Boat Rocker ships kids’ shows to Cannes

Danger Mouse is now distributed by Boat Rocker Rights

Canada’s Boat Rocker Rights (BRR) will be at MipTV next week with an expanded catalogue of children’s programming following its recent acquisition of FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment (FMKFE).

BRR bought FMKFE in January for an undisclosed fee, giving it rights to programming such as Bitz & Bob (44×11′), Danger Mouse (52×11′) and Tasty Tales of the Food Truckers (52×11′).

Along with FMKFE’s library of 1,600 half-hours of children’s programming, around a dozen staff, the majority of whom were based in the UK, have transferred to BRR, which is the commercial arm of Toronto-based Boat Rocker Media.

Boat Rocker CEO John Young recently told C21 that the company’s first European base, Boat Rocker Rights UK, is set to open in London soon.

BRR continues to distribute teen drama The Next Step, which is produced by Boat Rocker subsidiary Radical Sheep Productions and follows a group of dancers.

Meanwhile, Radical Sheep Productions, Jam Filled Entertainment, which Boat Rocker also owns, and MarcoPolo Learning, which Boat Rocker invested in last year, are currently in production on preschool series The Polos (52×5′).

Also on the BRR slate is Gudrun the Viking Princess (20×5′), produced by Mara Media for CBeebies in the UK. The show tells the story of a special little girl who lived in the wild lands of the north a thousand years ago, and is narrated by David Tennant.

BRR will be at Cannes market MipTV with a host of factual titles, including History in the Making from Crooked Horse Productions; Tougher Than it Looks and Last Stop Garage, from Proper Television; and Body Hack, from Essential Media & Entertainment.