US commission for David Michel’s Cottonwood

US preschool channel Sprout has ordered The Ollie & Moon Show, the animated series from Cottonwood, the production and distribution start-up launched by kids TV veteran David Michel last year.

It is Cottonwood’s first project to go into production and follows the fledgling company picking up rights to the Ollie & Moon book property from US author and illustrator Diane Kredensor.

“We couldn’t be happier to launch our first production with a partner as prestigious as Sprout,” said David Michel, founder and producer, Cottonwood Media (right).

He added: “When we established Cottonwood Media, our goal was to produce premium series & films for a global audience; having Sprout as a partner is confirmation that we are on our way to achieve this goal.”

The show will follow two globetrotting cats and is a mix of 2D animation and live-action. It will go out as a Sprout original on the US channel in 2017.

Andrew Beecham, senior VP of programming, Sprout, said of the new series order: “The Ollie & Moon Show celebrates friendship through two curious cats that learn to appreciate their differences while going on a mad-cap traveling adventures.”

Cottonwood, which is based in Paris and LA, added that it has four series and a feature film in development.