3 April, 2008
London, 03rd April 2008 – Fireworks International, the television distribution arm of ContentFilm plc, today announced a range of deals for titles from the Harmony Gold library, secured by the distributor since its agreement last year to handle international sales for the catalogue, which comprises over 300 hours of programming.
Harmony Gold’s flagship series Robotech — the classic science-fiction anime title recently acquired by Warner Bros. for feature film production in association with Toby Maguire’s Maguire Entertainment — continues to prove massively popular with buyers worldwide. The Robotech series and epic feature film Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles have been picked up by Space for English-speaking Canada, Divisa Red for Spain and Portugal, and ITA for Internet SVOD rights in Australasia. Teledifusora in Paraguay has picked up the series for broadcast, whilst TFI Video has acquired Home Video/VOD rights for the feature film in France and French-speaking Europe.
LAPTV has acquired two feature films for Latin America — quirky comedy Dirt and teen comedy of errors Going Down. Suspenseful thriller Heart of Fear has been picked up by One Films in Spain, and VRT will broadcast live action family feature film Abe & Bruno in Flemish-speaking Belgium.
Additionally, DARO has picked up a range of titles for Africa – the compelling thriller The Man Who Lived at the Ritz; action adventures The Lost World, Return to the Lost World and Around the World in 80 Days; Golden Globe nominated Heidi and the saga of power and passion King of the Olympics. Finally, home video rights for the epic mini-series Shaka Zulu have been acquired by Force Video for Australia and New Zealand whilst E.BisMedia has acquired TV and Internet VOD rights to Around the World in 80 Days and the celebrated classic television series The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin for Italy and Italian-speaking Europe.
Saralo McGregor, Executive Vice-President at Fireworks International commented today, “We entered into the agreement to distribute the Harmony Gold catalogue last year confident that we could continue to build upon its already proven success in the international marketplace. This significant range of deals with diverse buyers worldwide is a fantastic indication of the continuing appeal of the Harmony Gold titles and our commitment to marketing them, and we look forward to negotiating further acquisitions at the upcoming MIP-TV market”.
About Fireworks International
Fireworks International, a division of the UK’s ContentFilm plc, acquires and distributes an extensive slate of television programs, feature films and digital content throughout the world. Fireworks’ library of over 2300 hours of programming includes JPOD, thirteen-one hours of comedy drama full of amusing and evil twists; BLOOD TIES, twenty-two hours of mystery drama with a touch of the supernatural; HEAVY Worldwide’s newest comedy and animated series as well as library from the highly successful U.S. digital brand HEAVY.com; kids’ gothic horror comedy series YOUNG DRACULA from CBBC; comedy series THE JANE SHOW and mystery drama series WHISTLER; along with action/adventure series Gene Roddenberry’s ANDROMEDA, MUTANT X, and RELIC HUNTER; children’s programs BLACK HOLE HIGH, 100 DEEDS FOR EDDIE MCDOWD, CAITLIN’S WAY; plus over 200 U.S. network miniseries and TV movies of the week; and over 100 theatrical feature films, and specials including the 2006 and 2007 Annual U.S. PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS shows. About Harmony Gold Harmony Gold has been active in the production, acquisition and distribution of quality international titles since its inception in 1983, producing some of the television industry’s classic and history-making programs. See www.harmonygold.com or www.robotech.com for more information. Harmony Gold: Working in Harmony, to make Gold for over 20 years.
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For further information, please contact:
Fireworks International: Jennifer Brinkworth Vice-President, Marketing and Communications
Tel + 00 44 (20) 7851 6517
www.contentfilm.com
