Hoho Rights, the commercial arm of kids’ production company Hoho Entertainment, announced that award-winning preschool series Hana’s Helpline (52 x 10’) is launching in China on Tencent and MangoTV, two of of the country’s most popular VOD channels.
Tencent Video, which has over 900 million mobile monthly active users and around 90 million subscribers, has signed a five-year deal for non-exclusive VOD and exclusive TVOD rights to the show in Mandarin. MangoTV’s five-year deal is for non-exclusive SVOD. The deals were brokered by Chinese distribution specialists The Media Pioneers, a London-based U.K.-China media group.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing this beautiful stop-motion series to preschoolers in China and it’s been a pleasure working with Maggie and her team to make this happen,” said Helen Howells, Joint Managing Director, Hoho Ent. “Hana and her friends are there to remind little children that they should never fear talking about their problems, no matter how big or small.”
Maggie Liang, MD, The Media Pioneers, said, “We are proud to represent Hoho Rights to distribute Hana’s Helpline, a classic and innovative IP, to the Chinese market. The show’s concept and characters bring fun and positivity to kids and their families. We believe Chinese audiences will enjoy the show and fall in love with Hana and her friends.”
Produced by Wales-based Calon TV for S4C and Channel 5, Hana’s Helpline is a stop-motion animation series about a dedicated duck “agony aunt” who is always a phone call away from those in need. The series deals with the kind of social and emotional issues that young children experience when they first start going to school. Together with her son Francis, Hana helps animals with all sorts of problems, whether it’s a giraffe that’s being bullied because it’s so tall or a little duck that’s too scared to go swimming. Her patience and sympathetic response either helps them solve the problem, or cope with it if it can’t be fixed.
