Friday, July 30, 2010

Chocolate Liberation Front

Chocolate Liberation Front (CLF), the year-old interactive producer, lines up a slate of TV-based multi-platform projects in the US, Canada and Australia including Santo Sam & Ed's Cup Fever!, Dance Academy, Harriet The Spy and The Kids In The Hall.

Santo Sam & Ed's Cup Fever! a social media experience produced by CLF for SBS and Australia-based production company Working Dog. During the World Cup, CLF delivered a 24/7 online environment to support the World Cup live television program, delivering 1+ million visits to the social network extensions.

Also in Australia, CLF has been tapped by Werner Film Productions, ZDF and ABC3 to produce the Dance Academy choreography application, Dance Academy Dance Maker.

In Canada, animation studio 9Story has commissioned CLF to produce a promotional web site for the new Disney Channel TV movie Harriet The Spy: Blog Wars, and Accent Entertainment and CBC appointed CLF to deliver the interactive strategy for the latest Kids In The Hall eight-part prime time series 'Death Comes To Town,' which includes behind the scenes footage, original video and an interactive hockey game.

CLF is currently producing The Wild Kratts interactive project for the Kratt Brothers, 9Story, TVO and PBS, with financial assistance from The Bell Broadcast & New Media Fund and The OMDC - an Asylum Seeker Simulation for SBS with the assistance of Screen Australia, Film Victoria and in conjunction with the Refugee Council and The Immigration Museum.

Vans will introduce a line of Yo Gabba Gabba! sneakers for kids and toddlers this November at retailers and online at shop.vans.com. The collection offers eight different versions of Yo Gabba Gabba! Vans, with each series character featured on their own show as well as two versions of a group character shoe. Created by Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz, Yo Gabba Gabba! Is produced by The Magic Store and Wildbrain Entertainment.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

A LOT OF KIDS NEWS WITH LOTS OF PRE-SCHOOL AND WEB

Sprout is set to launch its first, long form original series Noodle and Doodle (26x11) on Saturday, September 25 at 9a, in conjunction with the channel's fifth anniversary.

Noodle and Doodle will then air every Saturday and Sunday morning at 9a and again at 11:30a. The preschool series will air as part of the channel's live morning programming block, The Sunny Side Up Show, which is expanding to include weekends.

The Sprout produced series is hosted by Sean, co-hose of The Sunny Side Up Show, and Noodle, a puppet that enjoys working in the kitchen, and Doodle, a virtual electronic pal, and features arts, crafts and healthy cooking step-by-step activities for preschoolers and their families.

The series also includes Sean's dog Doggity, who takes viewers into an animated world where a group of cooking dogs team up to solve problems and cooking snacks in the kitchen.

The animated Doggity segments were created in conjunction with series creator John McCoy and Ka-chew!, a division of Klasky Csupo (Rugrats, Wild Thornberrys). A corresponding website for the series will debut at SproutOnline.com ( www.sproutonline.com ) after September 25.


Disney Channel will premiere the new preschool special, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Road Rally, on Tuesday, September 7, 7-7:50p. Disney Studios Home Entertainment will release the special on DVD the same day and date. A week before the premiere, August 31, the full special will be available via Disney Channel On Demand.

Meanwhile in conjunction with its TV debut, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Road Rally will be available on iTunes and Xbox Live, as well as simulcast on mobile providers Sprint TV, FloTV and MobiTV. Finally, the special will be accessible on mobile VOD for AT&T CV, Sprint TV and Verizon V Cast from September 8. Online PlayhouseDisney.com/Mickey
( www.playhousedisney.com/mickey ) will launch Clubhouse Rally Raceway.

Ameba, a Winnipeg-based and kid-targeted IPTV system, expands its programming with the addition of CCI Entertainment's classic series Nilus the Sandman, Time Blazers, as well as Monster by Mistake to its AmebaTV.com ( www.amebatv.com ) subscription portal.


