The 26 x 10' CGI animated pres-school series City of Friends is one of the most expensive children TV series ever produced in Norway, with each episode costing over NOK one million. The series portrays a city whose citizens are animals and people living side by side who help each other. The stories focus on the emergency services which ensure the city's residents are safe from harm.
Carl Christian Hamre who founded CreaCon Entertainment in 2007, had the idea for City of Friends from his own day job as a member of Norway's state police (see photo). "Something that started as telling good night stories to my children about what I did during the day to keep them entertained, has grown to become a really exciting children's property. The response from both my children and everyone else that got to know City Of Friends along the way inspired me to make a TV series, explained Hamre."
Marie Chappelow, commercial director, children's brands at Parthenon, who previously worked on Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder, said she was drawn to City of Friends because "it deals with all aspects of community life and the fact that the animals and people live together side by side will strongly appeal to pre-schoolers."
Parthenon will start selling the Norwegian animated series at the upcoming MIP TV in Cannes (March 30-April 3).
Disney will distribute City of Friends on DVD and Blue-Ray in the Nordic territories.