Danielle Raaphorst
Incredible Film and Phanta Basta! will globally premiere its new live-action high-end pre-school series "Saïd & Anna" (16×6,5′) at MIP Junior. The series is a co-production with Indi Film and 3 TV channels – the Netherlands’ EO /NPO Zappelin, Germany’s SWR / Kika and Belgium’s VRT / Ketnet. "This screening represents the international kick-off of a unique children’s production. With this high quality series we show the MIP audience not only important storytelling and values, but also a great example of international co-producing. Especially with rising production costs and downwards pressure on broadcaster’s budget, there’s never been a more crucial time for producers of kids’ content and distributors to work together," Danielle Raaphorst, CEO of Incredible Film said.
Directed by Hilt Lochten, "Saïd & Anna" is set in a repair shop, powered by a deep friendship, where children’s autonomy is celebrated, and important topics such as sustainability and diversity are approached in an authentic and imaginative way for its young, developing audience. "The series reflects reality and meaning representation of different cultures and backgrounds and reflects universal topics around inclusivity and diversity, that are important for the development and learning of young audiences," she affirmed.
Three international broadcasters were involved in the production of the series, the Netherlands’ EO /NPO Zappelin, Germany’s SWR / Kika and Belgium’s VRT / Ketnet. "The workflow with them was a great experience," asserted Raaphorst. "At first, the creative vision and key themes such as diversity, inclusivity, creatively, empathy, environmental awareness and ‘kids-in-charge’ were a perfect match and secondly Phanta Basta! / Harro van Staverden, as being the main producers of this series, created a perfect way of working together both live and virtual; from script meetings, to set visits and discussing edits, sound designs, leaders," she illustrated.
Raaphorst added that as sales agent, she got the opportunity to be part of the whole process as well and "I must say that Harro is a perfect example of a producer with whom you would like to work together. Also director Hilt Lochten did a great job bringing it all together on screen," she said.
Incredible Film will be attending MIP Junior and MIPCOM with "Saïd & Anna" but also will be promoting the animation series "Tummy Tom", the famous Dutch tomcat who first appeared in Sesame Street in 1978. "'Tummy Tom' is based on bestselling children’s books and we have a couple of new children’s feature films on our slate like 'Miss Vomit' and the Magical Ring', an on-screen adaption of the same named best-selling children’s book, the award-winning 'Lioness' which has a focus on the importance of overcoming social and cultural barriers, and 'The Infinite Slime Movie', part of the 'Slime Movie' collection, that achieved more than 900.000 cinema admissions on its domestic market," she concluded.