Sydney, Australia-based newcomer SLR Prods. is set to begin production on an animated series based on the best-selling Deadly children’s book series by Morris Gleitzman and Paul Jennings. Yoram Gross-EM.TV will serve as the Australian animation studio and distributor for the 13×30 show, which is financed through the Distinctively Australian Fund run by the Film Finance Corp. Australia and has been pre-sold to Aussie broadcaster Network Nine.
Deadly will be the first series from SLR Prods., which was founded by Suzanne Ryan in 2003 as a joint venture with New Zealand production company South Pacific Pictures, producers of the hit indie feature, Whale Rider. Ryan will produce Deadly, with David Evans directing and Ryan and Geoff Watson of Yoram Gross-EM.TV serving as exec producers.
Ryan comments, "I have no doubt that the television series of Deadly will have a huge national and international appeal. Morris Gleitzman’s and Paul Jennings’ wonderfully inventive world is an animator’s dream and it is fantastic that a project like this can be fully financed from Australia."
Deadly will premiere on Nine Network in 2005. Also in the works at SLR Prods. is I Got A Rocket! The Australian/U.K. co-production between SLR and Taffy Ent.’s U.K. unit is based on the popular Australian picture book of the same name by Matt Zurbo and Dean Gorrissen. The trailer was launched at MIPCOM earlier this year.
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