{"id":676502,"date":"2026-11-06T06:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T06:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/676502\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T06:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T06:52:09","slug":"pout-pout-fish-studio-unveils-seven-film-animation-slate-with-sola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/676502\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Pout-Pout Fish’ Studio Unveils Seven-Film Animation Slate With Sola"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLike a Photon Creative<\/a>, the Australian animation studio behind \u201cThe Pout-Pout Fish<\/a>,\u201d has lined up seven new animated features and handed international distribution rights on the full slate to Sola Media.<\/p>\n

\n\tProduction finance comes from Elevate Production Finance and Alceon Entertainment Partners. Maslow Entertainment has picked up Australia and New Zealand distribution on the features. According to the companies, the lineup could create as many as 1,000 jobs in Australia and Ireland. Like a Photon Creative CEO Kristen Souvlis will attend the upcoming American Film Market<\/a> (AFM<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\n\tFirst up is \u201cFamiliar,\u201d an original developed in-house that will be made as a treaty co-production with Irish company Elephant Goldfish. Production on the film is expected to start in March 2027. Further titles will be revealed later.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film is set at Ironclaw Academy, a school where the animal companions of sorcerers \u2013 known as familiars \u2013 go through a demanding and frequently messy training regime. Its central character is Josie, a feisty young cat.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFamilies keep coming back to our films, and we\u2019re focused on making projects that deserve that trust, with strong stories and broad appeal. \u2018Familiar\u2019 is the first of seven new features in our growing pipeline. Sola Media has a proven track record with our work, and together we see real opportunity to take Australian and European content to international audiences,\u201d Souvlis said.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlongside each of the seven features, the studio will make short-form direct-to-consumer material built from footage that won\u2019t appear in the films themselves. That content will be bundled with the movies and rolled out across a range of online and social platforms.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe slate follows \u201cThe Pout-Pout Fish,\u201d which Sola Media handled internationally. Adapted from the popular children\u2019s book series, the film opened at No. 9 at the U.S. box office and currently ranks as the fourth highest-grossing Australian film of 2026. It also hit No. 1 on Amazon Prime Kids and No. 6 among all Prime viewers. Maslow released it in Australian cinemas on Jan. 1, with Viva Kids handling the U.S. release on March 20.<\/p>\n

\n\tSola Media will also oversee international distribution for the studio\u2019s next release, \u201cThe Neverending Pillow Fort,\u201d the first feature from Crayola Studios, produced with MIMO Studios. Allison Brownmoore directs the film, which is due in early 2027. Elizabeth Cullen and Sofia Rose voice best friends Maggie and Abby, with Guy Pearce, David Tennant, Teresa Palmer and Marsai Martin also in the cast.<\/p>\n

\n\tSola Media managing director Solveig Langeland said mixing humor and heart has always sat at the center of the studio\u2019s storytelling, backed by its skill at bringing characters to life through strong voice casts. \u201cWe are proud of the successes we have achieved together and excited to embark on the next chapter of our partnership. With their expansion into co-productions with Ireland, Like a Photon is taking another exciting step forward. Their forward-thinking approach to building brands and engaging audiences through direct-to-consumer content from the earliest stages of production adds a powerful new dimension to their upcoming slate, creating awareness and marketing momentum long before the films reach cinemas,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tSeparately, Like a Photon Creative has teamed with Screen Queensland on the Escalate: Feature Focus Writers Initiative. Under the scheme, six screenwriters based in Queensland will each write a script for a possible 3D animated feature, working from concepts supplied by the studio. Writers\u2019 rooms kick off in February 2027.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe studio has backed and made 10 animated features in 3D for worldwide theatrical release since 2017, among them \u201cThe Wishmas Tree,\u201d \u201cCombat Wombat\u201d and its 2023 sequel, \u201cDaisy Quokka: World\u2019s Scariest Animal,\u201d \u201cThe Sloth Lane\u201d and \u201cThe Lost Tiger.\u201d It also created the Sanctuary City multiverse for Universal Content Group.<\/p>\n

\n\tLangeland founded Sola Media in 2004. The company, which has offices in Stuttgart and Munich, was acquired in 2020 by Embracer Group\u2019s Plaion but continues to operate independently under Langeland and fellow managing director Moritz Peters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Like a Photon Creative, the Australian animation studio behind \u201cThe Pout-Pout Fish,\u201d has lined up seven new animated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[58747,37831,93,61,60,286583,270,286584],"class_list":["post-676502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-afm","tag-american-film-market","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-like-a-photon-creative","tag-movies","tag-the-pout-pout-fish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}