BIG BOCCA PRODUCTIONS
ANNOUNCES
HUNTIK: SECRETS & SEEKERS
ON
TV IN AUSTRALIA
Weesp, The Netherlands (17 June, 2009) – BIG BOCCA Productions is proud to announce the TV launch of its action-adventure property, Huntik: Secrets & Seekers on Network 10 in Australia. The new series Huntik: Secrets & Seekers (52X1/2hr), is an original action adventure property, created by Iginio Straffi, the author of the Winx Club, and developed through a partnership between Big Bocca Productions, leading animation studio Rainbow S.p.A., and production company m4e AG. The Huntik: Secrets & Seekers animated series has been co-produced with Rainbow S.p.A. in Italy.
NETWORK 10 and SOUTHERN CROSS have committed to Seasons One and Two of Huntik: Secrets and Seekers (52X1/2hr) and have launched the series in Australia on May 28th 2009. The show is currently airing on Monday to Friday at 7 am.
This broadcast is backed up by a massive TV campaign from Upper Deck, our trading card licensee, with a min of 180 commercials running over 4 weeks on Network 10. A similar campaign has started on Southern Cross with 160 commercial spots as of June 1st 2009.
Upper Deck as main trading card partner has released the first products on March 20th and will be increasing the market coverage drastically. In store player demonstrations will be organized to teach kids how to play the games starting in June 09 and a rule reward program will encourage players to learn the game and potentially become judges themselves!
Huntik demonstration and beginners tournaments will be held at Supa Nova Pop Culture Expo Sydney in conjunction with Dark Moon Fair. Supa Nova Expo gathers the worlds of science-fiction, pulp TV/movies, toys, console gaming, trading cards, animation/cartoons, fantasy, comic books, entertainment technology, books, music, sport, internet sites and fan-clubs into one big roof.
Later on, in September, Upper Deck will be releasing the Huntik toy line to all major retailers. The toy line will display fully articulated action figures of the main characters and titans shown on the series.
Besides, Madman, our Huntik Home Entertainment partner in Australia and New Zealand is planning the first DVD launch on August 19, 09. This release will be supported by an important TV campaign on both Network 10 and Cartoon Network. A PR campaign within the main kid’s magazines along with trade advertising will also be part of the plan.
Merchantwise, Big Bocca licensing rep agent in Australia and New Zealand, is now presenting and pitching the brand to all major licensees and some deals will be announced shortly.
“We are delighted to get such a great coverage in Australia from both our broadcast partner Network 10 and our licensees, Upper Deck International and Madman. We trust that this massive launch campaigns will boost Huntik profile in Australia and New Zealand and will set the ground for a long lasting successful brand” said Marie-Laure Marchand, Managing Director of Big Bocca Productions.
“Upper Deck Oceania is pleased with the media and retail support for Huntik. With the program currently on air backed with a National TV & Press advertising campaign with includes additional promotions and giveaways and strongly supported by our retail partners, I am confident the Huntik brand will generate strong sales of Trading Cards & Toys in this marketplace’ said Mark Williams, Commercial Manager of Upper Deck Oceania.
Magic, mystery, mythology and adventure come together in Huntik: Secrets & Seekers, a fantastic new adventure property for kids aged 6-12. In the series, young Lok Lambert and Dante Vale travel the globe with their group of amazing Seekers, exploring exotic locations from the pyramids of Egypt to the jungles of the Amazon, seeking to unlock the ancient secrets of each locale.
Lok and his friends search for powerful spirit-warriors called Titans to use in battle against the evil Organization. Dante, Lok and the Seekers battle the Organization and its sinister mastermind, The Professor, for the fate of the world.
Huntik: Secrets & Seekers episodes has debuted in North America on The CW4Kids network on January 3, 2009, and on Rai 2 in Italy on January 12, 2009 and MNET in South Africa in January, 2009. The series will start in Germany on RTL II and in Finland on MTV3 in March, 2009. Huntik: Secrets & Seekers will also debut in 2009 in the rest of the territories which will give the brand an extensive international coverage.
In addition to serving as co-creator/producers for the property, Big Bocca Productions manages all marketing, promotional and licensing initiatives for Huntik: Secrets & Seekers in North America, Latin America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, Korea, Israel, Africa, Middle-East and Oceania. Rainbow is managing the Huntik property in Europe (excl. UK and GAS), South East Asia (excl. Sth Korea, China, Japan) and India. m4e is in charge of the German speaking territories.
About BIG BOCCA Productions
Big Bocca, a newly created entertainment company, specializes in the development, distribution and licensing of kid’s intellectual properties. The first production is ‘’Huntik Secrets and Seekers’’ which has been co-produced by the renowned Italian producer Rainbow in collaboration with m4e Germany.
Please visit www.huntik.com
About the Upper Deck Company
Upper Deck is a premier sports and entertainment publishing company, delivering a portfolio of relevant, innovative and multi-dimensional product experiences to collectors, and sports and entertainment enthusiasts. For more information on Upper Deck and its products please visit www.UpperDeck.com.
About Rainbow
Rainbow was founded in 1995 and quickly became a successful player in the sector of animated television series. Today the Rainbow Group is one of the leading independent cartoon production houses in Europe, for both the cinema and TV with highly successful and widely known properties such as Winx Club, Monster Allergy, Poppixie. Rainbow is one of the few studios in Italy that can handle all the stages of cartoon production in house.
About m4e AG
m4e AG is a brand management- and media company that is specialized on the development and utilization of high-value brands and intellectual property rights (IP-rights) in the German-speaking territories, as well as in Benelux through its subsidiary Telescreen B.V. m4e’s business areas are TV-production, licensing, home entertainment, merchandising, publishing, interactive & new media as well as the production of textiles and accessories through the subsidiary company Tex-ass Textilvertriebs GmbH.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Big Bocca Productions/Upper Deck
Marie-Laure Marchand
Tel: 33 1 44 59 50 06
mlm@big-bocca.com
Rainbow SpA
Francesca Barigelli
Francesca.rbw.it
Koko Media Consulting
Lisa Hryniewicz
Tel. +44 0203 249 0056
lisa@koko-media.com
m4e AG
Josef Hofer
T: +49-89-210195-55
hofer@m4e.de