The 3D animated films Sunshine Barry & the Disco Worms and Niko & the Way to the Stars are being promoted respectively by SF in Denmark and Nordisk Film in Finland, with P&A campaigns of the likes of Disney movies. Barry goes out on 82 Danish screens, Niko with 65 Finnish prints.
"It's both fun and difficult to create a totally new brand," comments Sune L. Thomsen from SF Denmark. "Danish kids are used to being fed with sequels so this film is the first in a long time that is not based on a known brand."
Still, Sunshine Barry & the Disco Worms directed by Thomas Borch Nielsen, can count on some of the world's most celebrated disco songs with famous local actors and singers lending their voices to the characters. The EMI soundtrack is available on sale racks, as well as consumer goods. Apart from outdoor posters and media advertising, SF used online viral marketing. DR was actively involved in the campaign, with the making of a TV clip aimed at kid's programmes, and games on its website. Sunshine Barry was produced by Nina Crone, in co-production with Radar Films (Denmark), and Sola Media (Germany).
Niko also set the challenge of creating awareness from scratch. "A lot of people thought we wouldn't succeed in only two years, but I was confident," said producer Petteri Pasanen (Anima), initiator of the project. The €6.1m film had 200 teaser trailers out last Christmas, and the website www.nikomovie.com was launched on December 14. YLE created TV spots about how to make animation films, as well as a ‘making of' documentary. Kids in Lapland were the first to discover the film two weeks ago, and yesterday, Nordisk Film hosted a major gala screening in Helsinki. The film directed by Kari Juusonen and Michael Hegner, was produced by Animaker Oy (Finland) in co-production with A Film (Denmark) Ulysses (Germany) and Magma Film (Ireland).
Both films are supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.