MUMBAI: It was champagne popping time on the French Riviera at MipTV earlier this month for India?s leading animation studio DQ Entertainment. The company announced that it had struck several deals and notched up healthy business in the Palais des Festivals in Cannes where MipTV is held.

Among the deals that DQ Entertainment (which is also into gaming, entertainment production and distribution) signed include:

• A strategic partnership with Rollman Entertainment, US for the co-production, distribution, licensing and merchandising of animated and live action TV series, feature films and new media content targeted for the global marketplace. The two companies are targeting five television series by 2016 with budgets totaling approximately $35m and a slate of animated features.
• A co-production agreement with ZDF Enterprises, for a new HD TV series to be called The Jungle Book Safari. The 26x12 minute series will include live action documentary footage together with animated sequences from The Jungle Book.
• Its licensing deals are expected to notch up $2 million in revenues over the next three years, the company says.
   

The first one is for Italy with with De Agostini, which has acquired the broadcast, video, licensing and merchandising rights for Italy for the first season (26x22 episodes) of The New Adventures of Peter Pan, an HD CGI animated TV series. The show is to be broadcast on Sky Italia and RAI Television.

Then DQ Entertainment concluded an agreement with Nick for the broadcast of three of animated TV series - The Jungle Book (2 seasons), Galactik Football and Suraj - The Rising Star for the Indian market.

Israel is another country where DQ Entertainment is leaving its footprint with leading independent TV content provider Noga Communications acquiring the broadcast rights of The Jungle Book Season 2 and The Jungle Book TV special, Robin Hood and 5 & IT.

For the Thai market, Thailand?s Work Point has acquired free TV and home video rights of The Jungle Book TV series, and Season 2 of The Jungle Book Safari. Finally, DQ Entertainment has given the free TV rights of Season 1 of The Jungle Book to RTM (Escalada), Malaysia.

MUMBAI: Hyderabad-based DQ Entertainment plc has won three contracts and is associated with two new productions.

The company has entered into a co-production agreement with TF1, the major French broadcaster, and Method Animation for the new 3D animated TV series of Robin Hood. TF1 will hold the broadcast rights for the Robin Hood series for France and French speaking territories. It has also signed a co-production agreement with Minika TV, ATV?s new Turkish kids network.

DQE has also entered into a co-production agreement with Gaumont Alphanim France, the principal rights holders for the new 3D animated CGI TV series Lanfeust.

Alphanim has acquired the rights for Lanfeust of Troy, a long running French language comic series written by Christophe Arleston drawn by Didier Tarquin and published by Editions Delcourt. While Alphanim will produce the series and handle all of the creative aspects as co-producer, DQE will be responsible for animation production.

The global territories, including France and other French speaking territories and backend revenues from all sources of income, will be shared between Alphanim and DQE. The series is to be backed by French Broadcasters M6 and Canalj.

Said DQ Entertainment chairman and CEO Tapaas Chakravarti, "These agreements will help us expand our content library whilst embarking on new and exciting ventures which have exciting commercial opportunities globally."