Superights Shops ‘Story Time!,’ ‘Will’ and ‘Fox’ at Biarritz
Preschool TV series “Story Time!,” and comedies “Will” and “The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales” form the trio of highlights that Superights Family Entertainment will present at next week’s Biarritz Rendez-Vous.
“Story Time!” is structured as 13 episodes that run 13 minutes. Episodes are based independently on not very well-known, but original, ethnic tales, allowing viewers to discover the world through very different journeys full of humor, mystery and poetry. Series are directed by Emmanuelle Reyss and Justine Cuhna and penned by Pascale Vignali. Paris-based Le Regard Sonore (“Moko the Young Explorer”) produces.
In one episode of “The Big Bad Fox,” a clumsy young fox is always beaten by his dreamed-of prey, a little redhead hen. Series is conceived as three specials lasting 29 minutes each. “Fox” is produced by Didier Brunner’s new shingle Folivari (“Kirikou,” “Ernst”) and includes Canal Plus as a broadcast partner. Oscar-nominated Benjamin Renner (“Ernest and Celestine”) directs these TV specials which comprise “Fox,” “A Baby to Deliver” and “A Perfect Christmas.”
Deliciously echoing legendary John Ford’s “3 Godfathers” (1948), “Baby” turns on a stork who crashes into a farm on its way to deliver a baby and has no choice but to entrust the baby to an idiot rabbit, a stupid duck and a grumpy pig. In “Christmas,” a rabbit and duck accidentally destroy a plastic decorative Santa. Convinced that they have killed Santa Claus, they assume the mission of replacing him in distributing Christmas gifts.
“Will” is a comedy of 52 two-minute episodes aiming to raise awareness of disabilities. Skein is targeted at kids ages 6-10. Paris-based Cross River Productions (“P’tit cosmonaute”) produces “Will” in partnership with France 3; Virginie Boda directs.
Paris-based Superights is a new film-TV sales company launched by Axone Invest and Superprod.
Superights’ philosophy is “to offer a catalog covering all genres, all demographics and all techniques where buyers — wherever they are from and whatever their editorial line is — will find the jewel they are looking for,” CEO Morgann Favennec told Variety. “Our mission is also to provide a 100% tailor-made service to the producers we represent, working on a project at the earliest possible stage.”
Superights’ goals at Biarritz are to look for some financing and pre-sales for the mentioned shows, as well as for two new projects, “Wubby School,” a preschool series about social development, and “Space Dog,” adapting a hit mobile game that has more than 25 million players worldwide.
“Globalization does exist, even in animation. If the main trends remain comedies and pre-schools series, there are still local cultural differences that will lead to specific requests in each territory,” Favennec added.
“Some French or German hits do not easily travel worldwide. This applies to almost all countries, from the Czech Republic to South Korea, including Mexico.”
The Biarritz Rendez-Vous mart runs Sept. 6-10.
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