There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the shows Andrew Fitzpatrick and his Dublin-based Monster Distributes shingle are taking to the MIPTV market this year. ‘We have a lot of unusual animation,’ he notes. ‘We have three Oscar-nominated shorts (Give Up Yer Aul Sins, Harvey Krumpet, and The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello), the first animation series from Zimbabwe (Jungle Beat) and the first adult animation series from New Zealand (bro’ Town).’
Billed as The Simpsons of the South Pacific, bro’ Town centers on the misadventures of four Auckland teens growing up in the big city. It’s based on the grown-up comedy of the Naked Samoans theater group and brings humor to tough issues such as racism and violence. The 13×30 package is available for international sales and a new season has already started production.
Also up for grabs is Jungle Beat, a 13×5 collection of self-contained CG-animated episodes from Zimbabwe’s Sunrise Prods., who also made the award-winning feature The Legend of Sky Kingdom. Each segment features a different animal in a bizarre and wickedly funny situation.
Monster is also offering Brown Bag Films’ I’m an Animal, a 52 X 2 show aimed at preschoolers. Kids get to watch beautifully animated episodes in which various animals introduce themselves and talk about who they are and what they do. Scheduled for a June delivery, the show has already sold in Europe, Asia and Canada. Among the buyers are Rai TV, Ontario, Knowledge Network Canada, Cartoon Network Australia, Cable TV in Hong Kong, Sanctuary UK, Hungama TV for Indonesia, Malaysia and India, and Al Sayyar in the Middle East. For more info, visit www.monsterdistributes.com
