The Producers
Eye Present Ltd, the London based animation studio has signed a development deal with new Irish prodco, Pictor Productions to co-produce animated content based on Tomi Ungerer’s book ‘Flix’ published by Diogenes Publishing House in Zurich/Switzerland with whom an option agreement has been signed.
Who is Flix?
Flix is about a young pug dog being brought up in Cat Town by cat parents. Flix enjoys eating fish and climbing trees but also likes to visit his Dogfather in Dog Town where he enjoys singing and swimming. He likes his cultural mix and deflects any criticism with great one-liners and a few clever pranks.
“Flix is about making the best of your differences – we are all equal and we are all different. Everyone has something to offer. Flix shows us that with comedy you can overcome any dogstacle.” Tomi Ungerer
Flix was first published in 1997 in many countries including Germany, France and the US and “is a delightfully witty and lighthearted look at race relations” – Publishers Weekly
“Looking through all of Tomi’s work, Flix is the book we all identified as having the most potential. The premise provides endless humour and inventiveness for this little dog living in the world of cats and of course contains allegories that touch every kid.” Says Aria Ungerer, Founder of Pictor Productions.
Development
“We are working directly with Tomi and Aria in the development of Flix, and taking early development materials to the Animation Production Day in Stuttgart and MIFA in Annecy this year to get market feedback and to find the right format and target for this title, we are currently working on Flix as a character and some storylines. His world is already very clear.” Says Jules Coke, Producer at Eye Present.
Tomi Ungerer is a French illustrator and writer in French, German and English. He has published over 140 books including ‘The Three Robbers’, ‘Moon Man’ and ‘The Mellops’. He was awarded the international Hans Christian Anderson Medal in 1998 following the publication of ‘Flix’ for his lasting contribution to children’s literature.
Eye Present is a CG animation studio based in London. The company’s mission is to identify, develop and produce intellectual properties with unique provenance. The company offers a unique blend of creative skills coupled with an unrivalled ability to raise finance from a mix of broadcast, distribution, public and private funding. We are co-producing ‘Chucka Bops’ with CBeebies, brand managing ‘Messy Goes to Okido’ and developing ‘Xephos & Honeydew’ based on the Youtube phenomenon.
Pictor Productions is a new Irish production company that aims to primarily bring to the screen the work of Children’s book author and artist, Tomi Ungerer. It has been founded by Aria Ungerer, Tomi’s daughter. Aria Ungerer was Associate Producer of the award winning documentary “Far Out Isn’t Far Enough – The Tomi Ungerer Story” and consulted on the animated feature adaptation of “Moonman.”
Diogenes is the German language publisher of Tomi Ungerer’s works since 1960 and represents all translation rights and film rights to the works by Tomi Ungerer.
Squint/Opera is an established and award-winning multi-disciplinary creative studio employing over 100 people across offices in London, Melbourne, Mumbai, Sao Paolo and Dubai. All production, from concept through execution in print, brand, digital, still and moving image and sound, is undertaken in-house.
Flix Announcement – Press So Far: