Toonz takes over Telegael

Mondo Yan follows three unusual young heroes who fight monsters

India-based animation firm Toonz Media Group has acquired a majority stake in Irish full-service production house Telegael.

Telegael coproduces animated and live-action content for a range of international partners and broadcasters, with more than 1,000 hours of TV to its name since being founded in 1988.

The deal extends Toonz’s footprint in Europe and adds further pre- and post-production facilities to its animation business, as well as a large live-action studio.

It comes after last year’s announcement that Toonz, Telegael, Spanish broadcaster TV3 in Catalunya and Toonz-owned Spanish producer Imira Entertainment would be coproducing the CGI comedy series Mondo Yan (52×12′).

Telegael is handling part of the pre-production and all post-production of the series, while Imira is responsible for worldwide distribution of the series.

Toonz said it would increase its in-house development and IP creation business with Telegael’s design and pre-production division, amounting to a “significant increase” in European production, with titles to be distributed by Imira.

Paul Cummins, CEO of Telegael, said: “The Toonz deal provides Telegael with exciting opportunities to further grow our IP and service production by becoming part of a dynamic global entertainment group with involvement and expertise in 2D and 3D production, visual FX, global distribution, financing, gaming, licensing and merchandising.”

Toonz Media Group was founded in 1999 and also has a presence in New Zealand and Turkey. It also includes digital arm Toonz Media Network and Toonz Gaming.