U.K. indie Cantilever Media, behind the animated franchise The Amazing Maurice, has set a joint venture with sales and financing outfit Architect for animated family films.
With the JV, the companies will sell and finance two animated family feature films each year for the global market. It follows the launch of Cantilever Media’s own distribution company, Kazoo Films, last year to sell animated family features in the U.K. and Ireland. Kazoo will continue to manage those markets, while Architect will handle rest-of-world sales.
Cantilever Media recently clinched a co-pro pact with ReDefine Originals to produce two features per year over an initial three-year period. ReDefine Originals will be the animation studio for films produced by Cantilever Media, with Kazoo Films taking U.K. rights and Architect managing the rest of the world.
The first title to emerge from the alliance is Bird Brain, adapted from a novel by Guy Kennaway, which is being pitched at EFM.
Andrew Baker, CEO of Cantilever Media, said: “This is an exciting and logical next step for Cantilever Media as we continue to build our studio model. We are now able to work on our own projects from development through to production and release globally, working alongside our own U.K./Ireland distribution company, Kazoo Films. Bird Brain is a fun animated film for the whole family, and we are looking forward to unveiling it at Berlinale.”
Architect’s Calum Gray added, “Andrew and the Cantilever team are some of the very best practitioners of animation outside the U.S. studio system. Their understanding of the market and track record of delivering high-quality, commercial family films speak for themselves. Crucially, this new partnership allows us to pool intelligence gleaned from the international territories and the U.K. distribution business to feed into story design and optimization from inception. Technical quality, marketing materials, and delivery will be first-class, and these packages will be truly tailored to modern global audiences. It’s an exciting new chapter for us as we continue to evolve and grow, one that reinforces our commitment to delivering audience facing, commercial movies for today’s audiences.”
