Anna Mysskaya, the head of Riki’s international division
Russia’s animation power player Riki Group is widely known around the world for creating popular franchises such as "The Fixies" and "Kikoriki". It’s projects are available in 100+ countries on more than 50 TV channels and 60 platforms. In the next Kidscreen edition, the company will continue the sales of its projects "The Fixies", "Tina and Tony", "Kikoriki", "Babyriki", "PinCode" and a Russian-Chinese co production — spin-off "Panda and Crash".
"Another highlight is our new project 'Beardy Bodo' - the charming animated show with the lead character, who doesn’t know anything, but he invites kids to solve simple puzzles and fun activities to improve their skills. The series serves as a great opportunity to encourage children’s thirst for knowledge and make learning a fun, positive experience," commented Anna Mysskaya, head of Riki’s international division to Señal News. The show was highly valued by Russian video streaming platform IVI, which became a partner in the show’s production, ensuring a successful launch and further promotion of the series. Lately, "Beardy Bodo" was presented Russia at the largest Chicago International Kids Film Festival and got the top award at Chinh India Kids Film Festival.
GLOBAL SUCCESS
During 2021 Riki Group IP’s have resonated globally. "Our projects were presented on Peacock, Kidoodle, Toon Goggles, DaVinci, Ameba, and launched on France TV, Tiny Pop, DeAgostini, Sky, Yle, TVP, Astro, PTS, Globo", said Mysskaya. Moreover, the studio continues to build successful global franchises such as "The Fixies" and "Kikoriki". The Fixies characters launched their own educational show "Fixielab" on Chinese Hebei TV, and they were chosen as mascots of the Russian Pavilion at the World Exhibition Expo 2020, and also inspired H&M to launch a joint sustainable collection and a special episode to promote environmental principles among children.
"Kikoriki" shows no signs of slowing down. After 18 years, it’s still the most aired animated TV show in Russia. Recognized by Toonz Media Networks and the CommonSense Network, "Kikoriki" (as well as "BabyRiki") entered into a worldwide partnership with Warner Music Russia, who exclusively distributes and promotes the music of both series.
Last fall, "we joined forces with Youku Kids, Alibaba Group’s video-streaming platform, to produce three new seasons of preschool series 'Tina & Tony'", stated the head of Riki’s international division. The first season of the animated TV series premiered in November 2018 on Youku Kids, followed by the second one. Both obtained great results in China. In 2021 "Tina & Tony" showed great results on DeAJunior in Italy, as well as in France and Brazil. It was recently launched in Korea on the AiCANDO platform by Kyowon.
"On the other hand, our latest project 'DinoCity' has already won the love of young viewers in Europe", added Mysskaya. Created by an international team of specialists from Russia, Ukraine and the UK, the 'DinoCity' has already enjoyed successful debuts in a number of European countries. The animated series premiered worldwide in November 2020 on Italian TV channel DeA Junior, followed by a release in the UK and Ireland on Tiny Pop. Last year the project was launched on the Karusel TV channel and the Okko platform in Russia, Canal+ Kids in France, YLE (Finland), OTO and POP (Slovenia), MiniMini+ in Poland. In 2022, Riki Group waits for the new releases including Frisbee (Discovery Italia), All Media Latvia in the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), TG4 (Ireland), Minika in Turkey, ERT (Greece), Ketnet (Flemish region of Belgium) and MBC (MENA). Second season of "DinoCity" is scheduled for international premiere this year.
NEW GOALS
Riki Group has plans for two big feature releases in 2022. "Our CG-animated comedy 'Finnick' follows the adventures of a 13-year-old girl, Christine, who befriends a Finn, a magical and mischievous spirit who lives in her new house", anticipated Mysskaya. Germany’s Sola Media has taken sales rights for the film and is handling the rights for U.K. & Ireland, Australia & New Zealand, Germany and Italy, Poland and former Yugoslavia, Benelux, Scandinavia, South Africa and additional territories. "We are also working on 'Teddy Boom', a breathtaking adventure about a self-assured thief named Max who steals a unique relic and hides it inside a teddy bear. However, he learns a big lesson about what’s important in life when the magical stuffed animal comes to life," completed the executive.
By Romina Rodríguez