Thunderbird Distribution Acquires Global Media and Consumer Products Rights to Innovative New Kids Series BooSnoo!

The Sky Kids original co-produced by Visionality and Mackinnon & Saunders has been greenlit for a second season

Thunderbird Entertainment Group Inc. (TSXV:TBRD, OTC:THBRF) (Thunderbird or the Company) is pleased to announce that Thunderbird Distribution has acquired global media (excluding the UK) and consumer products rights to new kids series BooSnoo! (41 x seven minutes), a Sky Kids original commission. The mixed-media series — designed to captivate kids through a novel neurodiverse-friendly approach that features beautiful bespoke visuals set to music with a calm tone — BooSnoo! is co-produced by UK-based Visionality and Mackinnon & Saunders. Since debuting in early 2023 on Sky Kids in the UK, the series received a greenlight for a second 21-episode season from the broadcaster.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231024156020/en/

(Photo: Business Wire)

Visionality principal Julian Bashford drew on his experiences of being a parent in a family with autism and the toys and methods that worked to calm and entertain his first son to create BooSnoo! It’s an incredibly inventive live-action/CG/stop-motion, dialogue-free series that encourages both neurodiverse and neurotypical kids ages two and up to sit back and follow the featured little red ball as it leads an exploration of fantastic landscapes, machines and fascinating rooms that will surprise and delight in a calming but never dull manner. BooSnoo! is inspired by autistic stimming interests such as spinning, mechanics, predictable tracks, numbers and bold clear colours. Episode moments are identically timed throughout and can depict joy, beauty, or just plain fun — and it keeps kids of all kinds engaged.

“BooSnoo! is a special series. There is nothing like it in the market,” said Richard Goldsmith, Thunderbird President of Global Distribution & Consumer Products. “And it’s exactly the kind of property we’re looking to acquire at Thunderbird Distribution. It has great potential to entertain audiences globally and to develop into a brand with its toyetic sets and its star, the little red ball. We applaud Julian for creating, and Sky Kids for commissioning, a series that has the potential to meet the programming needs of neurodiverse kids, but also has very wide appeal to general audiences. Everyone we’ve shown BooSnoo! to finds it fascinating.”

“The response to BooSnoo! was immediate,” said show creator, Julian Bashford. “When the first episodes were released, we received amazing emails from parents on behalf of their children, explaining how much they enjoy the show. Most interesting to me was the lack of words in the show, and the space given with the sounds and the music. It meant that children, including those who speak very little, can relate to the journey that the little red ball was taking. In a world of TV filled with noise, words, character stories and songs, BooSnoo! stands out as a completely original show for ALL children to enjoy.”

BooSnoo! debuted last week at mipjunior in Cannes, France, and ranked as the sixth most-watched show among the more than 600 titles contained in the event’s screening library.

ABOUT THUNDERBIRD ENTERTAINMENT GROUP

Thunderbird Entertainment Group is a global award-winning, full-service multiplatform production, distribution and rights management company, headquartered in Vancouver, with additional offices in Los Angeles and Ottawa. Thunderbird creates award-winning scripted, unscripted, and animated programming for the world’s leading digital platforms, as well as Canadian and international broadcasters. The Company develops, produces, and distributes animated, factual, and scripted content through its various content arms, including Thunderbird Kids and Family (Atomic Cartoons), Thunderbird Unscripted (Great Pacific Media) and Thunderbird Scripted. Productions under the Thunderbird umbrella include The Last Kids on Earth, Molly of Denali, Highway Thru Hell, Kim’s Convenience, Reginald the Vampire and Boot Camp. Thunderbird Distribution and Thunderbird Brands manage global media and consumer products rights, respectively, for the Company and select third parties. Thunderbird is on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @tbirdent. For more information, visit: www.thunderbird.tv.

ABOUT SKY KIDS

The Sky Kids package is home to over 10,000 episodes of award-winning kids’ content on demand and a variety of linear partner channels such as Nick Jr., Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. The linear channel offers a raft of new Sky original content and franchise favourites to inspire and entertain kids (age 1-7). All Sky Kids content is available to watch in safe, child-friendly environments. Through the Sky Kids app which offers content on demand, available to all Sky customers with the Sky Kids package, parents can create personalised age profiles for their children, alongside a ‘sleep mode’ to moderate screen time, while they watch content on the go. The Sky Kids package is available for just £6 a month, for Sky customers with Sky’s signature pack. Members of streaming service NOW can also enjoy Sky Kids with its £9.99 Entertainment Membership.

ABOUT VISIONALITY

Julian Bashford spent 25 years working in satellite communications, as the CEO of a satellite communications manufacturer. He has always been interested in the business and creativity of children’s TV, despite not being an artist or writer himself, although he is a musician. Julian setup Visionality to be a creative hub of new and distinctive new IP development, working with talented writers, artists and studios such as Studio Liddell and Mackinnon and Saunders. The aim is to produce show concepts that challenge the mundane, and push the potential of kids TV on from the predictable. BooSnoo! is one of a wide portfolio of shows Julian has now developed solo or with his creative partners, and he is delighted to launch the BooSnoo! to the international markets now in 2023.

ABOUT MACKINNON & SAUNDERS

Mackinnon & Saunders Ltd is an award-winning animation company based in Manchester, England. Established in 1993 by Ian Mackinnon and Peter Saunders, the company has had an illustrious career working on a wide variety of projects ranging from short films to world class feature films. Originally the company specialised in creating stop-motion puppets for children’s animated TV, the most famous of which was the global phenomenon, Bob the Builder. In 1995, the company was approached by Tim Burton to create characters for his live action/ stop motion feature film, Mars Attacks. Subsequently, the company worked with Burton on his animated features The Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie. Other feature work includes Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox and Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-winning Pinocchio. In 2012, the company opened its own studios providing animation services for such companies as the BBC, Netflix, NBC Universal, ITV, Warner Bros and ad agency, Saatchi & Saatchi. Mackinnon & Saunders are proud to have been part of the team that created Julian Bashford’s groundbreaking TV series, BooSnoo!.

Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility of the adequacy or accuracy of this release, which has been prepared by management.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Thunderbird’s public communications may include written or oral “forward-looking statements” and “forward-looking information” as defined under applicable Canadian securities legislation. All such statements may not be based on historical facts that relate to the Company’s current expectations and views of future events and are made pursuant to the “safe harbour” provisions of applicable securities laws.

Forward-looking statements or information may be identified by words such as “anticipate”, “continue”, “estimate”, “expect”, “forecast”, “may”, “will”, “plan”, “project”, “should”, “believe”, “intend”, or similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to BooSnoo! having has great potential to entertain audiences globally and to develop into a brand. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic and social uncertainties; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; product capability and acceptance; international risk and currency exchange rates; and technology changes. An assessment of these risks that could cause actual results to materially differ from current expectations is contained in the “Risks and Uncertainty” section of December 31, 2022 MD&A. The foregoing is not an exhaustive list. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to Thunderbird or that management believes to be less significant may also adversely affect the Company.

The forward-looking statements or information contained in this document represent our views as of the date hereof and as such information should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this document. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231024156020/en/