Wind Sun Sky’s Adventures of Team Pom wins MipJr pitch competition
The team behind The Adventures of Team Pom at MipJunior today
MIPJUNIOR: The Adventures of Team Pom, an animated comedy series about kids with a shared passion for synchronised swimming, has won the MipJunior pitch competition here in Cannes.
Produced by Vancouver-based Wind Sun Sky (WSS) Entertainment and based on Filipina illustrator Isabel Roxas’ comic book series of the same name, the adaptation is aimed at kids aged from eight to 12.
Its three main characters are misfits and also members of their town’s worst synchronised swimming team. However, they find that by owning their quirks and eccentricities, it makes them great at tackling the spate of mysteries that start happening in their neighbourhood.
The project was pitched by WSS’s MD, kids Jo Redfern, a former Disney and BBC exec who joined the Canadian company over the summer.
The panel of judges who selected the project consisted of Edward Barnieh, VP of development BBC Studios Kids & Family; Kerstin Viehbach, commissioning lead for kids fiction at Super RTL; Rick Clodfelter, exec director of content acquisitions and partnerships at Disney Branded Television; and Yuanchang Sun, director of international coproduction and IP investment (kids) at Alibaba-Youku. The pitch competition was moderated by Christophe Erbes, creative producer at Godo Films.
Clodfelter said the empowerment shown in The Adventures of Team Pom is “in the spirit of” The Powerpuff Girls and Totally Spies! “I really felt that this had moments for heroism and hilarity, particularly from three characters that are relatable and a little different and quirky,” he said.
“We’ve looked at [each project in terms of whether it] is going to be valuable from a platform perspective, a brand perspective and what is going to have the most impact to our current industry and the audience.”
Also pitched during the panel were Andy Wants to Be Famous from France’s Cosmic Productions; Flora from Paulo Muppet-led Brazilian prodco Birdo; Kidz on Climate from KMTV in the UK; and Wild Skies from Ireland’s Studio Meala.
