Seville

New York-based distributor Kino Lorber has picked up the U.S. distribution rights to the award-winning Canadian documentary Anthropocene: The Human Epoch. Entertainment One (eOne) subsidiary Seville International inked the deal at Sundance Film Festival in Utah, where the doc had its U.S. premiere. Kino Lorber has slated a theatrical release in Sept. 2019 to coincide with the UN Climate Change Summit. The doc will be released on Kanopy, a streaming platform that provides free access to films for colleges and public libraries in the U.S., shortly after. Seville has also scored additional international deals at Sundance with Groupe Mediawan for French-speaking Europe, NonStop Entertainment for Scandinavia, Against Gravity for Poland, Moviecloud for Taiwan and Fondazione Culturale N. Stensen with Valmyn Distribution for Italy.

eOne

Across the pond, eOne has scored the international distribution rights to Inside the Crown. The documentary shows the real stories about Britain’s royal family that were dramatized for Netflix hit The Crown. eOne’s Kate Cundall, VP acquisitions, international distribution, secured the deal with Spun Gold, which gives eOne distribution rights worldwide, except for the U.K.

DHX

WildBrain, a subsidiary of DHX, has been appointed by IMPS (International Merchandising, Promotion and Services) as the YouTube manager of the Smurfs brand worldwide. As part of the deal WildBrain will take the reins on 41 existing localised Smurfs channels. WildBrain will be responsible for implementing a strategy to grow The Smurfs‘ global audience, beginning with optimizing the distribution of The Smurfs TV series, along with the rest of the brand’s content catalogue.

Guru Studio

Toronto-based Guru Studio has appointed Playmates Toys as global master toy partner for its upcoming preschool series Pikwik. The agreement will see Playmates launch figures, playsets, vehicles, plush and roleplay items everywhere in the world except China. Pikwik was picked up by Disney Junior last year, and is set to hit screens in the U.S., Australia/New Zealand, Korea and India in 2020. Guru has also inked a broadcast deal with U.S. streamer Hulu for the series.

With files from Kidscreen

Photo courtesy Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, Edward Burtynsky