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 | | GALAFILM’S NEW KID ON THE BLOCK - GALAKIDS
Montreal – September 13th, 2005 - ARNIE GELBART, President of Galafilm Inc., today announced the appointment of Louis Fournier as head of GalaKids, a new division of the company that will develop, finance and produce quality entertainment content for kids.
“In order to consolidate and grow our business in youth programs, Galafilm in association with Louis Fournier is creating a subsidiary company that will develop and produce children’s programs for kids of all ages,” explained Arnie Gelbart. “We are extremely pleased to have Louis Fournier join our organization. His leadership, experience and knowledge will play a key role in the areas of creative development, financing, and production.”
One of the most experienced and successful distribution professionals in the kids business, Mr. Fournier is well known for his stints at CINAR from 1992 to 2000 and from 2001 to 2004. He was instrumental in marketing successful award-winning international kids' properties such as Arthur, Caillou, and Mona the Vampire and helped re-establish the credibility of the company in the marketplace. As President of the Youth and Animation Unit at TVA International in 2000-2001, Fournier acted as Executive Producer for titles like Popular Mechanics for Kids, Xcalibur, and Bellflower Bunnies, among others.
“I am delighted to partner with renowned and talented professionals at Galafilm who share my belief in quality entertainment,” said Fournier. GalaKids’ goal is to deliver a range of positive, non-violent entertainment experiences to kids and families worldwide. While developing its own slate of programs, the company will also seek partnership opportunities for quality projects.
Galafilm set the stage for the new division with its history of producing award-winning children’s television programs. The Tale of Teeka, a compelling story of domestic abuse won the 1998 Banff Rockie Award for Best Children’s Program and the Telefilm Canada Award for Best Canadian English-language production. The Worst Witch, a Canada/UK co-production with United Productions and Global Arts was one of the highest rated children’s series on British television. In the U.S., the series premiered on HBO to glowing reviews. 15/Love, a Canada/France co-production with France2 and Marathon International, is proving to be a big hit in Canada (on YTV and Radio-Canada) and in France (France2). Fungus the Bogeyman is a Canada/UK co-production with Indie Kids and the BBC. Combining live-action and motion-capture animation, the highly popular three-part TV series (broadcast on the BBC in the UK and the CBC in Canada) won the 2005 UK Pact Indie Award for Best Children’s Programme.
Galafilm has grown into one of Canada’s leading entertainment producers and has earned an international reputation. With a catalogue boasting over 200 hours of award winning and commercially successful entertainment content, Galafilm’s diverse slate includes documentaries, youth programs, television dramas and feature films. Broadcast partners include CBC, Radio-Canada, CTV, the Global Television Network, TVOntario, History Television, YTV Canada, Discovery Channel, Showcase, A&E, PBS, Bravo US, Oxygen, Channel 4, BBC, ITV, France2 and La Cinquième. International co-producers include Indie Kids, France2, Marathon International and Multimedia France Productions (MFP).
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For more information, please contact:
Arnie Gelbart
President
Galafilm
agelbart@galafilm.com
Louis Fournier
President and CEO
GalaKids
lfournier@galafilm.com
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