Thursday, September 25, 2014

Netflix Orders "Winx Club WOW: World Of Winx" From Rainbow; "The Mystery Of The Abyss" To Debut On SVoD Service Following Theatrical Release

The entertainment and media news websites Variety and Deadline are reporting the Winx-Tastic news in the following articles that the subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service Netflix is expanding its original kids programming slate with "Winx Club WOW: World Of Winx", a spinoff from the popular "Winx Club" franchise!

Netflix has teamed with "Winx Club" producer Rainbow Studios, the company of the franchise's creator Iginio Straffi, for two seasons of the new series, which is due to debut in early 2016 and Autumn/Fall 2016. The seasons, each consisting of thirteen 22-minute episodes, will be exclusively available in all Netflix territories including France and Germany.

In "Winx Club WOW", the fairies embark on an undercover journey all around the world looking for talented kids in art, sports, music and science. These kids have their own kind of magic, and the Winx Club fairies are enchanted by them though it doesn't take long before trouble sets in, and a new and dangerous mystery for Bloom and the others to solve arrives. There will be a Netflix stamp on the storylines in the spinoff, which will be more serialized to fit the binge viewing patterns of the streaming company's customers.

The new series is produced by Italian animation studio Rainbow. "Winx Club WOW" will be exclusively available in all Netflix territories, including France and Germany. The first of the two seasons, each comprising 13 22-minute episodes, are slated to be available by early 2016 with the second to follow in the fall.

Under is existing pact with Rainbow Studios, Netflix offers prior seasons of "Winx Club" worldwide, as well as fellow Rainbow properties "PopPixie" and "Mia and Me". Additionally, the most recent "Winx Club" movie, "The Mystery of the Abyss", is slated to be available exclusively on Netflix in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland and France shortly after this month's theatrical release.

As part of its efforts to ramp up kid content, Netflix recently hired Brian Wright, previously Nickelodeon's Senior Vice President (SVP) of live-action development, to head up acquisition of kids and family programming in July 2014.

Created by Straffi, "Winx Club" is regarded as one of the most successful Italian animated series ever. It is hugely popular in Europe and is the first Italian cartoon to be sold in the U.S. where it is carried by Nickelodeon and Netflix.

It is currently unknown whether "Winx Club WOW" will air on Nickelodeon channels around the world following the debut of the series on Netflix.

From Variety:
Netflix Orders 'Winx Club' Spinoff, as Streamer Keeps Up Kidvid Splurge


Netflix, in another move to bulk up on original children's programming, has ordered two seasons of “Winx Club WOW: World of Winx,” a spinoff of the “Winx Club” Italian toon franchise, in which girls embark on magical journeys looking for talented kids.

The new series is produced by Italian animation studio Rainbow. "Winx Club WOW" will be exclusively available in all Netflix territories, including France and Germany. The first of the two seasons, each comprising 13 22-minute episodes, are slated to be available by early 2016 with the second to follow in the fall.

The show is the latest addition to Netflix's kid-oriented fare — a key genre for parents to let their offspring binge-watch age-appropriate entertainment, without any advertising. The SVOD company has pacts with DreamWorks Animation, Scholastic Media, Mattel and others for original kids' shows. The DWA deal is the biggest of the deals, covering more than 300 hours of original programming including series "Turbo FAST" and new seasons of "DreamWorks Dragons." In addition, under a pact with Disney, Netflix will get pay-TV window rights to future theatrical releases from Pixar and Disney Animation starting in 2016.

"'Winx Club' is already a very successful show on Netflix in all our territories; it's exciting to be expanding our relationship with such a great European animation studio," Erik Barmack, VP of content acquisition at Netflix, said in announcing the spinoff.

In “Winx Club WOW,” the girls embark on an undercover journey all around the world looking for talented kids in art, sports, music and science. “We are very happy to be building a solid and wide collaboration with Netflix, so extending it to include new and original content is fantastic news,” commented Rainbow Group president and CEO Iginio Straffi.

Under is existing pact with Rainbow Studios, Netflix offers prior seasons of “Winx Club” worldwide, as well as other Rainbow properties “PopPixie” and “Mia and Me.” Additionally, the most recent “Winx Club” movie, “The Mystery of the Abyss,” is slated to be available exclusively on Netflix in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland and France shortly after this month's theatrical release.

As part of its efforts to ramp up kid content, Netflix in July hired Brian Wright, previously Nickelodeon's senior VP of live-action development, to head up acquisition of kids and family programming.
Also, from Deadline Hollywood:
Netflix Orders 'Winx Club' Spinoff Series

Netflix is expanding its original kids programming slate with Winx Club WOW: World Of Winx, a spinoff from the popular Winx Club girls fairy animated franchise. Netflix has teamed with Winx Club producer Rainbow Studios, the company of the franchise's creator Iginio Straffi, for two seasons of the new series to debut in early 2016 and fall 2016. The seasons, each consisting of thirteen 22-minute episodes, will be exclusively available in all Netflix territories including France and Germany.

In Winx Club WOW, the girls embark on an undercover journey all around the world looking for talented kids in art sports, music and science. These kids have their own kind of magic, and the Winx Club fairies are enchanted by them though it doesn't take long before trouble sets in, and a new and dangerous mystery for Bloom and the others to solve. There will be a Netflix stamp on the storylines in the spinoff, which will be more serialized to fit the binge viewing patterns of the streaming company's customers.

Created by Straffi, Winx Club is probably the most successful Italian animated series ever. It is hugely popular in Europe and is the first Italian cartoon to be sold in the U.S. where it is carried by Nickelodeon and Netflix. The most recent Winx Club movie, The Mystery Of The Abyss, will be available only on Netflix in the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland and France shortly after its theatrical release earlier this month. "Winx Club is already a very successful show on Netflix in all our territories; it's exciting to be expanding our relationship with such a great European animation studio," said Erik Barmack, VP of Content Acquisition at Netflix.

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