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EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures Television – Kids is headed to Mipcom with reinventions of Bewitched, Stuart Little and Wheel of Fortune, and original series such as Sharks on Wheels.
The kids production and distribution arm of Sony has a slate also comprising Hotel Whiskers and The Powers. The shows will launch at Mipcom Junior, the kids event that precedes the main Mipcom market in Cannes, France in October.
SPT – Kids was known as Silvergate Media until November last year, after Sony bought the Lord Waheed Alli-founded kids producer in 2019. In the past year, the unit has been delving into the Sony IP catalog to develop new projects.
Adaptations of Bewitched, Stuart Little and Wheel of Fortune were first unveiled over the summer. Based on the 1960s and 1970s comedy series, the new Bewitched follows witch Samantha’s pre-teen daughter Tabitha and “combines the teenage double-life adventures of Hannah Montana with the magic school antics of Harry Potter,” according to SPT – Kids.
Stuart Little will be a retelling of the E.B. White classic novel for kids aged 6+. Sony bills it as “Freaks and Geeks… but with a mouse,” and it comes nearly 25 years after the first Stuart Little feature film, which spawned two sequels. An animated series ran on HBO Family in 2003.
The Wheel of Fortune adaptation has been developed in collaboration with SPT’s game show division. According to Sony, it will “stay true to the format” but incorporate gameplay twists for a younger audience, including physical and comedic challenges to earn letters or buy vowels.
On the original IP front, Sharks on Wheels is billed as “Wacky Races meets Drive to Survive.” Set in an all-shark world, teams of racers in hot-rodded (or “sharkified”) vehicles battle it out on the racetrack for the Megalodon Cup.
Hotel Whiskers is being sold as “Suite Life of Zach and Cody… but with animals,” set in the “first-ever home away from home for animals of all stripes and types, including pets.”
The Powers is being developed in collaboration with Sow You Entertainment and follows 5-year-old Will, the youngest member of a family of singing silly supervillains who is no good at being bad. Each seven-minute episode is billed as “a mini-rock opera with catchy hooks” as Will helps his family learn how to be good.
Slayer Family Band follows a family band that inherits cursed musical instruments so they can battle demons.
“Our specialty as one of the industry’s most prolific producers of kids’ content is to bring buyers the next generation’s high quality, hit children’s franchise, just as we did for Netflix with Creature Cases and Hilda, and for Disney with SuperKitties,” said Joe D’Ambrosia, EVP & General Manager, SPT – Kids. “Our distinctive and diverse development lineup has already generated early enthusiasm and we’re looking forward to continuing conversations with our buyers at the market.”
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