Toronto’s Stratagem Studios has launched a joint venture with Kleinburg Film Studios (pictured), which is located just north of the city. The new partnership expands Stratagem Studios’ footprint in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area to 400,000 square feet of stage and production support space, and provides it with “the largest backlot in Toronto,” according to a news release.

Stratagem Studios will handle all sales, marketing and studio operations of Kleinburg Studios, which will be rebranded to Stratagem Kleinburg Studios. Kleinburg offers unique features, such as a six-acre backlot with paddocks and barns.

The venture “is an important strategic move for Stratagem that firmly positions us on the Toronto and Canadian map,” said a statement from Michael Cerenzie, CEO and founder of Stratagem Studios, which has been home to productions including Marvel Studios series Hawkeye.

Crave

Crave has inked a new partnership with Sweden’s Viaplay Group to deliver more than 150 hours of Nordic programming to its subscribers through Viaplay Select. The content is now available and has a focus on the “Nordic noir” genre, according to a news release.

Available for streaming are more than 25 series and films, such as Norway’s Furia, Sweden’s Partisan, and English-Swedish copro Threesome. Viaplay Select has already brought Viaplay titles to 19 countries, with more on the way in 2023, said the release.

Viaplay is also planning a direct-to-consumer launch, said a statement from Vanda Rapti, Viaplay Group chief commercial officer, North America & Viaplay Select.

Syndicado

Toronto-based sales and distribution company Syndicado has acquired four series from Winnipeg’s Farpoint Distribution, a division of prodco Farpoint Films. The lineup comprises of more than 100 hours of true-crime, investigative and lifestyle programming, for sales and distribution in the U.S., U.K. and other international markets.

The first title, Targeted for Murder, explores murders committed with guns. Almost Unsolved is another true-crime series, exploring murder cases where investigations either stalled or went cold, until detectives, scientists, or even amateur sleuths broke them open again.

Secrets, Lies & DNA Ties is a docuseries that follows a pair of passionate “DNA detectives” as they solve family mysteries each week. And Caught revolves around murderers who initially walked free but were ultimately tracked down and brought to justice.

Sphere Animation

Barcelona-based distributor GoldBee has closed three new broadcast deals for preschool series The Game Catchers (52 x 7.5 minutes), produced by Montreal’s Sphere Animation and Studio Bozzetto in Italy.

British channel CBeebies has acquired all linear and streaming rights to the 2D/CG-animated series, which will be dubbed with British voice actors for a more local feel before it launches this spring on linear TV and iPlayer.

Pubcaster RTÉ has also picked up free-to-air and non-linear rights in Ireland, with Ceska Televize buying free-to-air rights in Czechia. They join existing broadcasters Knowledge Network (Canada), YLE (Finland), Canal Panda (Spain) and MediaCorp (Singapore).

Distributed worldwide by Goldbee, The Game Catchers was co-commissioned by RAI and Radio-Canada in 2021. It premiered on preschool channel Rai Yoyo at the end of that same year, and both lead broadcasters have committed to a 52-episode second season.

KO Distribution

Montreal’s KO Distribution has completed a deal that gives France’s Mediawan Prod the option rights to all European, French-speaking territories for the new competitive singing competition Zenith.

The KOTV original-concept weekly series launched on ICI Radio-Canada on Jan. 19. It sees singers from different generations competing against each other onstage in front of an audience made up of 100 judges who are also grouped by generation: Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z.

French-Canadian TV and radio personality Veronique Cloutier hosts the series, which runs over 13 weeks and features 24 artist-singers — six per generation.

Brain Power Studio

Newmarket, Ont.-based Brain Power Studio has optioned the screen adaptation rights to the romance novel The Flower Girl Bride by U.S. author Dana Corbit Nussio.

This is the second time Brain Power Studio has optioned a book by Nussio after it adapted her Harlequin novel Child In A Manager in 2019 into the retitled film Baby In A Manger, which was licensed to Super Channel’s Heart & Home, UPtv in the U.S., Channel 5 in the U.K., M6 in France and an additional 50 territories.

Brain Power Studio discovered The Flower Girl Bride on the romance creator app and web platform LUV, according to a news release. The story, about a flower girl and ring bearer who reunite 25 years later, is part of Brain Power Studio’s commitment “to producing heartwarming content for a global audience,” said a statement from Beth Stevenson, founder and executive producer, Brain Power Studio.

Wattpad Webtoon Studios

Los Angeles-headquartered global talent company UTA has signed Toronto-based digital content platform Wattpad Webtoon Studios for worldwide representation. The deal will see UTA help expand the studio’s business across areas including film, television, animation, and audio, according to a news release.

The global entertainment and publishing arm for Webtoon and Wattpad currently has more than 100 projects in development or production worldwide. It recently wrapped production on young-adult film Boot Camp with Vancouver’s Great Pacific Media, adapted from Gina Musa’s Wattpad webnovel of the same name.

With files from Realscreen and Kidscreen