Online children’s entertainment channel Toon Goggles is busy signing distribution deals to get its programing carried on the latest consumer electronic products. The Woodland Hills-based provider of animated shows, which launched less than a year ago, designed apps for HDTVs connected to the Panasonic Smart Viera platform and for the tablet computer Kurio7. It has entered a licensing agreement to use the Twonky Beam Browser to send programing from mobile devices to home television sets. These deals will make Toon Goggles a dominant player in Internet protocol TV for children’s entertainment, said Stephen Hodge, the company’s managing director. “To date there aren’t any children’s TV platforms that have made a major mark on consumer electronic devices,” Hodge said. Toon Goggles has 1,200 hours of content available through its website that attracts 100,000 unique visitors per month with minimal advertising. The company gets its programing from domestic and international production companies, including firms in Germany and France. These studios have a vested interest in reaching viewers. Toon Goggles enables them to do so in a revenue-sharing model while retaining control over their content. With titles such as “Action Dad,” “Bob’s Beach,” “Mouse in the House” and “Danny and Daddy Duet,” the shows aired by Toon Goggles are in the style of Walt Disney, designed for family appeal. “A parent or grandparent can sit with a 6-year-old and not be embarrassed,” said Ira Warren, chairman of the board of Toon Goggles. By teaming with Techno Source, the manufacturer of the Kurio7, Toon Goggles will come pre-loaded onto the tablet computer. The device went on sale this month throughout the United States and will be available in Europe in August. Warren and Hodge described the Twonky Beam Browser as “the technology of the future.” Parents can log onto the Twonky homepage on a tablet computer, access Toon Goggles programs through a link and beam them directly to an Internet-connected television. The tablet can be used for other functions while streaming the programs. The deal with Panasonic and its Smart Viera service is the first Toon Goggles said it anticipates announcing this year with television manufacturers. “Working with Panasonic is a step in the direction we want to be in,” Warren said. Film Financing The production company that partnered with Warner Bros. Entertainment on “The Matrix” and “Sherlock Holmes” film franchises has received more than $300 million from a Chinese investor. Village Roadshow Entertainment Group said it will use the money to co-finance and co-produce films by its U.S. arm, Village Roadshow Pictures, and grow its Asian business. Village Roadshow has been a partner of Burbank-based Warner Bros. for more than 15 years. The agreement between the two expires in 2014. Village Roadshow co-produced and provided financing for the upcoming Warner Bros. releases “Gangster Squad” with Sean Penn and Josh Brolin and “The Great Gatsby,” directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. “Village Roadshow Pictures is a great production partner and, working together, our companies have released many popular and successful films,” said Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer in a prepared statement. “We’re delighted to continue our longstanding, mutually beneficial relationship with them.” Staff Reporter Mark Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or by e-mail at [email protected]
Animation Network Drawing Up Distribution Deals
