A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE WESTDOC

Cynopsis: Kids!

08/18/09

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, August 18, 2009, and this is your first early morning Kids briefing.

Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill join the voice0ver cast for DreamWorks Animation SKG animated feature Oobermind, which also stars Tina Fey.  Slated for a November 5, 2010 release, Ferrell plays Oobermind, replacing Robert Downey, Jr., who has exited the project due to scheduling conflicts.  Directed by Tom McGrath (Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa), the movie revolves around the super villain Oobermind who conquers his archrival Metro Man (Pitt) only to be left with a life without purpose.  So, he creates a new good guy rival, Titan (Hill), but he wants to be a bad guy too.  Fey plays ace reporter Roxanne Ritchi.

NEW PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

With Sony and Marvel at work on the Spider-Man 4 movie, which is slated for release on May 6, 2011, Sony looking further Spidey’s future by signing James Vanderbilt to write two more movies, Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6, per Variety.  The fifth and sixth movie reportedly have an interrelated storyline.  Vanderbilt penned the first version of Spider-Man 4, which was then rewritten by David Lindsay-Abaire followed by Gary Ross.  No word on if Sam Raimi, director of all four of the current Spider-Man movies, and actors Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst have or will sign on for more Spider-Man movies.  In other web-spinning news, there is no official word on whether Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark, a Broadway musical based on the Marvel character, will move forward as planned or not, though rumors abound that cast members have been released from contracts and the show is going nowhere.  Directed by Julie Taymor, the musical feature music and lyrics by U2’s Bono and the Edge.

MORE KIDS STUFF

The Every Baby Company teams with American Forces Network (AFN) to launch the preschool series eebee’s adventures on AFNfamily.  eebee’s adventures premieres on AFNfamily on Monday, August 31, airing weekdays at 7a and 1:30p.  Targeted to preschoolers through high school teens, AFNfamily is one of a group of TV channels operated by the Department of Defense.

Sesame Workshop heads to Mipcom this October 5-9, 2009, where it will offer a new slate of Sesame series, which are currently in development, as well as its new version of The Electric Company (26×3):

• Abby’s Flying Fairy School (13×8)  a CGI-animated series featuring Sesame Street’s Abby Cadabby and her friends, including Niblet who is part gerbil/part unicorn, as they attend Fairy School.  The CGI characters in Abby’s Flying Fairy School were designed by Peter De Seve (character designer for Ice Age).
• Munchin’ Impossible (26×5)  With the goal of saving the world’s cookies, The Man, a gingerbread man cookie that heads the CIA (Cookie Intelligence Agency) sends Cookie Monster out in the world to find healthy eating alternatives.  The short-form series is a mix of puppet and live-action content.
• Elmo’s Backyard (26×5)  as Elmo explores his own backyard, finding everything from a spider web to a frozen birdbath, the mixed puppet and live-action series encourages kids to learn through exploration.  The short-form series is based on a science education curriculum including process, exploration and vocabulary etc.
• 3-2-1 Let’s Go (working title, 52×30)  the original series is hosted by Abby Cadabby and features segments from Play With Me Sesame, Global Grover and introduce kids to Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventure, Sesame Workshop’s first claymation series.

Cookie Jar Entertainment and Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) launch the Busytown Mysteries website in Canada this week at www.busytownmysteries.ca or www.kidscbc.ca/busytownmysteries , which is, of course, based on the preschool TV series of the same name and in turn is based on the work of author Richard Scarry.  The Busytown Mysteries site invites kids to be residents of Busytown and offers a range of preschool-aimed educational interactive games, creative projects and activities and My First Email.

Anastasia Goodstein‘s Ypulse has joined with SurveyU, a college student survey and market research company, to establish Youth Pulse, Inc.  Together, the newly merged companies will offer news and commentary, events, research and strategy to youth-centric organizations.  Goodstein will continue to serve as editor-in-chief and VP of Ypulse Media.

Hooked on Phonics offers up a new look for its 20-year-old Learn to Read system.  Hooked on Phonics tapped FlickerLab, a design and animation studio, to redesign the property.  For the redesign, FlickerLab worked closely with Smarterville (which operates Hooked on Phonics) and Hooked on Phonics to create 13 hours of animation, as well as some live-action content, for nine new Learn to Read DVDs.  Targeted to K3-8, the new DVDs also incorporate current reading and literacy research to help kids learn to read.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

MARKETING/LICENSING

Nickelodeon/Viacom Consumer Products (NVCP) launches Mad Style by True Jackson, its new apparel and accessories line.  Available exclusively at Walmart stores, each item in the Mad Style by True Jackson range retails for $14 or under.  Based on Nickelodeon’s live-action series, True Jackson, VP, the new line is designed by Jane Siskin, President and CEO/ L’Koral.  Nickelodeon has also launched a microsite for consumers, which offers product images, weekly style tips, dress-up games and so forth, at www.nick.com/madstylefashions/ .

FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) inks new merchandising deals throughout Eastern Europe for the teen-targeted live-action series H20-Just Add Water.  New deals include: Argus spol (stationery) for Czech Republic and Slovakia; Egmont-Hungary (bi-monthly fan magazine, biannual poster magazine) for Hungary; and also in Hungary with M&C Publishing (back-to-school products, three series episode guides for release between April 2009  May 2011).  H20-Just Add Water is licensed to FME by ZDF Enterprises.

4Kids Entertainment and TC Digital Games names new international licensing agents for Chaotic, the trading card game and animated TV series.  New agencies representing Chaotic include: Blowfish Entertainment in South Africa (season one of Chaotic will air there on MNET); Brand Licensing Israel in Israel (season two of Chaotic joins season one on Noga TV next month); and in Turkey Sinerji Reklam will do the honors (Jojo TV has acquired the first two seasons).  Spin Master holds the exclusive worldwide license to design, develop and manufacture Chaotic toys, with plans to for a soft launch of action figures set for later this year, followed by a full rollout in 2010.  Activision will release the first Chaotic video game across EMEA early next year.  Additionally, H Grossman will produce a range of outdoor products including tents, bicycles and skateboards, while Dracco is creating confections including chocolate eggs.

I know it is August and hot … but close your eyes and think November for a moment and poof … it’s time for the 83rd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  After an absence of a decade, Marvel’s web-slinging super hero Spider-Man returns to the parade this year on November 26 as a new updated balloon.  The original Spider-Man balloon debuted in 1987.  Fans will be thrilled to know that the Spider-Man balloon will be part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade through 2011, which will happily put to rest (at least for a few years) the question most often asked at balloon blowing up on Thanksgiving eve (well, aside from is there a bathroom near by) … “When is Spider-Man coming back?”

STONE SOUP

Weekend Box Office for kids/tweens/teens rated G, PG or PG-13; August 14-16, 2009:
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Paramount) PG-13                            $22.3m-2 wk total $98.6m
Julie & Julia (Sony / Columbia) PG-13                                          $12.1m-2 wk total $43.3m
G-Force (Buena Vista) PG                                                           $6.9m-4 wk total $99.1m
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Warner Bros.) PG              $5.1m-5 wk total $283.9m
Ponyo (Disney)                                                                          Opening Weekend 3.6m
(500) Days of Summer (Fox Searchlight) PG-13                            $2.9m-5 wk total $17.9m
Bandslam (Summit Entertainment) Rated PG                                Opening Weekend 2.2m
Transformers: Revenge/ Fallen (Paramount (DreamWorks)) PG-13 $1.6m-8 wk total $396.8m
Aliens in the Attic (Fox) PG                                                          $1.4m-3 wk total $20.6m
The Proposal (Buena Vista) PG-13                                                $1.3m-9 wk total $157.7m
Source: Box Office Mojo ( www.boxofficemojo.com )

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Bright House Networks names Kimberly Maki as VP/Corporate Communications.  Maki will head the communications team across the company’s six divisions, while developing internal and external communications for the company’s products and services and growing community relations efforts.  She reports to Kevin Hyman, EVP/Cable Operations.  An industry veteran, Maki most recently served as Executive Director/Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers (SMPTE).

RATINGS

Live + Same Day Ratings Kids Cable Network Averages (000) for Friday, August 14, 2009, 6am-11pm, ranked by K2-11:
DISNEY CHANNEL:     K2-11 1225; K6-11 896; TWEENS 9-14 713
NICKELODEON:          K2-11 1117; K6-11 635; TWEENS 9-14 488
CARTOON NETWORK: K2-11   532; K6-11 399; TWEENS 9-14 341
DISNEY XD:               K2-11   194; K6-11 143; TWEENS 9-14 107
Source: MTVN Research from Nielsen Media Research Data

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:  The one inch tall elves, in the animated series The Littl’Bits, who’s mission in life was to live in harmony with all their woodland creatures and to avoid and evil witch, Scary Bit.  What was the name of the forest they called home?  FOOTHILL FOREST  Kudos to: David Stern-BARD Entertainment/NYC; Jesse Klausmeier-Nickelodeon/Burbank

Today’s Trivia Question:  What was the name of the tiny creatures who loved to build in a world of underground caverns, grottoes, lakes, and streams on Fraggle Rock?  (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: Only the second four correct answers from each time zone will be mentioned; and once you’ve been mentioned in any of the Cynopsis editions, you can’t be mentioned again that calendar week.)

Later — Gwen
 Gwen Billings for Cynopsis Kids!
08.18.09

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