Tulipop Signs Contract with Zodiak Kids
Helga Árnadóttir and Signý Kolbeinsdóttir, co-founders of Tulipop. Photo/Tulipop
The Icelandic design company Tulipop has signed an agreement with the international giant Zodiak Kids about the production of a 52-episode animated children’s series, besed on the Tulipop fairyland and its characters.
Zodiak is part of Banijay Group, one of the world’s largest content creation groups for television and multimedia. Zodiak will produce the episodes in cooperation with Tulipop and manage international sales and distribution. The estimated cost of production for the episodes is ISK 700 million (USD 6.5 million, EUR 5.6 million).
Tulipop was founded in 2010 by illustrator and designer Signý Kolbeinsdóttir and Helga Árnadóttir, computer scientist and MBA.
“This agreement is a milestone for us,” Helga told Morgunblaðið, “since we now have a company ready to finance the production of a large animated series and to sell it internationally.”
Prior to this, Tulipop has produced ten short videos, which have been broadcast on RÚV, the Icelandic national broadcasting station, and on YouTube. Production of the new series is expected to begin by the end of 2019 and airing of the episodes could start a year later.
The company has produced toys, clothes, puzzles and collectibles, based on the colorful characters. The products have been sold in several countries.
Signý told RÚV radio this morning that the Tulipop characters are not meant to be educational, but entertaining. They reflect real life characters with all their imperfections, quarrels and problems, she remarked.
