British clay animation house Aardman Animations has signed Player X to distribute its premium mobile video content in North America. Player X will launch Aardman classic content such as the Wallace & Gromit, Angry Kid and Creature Comforts shorts on two major U.S. carrier networks with other deals expected to follow. The deal was brokered by Aardman’s global mobile agent, Crucible Media.
Player X already distributes Aardman mobile video across Scandinavia and on O2 UK. Later this month the company will launch a dedicated Aardman channel on O2 UK, and will distribute upcoming original made-for mobile content based on such Aardman properties as Purple and Brown and Shaun The Sheep. The mobile distributor is also sponsoring an Aardman short film competition and will acquire exclusive global rights of the winning entry after judging concludes later this quarter.
In December of last year, Player X launched its mobile TV channel, geekTV, with U.K. operator 3 UK, and has recently sold the channel in a number of territories including India, Chile and Scandinavia. The company boasts direct deals with more than 100 global operators and a potential audience of more than two billion people.
After making the animated features Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Flushed Away with DreamWorks Animation, Aardman is currently working to set a deal with another North American studio for its movie business. On the broadcast side, the company is bringing Chop Socky Chooks to Cartoon Network and TELETOON, Shaun The Sheep to BBC and WDR, and an American version of Creature Comforts to CBS in the U.S.
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