INCREDIBLE STORY STUDIO - MAKING HISTORY WITH A FIRST IN CHILDREN'S TELEVISION!

Released: July 1, 2000

(REGINA, SK CANADA) It's a first for children's television! Incredible Story Studio produces stories written by kids in Canada, and now, around the world! The "made-in-Canada" kid's series that has won international acclaim began shooting its fourth season June 26 in Galway, Ireland. Galway is the backdrop for stories written by European kids: Regina remains the shooting location for Canadian kids' stories. Shooting will continue until July 25th in Ireland, then move on to Regina, Saskatchewan Canada for the duration of the summer.

Now broadcast to more than 125 million homes worldwide, Incredible Story Studio is the one-of-a-kind show where kids' stories from around the globe are made into MOVIES! The series is broadcast on the Disney Channel in the U.K., France, Germany and the Middle East, Discovery Kids in the U.S. and Latin America, YTV in Canada, Nickelodeon in Australia, SABC in South Africa, CETV in China, KEBS in Korea, NHK in Japan, Noga in Israel, TnaG and TG4 in Ireland and Singapore Cable Vision.

Season 4 showcases stories written by kids living in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Martinique and Taiwan. Each half-hour episode is hosted by the Studio Boss, the movie mogul with mega moxie and features two kids' stories adapted into 10 minute, live action TV dramas.

This season's stories are wacky, spooky, scary, touching, and sometimes a little bizarre, with everything from flying grandmothers, time travel to a plagued village, a French circus with a magical dwarf ... even an Elvis sighting. That's just a start! When it comes to Incredible Story Studio anything can happen!

Season 4 marks a multitude of milestones for the Canadian series, as this season the series celebrates a number of "firsts" including: an expanded story collection process that includes the participation of more than 150,000 children from four countries; the production of an international collection of kid's stories, filmed on two continents, and; the launch of a Canada-Irish co-production between Minds Eye Entertainment and Vérité Films of Saskatchewan, Canada and Merlin Films Group of Ireland.

Virginia Thompson and Rob de Lint are series creators, Kevin DeWalt is Executive Producer, Virginia Thompson, Mark Reid and Norman Siderow are producers, Rob de Lint is co-producer.

"We knew the series would be a platform for kids from around the world to share their stories with each other. But to see this dream come true is extremely exciting! Story Studio is now the place for kids to be entertained by the imagination of their peers from different nations - that's a very inspiring concept!" says series producer and co-creator Virginia Thompson.

Minds Eye and Vérité Films are excited to be working on the story collection process with the Disney Channels in the UK and France and soon, Germany.

Mary Bredin, acquisitions and programming manager for the International Disney Channels said "the Disney Channel network is constantly on the look-out for innovative programming where we can interact with kids and inspire their creativity and imagination. Incredible Story Studio is just that, and it is such an international concept that we have been happy to be involved with it in very different territories: France, the UK and Germany, with more episodes going out in the Middle East next year."

Executive producer Kevin DeWalt echoes her enthusiasm. "Incredible Story Studio is now more than just a great TV series. It's a mechanism for kids from all nations to have a voice on one of the world's most pervasive mediums - television. That's powerful."

Virginia Thompson and Robert de Lint founded Vérité Films in 1994 to develop Incredible Story Studio. They developed the series by pitching the concept of kids telling their own stories on TV" to over 6000 school kids across Canada, producing the series pilot, and writing the scripts for the first six episodes of the series. Vérité Films entered into a co-production with Minds Eye Entertainment to produce the series and have been living and working in Regina, Saskatchewan for the past four years.

Established in 1986, Minds Eye Entertainment is a fully integrated production, post-production and distribution entity with offices in Canada and the U.S. As Western Canada's largest film and television production company, Minds Eye Entertainment has been instrumental in contributing to the country's thriving motion picture industry. Its award-winning feature films, television series, shorts and documentaries have been sold in more than 100 countries.

Merlin Films Group specializes in the development, financing, production and distribution of high quality product for the international media marketplace and is recognized as Ireland's leading film financier. Merlin Films, the motion picture division of the group, is a leading producer of feature films for worldwide distribution. Merlin Films Group has an ongoing commitment to maintaining its leadership position within Ireland and continue to provide quality entertainment to audiences through all mediums. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Merlin also has offices in Shannon, London and Los Angeles.

Incredible Story Studio is a Canada-Ireland co-production produced with the financial participation of the Canadian Television Fund Equity Investment Program, the Canadian Television Fund License Fee Program, YTV, SCN, Minds Eye International, The Shaw Cable Children's Programming Initiative, The Shaw Cable Television Broadcast Fund, Independent Production Fund, The Saskatchewan Film Employment Tax Credit, Government of Canada - Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit Program, and Saskatchewan Post Secondary Education & Skills Training. SaskFILM has provided development assistance. Incredible Story Studio is distributed internationally by Minds Eye International.