Kinsane Entertainment acquires film, TV, mobile game and podcast rights for hilarious, blended-family-themed, middle-grade book trilogy WEDGIE AND GIZMO by Suzanne Selfors

- Written by best-selling author Suzanne Selfors and illustrated by Barbara Fisinger, the books debuted to critical and commercial acclaim in 2017.

- Kinsane Entertainment has acquired film, TV, mobile game, and podcast rights for the book trilogy.

MUMBAI, India, Aug. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kinsane Entertainment Inc., a global kids and family, multi-platform media company owned by Rainshine Entertainment, announces the acquisition of book adaptation rights for best-selling author Suzanne Selfors' comedic WEDGIE AND GIZMO. Kinsane will develop the literary franchise as an animated series, as mobile games, consumer products, and more for worldwide release.

Published by HarperCollins and debuting to critical and commercial acclaim in 2017, WEDGIE AND GIZMO is the story of a blended family, as told from the alternating and singularly distinctive voices of the family pets: a deluded evil genius guinea pig named GIZMO, and his happy-go-lucky rival, an equally deluded Welsh Corgi called WEDGIE. The book series begins as Elliot, his dad, and GIZMO move into their new home, already occupied by Jasmine, Jackson, their mom and their mysterious Abuela, and of course, the sweet but annoying dog, WEDGIE. Evil genius GIZMO's hilarious and constantly derailed plans for a guinea pig uprising are turned on-end as the rodent becomes more convinced that blissfully ignorant WEDGIE is his pre-ordained super foe, determined to thwart GIZMO'S ambitions at every turn. As the fuzzy pets create chaos within the home and beyond, the books deftly explore the dynamics within a newly merged, multi-racial household during their process of becoming a family.

A 100% owned subsidiary of Rainshine Entertainment, an award-winning, multi-studio global entertainment conglomerate, Kinsane Entertainment, Inc. was co-founded by Kurt Inderbitzin, Indrani Pillai, and Saahil Bhargava. Writer/Producer Donna Ebbs will lead creative development on WEDGIE AND GIZMO for multiple platforms. 

Commenting on the development, Kurt Inderbitzin, Co-Founder and CEO of Kinsane Entertainment, Inc. says, "We are so thrilled to welcome WEDGIE AND GIZMO to the family. It's rare that a piece of material comes your way, and everyone who reads it—and I mean everyone—can't wait for the next installment. When I read it, I found myself laughing out loud, but it was incredibly touching at the same time. That's the magic of Suzanne's writing, and what we will amplify in the series and within every part of this amazing brand."

Representing HarperCollins, Director of Media Annabelle Saks says,

"WEDGIE AND GIZMO has certainly found a great home at Kinsane Entertainment. We can't wait to see this beloved series come to life on multiple platforms under their trusted guidance."

WEDGIE AND GIZMO wordsmith Suzanne Selfors speaks in proud pet parent prose and says, "These fur babies are all grown up! Kinsane Entertainment will give them the opportunity to fly to new heights in animation, video games, toys, and beyond."

True to form, legendary protagonists WEDGIE AND GIZMO seize the moment to opine on the recent turn of events.

Says GIZMO, "No one asked my opinion about moving... I am irked, I tell you! I am an evil genius with evil work to do!"

WEDGIE counters, "What a great day! I LOVE this day! I wish every day could be like this day! Let's go, people! SUPER WEDGIE, reporting for duty!"

Ultimately, the downy duo is united in wanting everyone to know these facts: Shortly after publication, WEDGIE AND GIZMO received Amazon Best Book of the Month recognition, a Cybils Award from children's and young adult book bloggers, a nomination for Japan's prestigious Sakura Medal, finalist status for an Audible Audie Award, and 15 or so additional distinctions.

About Kinsane Entertainment:

Established in early 2017 Kinsane Entertainment has a 360-degree approach to developing children and family titles; Kinsane's creative architecture includes building franchises through a mix of videos and games. Since its inception, the company has launched two popular universes.  The first is KINTOONS, a pre-school property that has over 57 million views and 150,000 subscribers of its videos across VOD platforms, such as YouTube and ROKU (with over 1 million downloads of its games across app stores), plus Trinity Broadcasting subscription service Yippee. And the second is the cartoon comedy OTTO IN THE MIDDLE, launched first in the form of mobile games, has 1.2 million downloads across app stores. OTTO IN THE MIDDLE, the animated series, was showcased at Asia TV Forum 2018 Singapore as part of the 'Fresh Content from India' panel.

Kinsane plans to launch additional animated series, such as YOUNG CAPTAIN NEMO (based on the bestselling middle-grade book series by Jason Henderson), ERU AND THE GHOST KINGDOM, and BOOKENDED, along with a plethora of delightful and cutting-edge games built around each of these ecosystems. For more information, please see www.kinsane.com.

About Rainshine Entertainment:

Rainshine Entertainment is an entertainment company that nurtures, creates and develops studios that make fabulous content aimed at global audiences, and build sustainable businesses. Transcending both digital and traditional media, the company's content covers a wide variety of formats and genres, including young adult romance and drama, comedy, crime and thrillers, biographical stories, documentaries and docu-dramas, kids and animation, podcasts, gaming and branded content. With offices in Mumbai, Los Angeles, and London, Rainshine partners with talent, content creators, and distributors everywhere.

Rainshine is committed to building a nimble and driven company that embraces diversity while valuing curiosity, levity, generosity, virtuosity, and tenacity as its core principles.

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