Mondo TV to build broadcast partnerships at ATF in Singapore

Mondo TV, one of the largest European producers and distributors of animated content, is highlighting a number of major series at this year’s Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) in Singapore, the leading entertainment content event in Asia for professionals to converge, connect, and collaborate, taking place from 5-7 December.

Mondo TV, which will be on stand G34, aims to build broadcast partnerships across Asia for its properties, and in particular Invention Story, Sissi the Young Empress, MeteoHeroes and Heidi Bienvenida.

Invention Story is the tale of Kit, an intelligent, thoughtful and creative fox who, in each episode, comes up with an amazing new invention, making a lot of friends – and a few jealous enemies – in the process. This is a major commitment for co-producers Mondo TV and Henan York Animation. The first season – 104 11-minute episodes – is on the way, but 520 episodes are planned over five seasons. This is a show with a lot to offer: it’s funny, entertaining and character-rich. It’s also instructive and educational, with Kit attempting to build a new invention in every episode. Kit’s inventions and tools, along with the distinctive characters, personalities, houses and locations, also add up to a strong licensing offering in toys, games, publishing and more.

Mondo will also be highlighting the continuing success of Sissi the Young Empress at ATF. The animated adventures of the free-spirited empress who resists etiquette and the duties of the court to follow her heart has been a big success with its target audience of young girls in many countries. Canada, Germany and Austria are the latest territories to launch season one (26 x 26’). These agreements follow the recently announced major three-year deal with DBS children’s channel JeemTV, through which Sissi has been showing in Arabic from July 2018 in a number of countries.

Season two of Sissi the Young Empress (26 x 26’) is now airing in a number of markets. A third series in 3D (52 x 11’) will completely renew the content and format and come with an expanded licensing campaign.

MeteoHeroes is the newest addition to Mondo TV’s roster. A project announced in summer 2018, it’s a Mondo TV co-production with MOPI (Meteo Operations Italia – better known to the public as the Epson Weather Centre) of a new animated TV series that will consist of 52 episodes of seven minutes each. It is scheduled to launch in 2020.

The show addresses issues like climate change, ecology and respect for nature through the amazing adventures of six children who transform into superheroes with power over the weather.

This is the first animated series aimed at an international audience that deals specifically with the topic of climate change. The delightful stars of MeteoHeroes – superheroes and ordinary kids at the same time – will be reaching out to new generations – the ‘digital natives’ – and raising awareness of the subject of climate change and energy saving as well as offering action-packed entertainment for their young audience.

Interest in the project has already been expressed by a number of broadcasters and potential licensees. In fact there’s very strong potential for this new series in both consumer products and school-and-learning-related items. Among key partners already signed up for this exciting project is publishing house Giunti Editore with an exclusive agreement covering press and digital master publishing for Italy. Giunti Editore products will accompany the TV launch of MeteoHeroes.

After conquering its home markets in Latin America, season one of Heidi Bienvenida (60 x 45’ or 120 x 24’) is performing strongly in a number of other markets. Mondo’s first live-action show, produced by Mondo TV Iberoamerica along with Alianzas Producciones, is becoming something of a phenomenon for pre-teen and teen audiences in Italy in particular, where the adventures of the happy, carefree girl who leaves her beloved mountain home to live in the big city have attracted big audiences on Rai Gulp.

Season two (60 x 45’ or 120 x 24’) is on the way soon – plus a Heidi Bienvenida film, the first feature film in the history of Mondo TV.

Matteo Corradi, Mondo TV CEO, says: “Asia is the fastest-growing region in the entertainment content industry and Mondo TV is expecting a strong response to its powerful and growing roster of hit shows at this major content event for the Asian market. We believe a portfolio that covers animation and live action with an appeal to children, tweens, teens and families, will attract many of Asia’s biggest broadcasters to stand G34, where we are looking forward to telling them more.”