Toronto-based curated subscription streamer Highball TV has acquired the global rights to Ivan Madeira’s Canadian feature film Pattern (pictured), setting a worldwide streaming launch on Friday (July 7).

The film had its worldwide festival premiere at the Montreal Film Festival in fall of 2022, and went on to screen at the ReelWorld Film Festival as well as the British Urban Film Festival. It was written, produced and directed by Madeira. Executive producers are Lisa Michelle Cornelius, Daniel Everitt-Lock and Al St. Louis, who also stars in the film.

The acquisition was negotiated by Niall Macpherson, Highball.TV’s head of programming and acquisitions, and Madeira.

Pattern follows a recently widowed man (St. Louis) dealing with his grief as he raises his newborn daughter alone while working remotely for a tech start-up.

WildBrain

Amazon’s Prime Video has acquired nearly 500 episodes from the Degrassi franchise in a deal with Toronto-headquartered WildBrain.

The 496-episode catalogue, which will launch on the streamer in Canada, Australia and New Zealand on July 18, includes a number of titles, including Degrassi Junior High, Degrassi High, Degrassi: The Next Generation, The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Talks, Degrassi Unscripted and Degrassi High: School’s Out. The catalogue does not include the most recent Degrassi series, Degrassi: New Class, which is available on Netflix.

A spokesperson for Prime Video told Playback Daily that the launch “will be the first time all of this content is available in one place.” The deal with WildBrain was brokered by Nav Saini, head of content, Prime Video, Canada.

OUTtv

OUTtv launched OUTtv Proud, a FAST channel created with Fuse Media, on Pluto TV on June 28 to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.

The deal helps Fuse continue to serve culturally diverse viewers in the FAST space, according to a news release. OUTtv Proud’s Pride Month programming included Cameroonian drag star BeBe Zahara Benet’s documentary Being BeBe, trans performer and activist Peppermint’s series Call Me Mother and the unscripted series Shine True.

“This Pride Month, we’re seeing the rights of LGBTQ+ people challenged if not threatened around the world. We’re thankful that our partnership with Pluto TV will greatly expand access to the people and their stories that reflect the authenticity and full diversity of this amazing global LGBTQ+ community,” said OUTtv CEO Brad Danks in a statement.

Cartoonito

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) channel Cartoonito has acquired CBC Kids preschool series Mittens and Pants for Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The series is produced by Toronto’s Windy Isle Entertainment, with Vancouver-based Thunderbird Entertainment’s distribution and consumer products divisions representing the show globally.

Mittens and Pants was commissioned by CBC Kids and Sky Kids in the U.K. Season two premiered on CBC Gem on Monday (July 3), and will land on CBC’s linear channel on Monday (July 10).

With files from Kidscreen