Mar 29, 2006

FOOTHILL VENTURES INTO DEVELOPMENT DEAL

Foothill Entertainment, a US developer and distributor of children's and family programming, is hitting MipTV with two new pilots and a development deal with the UK's Create Media Ventures (CMV) in the bag. Foothill and CMV, the new media and rights ownership arm of Little Robots producer Create TV & Film, are teaming up to develop two Foothill-represented properties. Preschool property Iconicles, created by LA-based Phuuz Entertainment, is being developed and produced by the pair with an eye to multi-platform exploitation. Also on board the development process for Iconicles is BBC Worldwide, and Foothll president Jo Kavanaugh Payne said the show has also attracted "significant interest" from a "major US broadcaster." Iconicles is a design-based concept that teaches and reinforces cognitive skills. The second property is Tutu Lulu, from New Zealand's Papageno Productions. Combining live-action with animation, the series is aimed at girls aged three to six. Kavanaugh Payne said it was Create's combination of "creative drive and business acumen" that Foothill saw as a perfect fit to continue the development of the two properties. In addition, Foothill is hitting the Croisette with two new pilots, animated preschool series Snappe and 3D fantasy series Gododo (left). At the market, Foothill is looking to finalise presale and coproduction deals on Snapper, a series set in the Amazon jungle, while Mip represents something of a 'coming out' for Gododo, which follows the seemingly endless meanderings of the last dodo on earth and his sidekick Ducky. Both properties are created by LA-based Phew. Jo Anne Kenny 29 Mar 2006 Contact: Jo KavanaghPayne Gregory B Payne 805 965 4488