Webseries Direction in Children’s Fiction, as well as the Numix award for Best Youth and Family Webseries. The Dounia book was also published this year by Bayard Canada, and an accompanying augmented reality mobile app was offered to young readers. Dounia continues its journey in 2022 with a feature film and a second season, both to be broadcast on Télé-Québec.

Le Monde Selon, a webseries that proposes portraits of Quebec children from various ethnocultural origins, will soon be released on Télé-Québec platforms and will be presented as part of FIFEM. A book of children’s portraits based on Le Monde Selon will be published in April 2022 and a photo exhibition is being prepared. The first four portraits will be presented as part of the 30th anniversary exhibition of the Pointe-à-Callières museum in Montreal.

Tobo’s second animated webseries, Frida, c’est moi, is currently in development with Télé-Québec. Based on the eponymous children’s album and inspired by cult artist Frida Kahlo, the series tells the story of a girl who tames disability and difference thanks to the power of imagination, creativity and the kindness of those around her.