Barcelona-based production and distribution company Icon Animation has changed its name to Imira Ent. to reflect an expansion into the areas of live action and new media. Still dedicated to animated content, the company has just signed TV deals in Asia for several of its cartoon series, including Rat Man, Go!Go!Pig, Vitaminix and Lola & Virginia. Imira will be attending ATF 2007 to secure additional deals for its library.
Rat Man, one of Imira’s third-party properties, has sold to HBO Family Channel Asia as part of a pan-Asia agreement. A co-production between Stranemani SRL and Rai Fiction, in collaboration with DQ Ent., the show is represented by Imira in Italy, Japan, the UAE and India. The company has also sold all TV, home video and VOD rights to Italian producer Maga Animation’s Olympics-themed Go!Go!Pig to Taiwan’s Power International Group. The series currently airs on Nickelodeon Italy.
Following sales to Disney Channel Asia and Hong Kong Cable, the Imira-produced healthy-eating series Vitaminix has been acquired by free TV channel RTM in Malaysia. Meanwhile, the international hit series Lola & Virginia extends its presence in Asia through a licensing and merchandising agreement with Empire Int’l for South East Asia. The show currently performs well on Nickelodeon Asia’s channels in Brunei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Palau, Mongolia, Thailand, Cambodia, Macao, the South Pacific Islands and Taiwan. It also airs in China and Hong Kong, with ancillary deals signed for home video and merchandising for both key territories.
