Prank Patrol, Distributed Exclusively by MarVista Entertainment, Renewed for a Fourth Season on Canada’s YTV

 In Archived News

22 New Half-Hour Episodes to Debut at MIP TV 2008
Bringing Total Episodes to 100

Los Angeles, CA (March 26, 2008) MarVista Entertainment, producers and distributors of family and children’s entertainment programming, is pleased to announce that the live-action kids reality series Prank Patrol has been renewed by Canadian broadcaster YTV, resulting in an additional 22 half-hour episodes for the international market and bringing the total number of episodes to 100 half-hours. Prank Patrol is one of three series distributed worldwide by MarVista Entertainment from award-winning Montreal based producer Apartment 11 Productions. That announcement was made today by Fernando Szew, CEO, MarVista Entertainment.

Prank Patrol originally debuted on Canada’s YTV in Fall 2005, and was nominated for a Gemini Award and Banff World Television Award in 2006 and a Golden Sheaf Award in Fall 2005. For its fourth season, which will debut on YTV in Fall 2008, Prank Patrol will be hitting the road for the first time, filming in various cities across Canada. Production will commence in May 2008.

“Jonathan Finkelstein and his team at Apartment 11 continue to make outstanding programming that performs consistently well,” commented Szew. “As a result, their shows continually get renewed by their commissioning broadcasters, providing series with multiple episodes for the overseas market, an attractive proposition for most international broadcasters.”

“Prank Patrol continues to resonate with viewers because they know when they tune in to each episode, they can expect a half hour full of laughter and surprises,” commented Jonathan Finkelstein, President, Apartment 11 Productions. “We never cease to be amazed by the boundless imagination of the stars of our show – real kids who provide us with the motivation to outdo ourselves each year with wilder and more outrageous pranks.” “We’re very excited to bring YTV viewers this new season of Prank Patrol,” said Jocelyn Hamilton, Vice President, Content, Corus Kids. “As the show moves across Canada pranking people from east coast to west, audiences will be able to connect with this series like never before – we’re thrilled about that!” Prank Patrol is licensed as a format to the BBC, who renewed the series for a second season, broadcasting a total number of 30 episodes. The British version of the series was produced in the U.K. by Bakermedia. Prank Patrol also airs in Norway on TV2, who acquired 78 half-hour episodes of the series. MarVista is also responsible for distributing the UK version of Prank Patrol outside of Canada, the UK and Ireland and is responsible for licensing format rights to other territories.

In Prank Patrol, lucky viewers get to create, build and execute a big-time prank! All they have to do is call in the… Prank Patrol! Each week, in the customized “SpyVan,” fun-loving host Andre (“Andy”) Simoneau and his side-kick Ninjas take the prankster to the special effects pros. With their movie-making skills, these experts help the prankster put together and pull off the prank of a lifetime! Prank Patrol is created by Jonathan Finkelstein and David Hansen, and produced by Apartment 11 Productions in association with YTV, with support from the Shaw Rocket Fund. Finkelstein is the series executive producer with David Hansen producing seasons one and two and Maryke McEwen producing seasons three and four.

MarVista is also the exclusive distributor for Apartment 11’s Mystery Hunters, currently in its third season at YTV; and Surprise! It’s Edible! Incredible! on Discovery Kids Canada. Both Prank Patrol and Surprise! It’s Edible, Incredible! are available as complete episodes or in format versions.

ABOUT MAR VISTA ENTERTAINMENT MarVista Entertainment is a Los Angeles based leading independent producer and distributor of features and family entertainment programming. The company was founded in September 2003 and is helmed by Fernando Szew, the company’s CEO, Michael D. Jacobs, President, Joseph Szew, COO/CFO, and George Port, Executive Vice President. Now in its fifth year, MarVista’s library features over 2000 hours of programming. The company’s flagship primetime series, Beyond the Break, a co-production with MTV Networks and Brookwell McNamara Entertainment (Even Stevens, That’s So Raven) has been sold to all major territories across the globe and is broadcast on leading terrestrial channels. The series is the first in a three series development deal with MTV Networks. Additionally, MarVista has become well-established as a provider of television movies to leading cable networks in the U.S., with over twenty television movies produced or executive produced by the company broadcast on Lifetime Television Network, Universal Television and ABC Family. The success of these movies has translated into extensive program sales across the globe on numerous terrestrial and pay television platforms. In the U.S. home entertainment market, MarVista Home Entertainment has released almost twenty movies during 2006 and 2007 on DVD.

ABOUT YTV YTV, now in its 20th year, is a leading entertainment brand for kids in Canada. The network is seen in over eight million homes. As a major force in kids’ entertainment, YTV has triggered over $1 billion in Canadian independent production; has a highly interactive website that averages over 90 million monthly page views; publishes a successful kids’ magazine, Whoa!; and conducts a highly respected annual survey, The YTV Tween Report.

YTV is owned by Corus Entertainment, a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, advertising and digital audio services, television broadcasting, children’s book publishing and children’s animation. The company’s multimedia entertainment brands include YTV, Treehouse, W Network, Movie Central, Nelvana, Kids Can Press and radio stations including CKNW, CKOI and Q107. Corus creates engaging branded entertainment experiences for its audiences across multiple platforms. A publicly traded company, Corus is listed on the Toronto (CJR.B) and New York (CJR) exchanges. Experience Corus on the web at www.corusent.com.

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