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SIP Animation

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SIP Animation
FormerlySaban Records and Music
(1977-1990)

Saban Enterprises
(1990-1993)

Saban International Paris (1993–2002)
Industry
Founded1977; 47 years ago (1977)
Founders
Defunct
  • 2009; 15 years ago (2009) (last production)
  • 2023; 1 year ago (2023) (as a company)
FateLiqudiation and remaining assets folded into BVS Entertainment[1]
SuccessorBVS Entertainment
HeadquartersLa Garenne-Colombes, France
OwnerThe Walt Disney Company
(2012-2023)
Parent
SubsidiariesCréativité et Développement (1996-1998)

SIP Animation (known as Saban International Paris until 2002) was a French animation studio, and a defunct subsidiary of Saban Entertainment (now BVS Entertainment). By 2009, the company had produced over 390 hours of animated content.[4]

History

Early History

Haim Saban and Jacqueline Tordjman formed together Saban Records and Music SARL in 1977[5][6] in order to release Saban's musical compositions. Saban later formed Saban Productions in 1980 and soon became a unit of the newly-formed company.

In 1989, the division moved into the animation field, producing animated series for their parent company.[4] under the name of Saban International Paris. The parent company was renamed Saban Enterprises by 1990.

Semi-independence

In November 1991, the shares of the company were divided[7] with Luxembourg-based company International Film Productions, which acquired a 49.7% stake, while Saban Entertainment kept 49.8% of the studio's shares, with 0.5% of the shares being held by CEO Jacqueline Tordjman. In 1994, another 0.2% of Saban's 49.8 shares were transferred to Tordjman, incrasing her share in Saban International Paris to 0.7%.[8] Thus, Saban's share decreased to 49.6%.[9] In February 1996, the shares of International Film Productions were transferred to Pueblo Films AG, a Switzerland based company.[10]

Throughout the mid to late 1990s, Saban International Paris commonly produced shows for Fox Kids Europe, and kept maintaining this partnership after its rebranding as Jetix Europe.

In January 1996, France 3 picked up Princess Sissi as a co-production between Saban International Parid and Canadian studio CinéGroupe.[11]

Expansion

In March 1996, it was announced that Saban Entertainment would acquire rival French studio Créativité et Développement (C&D), which was owned by DIC Entertainment co-founder Jean Chalopin.[12], The aim was that the studio would be absorbed into Saban International Paris if the deal closed successfully while Saban would inherit their catalogue. In addition, with the completion of the acquisition, the C&D headquarters building in La Garanne-Colombes became the property of Saban International Paris.[13]

The C&D acquisition allowed Saban International Paris to pick up the rights to produce an animated series based on Diabolik, which was added to their existing range of productions in development, which at the time included two Belgian-comic adaptations: Achille Talon and Iznogoud, the latter of which was pre-sold to France 2 for that summer, and three literature adaptations: Oliver Twist and two Michael Ende works Jim Button and Night of the Wishes. In August 1996, Saban and the German ARD network agreed to a three-year, $50 million co-production and library program licensing agreement to co-produce the Michael Ende adaptations.[14]

In February 2000, it was announced that the in-development Night of the Wishes adaptation would be named Wunschpunsch and would be produced as a co-production with CinéGroupe and began production in February 2000, being pre-sold to Radio-Canada and TF1 in the same month.[15]

In December 2000, DIC Entertainment announced that they would be co-producing Gadget and the Gadgetinis with Saban International Paris, and that Saban International would hold international (outside of the U.S.) distribution rights to the series, which itself would premiere in 2002.[16]

In April 2002, Saban International Paris presold a new show tentatively titled Tofu Family (later renamed to The Tofus), to the United Kingdom's ITV to air on their CITV block.[17] The studio were also reported to be working on three Canadian co-productions - Tinsellania for TF1 and Family in co-production with Studio B,[18] Sparkiz for France 2 and ROBO for M6. None of the 3 shows were ever completed.

Rebranding

In July 2001,News Corporation and Saban Entertainment announced their sale of Fox Family Worldwide, which held Saban's assets and stakes, to The Walt Disney Company for $5.3 Billion.[19] The deal would also include Saban Entertainment and Saban's %49,6 shares in Saban International Paris. The deal was closed in October 2001, and after the sale, Saban Entertainment was renamed to BVS Entertainment[20] while their stake in Saban International Paris was sold off after Haim Saban departed the same year.

