Video Age International October 2016

50 October 2016 V I D E O A G E T wo new children’s series gave Italy’s Rainbow the incentive to organize an international press tour for one of the shows’ shooting locations, and to its headquarters. For the new 26-minute live action series Maggie & Bianca , journalists from the U.S., U.K, Canada and Italy were first invited to screen a full episode and, later, escorted to Stage 19 of the Cinecittá Studios on the outskirts of Rome to assist the recording of a segment of the show, followed by a reception with the crew and cast. After the studio’s tour, guests were bussed 280 km away to the town of Loreto, the locale of Rainbow’s headquarters and animation studios to participate in the development of a segment of the new 22-minute cartoon series, Regal Academy . For Maggie & Bianca , Rainbow has 26 episodes ready and commitments from RAI Gulp for another 26. So far, the series has been sold to five countries, including France, Germany and Brazil. The series’ subtitle is “Fashion Friends” because it mixes music scenes with the activities of a fictional Fashion Academy school in Milan where all the characters interact (it is loosely based on an actual fashion school in Milan). Fashion and music are recurring elements in most Rainbow productions and allow the entertainment group to also market music videos and lines of apparel and accessories. These merchandising opportunities were developed and refined with Rainbow’s long-lasting signature animation Winx Club , which has multiple seasonal fashion lines. Although the series is in Italian, all the cast members speak English, mostly with American accents and it includes the American actor Elia Nichols, who dubs her own voice in the English- language version. “We screened over 400 actors before selecting two for the main characters: Maggie and Bianca,” commented Iginio Straffi, the series creator and Rainbow’s founder and president. Playing Bianca is the 16-year old Giorgia Boni, who also sings in a perfect American accent, while Emanuela Rei is Maggie, an American fashion student who plays the guitar. The English dubbing is done in New York City and in the episode screened, viewers weren’t sure if it was originally shot in English or Italian, such was the quality of the lip-sync. Straffi also said that the series has a multicultural cast with Italian, American, Irish and Chinese actors, and appeals to a wide young audience that stretches from six-to-11 and nine- to-14 age groups. As with most of Rainbow’s TV series, Maggie & Bianca is geared toward to girls, even though the two main male actors, Sergio Ruggeri and Luca Murphy (who speaks English with a British accent) could bring more boy viewers if given more prominent roles (as done with Rainbow’s movies). Rainbow screened one episode of the 4K live- action series, followed by two music clips on a wide-screen, 150 seat movie theater in Cinecittá Studios. The next day, the visiting contingent was transported to Rainbow’s studio facilities in Loreto, where the entertainment company was working on their latest animation, Regal Academy . Originally, the series was to be called “Royal Academy,” but copyright impediments required the use of “Regal” instead. So far, 26 episodes have been completed and a second season was underway during the journalists’ visit. With a target audience of six-to-10 year olds, the first season of the animated slapstick comedy (also created and directed by Straffi, while his wife, Joanne Lee, is the executive producer) has been sold to 20 countries, including the U.S., Australia, Turkey and Israel. The screenings at Rainbow Studios’ 72-seat theater of one episode of Regal Academy had some technical glitches, but they did not impede the appreciation of the series’ ironic and comic tones, while old-aged characters interpreted many well-known fairy tales, such as Cinderella, Snow White and Rapunzel and, for example, Grandma Beauty and Grandpa Beast. In addition, the first season featured 12 original songs. Last year, Rainbow celebrated its 20-year anniversary with the acquisition of Vancouver, Canada-based 25-year-old animation service company Bardel Entertainment, which is expected to increase penetration of Rainbow’s animation and live-action children’s TV content to the Americas. For Rainbow, Producing Children’s Shows Is a Mature Business Spotlight On: Italian TV Animation Rainbow Studios in Loreto, Italy The merchandising showroom Iginio Straffi (c.) with the cast of Maggie & Bianca Rainbow’s sales and marketing staff in the company’s Loreto headquarters One of Rainbow’s computer animation facilities Rainbow’s founder and CEO, Iginio Straffi