Russia’s Riki Group of companies together with APC Kids announces the first international sales of animated series Dinocity to Italy and Finland. DeA Kids in Italy has picked up exclusive pay-TV rights to the Russian-produced series while Yle Finland has secured TV rights for the territory.

The first season of the joint production by Riki and APC Kids will consist of 52x5’ episodes. APC Kids distributes the series in all countries of the world except for Russia and China.

The comedy series for preschoolers titled Dinocity (previously known as Dinosaur Riki) portrays funny moments from the everyday life of a family of dinosaurs. Ricky, a little dinosaur, his elder sister Tira, and their Mom and Dad can turn ordinary situations into unexpectedly exciting adventures.

APC Kids MD Lionel Marty said: “There is global interest in children’s properties created in Russia and we are excited to start the international roll out of this fun series which has universal themes of family and friendship.”

Riki Group VP international business development and distribution Diana Yurinova said that with production on the first season well underway, the company is excited about the first sales APC Kids has already secured for the show. She expressed confidence f about the success of this production because funny, vibrant content, which is underpinned by strong storytelling, is a winning combination which kids fall in love with.”

In other news, the first season of pre-school animation series Tina & Tony (Tim and Tom) from Riki will air on France Télévisions. Distribution company Go-N international announced the deal during MIPCOM 2019 in Cannes. A year ago, Go-N international, which is based in Paris, acquired the rights for distribution of animation series Tim and Tom in French-speaking countries.

Tina & Tony is a joint project of Riki Group, produced at Petersburg Animation Studio. The target audience is preschoolers, dreamers and inventors, whose world is full of adventures. The charming characters - Baby hippo Tony and baby elephant Tina - are so real, that little viewers easily identify themselves with them. Facing the situations and emotions which all the children experience, finding the correct behavior model, the characters openly share their discoveries with the audience, thus helping to explore the world around them and to differentiate between good and bad.

The series has reached great success in Russia and CIS countries. The project is especially popular in China, where the first season has generated over 2 billion views on Youku since last year’s January. On October 1, 2019, Riki Group, Chinese company Alibaba Cultural Media and Entertainment Group, a division of Alibaba Group, announced the start of co-production of the second season of the Tim and Tom animated series.

Also, the Riki Group of Companies andTremblay Brothers revealed the teaser premiere of new animated series The Kameleons during the Russian presentation Snack and Screen at MIPJunior.

The first season consists of 52 episodes 11-minute each. It is produced by an experienced creative team under the leadership of Derek Iversen, the main screenwriter of Nickelodeon and creator of over 60 episodes of Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Set in a typical suburban neighborhood, The Kameleons follows the everyday struggles of a wacky all chameleon music band in their quest to stardom. Infused with music, mania, and a healthy dose of mischief, this series will not only hit a unique vibe for the global targeted audience of kids 6-11, but the entire family as well with its smartly crafted stories, witty dialogues, and international pop culture references.