Cannes - October 4, 20044
FOOTHILL OFFERS CLASSIC SERIES ALONG WITH NEW DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS AT MIPCOM

(Cannes—October 4) Along with its full slate of development projects, Foothill Entertainment, Inc. is pleased to bring to MIPCOM several classic children’s series. Having signed a multi-series representation agreement with UK based Splash Consumer Products, Foothill brings to the market Animal Stories and Little Monsters. The Company also has picked up North American rights to the animated cult classic Batfink. Rounding out its new offerings of completed programming, Foothill is pleased to announce that it has been engaged on worldwide basis to represent the multi-award-winning pre-school series, The Dress Up Box, from Papageno Films in New Zealand.

Animal Stories (52 x5’) is a delightful BAFTA award winning animated series produced by Collingwood O’Hare. Voiced by Sir Nigel Hawthorne, the stories are underpinned by an engaging social message told in a simple and humorous style. Each episode follows the life of a different animal, narrated in a witty monologue. The series has been translated into numerous languages and is a fun and sparkling way of entertaining the young viewer while teaching them about the world around them.

Little Monsters (52 x 5’) celebrates the “little monster” that lives in every young boy and girl. We all have a little monster in us some of the time, but these children are little monsters ALL of the time. As they wreak havoc on their families, park workers and the general public, this series, featuring Dangerous Dave, Irritating Irving, Sulky Sally and many more, goes to prove that sometimes with kids, if you didn’t laugh with them, you would probably cry.

Batfink (100 x 5’), produced by the famous Hal Seeger Studios, has remained an icon in animation and continues to rank in the top 10 animated series in many international territories. Fighting crime with his trusty sidekick, Karate, Batfink battles evil-doers such as Skinny Minny, Manhole Manny and Gluey Louie, wherever they may be. With the cry “My wings are like a shield of steel!”, Batfink remains one of the all-time classic animated series.

Joining these classic animated series, The Dress Up Box (52 x 5’) is a delightful live-action pre-school series which has just finished its fourth season in New Zealand. Children love to dress-up and act out stories.  It is this simple fact on which this series is based.  A child opens up a huge treasure chest, they find a costume, put it on and are magically propelled into a wonderful fantasy adventure.  Set in spectacular and beautiful scenery, the programmes are self-contained stories which feature children in fabulous costumes with outstanding original songs and special effects.  Filled with buckets of imagination and rich language, The Dress Up Box is guaranteed to captivate the younger viewer, who will watch it time and time again.

While expanding its completed programmes cataloge, Foothill also has its eyes firmly on the co-production market with its full slate of development properties, such as Special Delivery and Kid Kaiju from the Emmy-winning team at phuuz entertainment. With Special Delivery, we see that once in awhile, a package defies the Laws of Standard Delivery: it may be oversized, dead, alive, smelly, who knows?!  The Special Delivery team of rogue delivery personnel is here to get the job done. This action-packed boys animated series (26 x 25’) follows the trials and tribulations of this unlikely “family” of six seriously whacked out players as they dispense unlikely packages around the world. Special Delivery has been developed by phuuz entertainment for the television, videogame and licensing markets.

The futuristic boys’ action anime property, Kid Kaiju (26 x 25’), follows Alex Takuma who lives in a world where giant monsters attacking cities and alien invasions are commonplace. Following a colossal accident, the Galactic Monster Patrol saves Alex’s life by integrating his body with an advanced technology Kaiju-Go suit which gives him unheard-of powers. In this action-packed animated series Alex has become Kid Kaiju, battling evil aliens and changing the world forever. phuuz entertainment is the award-winning group behind the projects Vessels and Boxing Bobbies and Boy, which Foothill debuted at MIP-TV 204.

Foothill is also at MIPCOM to solidify its co-production partners for the delightful pre-school series, Snapper, which comes to them from UK based Phew!!TV. The series follows the adventures of little Snapper, a cute young alligator raised on and around the Maricombo river, but never in it, because Snapper is the only alligator that can’t swim. A beautifully designed series that teems with fun and excitement, Snapper is destined to become a classic. Previously, Foothill brought to the market two additional offerings from the creators at Phew!!, the delightful Me and My Shadow and Kiz & Tel. Another one of Phew!!’s original series, Food Chain, has been optioned, and a pilot produced, by Warner Bros. Animation for Cartoon Monsoon.

Founded in September 2000 by former DIC Entertainment executive vice president of business and legal affairs, Gregory Payne and Jo Kavanagh-Payne, former Link Television Entertainment, Inc senior vice president of U.S. operations, Foothill specializes in the co-development and distribution of children’s and family entertainment programming. Their company is based in Santa Barbara, California.

Contact:
Jo Kavanagh Payne
Gregory B Payne
Tel: +1 805 965 4488
Email: info@foothillentertainment.com
Web: www.foothillentertainment.com
Contact details at MIPCOM:
Staying at Grand Hotel Tel: [33] (04) 9 33 81 54 5
Jo Kavanagh-Payne Cel: +1 805 637 6054
Gregory B Payne Cel: +1 805 637 3280

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