Cottonwood Media


Discovery Lat Am, TVO buy Cottonwood kids show

Discovery Kids Latin America and Canada’s TVO have acquired The Ollie and Moon Show from distributor Federation Entertainment. The deals mean the show, which comes from Federation sister firm Cottonwood Media, will be distributed in 25 new territories, including all of the Americas and most English-speaking markets. The animated preschool series follows a couple of […]

Teletoon boards Cottonwood’s Squish

Canadian kids channel Teletoon has come onboard Squish, the new 52x11mins animated comedy from France’s Cottonwood Media and Toronto’s Shaftesbury. Teletoon has confirmed a development deal for the show, while French channel Gulli, which previously had joined the development, has ramped up its participation to a prebuy. “Cottonwood’s raison d’être is to produce premium content […]

MIPJr Hot Pick: The Ollie & Moon Show

Kids industry veteran David Michel’s new animation company, Cottonwood Media, has got off to a flying start with a commission from Sprout in the US for hybrid series The Ollie & Moon Show. Based on the book series from Diane Kredensor, whose TV credits include Clifford the Big Red Dog, the show targets preschool and […]

MIPJr Hot Pick: The Ollie & Moon Show

Kids industry veteran David Michel’s new animation company, Cottonwood Media, has got off to a flying start with a commission from Sprout in the US for hybrid series The Ollie & Moon Show. Based on the book series from Diane Kredensor, whose TV credits include Clifford the Big Red Dog, the show targets preschool and […]

Alessandri’s indie scores France Télévisions deal

Philippe Alessandri’s new Paris-based indie Watch Next Media has scored its first major programming deal. France Télévisions has put Watch Next’s Nate is Late (pictured) into development, with production due to begin in spring 2016. The 52x11mins show comes from Sylvain Huchet and Peter Saisselin (Gawayn, Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks), and follows a pair of […]

Federation buys into Michel’s Cottonwood

Emerging French indie Federation Entertainment is acquiring a significant shareholding in compatriot Cottonwood Media, a move that reunites former Zodiak executive pair Pascal Breton and David Michel. The agreement sees Cottonwood co-founder Michel become a founding partner in Federation and head of kids and family programmes and sales, with Breton’s Federation becoming a key Cottonwood […]

Zodiak’s Alessandri resurfaces with French indie

Former Télé Images Productions president Philippe Alessandri has returned to the fold by launching an animation and drama-focused indie producer in Paris. WatchNext Media will look to create shows with “engaging brands and aspirational stories” for the international market. It will also focus on properties that can work as television series, apps and licensing products. […]

David Michel: Content extremes and the new radical indies

It is now quite clear that our industry is witness to major changes, which are affecting scripted coproductions in both drama and children’s programming. On the production side, a new tide of concentration of the key media players is sweeping Europe and Asia where massive media groups are about to be formed, Endemol-Shine-Core being the […]

Michel’s Cottonwood bags Ollie, Squish

Cottonwood Media, the indie set up by former Marathon Media boss David Michel, has bagged its first shows. These are Ollie & Moon, a preschool series based on a book property from US author and illustrator Diane Kredensor, and Squish, a 6-11-targeted show based on a best-selling comedic graphic novel. Michel set up Cottonwood earlier […]