In 2002, The Walt Disney Company inherited a 49% minority stake in the studio.[21] However, Saban International Paris could no longer be referred to under the respective name, [21] and on October 1, 2002, the company was renamed to SIP Animation, with a new domain name for the company website following soon after.[22][23] On the same day, SIP announced they were producing a TV series based on the Disney-published comic book series W.I.T.C.H., alongside two others they were already working on before the name change (Jason and the Heroes of Mount Olympus and Gadget & the Gadgetinis).[24][25][26] All the SIP shows made during this era were distributed by Buena Vista International Television, a Disney subsidiary.[21]

In March 2003, SIP confirmed that they were due to start work on The Tofus, as well as confirming that they would be co-producing the second season of CinéGroupe's What's with Andy?, in association with Fox Kids France and Super RTL. On the same day SIP also confirmed that they would produce a W.I.T.C.H. pilot to attract broadcasters into airing the series, as well as confirming that two shows were under development for Fox Kids Europe, one being a 2D show which TF1 was looking into airing and the other a 2D/3D show.[27]

In September 2004, Jetix Europe announced that their next co-production with SIP would be an action-packed cartoon with the working title of The Insiders.[28] Hasbro signed a deal to produce toys based on the show later in the month.[29] The show's full title would eventually become A.T.O.M. - Alpha Teens on Machines, and premiered on Jetix channels all over the world in Mid-Late 2005. In October of the same year, website Kidscreen confirmed that the planned 2D show made by SIP would be titled Combo Niños and that delivery for the series would begin in early 2006. Jetix Europe and TF1 had been on-board with the series, but SIP had also been looking for other broadcasters or countries to co-produce the series.[30]

The company made a call for short film pitches in 2006.[31] In May 2007, SIP Animation announced that the production of Combo Niños had begun.[32] The series eventually premiered on Jetix channels in Europe in mid 2008, and eventually Latin America in December.

In late 2007, it was announced that SIP would be co-producing a feature film with Korean distributor M-Line, titled Princess Bari, being the first ever French-Korean animated co-production. The film was rumored to have been completed but was never released.[33][34][35]

In early 2008, SIP introduced a new website and domain name.[36] In its final year of existence, the company produced several television pilots,[4] including Astaquana,[37] Wesh Wesh Express, Ko-Bushi,[38] and The Jokers; as well as an 8-minute short film titled Inukshuk, which was completed in December 2008,[39] and premiered in May 2009.[40]

Closure and legacy

In December 2008, The Walt Disney Company announced that they would purchase out the entirety of Jetix Europe. With Disney fully purchasing their main programme supplier, SIP silently went dormant.

On May 12, 2009, the company was subject to liquidation,[41] and André Lacour was appointed as president by shareholders' decision. Additionally, in 2009, the company changed its address and moved to "Rue de la Galmy 77776 Marne la Vallée cedex 4".

In 2009, CEO and founder Jacqueline Tordjman left the company[42] to co-form Zagtoon. With this, Disney purchased out Tordjman's 0,7% shares in SIP, now owning a 50.3% majority share of the company for the first time. Additionally, in 2012, Bruno Danzel d'Aumont (old Disney France executive) was appointed as the head of the company by the decision of the shareholders'.[43] In 2013, Disney purchased out the remaining 49.7% shares held by Pueblo Films AG, fully owning the assets and all %100 shares of SIP. Thus, BVS Entertainment became the sole authorized shareholder of the SIP for the first time after 1993 and its Haim Saban era. Shortly afterwards, the remains of the studio moved to 25 Quai Panhard et Levassor, the headquarters of The Walt Disney Company France.[44]

In 2019, by the decision of the sole authorized shareholder BVS, current Disney France CEO Phillipe Coen was appointed as the company president.[45]

In 2023, Disney terminated the company through BVS, the sole authorized shareholder of the company, in the last quarter of 2023.[46] SIP Animation as a whole was listed as fully closed in October 2023.[47] Then, all remains of the studio was automatically transferred to BVS Entertainment, which the sole authorized partner of the société anonyme in accordance with French civil law. Contrary to popular belief any of the SIP assets were not transferred or folded into Disney France.

Legacy

Bruno Bianchi, who had worked at the company since the 90s, went on to form his own animation company called Ginkgo Animation after SIP's shutdown, and ran it before his death on December 2, 2011.[48] One of Ginkgo's projects had been George and Me (French title Georges et Moi),[49] an adaptation of a 2006 Soleil Productions comic series that had first been picked up by SIP Animation as early as December 2007,[50] and had been planned to start production at SIP at the beginning of 2009.[51] However, by April 2011 this venture of Ginkgo's was considered unsuccessful due to changing priorities in the French animation industry,[49] according to one of the authors of the original comics.[52]

Malaysian studio Inspidea [ms], which had previously worked as a subcontractor on Combo Niños[53] and Wesh Wesh Express, co-produced the Ko-Bushi pilot and would eventually co-produce a full series under the slightly different title Kobushi [fr],[54] with the involvement of Zagtoon. Zagtoon itself was co-founded by SIP co-founder Jaqueline Tordjman and also employs several key people who worked at SIP, like composers Alain Garcia and Noam Kaniel.

Subsequent ownership

Disney owns all remaining assets of the company as of October 2023 (when the company was liquidated[55][56]), through its Delaware USA-based subsidiary BVS Entertainment (It includes shows produced Saban Entertainment era such as Diabolik , Walter Melon, etc. along with SIP-era shows including W.I.T.C.H., A.T.O.M., Combo Niños and majority of the C&D[13] library) Also W.I.T.C.H. (produced during the SIP era) is however owned by Disney directly as the company was involved in the production itself (not just via Jetix Europe) and published the comic books the show was based on.[57]

As of March 2012, The Walt Disney Company France acts as a contact point for SIP and its former assets.[58]

The shows co-produced with CinéGroupe remain in their catalogue, and are distributed by their partner company HG Distribution. Gadget & the Gadgetinis is currently owned by WildBrain, via co-producer DIC Entertainment and its ownership of the Inspector Gadget franchise.

