News

The animation world is buzzing with excitement, and it’s all thanks to a German collaboration! Little Dream Entertainment and Tradewind Pictures are joining hands to produce an animated feature, ‘Tafiti — Across the Desert.’ Stuttgart-based Sola Media is taking the reins on launching this film at AFM.

Here’s a quick peek into the story. Imagine a young meerkat named Tafiti who befriends a bush pig called Bristles. While friendships in the desert come with challenges, Tafiti doesn’t think twice before jumping to the rescue when Bristles faces danger. Their bond strengthens when a poisonous snake bites Tafiti’s grandpa. Now, only one thing can save him – a mystical desert flower. While Tafiti believes he should venture alone, Bristles reminds him that adventures are more fun together.

This isn’t just about an exciting tale of two unlikely friends. The brains behind this project are equally compelling. The talented Nina Wels is directing,...

Exclusive: A pair of German production houses has teamed for animated adventure feature Tafiti — Across the Desert, which Sola Media is launching at AFM.

Tradewind Pictures and Little Dream Entertainment are making the CGI-animated film in association with compatriot Sola, and production has begun in Germany. Nina Wels is directing with veteran animation director Timo Berg a core part of the team. Helmut G. Weber and Thomas Springer are producing.

Tafiti is being made in English and scheduled for release in 2025. Sola, which is part of the Embracer group-owned Plaion (fka Koch Media), has worldwide sales and will unveil first footage in Santa Monica next week.

Synopsis reads: “When Tafiti, a young meerkat, meets Bristles, the bush pig, he knows they can’t be friends. ‘Meerkats stick to their own!’ is what grandpa has always told him,...

German-Austrian media group buys independent distribution outfit.

Independent film and home entertainment distributor Koch Films has taken over 100% control of the Wiesbaden-based Ksm as a part of a strategy to raise the profile of the film division within the Koch Media Group.

According to Koch Films’ Jochen Walter, who will now assume management of Ksm with Stefan Kapelari from the hands of the company’s founder Benjamin Krause, this acquisition will enable Koch Films to expand its portfolio in Germany and add an anime-focused segment since the Ksm Anime label has developed into the second most important in German-speaking territories.

Bordeaux, France – Director Salvador Simó (“Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles”), production company Submarine and distributor Sola Media have won the Tributes Awards at this year’s Cartoon Movie, Europe’s biggest animated feature co-production and sales forum which closes today in the French port city of Bordeaux.

“Buñuel,” Spaniard Simó’s solo feature debut, chronicles Luis Buñuel’s making of documentary “Land Without Bread” in the remote mountains of Western Spain. Simó shows how with the film, Buñuel found his creative voice, a mix of surrealist esprit and social critique.

“Buñuel” is a production of Spain’s Sygnatia in co-production with The Glow Animation Studio and Dutch outfit Submarine. Antonio Saura’s Latido Films has closed sales in main territories including North America, where it has acquired by Gkids, the U.S. distributor of 11 animated feature Oscar nominations.

Submarine took Cartoon Movie’s Producer of the Year kudo.

Claude Barras’ “Savages!,” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli’s “Tales of the Hedgehog” and Peter Dodd’s “King of the Swamp” are among the sixty-six projects –a 10% increase from last year– to be pitched at the 21st Cartoon Movie, Europe’s leading animated movie co-production event, which will take place in the French port city of Bordeaux, kicking off March 5.

Projects will be offered to buyers and potential partners in different stages: 28 in concept, 24 in development, seven in production and seven sneak previews.

“Savages!” is the much-awaited sophomore project from Switzerland’s Barras, following his multi-awarded and foreign-language Oscar nominated “My Life as a Zucchini.” A stop-motion feature, “Savages!” is produced by France’s Prélude in co-production with Switzerland’s Helium Films. It tells the story of the friendship between 11-year-old Kéria and a Bornean orangutan baby. They will be forced to flee from Kéria’s father who wants to...