Toronto-based IP creator and kids franchise company Epic Story Media (ESM) has partnered with Middle East and North African (MENA) prodco Bidaya Media to bring The Adventures of Mansour: Age of AI to the global market.

The 2D animated series (pictured) joins ESM’s “growing portfolio” of franchises slated for this year’s MIPTV, according to a news release.

ESM will act as the content and licensing agent, and represent the sci-fi action series globally, outside of MENA and China territories, to secure broadcast rights across multiple linear and streaming platforms, said the release.

Set in the future, the series follows the titular protagonist, a 12-year-old tech-wiz, as he deals with ramifications of upgrading his sister’s favourite robotic gerbil plushie toy, which subsequently wreaks havoc on the technologically advanced world of Salam City.

The Adventures of Mansour: Age of AI is a reboot of the Mansour series, which currently has more than two billion views on YouTube with more than 25 million unique viewers, said the release. Developed and produced in both English and Arabic, Bidaya plans to produce four seasons of Age of AI, with the first 26 episodes slated for Q3 2023.

Mainframe Studios

Vancouver’s Mainframe Studios has partnered with Halifax-based gaming entertainer and streamer Nick Eh 30 on a new animated eSports series.

Endurathon is created by Mainframe Studios’ president and CCO Michael Hefferon and writer Larry Raskin, who will also executive produce the series alongside Nick Eh 30 and Mainframe’s SVP content Gregory R. Little.

The series ditches controllers and avatars to combine eSports with American Ninja Warrior, featuring VR game environments produced in Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5 in a “battle royale tournament divided into five connected quests,” said the release.

Aimed at eight-to 14-year-olds, the series will feature celebrity streamers in recurring and cameo appearances, including Nick Eh 30. Formally Nicholas Amyoony, the Fortnite streamer has cultivated a reputation as a family-friendly content creator and has amassed approximately 4.3 million followers on Twitch and 7.7 million subscribers on YouTube.

KO Distribution 

Montreal-based KO Distribution, the distribution arm of Canada’s KOTV, has unveiled its slate for MIPTV, highlighted by new competitive singing competition Zenith. 

Joining Zenith in KO’s MIPTV slate are the limited series Double Fault featuring Eric Bruneau (Coroner, La Nuit où Laurier Gaudreault s’est réveillé) as well as the ensemble series Fragments written by Serge Boucher (Fragile, Apparences, Feux), according to a news release.

MIPTV runs from April 17 to 19 at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France.

Image courtesy of Epic Story Media Inc.