Baleuko sells Black to the Moon to Hollywood studio
The international Basque production company Baleuko sells US and Latin American rights to animated film Black to the Moon to Hollywood studio.
The US company Farcor Studios has acquired the rights for the US and Latin America to the animated feature film Black to the Moon, produced by Basque company Baleuko, a member of Eiken-Cluster Audiovisual de Euskadi. The film, which is currently at the preproduction stage, sparked great interest at its presentation at the MIPCOM fair in Cannes.
Farcor Studios executive Rose Adkins announced on March 6 to trade journal Variety (Los Angeles, USA), that the company had acquired the US and Latin American rights to the animated film “Black to the Moon”. Produced by Baleuko, the film has become a major talking point in the animation business in the Basque Country.
Baleuko is based in Durango, and won the Goya award for best animated film in 1997 with Megasonikoak. It was also nominated for the Goya in 2002 for Anjé, la Leyenda del Pirineo by Juanjo Elordi and in 2008 for Betizu eta Urrezko Zintzarria. Ms. Adkins discovered Black to the Moon at last year's Berlin Film Festival. She stresses its potential as a hit among both children and adults, saying "it's very funny and I had never seen this type of animation before: it really takes you into a magical world". The makers of the film expect production on this, Baleuko’s most ambitious project to date, to be completed early in 2010. It features 3-D animation, and is co-produced with French company Art Mell, with a budget of 4.5 million euros.
The director is Francis Nielsen, and Navarra-born soprano María Bayo provides the voice of Teodora the cow. The sale of the rights to this movie shows how interested the US market is in foreign productions, particularly European animation. It also confirms the quality of the animated films made by Basque producers, which have received awards and widespread recognition at many international festivals in recent years.
Baleuko is to present Black to the Moon at the forthcoming AnimabasqueBusiness animation market in Bilbao on April 24, when the city will be in the spotlight of the animation business. The company sees the commercial agreement reached as highly positive, and a recognition of its years of hard work. "This is an acknowledgement of the efforts of our animation team and the support received over the years from EiTB and public institutions, thanks to which we have produced seven animated features to date. This has given us the experience and know-how needed for production of this type", said Miguel Gómez-Tejedor, Head of Development at Baleuko.