Portfolio Introduces ‘Where Oliver Fits: A Christmas Eve Tale’ Special, Shorts

Poster for animated Christmas special called Where Oliver Fits: A Christmas Eve Tale, developed and written by Andrew Sabiston, 2021

Thank you to everyone at Portfolio for making the development and writing of this Christmas special and series of shorts such a joy to be a part of! Getting in the Christmas spirit during the summer of 2020 sure helped with the pandemic blues.

By Mercedes Milligan | Published on June 4, 2021

Portfolio Entertainment’s award-winning animation studio, in partnership with the CMF/SRF Digital Animated Series Program and Corus Entertainment’s Treehouse TV, has produced a brand-new family Christmas special, Where Oliver Fits: A Christmas Eve Tale, and an accompanying series of 9 x 2.5′ shorts based on the hit Canadian children’s book Where Oliver Fits by Cale Atkinson. The heartfelt animated comedy special and series explore the challenges of not knowing where you fit in with your friends, and how to be yourself.

bulbKIDZ Launches with Pre-K Original ‘Gopher It!’

Poster for adventurous edutainment series called Gopher It! about a young gregarious gopher created by Andrew Sabiston and Ron Rubin 2021.

Beyond thrilled to have had our original preschool property “Gopher It!” (co-created with the wonderful Ron Rubin) selected by bulbKidz for their launch. Looking forward to the adventures ahead!

By Mercedes Milligan | Published on April 20, 2021

A new Canadian-U.S. kids entertainment company bulbKIDZ has launched, with industry veterans Nancy Aries Koff and Kiersten Halstead at the helm, announcing their first original preschool animation project, Gopher It! (52 x 11’). Working with Award-winning Canadian creators Andrew Sabiston (Super Wings, The Remarkable Mr. King, Ranger Rob, The Moblees) and Ron Rubin (Beetlejuice, X-Men, Avengers, Care Bears), this Canadian production is now in development, planned for Fall 2022 (Season 1) and Spring 2023 (Season 2).

How Blue Socks is bringing Nelvana to Africa

Ranger Rob Nelvana

How great to see Ranger Rob’s world expanding!

The distributor has already lined up a handful of deals in the country amid a growing demand for educational kids content, says EVP Neill Warren. Article by Ryan Tuchow

Corus-owned Nelvana has appointed North Carolina-based Blue Socks Media as its distributor in Africa. Blue Socks plans to build on the success it’s had selling its own content in the region, and is confident it will be able to penetrate the market with Nelvana’s IPs, says EVP of distribution of licensing Neill Warren.

AOLA ANIMATION SIGNS GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION DEAL FOR ORIGINAL SERIES ‘KIKI & NUNA’

Kiki and Nuna

Congratulations to everyone at Suzhou Aola Animation Technology Co. Ltd. in China! I’m thrilled to have been a part of the development of this heartwarming preschool series.

Hong Kong-based MediaLink Group will distribute Chinese animation studio’s new CG preschool show, set to launch in summer 2020. 
By Dan Sarto

Chinese animation studio Aola Animation has signed a pre-sales and distribution deal with Hong Kong-based distributor MediaLink Group for its new original CG preschool series, Kiki & Nuna.

NELVANA GREENLIGHTS TRIO OF PRESCHOOL SHOWS

The Remarkable Mr. King image for article 2019

The development of THE REMARKABLE MR. KING has been a remarkably rewarding experience with a team that’s been such a joy to work with. Thank you, Geneviève Côté, for writing such a beautiful book series. We all can’t wait to do you and Mr. King proud as we move forward into production!

Head of development Athena Georgaklis dishes on the innovations that moved Mr. KingP.U.R.S.T. Agent Binky and Miss Persona to the top of the slate.
By Alexandra Whyte

Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana is revamping its slate with three new preschool productions—live-action Miss Persona, comedy-action series P.U.R.S.T. Agent Binky and 2D-animated Mr. King. From shorter production cycles to digital-first rollout—all three shows have some special quality that marks new territory for Nelvana, and they’ll hit the market at MIPCOM next month before debuting on Canadian preschool network Treehouse.