Acamar Films has sold their kids series Bing to a slew of international broadcasters.
The series has been sold to Australia’s ABC, S4C in Wales, Irish broadcaster RTE, SVT and DR in Scandinavia, Belgian broadcaster VRT and Minimax across Eastern Europe. The company has also inked global distribution partnership with Aardman, whose specialist teams will sell Bing in a range of key territories; while Acamar will continue to oversee sales in the USA and Japan.
Based on the books by Ted Dewan, Bing follows the three-year old eponymous character, who like all three year-olds is energetic, playful and engaged with the world around him. As he encounters new experiences, a combination of enthusiasm and inexperience can sometimes lead to disappointment. Bing’s constant companion is his carer Flop. The series was originally commissioned by CBeebies and features the voice of Mark Rylance. Brown Bag Films and Tandem Films co-produce.
In addition to the sales of the completed series, The Licensing Company has also lined up a range of licensing deals on behalf of Acamar. The company has reached an agreement with Egmont, who will develop a Bing magazine – which will launch this December in the UK, Eire, Germany, Russia, Austria, Switzerland and the Nordic region. Meanwhile, Ravensburger has also signed up to produce a range of Bing themed puzzles, to be released in the UK this Christmas. These agreements follow previous deals for a new range of toys and TV tie in books.
“We’re thrilled. The response to the launch of Bing on CBeebies in the UK this summer has been overwhelming and it’s exciting now to be working with our international broadcast and licensing partners to reach a global audience for our work”, said Mikael Shields, CEO of Acamar Films. “We honestly think the Aardman team are the best in the industry so it feels like an intelligent choice for Acamar to enlist them to help us to build on BING’s success.”
While Alix Wisemen, Head of Sales and Acquisitions at Aardman, added: “From the moment we first saw Bing we were mesmerised. It is a rare thing to find a show so meticulously executed and we are truly thrilled to have secured the rights.”
