Sept. 28th news

Paul Kontonis, Eric Korsh and Teal Newland have joined digital agency Digitas as VP/Group Directors, Content Strategy and Development, overseeing the company's The Third Act content platform (which launched to Real Women of Philadelphia campaign for Kraft.)

Paul comes over from Edelman's MATTER agency, Eric joins from Scout Productions and Teal formerly worked on branded entertainment for 60Frames.

This week marks the launch of PBS Kids Go! Digital Citizenship Initiative, which features a suite of new resources designed to help kids and parents steer their way through the digital world.

The initiative includes the debut of the new interactive game Webonauts Internet Academy ( www.pbskidsgo.org/webonauts), which is free, aims to educate kids about online privacy, how to deal with bullying and identify credible online sources.

Supporting information for parents can be found at PBSParents.org ( www.pbsparents.org ), which includes Common Sense Media's tips for kids' internet use. The debut of Digital Citizenship Initiative coincides with National Cyber Security Month and National Bullying Prevention Month, both in October.

Little Airplane Productions completes further deals for The Olive Branch (26x1), a short-form film preschool series produced by Little Airplane's new non-profit Little Light Foundation ( www.littlelightfoundation.org ).

Picking up The Olive Branch is Disney Australia, British Forces Broadcasting Service Television, Canal+ Multithematiques (France), SVT (Sweden), OXO (Macedonia), NRK (Norway), and WorldKids Foundation (India). The series focuses on two characters that live in the same olive tree and each episode must find ways to resolve their differences and get along.

The Olive Branch debuted on June 1, 2010 on Nick Jr. in the US, with an exclusive six-month window for the first three episodes, as well as on a non-exclusive on Nickelodeon networks globally.

The series has also been acquired by KidsCo Worldwide. Little Airplane is offering the series broadcasters for one unit of their own currency per episode, though broadcasters are invited to make tax-deductible contributions to help cover production costs. The series is endorsed by Deepak Chopra, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and UNICEF.



Nelvana Enterprises will attend Mipcom this fall with several new series on its slate:

Frankly and Friends (26x30, 52x11) targeted to preschoolers the new CGI animated series features Franklin the turtle. The series is a co-production from Canada's Nelvana and Singapore's Infinite Frameworks.
Frankly celebrates his 25th anniversary in 2011.

Mr. Young (26x30) the sitcom follows Adam Young, a 14-year-old genius who is currently in grad school and also starting work as a high school science teacher.

Targeted to kids and tweens, Mr. Young comes from writer Dan Signer (The Suite life of Zack and Cody, The Suite Life On Deck) and is produced by British Columbia-based Thunderbird Films in association with Corus Entertainment's YTV (Canada). The series will debuts on YTV in spring 2011.

Scaredy Squirrel (26x30, 52x11) targeted to K6-11, this 2D animated series is based on the book series by Melanie Watt. Produced by Nelvana, Scaredy Squirrel will premiere on YTV (Canada) in 2011.

Nelvana will also showcase a range of other programs including Life with Boys, Mike the Knight, Sidekick, Detentionaire, Babar and the Adventures of Badou, Beyblade: Metal Masters, Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge, and Hot Wheels Battle Force 5: Fused.