26 June, 2006
LONDON, 26 June, 2006 – Fireworks International has concluded a raft of sales agreements around the world from its expanding kids’ catalogue, including deals with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Disney Channel, RTE Ireland, Jetix Europe, Euro TV, Gama Taktik and Ambang Entertainment Sdn Bhd.
Fireworks kids’ live action series BLACK HOLE HIGH, which chronicles the weird and wonderful capers that go on at Blake Holsey High, (aka Black Hole High), continues to be extremely popular this year with a new agreement in place and a number of renewals already signed. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has licensed all four seasons for a total of 42 episodes. Additionally, Season 4 – the grand finale – has been acquired by Buena Vista International, Inc. for its channels in Latin America, Asia, Australia & New Zealand. Jetix Europe has also acquired Season 4 for its channels in the UK, Spain, Scandinavia, Netherlands and Israel and Euro TV has licensed the series for France and French-speaking Europe and Africa. BLACK HOLE HIGH is currently licensed in over 80 territories throughout the world.
EVEN STEVENS, the kids’ comedy series that highlights the comical sibling rivalry between an over-achieving sister and her mischief-making brother, has been re-licensed by RTE Ireland and Buena Vista International, Inc.
OCEAN STAR: THE QUEST, an adventure series involving two big-city kids who embark on an exciting journey to find a rare pearl worth a king’s ransom, has been licensed by Gama Taktik for RTM in Malaysia, and CHUCK FINN, featuring the adventures of Chuck, his gang, and two fun-loving ghosts, has been acquired by Ambang Entertainment Sdn Bhd for Brunei.
Saralo MacGregor, Executive Vice-President Worldwide Distribution, commented, “We are pleased to offer our clients consistently well-made programming appealing to children and teenagers from all around the globe. Our continuing success with series such as BLACK HOLE HIGH and EVEN STEVENS confirms our position as a market leader in quality kids’ series.”
BLACK HOLE HIGH: 42 x ½ hours (Produced by Brewster (BHH) Productions)
Black Hole High chronicles the strange capers of five teens in a secret after school science club. Together, they deal with everything from personal magnetism to their friends becoming invisible. The cast of characters includes Josie, a rebellious misfit with awesome analytical ability; Lucas, a conspiracy theorist extraordinaire; Vaughn, the most popular boy in school with a suspicious family past; Corrine, a driven over-achiever who, with Josie, proves that science is not just a boy’s game; and Marshall, a self-proclaimed geek and proud of it.
EVEN STEVENS: 65 x 1 hours (Produced by Brookwell McNamara Entertainment) Even Stevens follows the escapades of the loving sibling rivalry between Louis and Ren Stevens. Ren is the school’s living legend, a dedicated overachiever whose reputation casts a giant shadow. She embarks on each day as a challenge waiting to be conquered. This would be easy enough if it weren’t for the ill-timed, madcap antics of her younger brother Louis. He is the class clown whose good intentions innocently go wrong. Louis can’t imagine why Ren is always losing her composure when he’s around. Whether he’s swapping his sister for a trading card or vying for her spot in the school talent show, the pair always manages to work things out.
OCEAN STAR – THE QUEST: 13 X ½ hours (Produced by BBHTV in association with Network Ten Australia)
Ocean Star follows Trent and Dylan Steadman, typical big-city kids, who are packed off to a small town to live with their father, where life threatens to become pretty grim. Sure enough, things are worse than they imagined, and the local kids seem more fierce than the unfamiliar wildlife. When Trent believes an old seaman who tells him the mystery of the Ocean Star , a priceless cluster of pearls he lost when his boat was lost in a cyclone, the locals give him a hard time. However his persistence pays off, and together the kids embark on a quest that takes them on a journey more exciting, difficult and dangerous than any of them ever anticipated.
CHUCK FINN 26 x ½ hours (Produced by Barron Television for Seven Network and the BBC)
Chuck Finn is a comedy-adventure series about Charles ‘Chuck’ Finn, a modern, hip, wisecracking young fellow, reluctantly dragged from the urban jungles of North America to the outback of Australia. At first, his only wish is to go back to Toronto, but with the gathering together of the gang of misfits who become his friends, Chuck eventually finds the new home and companions he longs for beneath his cocky and often abrasive front. The series centres around a once-derelict paddle steamer named the Tingalla Rose and the attempts of Chuck and his crew mates not only to get it back on the river, but to run it as the successful working vessel it was at the turn of the last century. There are many hindrances to this dream, not least being that the vessel is haunted by the amiable but unpredictable ghosts of two former passengers!
About Fireworks International
Fireworks International, a division of the UK’s ContentFilm plc, acquires and distributes an extensive slate of television programs and feature films throughout the world.
Fireworks’ library of over 2000 hours of programming includes the new comedy drama The Jane Show, the mystery drama series Whistler, drama series Zoe Busiek: Wild Card, action/adventure series Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda, Mutant X, Relic Hunter, and The Collector; children’s programs Black Hole High, 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd, Caitlin’s Way and Streetsmartz, plus over 200 US network miniseries and TV movies of the week including Blonde for CBS and A Wrinkle in Time for ABC, along with some 100 feature films.
For further information, contact:
Sam Witters Tel: +44 (0)20 7851 6518 Email: [email protected]
