BOCA RATON, Fla., Aug. 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Grom Social Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: GROM) (“Grom” or the “Company”), a media, technology and entertainment company dedicated to family-friendly programming, web filtering technology, and safe social media for kids, today confirmed that Curiosity Ink Media, Grom’s original content generator and prolific storytelling division, has officially begun production on Hey Fuzzy Yellow!, a new animated preschool series slated to begin airing in several markets beginning in early 2025. The series, a co-production by Curiosity Ink Media, Toon2Tango, Treehouse Republic and Hotel Hungaria Animation, in partnership with the show’s creator, Måns Swanberg, serves as a launchpad for expansion into a franchise entertainment brand with multiple ancillary revenue opportunities typically associated with hit preschool programming. The production kick-off was announced today by Jared Wolfson, Curiosity Ink Media’s Chief Executive Officer.
With a balanced combination of curriculum-driven content, comedic cast of characters, unconventional situational setups and fantastic music, Hey Fuzzy Yellow! has been successful in attracting production funding, strategic investment and a wide range of creative talent. With production underway on the 52 x 11-minute episode series, additional international pre-sales discussions are under consideration.
Jared Wolfson, Chief Executive Officer of Curiosity Ink Media, states, “All of us at Curiosity Ink Media saw the potential of Hey Fuzzy Yellow! from day one. The series artfully blends so many of the elements we believe will positively impact young viewers with engagingly funny characters, playful storytelling, and superbly dynamic visual mediums. We are proud to be co-producing this series with our friends at T2T, as well as Hotel Hungaria and Treehouse Republic, and look forward to driving towards great long-term franchise success.”
A spirited take on early childhood edutainment, Hey Fuzzy Yellow! promotes independent thinking and self-expression. The series, expressed in interstitial-style short-form segments, aims to serve preschoolers and their parents through comedic storytelling, upbeat songs and music, and practical lessons viewers can embrace as they mature and develop. Curiosity Ink Media’s growing footprint in Kids’ Entertainment began when it opened its doors in 2017, prior to being acquired by Grom Social Enterprises, Inc. in 2021. Curiosity’s co-founder, Russell Hicks, previously served as President of Nickelodeon original programming and is widely credited with helping to usher in iconic global powerhouse entertainment brands including SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer and Paw Patrol, among others.
Curiosity’s ongoing collaboration with Toon2Tango builds on their expansion into original IP franchise properties, the thrust of its storytelling catalog. Toon2Tango, the Munich, Germany-based production company and specialists in development and distribution of kids’ and family content, enhances their global reach in animation production and brand building. In addition to Hey Fuzzy Yellow!, the collaboration also includes cultivating another preschool property, Baldwin, to market as well as teaming up to produce Santa.com, an original animated holiday feature film which also goes by the same name as Grom’s and Curiosity’s holiday-centric digital ecommerce site and editorial platform.