Portfolio Entertainment, a Canada- based global producer and distributor, will be launching two distinctive animated properties at the upcoming Mipcom 2019. Preschool series Hero Elementary will debut at MIP Junior, while primetime toon Doomsday Brothers will bring the Apocalypse to MIPCOM. The company also announced the start of a new era with its first feature film distribution slate, featuring Korean anime Ghost Messenger.
Hero Elementary is being produced for PBS Kids by Portfolio Entertainment and Twin Cities PBS. Portfolio is the global distributor for the series and holds licensing & merchandising rights. Hero Elementary is a school for kids with superpowers and a perfect place to train them. For the kids of Hero Elementary, inquisitive thinking and teamwork often lead to unexpected discoveries about science and the world around them, it also comes in handy when there is a problem or mystery to solve.
“We couldn’t be more excited about bringing Hero Elementary to this year’s MIP Junior and MIPCOM,” said Donnie MacIntyre, VP of Sales & Business Development, Portfolio Entertainment. “If there’s one thing we love to do at Portfolio, it’s bringing kids the most exciting, can’t-wait-to-see-what-happens-next adventures told with diverse characters in exotic locales, and also teach some valuable lessons along the way.”
Doomsday Brothers is set in a mutation-riddled, post-apocalyptic world. The series follows two dysfunctional survivalist brothers who are hired to become protectors of their rural hometown. But their best hope lies in finding a secret military super-bunker that could ensure the town’s survival for the next 200 years.
Commissioned by Canada’s Corus Entertainment for French and English broadcast and slated to premiere in Fall 2020, Doomsday Brothers will be co-produced by N12 Productions (Montreal) and Portfolio Entertainment with Willem Wennekers (Fugget About It, Kiss and Cry) as showrunner. Co-created by Alain Dagenais (N12 Productions), Liliana Reyes and Wennekers (Portfolio Entertainment). Portfolio holds worldwide distribution rights.
“Doomsday Brothers is a fresh and unique high concept comedy that has an oddball but relatable group of characters, perfectly suited for our primetime viewers,” said Hugues Dufour, Corus Entertainment. Lisa Olfman, CEO and Co-Founder, Portfolio Entertainment said, “We are delighted that Corus Entertainment has entrusted us to bring this inventive adult comedy to life. Doomsday Brothers is a perfect fit to fill the growing niche of primetime animation.” “We couldn’t be prouder of the combined efforts of our French and English creative teams and can’t wait to share this unique show with global audiences,” said Alain Dagenais, CEO, N12 Productions.
Ghost Messenger (78 mins.) is the first part of a feature-length anime trilogy from Seoul, South Korea-based Studio Animal. This film, aimed at audiences aged 14+, tells the story of Kang-Lim, a “ghost messenger” who travels from the Land of the Dead to retrieve rogue spirits who refuse to leave the physical realm when their time has come.
“After nearly three decades of success as a leading distributor in the kids, family and unscripted genres, expanding into feature-length content felt like the obvious next step for Portfolio Entertainment,” said MacIntyre. “The rapidly expanding market of VOD platforms around the world is creating new distribution opportunities for captivating, high-quality content in all formats, and this announcement we’re making today positions Portfolio to take advantage of these new opportunities.”
MipJunior, the world’s largest Kid’s content market, takes place on 12th and 13th October 2019 followed by Mipcom from 14th to 17th October 2019.
