London, Ont.-born writer-director Fawzia Mirza’s debut feature The Queen of My Dreams has secured a U.S. theatrical release through a co-distribution agreement with U.S. companies Willa and Product of Culture.

The collaboration between the companies represents Product of Culture’s formal entry into the film distribution market. The film will be released in select U.S. markets on June 20, followed by a release on digital streaming platforms.

The Queen of My Dreams is produced by co-founder of the Toronto and L.A.-based Baby Daal Productions Andria Wilson Mirza along with Jason Levangie and Marc Tetreault of Halifax-based Shut Up & Colour Pictures, who, with the film’s international sales agent LevelK, brokered the co-distribution deal with Willa and Product of Culture.

The Queen of My Dreams premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), making it into TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten for that year. The Canada/Pakistan dramedy follows a Pakistani-Canadian woman, at odds with her conservative Muslim mother, who goes on a Bollywood-inspired journey in Pakistan following a family tragedy.

The film stars Amrit Kaur (The Sex Lives of College Girls), Nimra Bucha (Ms. Marvel), and Hamza Haq (Transplant).

Yippee TV

U.S. streamer Yippee TV has acquired the second season of the Shaftesbury-commissioned preschool series Mini Explorers!

Mini Explorers! is produced by Hamilton, Ont.’s Turtlebox Productions. The 8 x 5-minute 2D animated and live-action, video game-inspired series premiered on the Shaftesbury Kids YouTube channel on May 5.

Atomic Cartoons

Atomic Cartoons’ LEGO® Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy has had a sequel series unveiled that is heading to Disney+.

The four-part sequel, LEGO® Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy – Pieces of the Past, was revealed on April 19 at the annual Star Wars Celebration and is premiering on the streamer Sept. 19. The sequel, like the original series, is produced by Vancouver’s Thunderbird Entertainment-owned Atomic Cartoons for Lucasfilm and Lego. Atomic’s Chris Buckley is the series’ director. The first mini-series was produced by Daniel Cavey and Atomic’s Dan Langlois.

Fubo

FuboTV, the sports-first live streaming platform, has signed an exclusive Canadian deal with the English Premier League (EPL), England’s top soccer league. Fubo will stream all 380 Premier League matches and related programming through a multi-year distribution agreement beginning with the 2025/2026 season.

Fubo first teamed up with the Premier League ahead of the 2022/2023 season. The renewed deal extends the partnership for another three years, recognising the Premier League as a key part of its programming. Fubo also exclusively streams Italian Serie A, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana matches.

Additionally, Fubo streams matches from Ligue 1, the Canadian men’s and women’s national team, the Canadian Premier League, Copa Libertadores and more.

In Canada, Fubo streams sports from MLB, the NBA, the NHL and cricket’s IPL across over 100 live sports, news and entertainment networks, while in the U.S., Fubo has exclusive rights to stream select European national team matches from UEFA.

Subscribers can stream Fubo programming in Canada from a mobile device, connected TV or web browser.

ATN

The Asian Television Network (ATN) has signed a deal with Zee Entertainment Enterprises for the exclusive Canadian rights to its three popular channels – Zee Punjabi, Alpha Punjabi and “&TV.” The new channels join ATN’s growing roster of channels catering to Canada’s South Asian communities.

ATN Zee Punjabi is a Punjabi-language channel that offers a diverse mix of content featuring premier entertainment celebrating the Punjab heritage as well as drama, movies, reality and lifestyle shows. ATN Alpha Punjabi’s range of programming features Punjabi cinema, music, cultural shows and spiritual content.

In India and around the world, “&TV” is a general entertainment channel that launched in 2015.

All three Zee channels are now available through major cable, satellite and licensed IPTV providers across Canada.

ATN serves Canada’s diverse cultural communities with over 50 specialty television channels. The network is also a broadcaster of cricket in Canada and has exclusive broadcast rights for various international cricket boards.

With files from Kidscreen and Media in Canada

Image courtesy of Cineplex Pictures