Cape Town based Sunrise Productions are the creators and producers of internationally acclaimed and award winning animated series Jungle Beat.

The series has been broadcast in over 100 countries worldwide; been shown on 13 airlines, including a second and current run on South African Airlines; has been in competition at many of the world's premier animation festivals; and won a number of international awards for quality and content in animation.

Sunrise Producer Phil Cunningham explains how he sees an animated TV series becoming far more: “Our starting point is a passion to tell stories and in my mind there is no medium like animation to do this in. Animation has the power to cross race, cultural and age barriers better than any other medium and also has amazing evergreen potential. The other amazing thing about animation is that it opens up a world of possibility in terms of building a long lasting, quality brand. I was very inspired reading the story of George Washington Carver who unlocked 300 uses for an ordinary peanut. I believe if you can look at what you have in your hand creatively and start unlocking its potential then you can potentially unleash a multiplier effect! As our driver is story we aim to produce another 52 episodes and a full-length feature film to continue spearheading the path forward. Everything that follows in terms of brand building will be carefully built on the Jungle Beat DNA and stay true to the long term goals.”

Jungle Beat is poised to become a household name in South Africa, being the first South African animation brand to be exclusively licensed by Woolworths. A major clothing deal with the innovative and quality clothing retailer has been signed and Jungle Beat merchandise will be available at selected Woolworths stores in December 2009.

Sunrise also has a distribution deal covering theatrical releases, TV broadcast and DVD distribution with Nu Metro. Select shorts will be shown in theatres in front of family releases in Nu Metro's cinemas. The series will be shown on M-Net starting July, and will be released on DVD in September.

Sunrise has also secured a publishing deal with Pearson's Publishing for an initial roll out of three Jungle Beat activity books and one storybook. Pearson's is an international media and education company, and they are also the driving force behind the well-known educational publisher, Penguin Books.

A vital part of the Jungle Beat strategy is to build an e-community across the internet; computer; and mobile platforms. To this end, Mweb is committed as partner to bring this to fruition in a dynamic and creative way. Mweb currently attracts 700 000 unique visitors monthly with 28-million page impressions.

In another exciting arena, Jungle Beat will be the theme for The Village Mall opening in 2011 in Cape Town. The characters are already incorporated into marketing material for the mall, including on a billboard. Sunrise will be allocated a 650sqm space to place a Jungle Beat Cafe, which will open onto a 5 000sqm family entertainment area with waterslide and theme park.

And all of this is just the beginning! Negotiations are underway in a host of other avenues. For more information, visit www.junglebeat.tv