DQ Entertainment International ("DQE") : DQE and Turner Announce Exclusive Broadcast Agreement

HYDERABAD, India, June 10, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DQE, the animation, gaming, live action entertainment production and distribution company, announces a broadcast agreement with leading children's entertainment channels Cartoon Network and POGO, both part of Turner International India Pvt. ltd. ("Turner"), for the first and second sequel of animated feature Balkand.

This exclusive agreement for Turner's South Asia feed, confirms DQE as the leading animation studio in India and underscores Turner's aggressive commitment to invest and promote its "Desi-Toons" strategy. This latest content agreement augments Turner's robust Indian animation library, taking the tally to 40 plus local titles acquired and or produced by Turner in India.

Balkand, sequel 1 and 2, follows the successful debut of Balkand on POGO in 2009. Created and produced by DQE, the sequels comprise of 70 minute animated features split into 3 episodes of 22 minutes.

Tapaas Chakravarti Chairman & CEO of DQE Group said,

"We are very happy to partner with Turner Entertainment Networks -the pioneers for showcasing Indian animation content and we appreciate their foresight and dedication to encourage production of local Indian content. Their efforts in this area have been relentless and we are sure this collaboration will generate further initiatives. This deal will help in adding to our library of Indian content and embarking on a new and exciting venture for producing Indian content"

Krishna Desai, Director, Programming, Turner International India Pvt. Ltd., said, "Promoting and supporting Indian animation is a critical mandate of Turner in India. We have been aggressively executing our "Desi Toons" strategy that includes acquiring and creating Indian intellectual property as well providing local animations, the perfect launch platforms in the form of the number one and two kids' channels of India Cartoon Network and POGO. Kids across India enjoyed Balkand on POGO and we are sure that their response to sequels will be equally encouraging."

About DQE

DQE's 100% home grown production in Hi-end 3D, 'The Jungle Book' is in production as a 52 episode animated series and a 60 minute TV feature in co-production with international majors including TF1 and Moonscoop , France, ZDF Group, Germany and is to be released world-wide in 2010. Toomai-The Elephant Boy which is a live action TV series is in development in co-operation with international broadcasters, while several Indian IPs like Mysteries & Feluda, Omkar, Balkand I, II and III with International Broadcasters have had a successful run.

DQE has also announced the development of a series of animated short films for television in collaboration with French production companies Method Animation and MK2. DQE, Method Animation and MK2 announced the production and worldwide distribution and exploitation of an animated version of 104 six-minute episodes inspired by the legendary film icon Charlie Chaplin's Hollywood films. The first series will be developed in colour creating a timeless atmosphere and a unique look, blending early 20th century with present time, allowing for younger generations to identify with the Charlie Chaplin character.

DQE has received recognition and awards at several national and international forums fostering creativity and excellence. Some of the recent recognitions have been at the Ernst & Young,

Entrepreneur of the Year - 2009 India Awards, The UK Broadcast Awards 2010, Sichuan TV Festival International "Gold Panda" Awards, The Emmy Award, administered by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for Tutenstein TV series co-produced by DQE and several others.

DQE's production facilities are based in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Kolkata and it has international sales representatives in Los Angeles, Paris and Tokyo.

About Turner International India Pvt. Ltd:

Turner's Cartoon Network and POGO are the # 1 and # 2 television destinations for kids in India. Having shaped kids' television in India, with the launch of Cartoon Network in 1995, Turner created another milestone with the launch of POGO, a multi-genre channel for kids and their families in 2004. Recognised as the resident kids' experts with a 360-degree presence through successful on-air and on line presence, ground-events, promotional licensing, product licensing, publishing, CD ROMS, etc, Cartoon Network and POGO, with an intelligent mix of live action, movies and animation, offer a complete entertainment package for Indian kids.

http://www.cartoonnetworkindia.com is India's leading destination for kids' online entertainment attracting close to 717,080* unique visitors and each of them spends an averageof 32.23 minutes on the website. http://www.cartoonnetworkindia.com registers a new user to its online community every two minutes. Kids can find the largest selection of cartoon character based games, video on demand, and a community site featuring personalized avatars and message boards. (*Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst , January to May, 2010)

http://www.pogo.tv is a hugely popular and highly interactive kids' website with exciting features such as video-on-demand, blogs, message boards, gaming and mini-sites of popular shows on POGO. The website attracts over 106,000* unique visitors per month and each of them spend an average of 24 minutes on the website. (*Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst, February-May, 2010)

Part of the Time Warner Company, Turner International India Pvt. Ltd. is the arm of Turner Broadcasting System. Inc. (TBS) that manages the sales and marketing of Turner's news and entertainment services in India and South Asia.

    Contact

    DQ Entertainment International
    Sumedha Saraogi
    Tel: +91-40-2355-3726/27
    [email protected]

    Turner International India Pvt. Ltd.
    Abha Talwar
    Tel: +91-11-416-99-117
    [email protected]

SOURCE DQ Entertainment International (DQE)