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Rainbow seeks a new crock of gold
Six years ago, Rainbow Studios opened up the US market for European toons with a deal putting its Winx Club series on Fox. The success of that show not only stateside but in another 150 territories really put Italian animation on the map and has allowed Rainbow and others to reap the harvest.
 “At the time of its broadcast in the US, Winx Club was the most successful continental European animated series ever, paving the way for other European producers in the market, and proving that a property doesn’t have to be made in the US to make it in the US,” says Lisa Hryniewicz, recently appointed head of business development at the Ancona-based studio.
Now Rainbow is hoping to do it again with its latest series, PopPixie (left, 52x13’), so far licensed to Italian pubcaster Rai TV and France 3, which is set to debut in spring 2010. Featuring the same big-eyed magical characters as Winx Club, the show is aimed at five- to seven-year-olds and is the creation of Rainbow CEO and creative powerhouse, Iginio Straffi.
It follows cute pixies from Pixiville, their magical animal sidekicks, the grisly gnomes, and a gang of surly teenage elves. “Comedy, adventure and feel-good themes promote self-esteem and positive role models,” goes the show’s promotional material, with Hryniewicz citing pre-sales covering 20 territories. Japanese toy giant Bandai is attached as master toy licensee.
 Aside from PopPixie, Rainbow has another new project in the pipeline that isn’t yet in production. With Silvia Brena (former director of Cosmopolitan Italy) attached, Maya Fox is aimed at teenagers and is based on a successful brand that already consists of a novel, a website, a blog and various magazines. “It’s dark and gothic,” says Hryniewicz. “It’s set in London and follows a fashion-conscious teen blogger who has psychic powers and is being pursued by a serial killer.”
Aside from the new products, the Rainbow team has existing toons to sell this season, Tommy & Oscar, Monster Allergy and Huntik, the latter fast turning into a global best-seller. The Rai Due show, coproduced with Big Bocca Productions of Holland and Germany’s M4E, has been sold to CiTV in the UK and TheCW4Kids in the US, among many other channels. Huntik has been acquired by Viasat 3 for broadcast in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and by Poland's Cass Film for home video, Hryniewicz adds.
The partnership with M4E extends beyond Huntik, however, and gives the German firm first-look rights to Rainbow’s new shows over the next five years, with M4E acquiring at least one show per year on a pre-sale basis. M4E and Rainbow will also coproduce a minimum of one show every two years.
Ed Waller
17 Nov 2009
© C21 Media 2009
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