Vancouver, Canada – North American animation studio Nerd Corps Entertainment has announced its alliance with Ciwen Media Group, a leading production and distribution company based in Beijing, China. Ciwen has picked up all rights necessary to manage Nerd Corps’ latest boys action property Slugterra in China, including merchandise, consumer products, TV rights and non-exclusive digital media. The alliance will also see new content co-developed for the brand in 2014.
Slugterra
Slugterra has aired on Disney XD and free-to-air TV in 170+ territories to date, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, and is supported by a full toy line, online and mobile interactive content, and licensed consumer product programmes worldwide. This alliance will bring the series to China for the first time and open new opportunities for broadcast, interactive, publishing and licensing partnerships in the region. New content slated for development in 2014 by Nerd Corps with Ciwen Media Group includes a 90-minute movie slated for theatrical release in China, with deals in the works for North American and worldwide releases.
“The children’s animation market in China is growing rapidly, and we hope to grow as creators along with it,” said Ken Faier, El Presidente of Nerd Corps Entertainment. “This partnership with Ciwen offers us an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Chinese storytelling traditions, evaluate children’s media consumption habits, explore new platforms for content distribution, and gain valuable insights for developing and co-developing new content to build truly global kids properties that also work on a local level. We see this as a true partnership with opportunities not only for Slugterra, but potentially future properties as well.”
“Slugeterra raises the bar of today’s TV animation in terms of storytelling, visuals, production technology and transmedia content creation. And I find it represents a paradigm shift in that an action-packed boy show can be free from violence. We at Ciwen are confident that Eli Shane fully embodies Chinese boys’ understanding of heroism,” said Sean Chu, VP of Ciwen Kids, Ciwen Media Group. “Speaking of theSlugterra movie project, our aspiration is to introduce an original oriental hero into a successful hit, who will be recognised and liked by the international audience.”
This partnership was announced in Beijing as part of the Vancouver-China Business Mission 2013, led by the Vancouver Economic Commission and City of Vancouver. The Vancouver-China Business Mission 2013 looks to connect Canadian and Chinese businesses in order to create partnerships that benefit both Vancouver and China with stops in Vancouver’s sister city Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong from November 4-12, 2013.