Disney previously licensed A.T.O.M. – Alpha Teens on Machines to independent distributor Multicom Entertainment Group, particularly including digital distribution rights. Multicom formerly had the full series listed in its distribution catalogue,[59] which was later changed to only one season[60] before being removed entirely.[61] The first season was previously available to stream on Tubi TV,[62] as well as Amazon Prime for the United States.[63] According to US Copyright Database[64] the television series is still a property of Disney's defunct subsidiaries Jetix Europe and SIP Animation. Additionally, Disney headquarters in Burbank, CA is listed as the contact point for this IP in 2009 (after the actual liquidation of SIP).

The short film Inukshuk is distributed by interfilm.[65]

Shows produced

As Saban International Paris

Some of the shows featured the "Saban's" corporate bug in their title. Saban Entertainment itself is not listed.

As SIP Animation

Pilots

  • Astaquana (2007)
  • Wesh Wesh Express (2008)
  • Ko-Bushi [fr] (2008)
  • The Jokers (2008)

Short film

  • Inukshuk (2009)

References

  1. ^ https://www.pappers.fr/entreprise/sip-animation-312161516#_
  2. ^ https://www.pappers.fr/document/telecharger?token=QWV3MGljelplbHhSRF9SQUNUOTMwMDE3NTE4MQ%7C
  3. ^ https://www.pappers.fr/entreprise/sip-animation-312161516#_%7C
  4. ^ a b c "SIP Animation". 8 February 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-02-08. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  5. ^ "SIP Animation Appoint Sylvie Barro As Head of Development". 4rfv.co.uk. January 17, 2007. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  6. ^ "First Name of the Company".
  7. ^ "1993 - Shareholders Document".
  8. ^ "1994 - Shareholders Document".
  9. ^ "1995 - Shareholders Document".
  10. ^ "1996 - Shareholders Document".
  11. ^ "France 3 has a busy slate of productions".
  12. ^ "Saban grows in France". Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Liqudiation of C&D".
  14. ^ "August Issue News Section". www.awn.com. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  15. ^ "What's developing in kids production".
  16. ^ "Archive » What's developing in kids production". Kidscreen. 2000-12-01. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  17. ^ "UK presale for Saban's new toon | News". C21Media. 2002-04-22. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  18. ^ "Canadian shows screen at MIPCOM » Playback". Playbackonline.ca. 2002-10-14. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  19. ^ "News Corp. and Haim Saban Reach Agreement to Sell Fox Family Worldwide to Disney for $5.3 Billion". saban. July 23, 2001. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
  20. ^ "2002 - Shareholders Renamed".
  21. ^ a b c "anime1.pdf" (PDF). 19 October 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-10-19. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  22. ^ "Bienvenue". 14 March 2002. Archived from the original on 2002-03-14. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  23. ^ "Bienvenue sur le site Saban International Paris. Welcome on Saban International Paris web site". 22 January 2003. Archived from the original on 2003-01-22. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  24. ^ Godfrey, Leigh (September 25, 2002). "Saban Becomes SIP Before Journey To Mipcom". Animation World Network. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
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  28. ^ 2004-09-09T08:30:00 (2004-09-09). "Jetix signs toon co-pro | News | Broadcast". Broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-11-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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  30. ^ "Archive » Cool New Shows!". Kidscreen. 2004-10-01. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
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  35. ^ "Princesse Bari - Pilote (Film franco/coréen par le réal d'Oseam) - News". Catsuka. 2019-10-20. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
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  39. ^ "Inukshuk (2008)". en.unifrance.org. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  40. ^ "Inukshuk - La Pellicule Ensorcelée". www.lapelliculeensorcelee.org. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  41. ^ "SIP ANIMATION (PARIS 13) Chiffre d'affaires, résultat, bilans sur SOCIETE.COM - 312161516". www.societe.com. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  42. ^ "2009 - Sahreholders Document".
  43. ^ "2012 - Shareholders Document".
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  46. ^ "Liqudaition".
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  53. ^ "Is". 7 December 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  54. ^ "Kobushi". 16 December 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  55. ^ "Annonces commerciales detail — bodacc.fr". www.bodacc.fr. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
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  57. ^ Home video releases of W.I.T.C.H. carry the Disney DVD trailers on-disc.
  58. ^ "ADHÉRER AU SNEP" (PDF). SNEP. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
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  61. ^ "a.t.o.m.: alpha teens on machines". multicom.tv. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  62. ^ "Watch A.T.O.M.: Alpha Teens on - Free TV Series Full Seasons Online | Tubi". Tubitv.com. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  63. ^ "Amazon.com: A.T.O.M. Alpha Teens On Machines". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  64. ^ "U.S. Copyright Public Records System". publicrecords.copyright.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  65. ^ "Inukshuk". www.interfilm.de. Retrieved 22 December 2018.