Technicolor buys French prodco OuiDo

US technology and content company Technicolor has acquired OuiDo Productions, the French kids prodco that counts Alvinnn!!! & The Chipmunks (pictured) and Sonic Boom among its credits.

OuiDo was created out of Lagardere’s Genao Productions.

Former Lagardère executives Boris Hertzog, Sandrine Nguyen and Billy Frédéric Richard launched OuiDo after Lagardere moved out of kids animation in late 2013 to focus on fiction and unscripted programming.

Hertzog told TBI last year that he anticipated bringing in a financial partner and that has now happened in the shape of Technicolor.

Tim Sarnoff, president of Technicolor Production Services. He said: “OuiDo has done an incredible job in leveraging the rights to major global media brands. We look at this acquisition as a complement to Technicolor’s growth strategy within the animation industry and the French market.

“We will now be better positioned to develop, finance, produce and service the full range of needs of content creators, licensors and distributors around the globe.”

OuiDo coproduces Alvinnn!!! & The Chipmunks with Bagdasarian Productions for M6 and Sonic Boomwith SEGA for Cartoon Network and Gulli. It is also making Les Légendaires for TF1 and CanalJ and Mini-Loup for France Télévisions.

Nguyen and Hertzog said: “Technicolor’s passion for creating amazing animated content will be further strengthened by our ability to leverage the rights of major animated brands.”

Technicolor has moved into kids production and distribution. It recently presold its animated series Atomic Puppet to France Télévisions.

http://tbivision.com/news/2014/04/france-televisions-prebuys-technicolor-series/267952/