• Company Secures a Four – Movie - Agreement With Universum Film

Studio 100 Media GmbH, the German entity of the global family entertainment group Studio 100 which is responsible inter alia for production and international sales, has signed a major deal with Universum Film GmbH to distribute several of the company’s film projects into the German speaking territories. Munich based Universum Film GmbH, one of Germany’s leading distributors, secured the rights for the classic feature length animations Maya The Bee – Movie, Vic The Viking – Movie, Heidi – Movie and Blinky Bill – Movie. The first theatrical feature to be released will be Maya The Bee – Movie with a premiere in German cinemas in September 2014.

Set against the backdrop of a longstanding hatred between bees and hornets, Maya is born into a hive where conformity rules. Her funny attempts to fit in and “be a bee” immediately bring her into conflict with the Queen’s Royal Advisor – a narrow-minded control freak. When Maya stumbles onto the Advisor’s plot to steal the Queen’s royal jelly and blame it on the hornets, the evil Advisor manipulates Maya into leaving the hive. With her best friend Willi tagging along Maya buzzes out into the meadow on an exhilarating adventure of self-discovery. Where does she fit in? And how will she find a way to defeat the Royal Advisor and prevent a nasty battle between the bees and hornets?

Maya The Bee – Movie is an Australian-German co-production between Studio 100 Media and Buzz Studios. Executive producers are Patrick Elmendorff, Managing Director of Studio 100 Media and Jim Ballantine, Head of Buzz Studios, who has worked in the animation sector for over 25 years taking on key roles at the Walt Disney Company on projects such as The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under and Brother Bear as well as on Nickelodeon's The Ren and Stimpy Show, for which he was nominated for two Emmy Awards. Producers are Barbara Stephens (The Woodlies) for Buzz Studios and Thorsten Wegener (Momo) for Studio 100 Media. The movie produced in 3-D stereoscopic is directed by Alexs Stadermann (Director, Head of Story, and Senior Animator for Disney and Aardman Studios on films such as The Wild Bunch, Bambi 2, Tarzan 2 and The Lion King).

The character “Maya the Bee” has been popular globally for over a century and loved by TV audiences for the past 35 years. Produced in the 1970’s, the original series was a captivating blend of fun-filled, thrilling adventures set in a lush environment. The contrast between Maya’s regimented hive life and her desire to be free and to experience the world on her own terms are part of what endeared her to generations of viewers.

Commenting on the cooperation with Universum, Studio 100 Media’s Managing Director Patrick Elmendorff said, “Through a well renowned and respected partner such as Universum Film, we are delighted to have the opportunity to fulfill a long held ambition of offering Maya and our other wonderful feature film projects to German speaking audiences. We have found an ideal partner in Universum Film and look forward to working with them now and in the future.”