TORONTO and LONDON, UK – Boat Rocker Media is doubling down on children’s content after buying FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment, headquartered in London, UK, with offices in New York and Hong Kong. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Established in 2010, FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment has built a portfolio of more than 45 brands consisting of over 150 series and 1,600 half hours of programming for children from pre-school to tweens/teens. The division will be integrated into Boat Rocker Media’s global distribution arm, Boat Rocker Rights, immediately expanding its scale and capabilities, particularly in European and Asian markets.
Current FremantleMedia Kids productions include Season 2 of Danger Mouse and Season 1 of Bitz & Bob with BBC Children’s; Season 1 of live-action sketch comedy, The Who Was? Show with Netflix and Penguin Young Readers; and animated comedy, Tasty Tales of the Food Truckers with Shellhut Media. The expanded Boat Rocker team will also be taking a development slate of original IP and adaptations that will begin rolling out as soon as next month at Kidscreen.
“We are incredibly excited that today, Boat Rocker solidifies its place as a leading global provider of truly original kids and family content,” said Boat Rocker Media CRO Michel Pratte, in the news release. “This expansion is the perfect complement to Boat Rocker’s curated group of kids & family companies, including Jam Filled Animation Studios with over 450 2D and 3D animators, Radical Sheep as well as our investments and production partnerships with the breakout studio Industrial Brothers and innovative start up Marco Polo Learning.”
“We are incredibly proud of the business we’ve built and the amazing characters we have brought to families around the world”, added Sangeeta Desai, FremantleMedia’s group COO and CEO of emerging markets. “We are thrilled that the business will continue to grow and develop under Boat Rocker.”
