Nish Media

Nish Media-produced dramatic feature Rustic Oracle has been acquired by Reel 2 Reel Films for release in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland in Q2 of 2021. Created, written and directed by Mohawk filmmaker Sonia Bonspille Boileau, the film made its world premiere at Vancouver International Film Festival in 2019. The deal – negotiated by Hewes Pictures’ head of sales and acquisitions Princeton Holt on behalf of the producers, and Andy Taylor of Trinity Creative Partnerships – includes a limited theatrical run in the U.S.

The project, filmed in Kanesatake Mohawk Territory (Quebec), is set in the late 1990s and tells the story of an eight-year-old girl who tries to understand what happened to her big sister Heather, who vanished from their small First Nations community. Nish produced the film, with Carol Whiteman executive producing and Jason Brennan producing. In Canada, 7th Screen is handling distribution. The film was released on VOD in Canada in November. The film stars Carmen Moore (Outlander, Blackstone, Cardinal, Arctic Air), Lake Delisle (Blood Quantum) and McKenzie Deer Robinson.

Boat Rocker Studios

Boat Rocker Studios has inked a number of international deals for its new animated preschool series Dino Ranch, including its first with European broadcasters. Following the January launch of the 52 x 11-minute series on Disney Junior in the U.S. and CBC in Canada, Dino Ranch will also head to the Canadian pubcasters’ French-language, free-to-air channel SRC and Disney Latin America.

Overseas, the 3D-animated series is headed to Germany’s Super RTL and TOGGO Plus; France’s free-to-air broadcaster Gulli and pay-TV channels TiJi; and general entertainment channels M6 and Gulli Africa. A number of Scandinavian broadcasters, including NRK (Norway), YLE (Finland) and DR (Denmark), have also acquired the toon.

Matt Fernandes created Dino Ranch, which revolves around a young ranching family as they explore the outdoors and tame dinosaurs. The series is produced by Boat Rocker and Toronto-based Industrial Brothers, with Boat Rocker managing global distribution and consumer products rights.

Gusto Worldwide Media

Russian pay TV broadcaster Red Media has acquired a third serving of Gusto Worldwide Media content in a new deal for more than 35 hours of content. Cook Like a Chef (20 x 30 minutes), The Latin Kitchen (15 x 30 minutes) and season two of One World Kitchen (24 x 30 minutes) will be available in Russia, the Baltic States and the Commonwealth of Independent States territories. This is the broadcaster’s third content deal with Gusto in just over two years. The first deal was in late 2018 and included 83 half-hour episodes and 200 hours of short form content.

With files from Kidscreen