UK, Arabic firms back CBeebies show

MIP NEWS: Twofour54 Ibtikar, the funding arm of Abu Dhabi’s Twofour54, has joined up with a UK indie to produce a children’s show in English and Arabic to air on preschool channel CBeebies.

Twofour54 and 3Line Productions, the indie founded by former ITV kids chief Estelle Hughes, will coproduce Driver Dan’s Story Train (left), which will debut in the UK in spring 2010 on the BBC’s preschool channel.

The deal with 3Line is part of the incubator’s ventures project, which targets businesses that are willing to be based at Twofour54 with investments ranging from US$500,000 to US$5m.

“With the deal to coproduce Driver Dan’s Story Train, Twofour54 is taking its first steps towards establishing a sustainable media and content industry in the MENA region,” said Twofour54 CEO Tony Orsten.

“The fact that we have already secured an agreement with one of the world’s leading children’s TV channels shows how great the programme is and we are sure it will be well received by Arabic TV channels throughout the region.”

Driver Dan’s Story Train is an animation and live-action TV series developed to introduce preschool children to storytelling and reading books.

The 52×11′ series was created by British illustrator and children’s author Rebecca Elgar, and features a cast of animated animals who read and explore a different children’s storybook in each show.

Estelle Hughes, director of 3Line Media and executive producer of the show, said: “It is well accepted in educational circles that introducing children to storybooks and reading at an early age is very important. The MENA region has one of the world’s fastest-growing child populations with an increasing demand for relevant and high-quality children’s content.”