By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
Toonz Media Group and Epic Story Media have partnered with celebrity chef Aliya LeeKong to produce a new animated series called Issa’s Edible Adventures.
Toonz, Epic and LeeKong will be jointly responsible for developing, financing, producing and distributing the new TV series.
“We’re extremely excited to work with Aliya and the Toonz team to bring this unique show and Aliya’s vision to a global audience,” said Epic Story Media president, Ken Faier. “The series will resonate with today’s families by celebrating different cultures and bringing people together…all through food. A guaranteed recipe for success!”
Epic Story Media will have exclusive distribution, licensing and merchandising rights for the series in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
Epic Story Media is a creator-driven entertainment company that specializes in growing children’s franchises through development, production, distribution, licensing, and brand management services.
Toonz Media Group will retain the distribution, licensing, and merchandising rights in all other regions across the globe.
Initially founded in 1999, Toonz Media Group is a full-service entertainment company that offers multi-platform services across content creation, production, distribution, licensing, animation, and more.
“Issa’s Edible Adventures offers authentic educational content for kids in an area where kid’s content is scarce—food,” said Toonz CEO, P Jayakumar. “The series is being developed into wholesome content with a focus on education, inclusivity, and adventure around the world. I am confident that this series will become a household name in the near future.”
The teams at Toonz and Epic intend to secure licensees for Issa’s Edible Adventures in categories such as publishing, consumer products, broadcasting, and more.
Issa’s Edible Adventures is a culinary adventure series that is centered around a young girl named Issa who aspires to become a chef like her mother.
The upcoming childrens’ series aims to tell multicultural, inclusive and multiracial stories using food, cooking and adventure as a narrative.
“After the birth of my first daughter, Asya, I realized there were no interesting food properties out there for kids nor was there a central character to be its ambassador – the way Doc McStuffins taught about wellness, for example,” said LeeKong.
“There were also very few characters that were multiracial and multicultural, which I clearly think is important for children, like my daughters, to see. And, thus, Issa’s Edible Adventures was born – combining my own loves of food, cooking, travel and kids.”
Representatives from Toonz Media Group will be present at R7 L23 at MIPCOM’s Italian Pavilion from October 14 to 19 for licensing and merchandising inquiries regarding Issa’s Edible Adventures.
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