Omnilab Media’s Ambience Entertainment in partnership with Chocolate Liberation Front (CLF) has commenced work on the Australian animated series The Adventures of Figaro Pho. Ambience Entertainment Producer, David Webster says, “This Australian series is a great example of how an industry can work together from both a financing and creative point of view and cross state borders to maximise talent and support for the project. Figaro Pho will employ a team of 47 people in Sydney, 22 creative, post and story board artists in South Australia, and a team of 10 in Victoria including writers, story editors and production staff.” The new 13 x 30 minute series follows the charming and mischievous character, Figaro Pho who suffers from every type of phobia, from A to Z. The property is based on 26 shorts originally created for ABC TV in 2008 and has significant contribution from the national broadcaster and South Australian Film Corporation. The series was awarded Best Animation Series in The World at the 2009 Kidscreen awards, Best Overall Animation and Best Direction as voted on by international children’s broadcasters and two AFI awards. ZDF Enterprises has secured distribution rights for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, while Distribution 360 has all rights for Canada. ABC Commercial, which is also the distributor of the original shorts Figaro Pho, holds distribution rights for the rest of the world including the USA, Australia, Asia and South America. The series will air on ABC3 in 2012.