Sesame Workshop and Nelvana Greenlight Season 2 of Award-Winning Esme & Roy to Air on HBO in the U.S. and Treehouse in Canada in 2020
NEW YORK, NY, May 6, 2019 – Esme & Roy, the award-winning original animated series, is returning for a second season. Produced by Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, a world-leading international producer and distributor of children’s animated content, and Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization behind Sesame Street, the new season (26 x 11-minutes) and a special (1 x 22-minutes) will air on Treehouse in Canada and HBO in the U.S. in early 2020.
“Since its debut, Esme & Roy has sparked strong emotional connections with kids and families around the world for its exceptional storytelling, brilliant animation, and loveable characters,” said Scott Dyer, President, Nelvana Enterprises. “With a second season greenlit, and a wave of international distribution deals, we’re delighted to build on the momentum of Esme & Roy and present an all-new season with our incredible partners at Sesame Workshop.”
Season 2 of Esme & Roy continues to invite children into a colourful world where even the littlest monsters can overcome big challenges. In every episode, monster-sitters Esme and Roy help younger monsters through familiar situations – trying new foods, feeling scared during loud thunderstorms, and more – through play and mindfulness strategies. Infectious humour, imaginative design, and expressive voice talent, including Millie Davis (Wonder, Odd Squad) and Patrick McKenna (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs [series], Hotel Transylvania: The Series), bring the world of Esme & Roy to vibrant life.
“As Sesame Workshop celebrates Sesame Street’s 50th anniversary this year, we continue our legacy of innovation with more content in production than ever before,” said Scott Chambers, Senior Vice President/General Manager, Educational Media and Licensing, North America, Sesame Workshop. “We’re thrilled to collaborate with Nelvana on a new season of the beautifully-animated Esme & Roy and look forward to bringing even more laughter and learning to viewers worldwide.”
Distributed internationally by Nelvana outside the U.S., Season 1 of Esme & Roy was recently picked up by ARD and ZDF’s joint children’s channel KiKA in Germany alongside other key networks, including: Disney Junior Southeast Asia, covering 15 territories including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Hong Kong; NRK in Norway; SVT in Sweden; YLE in Finland; Minimini in Poland; HOP in Israel; and DKids in the Middle East and North Africa.
Created by TV veterans Dustin Ferrer and Amy Steinberg, Esme & Roy is nominated for three Daytime Emmy Awards this year; and recently won a 2019 Kidscreen Award for Best New Preschool Series.
About Nelvana Nelvana is a world-leading international producer and distributor of children’s animated and live-action content. Nelvana produces a stable of award-winning and globally renowned brands that focus on comedies, preschool and boys action series and ancillary consumer products programs. Nelvana’s content airs on Corus Entertainment’s kids channels in Canada and in over 160 countries around the world. The Nelvana library has well over 4,000 episodes of programming and has received over 70 major international program awards including Emmys® and Geminis. Visit the Nelvana website at nelvana.com.
Follow Nelvana Enterprises on Twitter @NelvanaEnt
About Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop is the non-profit media and educational organization behind Sesame Street, the pioneering television show that has been reaching and teaching children since 1969. Today, Sesame Workshop is an innovative force for change, with a mission to help kids everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. We’re present in more than 150 countries, serving vulnerable children through a wide range of media, formal education, and philanthropically-funded social impact programs, each grounded in rigorous research and tailored to the needs and cultures of the communities we serve. For more information, please visit www.sesameworkshop.org.
Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. (TSX: CJR.B) is a leading media and content company that creates and delivers high quality brands and content across platforms for audiences around the world. The company’s portfolio of multimedia offerings encompasses 44 specialty television services, 39 radio stations, 15 conventional television stations, a global content business, digital assets, live events, children’s book publishing, animation software, technology and media services. Corus’ roster of premium brands includes Global Television, W Network, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network Canada, HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada, HISTORY®, Showcase, National Geographic Channel, Q107, CKNW, Fresh Radio, Disney Channel Canada, YTV and Nickelodeon Canada. Visit Corus at www.corusent.com.
About HBO
HBO® is one of the most respected and innovative entertainment brands in the world, serving iconic, award-winning programming to 142 million subscribers globally. A subsidiary of WarnerMedia, HBO is the world’s most successful pay TV service with an extensive array of programming that includes some of the most notable titles to be on television including Game of Thrones®, Big Little Lies®, Westworld®, The Sopranos®, Sex and the City®, Band of Brothers®, and The Wire®. In the United States, HBO® and sister network Cinemax® are available across multiple platforms including HBO On Demand®, Cinemax On Demand®, HBO GO® and MAX GO®, as well as HBO NOW®. Internationally, HBO branded services, including television networks and the standalone streaming product HBO GO®, are available in more than 70 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. HBO and Cinemax programming is also sold into more than 150 countries worldwide.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Emily Marshall ChizComm Ltd. | www.chizcomm.com on behalf of Nelvana
emarshall@chizcomm.com
647.389.6101 x 341
April Lim, Associate, Publicist, Corus Entertainment
april.lim@corusent.com
416.860.4216
Beatrice Chow, Sesame Workshop
beatrice.chow@sesame.org
212.875.6586
