French production company Cross River has signed a development agreement with the Canal+ group for the hybrid TV series project Virtual Past, which will blend animation and live-action sequences. Aimed for a family audience and children 8 and up, the 13 x 26′ serialized comedy features a modern family played by live actors, who are projected via a VR game into a larger than life (animated) epic era: the Middle Ages.
Synopsis: To bring together his family on the verge of implosion — and with the excuse of making ends meet — Lucas Lambda, a 12-year-old obsessive gamer, manages to convince Laetitia, his control freak mom; Loic, his immature father; and Laurie, his social media-obsessed sister; to test Virtual Past, a new VR game that immerses players and their five senses into an authentic Middle Ages… full of glitches!
The creative team includes writers Jean-François Henry and Jacob Henry (Kaeloo, Trolls of Troy, The Pirate Family, The New Adventures of Lucky Luke), animation director Pascal David (Rabbids Invasion, Captain Biceps, Chronokids) and art director/character designer Yann de Préval (Spongo, Fuzz & Jalapeña, Muffin Jack & Jeremy, Meet Buck). On the live-action side, the cast as well as the choice of the director are to be announced.
Aside from this newly announced partnership, Cross River is staying plenty busy. Currently in production:
- Season 2 of Handico (12 x 3′ new episodes) with Lumni; the series answers kids’ questions about living with disabilities.
- 3D series Boon and Pimento (30 x 1’30”) with Xilam TV
- Mor Israeli’s new short film Journey with My Dad
- Pilot episode for teen/adult series Little Cheeky, based on the book by Capucine Lewalle and Benoît Drigny (published by Hugo & Cie).