Koba Entertainment is currently producing a live theatrical production of Nelvana's animated preschool series Max & Ruby, which is based on the book series of the same name by Rosemary Wells. Targeted to family audiences, the musical tour, Max & Ruby: Bunny Party, kicks off in Western Canada this fall. Featuring music and lyrics by Norman Foote, the show will make its way across Canada and then throughout the US in 2011. ( www.maxandrubyontour.com)

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Lots of Kids news

Sesame Workshop and V-me ( www.vmetv.com ), a Spanish-language US TV network, partner to co-produce original Spanish-language content for the series Plaza Sesamo in the US. The new co-produced content includes 10 live-action films that reflect diversity in the Hispanic community in the US, and support healthy eating and exercise habits and healthy social-emotional lifestyles.
The films are part of the new season of Plaza Sesamo, which debuts Monday, July 19 on V-me as part of its preschool block V-me Ninos. Production of the Plaza Sesamo original content for V-me was made possible in part by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

41 Entertainment (41e), an animation and distribution company, will begin production this fall on the new mixed 2D and 3D animated series, Blake: Double Identity (26x24), which it will co-produce with TOONF Valencia.
Written by Andy Briggs and directed by Eric Robert, the series will also feature state-of-the-art special effects and will delivered in HD. Blake: Double Identity revolves around the adventures of twins, Justin and Tatiana Blake (who think and do things alike), and two of their friends Mandisa, from South Africa and Cho Jordan, a Korean American, who are recruited by an international multi-government organization to go undercover on various missions.

The team is overseen by Mr. Li, a 30-something mysterious Hong Kong-based James Bond type. Slated to be available for fall 2011, the series will be showcased this fall at MIP Junior.

Disney Channel orders a second season of its new live-action series Good Luck Charlie along with a holiday-themed original TV movie. Geoff Rodkey (R.V., Daddy Day Care) is penning the Good Luck Charlie TV movie.
The series is executive-produced by TV veterans Dan Staley (Cheers, Love & Money), Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen (Suddenly Susan and What I Like About You), and is a production of It's a Laugh Productions. Baker and Vaupen are also the series creators.
Good Luck Charlie airs Sundays at 8:30p on Disney Channel (US), and can be seen on Disney Channels worldwide, with episodes available via DisneyChannel.com, Disney Channel on Demand, various mobile providers, as well as on airlines.

ITV (UK) re-teams The Foundation, a production unit of RDF Media Group, and beverage company Britvic as it orders a second season of Skillicious With Fruit Shoot H20 for air on kid-targeted channel CITV. The new season of the will be hosted again by Nigel Clarke his new co-host Anna Williamson (Toonattik, GMTV) and will continue to be filmed in front of a live studio audience.
Skillicious with Fruit Shoot H20 is a The Foundation production for CITV, produced by Dan Pickard. Ged Allen serves as executive producer for The Foundation and Jamila Metran as executive producer for CITV.

CBeebies launches programming blocks in Latin America and US Hispanic market that are designed to dovetail with the regular activities in a preschooler's day.
Based on the UK CBeebies channel schedule, the new programming grid for both markets is broken into four blocks: Tiempo de Despertar (Get Set Go, 6a-9a);
Tiempo de Descubrir (Discover and Do, 9a-2p);
Tiempo de Jugar (Big Fun Time, 2p-7p);
and Tiempo de Sonar (Bedtime Hour, 7p-9p).
The programming lineup throughout the day features show including Chloe's Closet, Wibbly Pig, Numberjacks, Nina and the Neurons, as well as Get Squiggling, Garth and Bev, Zigby, and Finley the Fire Engine, Roly Mo, Tellytales, and In the Night Garden.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Sprout, Milkshake!

Sprout, the 24/7 preschool service owned in part by Comcast, inks a carriage deal with Charter Communications. Under the agreement Sprout is available now On Demand for customers with Charter TV in Digital.

Additionally, Charter will make Sprout's 24-hour digital cable channel available to its subscribers on a market-by-market basis through the end of this year.

Sprout's On Demand lineup offers 65-hours of programming monthly, including 15-hours of Spanish-language programming, such as Sesame Street, Bob the Builder, Barney & Friends and The Wiggles. Sprout is a joint venture between Comcast Corporation, HIT Entertainment, PBS and Sesame Workshop.

Charter announced it is adding PBS' pre-school programming service Sprout as an On Demand offering across its entire footprint. The MSO also plans to add the linear digital channel on a market-by-market basis by the end of 2010.

In the UK, Five's plans to launch a preschool targeted digital Milkshake! channel have been put on hold due to the broadcaster's financial situation according to Five's Director/Children's Programming Nick Wilson in an interview with Broadcast Now. While Five looks for a new owner, Wilson says he plans to further develop the Milkshake! brand online in the meantime