United Media Capital, Pigmental Studios and United Independents Group sign co-production deal for upcoming slate of animated and live-action features.
LOS ANGELES -- United Media Capital, LLC has formed a joint venture fund with Pigmental Studios and United Independents Group for the purpose of co-financing a slate of upcoming animated and live-action films. The first film to be financed by the new fund will be Household Pests, written by Sergio Pablos, the co-creator of Illumination Entertainment’s Despicable Me.
Pablos and his production company SPA Studios, along with Marina Martins of Pigmental Studios, will jointly produce the new film, along with Dennis Lorrig, Robert Rodriguez, George Malasek and John Cole. Managing Partners for United Media Capital will Executive Produce the slate of new projects. Leading the financing team for the initial two productions will be United Media Capital managing partners John Cole, COO, and George Malasek, Co-CEO. The deal was brokered between Marina Martins of Pigmental/United Independents Group, and United Media Capital.
Household Pests, based on an original idea from Pablos, follows Cole, an imaginative boy who battles monsters under his bed every night while his mother refuses to believe that they exist. It takes undercover monster exterminator Jeb Dee to help Cole save the town.
Concurrently, the fund will also invest in a second animated project -- Mean Margaret -- based on the popular children’s book of the same name. That film is being produced by Jay Ahn (The Nut Job and The Nut Job 2) and Chris Henderson (Return to Neverland) with Chuck Williams (Brother Bear) managing the creative for Astro-Nomical Entertainment, a new studio from Ahn/Henderson.
Barry Cook (Mulan) led the original development of the Mean Margaret project, with character designs by Carter Gooderich (Finding Nemo.) Winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, “Mean Margaret” was originally published in English, German, Dutch and Italian, and, more recently, has also been published in Chinese and Korean.
Mean Margaret follows Fred, a meticulous, confirmed-bachelor woodchuck, who has his seemingly perfect life turned upside-down when terrible two-year-old human baby, Margaret, is left behind by her preoccupied, trailer-dwelling family.
Pre-production for both Household Pests and Mean Margaret take place at both Pigmental’s Studio offices in Washington, D.C., and in Los Angeles, in collaboration with Astro-Nomical Entertainment, also in LA.
Independent entertainment studio IM Global will handle international sales for Household Pests and Mean Margaret.
“With the recent acquisitions and mergers going on the industry today, there exists a space in the animation world for features which apply the tenant of ‘story, story, story,’” Martins said. “It was through storytelling that Pixar has been so successful at establishing itself above the norm, and excelling in a market so long dominated by studio fare. Pigmental’s focus is that relentless pursuit of getting the story right, without compromise and without sacrifice, for the establishment of branded content. This goal would be unachievable without the extraordinary talent that has gathered here to form and finance the Pigmental team.”
“I am thrilled to be engaged with this prestigious media fund for Mean Margaret, a fresh, funny, and very emotional movie that family members of all ages across the world will certainly enjoy,” adds Ahn.
“We are pleased to be joining forces with such an industry reputable studio and an established co-financing group for these kinds of highly entertaining projects,” Malasek said. “Collectively, we bring a lot to the table, and I am thrilled to help bring these exciting new animated projects to a global audience.”
Source: United Media Capital
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
