News Release

Date:Toronto, Canada, March 1 2006  

Telefilm Triggers Development on New CCI Sports Brand for Kids
Getting kids out of their seats and on their feet – that’s the goal of Bangs and the Tank, CCI Entertainment’s new multiplatform sports brand that is the latest recipient of Telefilm Canada Market Research and Prototyping funding.

            “Bangs and the Tank represents a unique partnership between CCI Digital, Smiley Guy Studios and Starbridge Media, a Washington-based sports marketing firm,” said CCI co-chair Arnie Zipursky.  “The Telefilm funding will allow us to build on our strategy of using kids’ love of professional sports to encourage them to get active and adopt a healthier lifestyle.”

            Bangs and the Tank builds on an existing series of two animated pilots originally produced by CCI Entertainment for Rogers Sportsnet and Fox Sports. The one-minute animated shorts ran in Canada and the US between Saturday morning cartoons and the afternoon major league baseball games, with the goal of entertaining young viewers while teaching them about the game of baseball.

“We are revamping the brand for a new audience, using an integrated strategy that will incorporate an immersive web environment that creates a virtual team experience,” said Jonas Diamond, Executive Producer of Toronto’s Smiley Guy Studios.  “The site will feature new animated, interactive content, a strong activity-based component, a community building and involvement module, and be supported by a strategic relationship with little league & minor league baseball.”

The new animated shorts will run both on the Internet and on ballpark big screens across North America.

“This Telefilm application will help us develop marketing tools, like a product demo and preliminary marketing strategy,” said CCI Digital’s Senior Producer Chris Gudgeon.  “It will also allow us to develop creative elements such as a prototype website with new, interactive Flash-based shorts, and to expand our marketing and business plans.”

The prototype will use baseball as its focus, to build on the recognition and goodwill already developed through the brand’s exposure on network television and with minor league teams across North America, with the long-term goal of building an entertaining, inclusive activity-focused brand that encourages kids to explore and enjoy a wide range of sports.
 
Telefilm Canada’s New Media Fund aims to support Canada’s emerging new media industry by helping finance market research and prototyping, product development and marketing of high-quality, original, interactive Canadian new media products.

Back to Press Room