US-based production companies Fat Rock Entertainment and Layalina Productions have entered a five million dollar joint venture with Jordan’s Rubicon to produce a thirteen episode children’s series created to address the cultural void that exists between the US and the Arab world.
Rubicon and its investment partners, along with Layalina, have joined together to contribute and raise the production budget for the project, stated a press release. The three party agreement and the financing strategy for the project was put together by Atoka International in Washington.
The series will be produced in both Arabic and English languages and the programs. Distribution will be principally for the DVD market. The production will also air on satellite and television broadcast networks both in the Middle East and in the United States.
The production, entitled Ben & Izzy will follow the exploits of two pre-teen boys, one Arab and one American. The boys meet in Amman, Jordan, where their respective grandfathers, who are life-long friends, are working on a massive archeology excavation project.
The mischievous boys become friends, and through their adventures uncover an ancient treasure room containing a time travel mechanism that takes the boys back to great historical moments in the Middle East and the United States that illustrate to the boys the similar values and cultural developments that are shared by both cultures today.
The creative team will be lead by the multiple Emmy winning animation producer, David Pritchard. Writing teams and animation teams selected from both the Arab and American creative communities will join the project’s executives. Distribution partners are being lined up and will be announced shortly.
Jordan-based Rubicon is one of the foremost 2D and 3D animation studios in the Middle East, working with international movie studios in addition to its growing relationship with regional networks such as the Arab Radio & Television (ART) and the Cartoon Channel. The company is also active in the fields of e-training and e-education, database-driven websites, enterprise solutions, corporate profiling, web-topped internal policies and procedures, orientation presentations and web marketing. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
