Worldwide distributor Federation Kids & Family presenting to buyers during MIPJUNIOR & MIPCOM
Canadian prodcos Pillango Productions (founded by series creator Sarah Haasz) and Academy Award® and Emmy Award® nominated Aircraft Pictures, a leading production company that specializes in scripted content for youth and families, with co-commissioning broadcasters CBC Kids and CBBC are delighted to announce Gangnam Project (10 x 30’), a new tween dramedy series set in the exciting world of K-pop.
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The series, which recently wrapped production in Toronto and South Korea, is scheduled to debut spring 2024. Developed with CBC Kids and produced by Pillango Productions and Aircraft Pictures, series co-showrunners are Sarah Haasz (Circuit Breakers) and Romeo Candido (The Next Step). The series is being produced with the financial participation of Shaw Rocket Fund and the Canada Media Fund.
Federation Kids & Family is handling worldwide sales and will be presenting the series to buyers at the upcoming MIPJUNIOR & MIPCOM markets.
A coming-of-age story, Gangnam Project is inspired by aspects of producer Sarah Haasz’s personal life journey. Set in Korea, it tells the story of Hannah Shin (Julia Kim Caldwell) a spirited Canadian/Korean teen with dreams of becoming a K-pop star and connecting with her Korean heritage. One summer, she accepts a job as an English tutor and flies to South Korea to work at an elite K-pop training school and ends up getting much more than she bargained for. Hannah is tasked with tutoring one of the school’s top students Chan-Mi, who is proving a little challenging.
In a bid to win her and the other students over, Hannah showcases her talent with some impromptu performances, but instead her talents attract the attention of the school’s owner which leads to the opportunity to become a student herself. Along with singing, dancing and Korean lessons, there’s a lot of drama – Kdrama, especially when Hannah discovers that her father had once been a K-pop star himself!
The series celebrates the world of K-pop featuring an original soundtrack composed by recording artist, songwriter, producer and musician, August Rigo, who has written songs for global talents including K-pop superstar group BTS (Black Swan and On, amassing over 1 billion views combined on YouTube), U Smile for Justin Bieber and Gotta Be You for One Direction.
Sarah Haasz, Founder of Pillango Productions, and creator of the series said: “For over 30 years I wanted to tell my story as a first-generation immigrant from Korea living in Canada, who journeys to Korea to explore her roots and experiences an identity crisis both comically and dramatically- so it’s a joy to finally see this dream realised in Gangnam Project.”
Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen, Co-Founders of Aircraft Pictures said: “Sarah’s personal story adds such authenticity to this project. Together with Romeo, they bring passion and creativity to this production. It’s been a pleasure to work alongside them and our friends at CBC Kids, CBBC and Federation Kids & Family.”
Marie McCann, Senior Director, Children’s Content, CBC Kids commented: “We knew right away that Gangnam Project, with its relatable coming-of-age teen drama set within the exciting world of K-pop music, is exactly what our audience is looking for. It’s been such a great experience working with our partners on this amazing creative vision, and we can’t wait to share this groundbreaking series with kids and families across Canada.”
Monica Levy, Co-Chief of Distribution, Federation Kids & Family commented: “This is such a vibrant, heart-warming story that also embraces many tween challenges and how to overcome them. Viewers will love the catchy music and rich choreography, whilst being taken on a delightful adventure, and we can’t wait to shine a spotlight on this series during the TV market.”
Gangnam Project is executive produced by co-showrunners Sarah Haasz and Romeo Candido. Aircraft’s Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen also Executive Produce along with Cottonwood Media’s David Michel. The series is directed by Romeo Candido, Justin Wu, and Gloria Kim.
For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual and Sports; Marie McCann is Senior Director, Children’s Content, CBC Kids; and Swin Chang is Executive in Charge of Development and Production, CBC Kids.
For CBBC, Sarah Muller is Senior Head of Children’s Commissioning 7+, Aubrey Clarke is Commissioning Executive 7+ and Desiree Peeters is Assistant Commissioner – Submissions Lead 0-12.
