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New Seasons of Sesame Street will Premiere on HBO and Continue to be Available to PBS

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9 years ago

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Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind the Emmy Award-winning program Sesame Street, and HBO, the nation’s leading premium cable network, today announced a new partnership that will make the next five seasons of the iconic series available on HBO and its multiplex channels, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and the new internet-only SVOD service HBO NOW. As a key part of the deal, Sesame will be able to produce almost twice as much new content as previous seasons, and for the first time ever, make the show available free of charge to PBS and its member stations after a nine-month window.

 

“Our new partnership with HBO represents a true winning public-private partnership model,” said Jeffrey D. Dunn, Sesame Workshop’s CEO. “It provides Sesame Workshop with the critical funding it needs to be able to continue production of Sesame Street and secure its nonprofit mission of helping kids grow smarter, stronger and kinder; it gives HBO exclusive pay cable and SVOD access to the nation’s most important and historic educational programming; and it allows Sesame Street to continue to air on PBS and reach all children, as it has for the past 45 years.”

 

In addition to the next five seasons of Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop will produce a Sesame Street Muppet™ spinoff series, as well as develop a new original educational series for children.  HBO has also licensed over 150 library episodes of Sesame Street.  The new episodes will begin airing as early as late fall 2015, and HBO will be the exclusive, first-run subscription television distribution partner for Sesame Street and the new series.  HBO will have the right to air all series in both English and Spanish. All new series will also be made available to PBS and its member stations after the first window.  Episodes of Sesame Street will continue to be made available, uninterrupted, as part of the PBS KIDS service on PBS member stations.

 

“We are absolutely thrilled to help secure the future of Sesame Street and Sesame Workshop’s mission for the nation’s kids and families,” said Richard Plepler, Chairman and CEO of HBO, and Michael Lombardo, President, HBO Programming.  “Home Box Office is committed to bringing the most groundbreaking and creative shows to its audience. Sesame Street is the most important preschool education program in the history of television. We are delighted to be a home for this extraordinary show, helping Sesame Street expand and build its franchise.”

 

“I’ve long admired the creative work of HBO and can’t think of a better partner to continue the quality of Sesame Street’s programming,” commented Joan Ganz Cooney, co-founder of Sesame Street. “Over the past decade, both the way in which children are consuming video and the economics of the children’s television production business have changed dramatically.  In order to fund our nonprofit mission with a sustainable business model, Sesame Workshop must recognize these changes and adapt to the times.”

 

In addition to Sesame Street, HBO will also license approximately 50 past episodes of the two acclaimed children’s series Pinky Dinky Doo, an animated series for preschoolers that focuses on early literacy, and The Electric Company, which was rebooted in 2009, from Sesame Workshop.

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New Arthur C. Clarke’s Venus Prime TV Series Details Revealed at Comic-Con International Panel

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2 hours ago

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July 27, 2024

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Volume Global, in association with Navajo Entertainment, Claxson Media, Fun Republic Pictures, Karma Film, Julijette, Palatin Media, and Washington Square Entertainment, presented the highly anticipated adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s Venus Prime to an enthusiastic crowd at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

The panel, titled ‘Jonathan Frakes unveils ‘Arthur C. Clarke’s Venus Prime’ TV series,’ took place on Thursday, July 25th, at the San Diego Convention Center as part of Comic-Con International’s 2024 lineup.

Moderated by Comic-Con mainstay and legend Gary Miereanu, the panel featured special virtual appearances from director and Executive Producer Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Librarians), and Executive Producer Lucas Vivo Garcia Lagos (Franklin: Historia de un Billete, Pacto de Sangre, Psiconautas), while the Emmy-nominated Co-Showrunners David Cormican (Tokyo Trial, Northern Rescue, ShadowHunters) and Dwayne Hill (Northern Rescue, Peg + Cat, Mean Girls), shared the stage with Miereanu along with fellow Executive Producer and Volume Global’s Michael Hamilton Wright (Hostile Takeover, King of Killers).

Fans of the bestselling book franchise were treated to an in-depth discussion about the upcoming TV series adaptation based on the books by sci-fi legend and Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter Sir Arthur C. Clarke (2001: A Space Odyssey) and author Paul Preuss who was also in attendance at the panel. The filmmakers explained their decision to use virtual production to bring this ambitious scripted series to life. Attendees who secured a seat received a Comic-Con exclusive, limited edition, numbered series poster featuring artwork by celebrated comic book cover artist Raúl Allén.

The filmmakers also previewed an exclusive sneak peek teaser, including a 30-second logo reveal clip. Emmy-award nominated Isabella ‘Machine’ Summers (Little Fires Everywhere; also of Florence and the Machine fame), was announced as the composer for the clip’s score, with an unreleased track entitled “Poetry.” The sneak peek will be made available by the producers to those not in attendance on the official YouTube page for the

Additionally, the team revealed the title of the series pilot episode: “Set Motus Est” (Latin meaning: Set in motion), and announced that the official filming location would be carried out in virtual production on the world’s second-largest LED virtual production wall and largest in Canada, located in Regina, Saskatchewan, in partnership with Volume Global and Creative Saskatchewan.

“I’m no Kubrick, but I will do my best, I promise you”, shared Frakes in his message to fans. “We hope to be showing it to you next year at San Diego Comic-Con”.

A special announcement was also made by Frakes regarding a worldwide open casting call to discover the lead role of Sparta, with details for interested actresses available on Volume Global’s dedicated casting website (www.vgcasting.com). The filmmakers echoed Frakes’ invitation for fans to join them at next year’s Comic-Con for the world premiere of the series.

“Sci-fi has been a very big part of my world since I can remember,” added Executive Producer Lucas Vivo García Lagos. “At age 16, I read Venus Prime for the first time and couldn’t help but fall in love with the character of Sparta, her fragility, and the quest for her identity — a skillful combination between mystery, action, and love”.

The Venus Prime novels, originally published between 1987 and 1991, were re-issued with new cover artwork by Vanessa Maynard in 2021 by J. Boylston & Company Publishers. The series began with the release of Breaking Strain, the first novel in the Venus Prime franchise, nearly 35 years ago. Alan Morell of Creative Management Partners serves as Senior Advisor to Claxson, Washington Square Entertainment and J. Boylston & Company Publishers and negotiated the rights deal for the producers and publisher.

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Comic-Con 2024: Max Collins’s TRUE NOIR

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3 hours ago

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July 27, 2024

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Paramount+ Reveals Official Main Title Sequence for the Upcoming Series TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

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23 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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During the TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES panel earlier today at San Diego Comic Con, Paramount+ revealed the official main title sequence for the series. The sequence is composed by EMMY® nominee, Matt Mahaffey, known for his work on Sanjay and Craig, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie and much more. 

From the studios of the Mutant Mayhem film, the all-new Paramount+ original series TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES explores the adventures of everyone’s favorite pizza-loving heroes as they emerge from the sewers onto the streets of NYC. Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey are faced with new threats and team up with old allies to survive both teenage life and villains lurking in the shadows of the Big Apple. The series is produced by Nickelodeon Animation and Point Grey Pictures.

TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES is executive produced by Chris Yost (The Mandalorian, Thor: Ragnarok) and Alan Wan (Blue Eye Samurai, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2012 Series]). Production is overseen for Nickelodeon by Claudia Spinelli, Senior Vice President, TV Series Animation, Nickelodeon, and Nikki Price, Director of Development and Executive in Charge of Production.

In addition to the upcoming new series, stream all things Turtles on Paramount+.

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