Renowned British animation studio cum distributor Aardman; co-producers Fabrique Fantastique (Belgium) and Apartment 11 (Canada) have announced they have secured deals with a number of international broadcasters to acquire the first season of Interstellar Ella– a 52×11 minute CGI animated series. This programme is aimed at four to seven year olds.
The series is commissioned by VRT Ketnet TV (Belgium), Knowledge Kids, Société Radio-Canada, TFO, TVOkids (Canada) with deals being secured with SVT Sweden, NRK Norway and YLE Finland.
The official synopsis reads, In the year 3021, on a space station somewhere between Mars and Jupiter in the Milky Way, eight-year-old Ella Ryder sets out with her friends on exciting adventures of discovery. And because they are in space, there is lots to experience and even more to explore! While Ella’s adventures are spine tingly fun, they are also always emotionally charged allowing her to discover a little bit more about herself with each unexpected challenge – challenges that help her understand what makes her as unique as her name: Interstellar Ella!
“We couldn’t be happier entering into a partnership with Apartment 11 and Fabrique Fantastique on this exceptional show. Despite not being able to have any face-to-face meetings to pitch the series to our wide-network of global partners, the response from the market to ‘Interstellar Ella’ has been phenomenal. Securing such fantastic partners at such an early stage has enabled the series to get into production quickly, and we can’t wait to see the first episodes start to deliver next summer,” said Aardman distribution director Alison Taylor.
“You can’t give kids a better playground than outer space. Young audiences will love the thrilling adventures and come away amazed by what they learn and see about our galaxy in this beautifully designed series,” Apartment 11 executive producer Jonathan Finkelstein commented.
Throwing light on the brand new deal, Telidja Klai from commissioning broadcaster VRT Ketnet said, “We are extremely happy to welcome Interstellar Ella to Ketnet. Interstellar Ella will take you on a fantastic adventure through the galaxies, between the stars and planets, along comets and meteors, through eclipses and formations, embraced by warmth, friendship, solidarity, respect and emancipation. Every child will find his, her, their place in the universe of Interstellar Ella, an amazing universe that goes beyond imagination.”
Adam Long, a space lover, the show’s creator aims to familiarize kids and their parents with basic astronomy and astrophysics, as they are progressively introduced to planets and their moons, constellations, nebulae, stars, comets, asteroids, black holes, and other galaxies. Artistic director, Olivia Derie, uses genuine NASA footage as a reference for the series design. Also, the production team works closely with science consultant Sara Poirier (MSc in Science Communication and Public Engagement and BSc in Astrophysics).
Interstellar Ella features a diverse cast, including Ava Augustin (Ella), Jack Molloy-Legault (Slippy), Eleanor Noble (Madhu), Felicia Shulman (Maggie), Lucinda Davis (Mom), Arun Varma (Dad), Léah Brady (Tilly) and Ryan Hill (Gem/I-Lo). The series also boasts a diverse stable of writers to ensure different voices within the stories.
The series will launch internationally during summer 2022.