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About Pillango Productions:
Headquartered in Toronto, Pillango Productions was founded in 2019 by producer Sarah Haasz. With over 20 years experience as a prominent broadcast executive working for networks such as YTV, CBC Kids, Disney Jr Canada, and Family Channel, to name a few, Sarah focuses on kids TV production, creating original IP’s and assisting producers in bringing their shows to fruition. As part of her network portfolio, she was involved in the execution of successful series and movies such as The Next Step, Raising Expectations, Justin Time and to date has been credited for her work on over 2,000+ hours of children's programming in across a variety of genres. Since forming Pillango which focuses on live action and animation production for family viewing, credits include Circuit Breakers, a live action anthology series for Apple TV+, and Step by Step Let’s Dance, a live action docu dance series for TVO Kids.
About Aircraft Pictures:
Established in 2005, Aircraft Pictures is an Academy Award® and Emmy® nominated producer of scripted content for kids, families and young adults. Based in Toronto with an office in Los Angeles, the production company was founded by Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen. Select credits include the animated series Summer Memories, now airing on Roku, Family Channel, Amazon Prime and other platforms internationally: the sci-fi series Circuit Breakers for Apple TV+, the animated theatrical feature film The Breadwinner – nominated for an Academy Award® and Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and winner of the Los Angeles Film Critics Award and Annie Award for Best Independent Animated Feature; five seasons of the Canadian Screen Award-winning and Daytime Emmy®-nominated live-action Hulu Original series Holly Hobbie; three television movies based on the Bruno & Boots book series by young adult fiction icon Gordon Korman; and twenty-six episodes of the Kidscreen Award-winning single-camera comedy Raising Expectations. Upcoming productions include the tween, live-action, comedy Popularity Papers, in association with WexWorks Media/BBC Studios; the live-action-drama Geek Girl – co-produced with Ruby Rock Pictures and Waterside Studios for YTV and Netflix; and the live-action feature film Youngblood, based on the original MGM film of the same name. For more information, visit www.aircraftpictures.com.
About CBC Kids
CBC Kids entertains, informs, and enlightens kids living in Canada from two to tween and their grownups on CBCTV, CBC Gem, cbckids.ca and cbckidsnews.ca as well as on YouTube and TikTok.
About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi and Tagalog, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.
About CBBC
BBC Children’s is a bold, multi-genre, public service offering that has earned the unswerving trust of British families. It is home to some of the UK’s most popular children’s channels, CBBC and CBeebies, delivering world-class, UK-produced children’s programming across all genres, including drama, comedy, factual and news. The great majority of our experiences are produced in the UK as we aim to reflect the diverse lives of our viewers - and give as many of them as possible a voice across all our platforms. CBBC is the go-to destination for children 7-12 to enjoy inspiring and enabling TV and interactive experiences across all platforms.
About Federation Kids & Family:
Headed by co-founder David Michel, Federation Kids & Family is a global kids’ content producer and distributor, and a division of Federation Studios, a leading global media powerhouse specializing in high-end international programming. Federation Kids & Family distributes premium original content featuring animated series and specials, as well as talent-driven live action-drama series. Titles include LIVE ACTION tween series such as the global hit Find Me in Paris (3 seasons), Spellbound (2 seasons), Theodosia (2 seasons), ANIMATION series The Ollie and Moon Show, Squish, Presto! School of Magic, The Star of Andra and Tati (animation special), and DOCU-STYLE series Let’s Dance, to name a few. Federation Kids & Family also focuses on building strategic partnerships and alliances with major international companies and broadcasters. https://federationstudios.com/genre/kids/
Media Contacts:
For Federation Kids & Family: For Pillango Productions and Aircraft Pictures:
Céline Xerri-Brook Andrew Stewart – 42 West
celine@magena-media.com Tel: +44 (0)7957 334 228 andrew.stewart@42west.net Tel: +1 424 299 2065
Valérie Tailland
valerie.tailland@fedent.com Tel: +33 (6) 82 57 06 09
For CBC:
Tanya Koivusalo, CBC PR
