PGS secures over 10 public broadcasters across the world for Moominvalley by Gutsy Animations

Award-winning entertainment distributor PGS Entertainment has secured leading public broadcasters worldwide for Gutsy Animations’ Moominvalley, the new TV adaptation of the Finnish writer and artist Tove Jansson’s classic and much-loved Moomin stories. The most expensive animated TV series coming out of Europe, Moominvalley is produced by Gutsy Animations, which is based in Tove Jansson’s Finnish hometown, Helsinki. Commissioned by Yle (Finland), Sky (UK) and NHK (Japan), the new public broadcasting partners that have recently come on-board include France Television FTV (France), ZDF (Germany), RAI (Italy), NPO ZAPP (Netherlands), RTS (Switzerland), Radio Canada (Fr. Canada), RTBF (Fr. Belgium), Czech TV (Czech Republic), ERR (Estonia), MTVA (Hungary), RTP (Portugal), Once Nino (Mexico). Other partners on the brand include Canal+ & Puls TV (Poland), Medialaan (Fl. Belgium), Kidzone (Baltics), Talit & Noga (Israel), Jeem TV (UAE), Qualson (South Korea) and Youku (China). PGS Entertainment is the global distributor of the series excluding the UK, Finland, Japan, South Korea and China.

Moominvalley has won several awards at distinguished festivals and competitions around the world, including Best Children’s Series at British Animation Awards (2020) and Best Animated Kids Programme at TBI Content Innovation Awards (2019). The commissioning broadcasters Yle and Sky successfully started broadcasting the series (26×22’) in Spring 2019, as did NHK in Japan. In Finland, the series saw record-breaking ratings, with one in four Finns tuning in to watch the first episode (Little My Moves In), that is, 1.5 million people! That success continued on the VOD platform, where the show became the #1 program on Yle Areena, with an average audience size of 348,000 (period between Feb. 25 – April 24). Moominvalley was the most watched TV series in Finland 2019 (all channels and platforms included). The season 1 soundtrack has reached over 20 million streams on Spotify alone.

The series is the creation of creative director and executive producer Marika Makaroff, Oscar®-winning director Steve Box (Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit), Emmy-award-winning producer John Woolley (Shaun the Sheep) and Louise Holmes, and award-winning scriptwriters Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler (Peter Rabbit). The shared passion for the family of white and roundish trolls with large snouts brought on board a stellar voice cast, which includes Rosamund Pike (Moominmamma), Taron Egerton (Moomintroll), and Matt Berry (Moominpappa) and Kate Winslet (Mrs Fillyjonk). The original music score is composed by three Finnish composers, Samuli Kosminen, Jarmo Saari and Pekka Kuusisto, and the dedicated soundtracks are distributed by Sony Music. It includes original music from MØ, Tom Odell, First Aid Kit, Alma, Delilah Montagu, Declan McKenna, SOAK, and many more.

Beginning with the first Moomin story published in 1945, the original Moomin books have been translated into over 50 languages. The Moomin brand is one of the most successful licensing properties in the world, with annual revenues close to a billion dollars. The lavishly produced CG series (each episode costing approx. 1 million euros), made with state-of-the-art 3D CGI with 4K deliverables, targets both family and kids. The brand-new adaptation of the beloved works provides rich stories and laughter to both lifelong Moomin fans and complete newcomers alike. The star of the show, curious and idealistic Moomintroll, with his extraordinary family and whimsical friends, takes us on a grand adventure into the magical world of Moominvalley. The powerful outreach of the show lies in its strong narrative and its familiar, loving stories of optimism, openness, and deep connection with nature.

“First Moomin stories were written by Tove Jansson over 75 years ago during World War II. She wanted to tell stories with happy endings for people who lived in fear and chaos – acting as a reminder of happiness and safety. These stories are now adapted to the new Moominvalley series and the values that Moomins carry – friendship, love, kindness, respect for nature, equality to name a few – are needed now more than ever. Each episode brings hope to everyone.” said executive producer Marika Makaroff.

“The incredible public broadcasters that we now have on-board shows the power and strength of the brand, amply justified by its unrivaled legacy and the quality of the production and storytelling in the series.  Moominvalley will surely continue to deliver massive success to our partners around the world,” said Philippe Soutter of PGS.

As seen on: www.c21media.net/intl-pubcasters-head-to-moominvalley/

www.animationmagazine.net/tv/global-tv-streaming-news/

www.kidscreen.com/2020/04/09/deals-of-the-week-gutsy-cloudco-silvergate