Mongrel Media

Mongrel Media has picked up the Canadian rights to Grace of Monaco, which is slated to open the Cannes Film Festival this year (screening out of competition). The film, directed by France’s Olivier Dahan, follows the personal struggles of Oscar-winning actress Grace Kelly after she became Princess Grace of Monaco following her marriage to Prince Rainier III. Grace of Monaco stars Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly, and Tim Roth as Prince Rainier III.  The film is produced Stone Angels and YRF Entertainment, with Uday Chopra, Pierre-Ange Le Pogam and screenwriter Arash Amel all serving as producers.

Entertainment One

Entertainment One and The Weinstein Company announced the extension of their feature film output agreement in Canada. The agreement has been extended through Dec. 31, 2019, which will see eOne continue to distribute The Weinstein Company’s slate of content across all media in Canada. The deal was negotiated between eOne’s Nelson Kuo-Lee, Richard Rapkowski and Patrice Theroux and The Weinstein Company’s David Glasser, Irwin Reiter and Andy Kim.

Video Services Corp

Video Services Corp has acquired the North American rights across all platforms to Happy Slapping. The entire piece was shot on smartphones, with the five actors in the film doubling as cameramen. The distribution deal was negotiated by One Man Band Films’ Christos Sourligas and Jonathan Gross of Video Services Corp. Happy Slapping is slated for a spring 2014 release, and was produced and developed with Telefilm Canada’s participation.

DHX Media

DHX Media-owned preschool properties Teletubbies and In the Night Garden are bolstering their retail presence in China following new licensing agreements with BBC Worldwide Asia and Shanghai V-Pop. The agreement with Shanghai V-Pop is for the Chinese home entertainment rights to Teletubbies, with DVDs launching at retail this year. This deal further expands the reach of the preschool brand in China, where it already holds a roster of licensees including Phoenix, Hangzhou- Z-Shine and Chinoco. Teletubbies was the first western preschool property to air on state broadcaster CCTV, reaching an audience of 300 million children. The overarching deal complements DHX Media and BBC Worldwide’s sub-agent agreement with UYoung Media Group, which was appointed this year to spearhead a licensing and merchandising push for In the Night Garden in China, where it airs on CCTV. In the Night Garden is also making strides over in the U.K., where interactive publisher P2 Entertainment is set to launch a new branded app. Developed by London-based digital creative agency Scary Beasties, the app will target preschoolers with a release on iOS and Android scheduled for next month. Both Teletubbies and In the Night Garden were welcomed into the DHX family following the company’s purchase of UK-based Ragdoll Worldwide for US$27.7 million in cash last September.

–  With files from Kidscreen