Studio 100 International
Studio 100 International (formerly known as Studio 100 Media) is the German international distribution division of Belgian production group Studio 100 that distributes Studio 100's productions worldwide. The Munich-based distribution division was founded in June 2007, when its Belgian children's entertainment parent Studio 100 expanded its productions operations into Germany and enterted the worldwide distribution services with the formation of its own in-house international distribution division based in Munich entitled Studio 100 Media with Patrick Elmendorff, former managing director of the children's entetainment division of German media group EM.TV, EM.Entertainment (which Studio 100 Media would acqire it a year later in 2008), had joined Studio 100's newly-launched distribution arm Studio 100 Media as MD.[35]
On February 27, 2008 one year after the establishment of Studio 100's German distribution division Studio 100 Media and three months before the acquisition of EM.Entertainment by Studio 100 Media's Belgian parent company Studio 100, Studio 100 Media established a distribution partnership with Munich-based German entertainment production & distribution company EM.Sport Media AG under the latter's entertainment production division EM.Entertainment to distribute their entertainment portfolio including their classics such as Maya the Bee and Vic the Viking on TV, home entertainment and VOD platforms internationally excluding US, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, the distribution partnership had reunited Studio 100 Media's president & founder Patrick Elmendorff with EM.Entertainment with him leading their joint distribution team.[5][36]
In February 2008 three months before the acquisition of EM.Entertainment by Studio 100 Media's parent company Studio 100, Studio 100 Media established a distribution partnership with Munich-based German entertainment production & distribution company EM.Sport Media AG under the latter's entertainment production division EM.Entertainment to distribute their entertainment portfolio including their classics such as Maya the Bee and Vic the Viking on TV, home entertainment and VOD platforms internationally excluding US, Germany, Australia, New Zealand.[5]
In May 2008, Studio 100 Media signed a worldwide distribution partnetship with British children's TV channel CBBC to distribute the latter's three in-house programming which were Trapped!, The Slammer and Beat the Boss, internationally except for the United States, Latinamerica and the UK.[37][38]
Also in that same month of that year following Studio 100 Media's successful distribution partnership with EM.Sport Media AG's EM.Entertainment division, Studio 100 Media's parent Belgian/German production & international distribution group Studio 100 announced that they've acquired EM.Sport Media AG's entertainment division EM.Entertainment and its library along with the latter's Australian entertainment & animation production studio Flying Bark Productions and their German television channel JuniorTV (which Studio 100's parent company Studio 100 would eventually close in 2022) for €41 million in order for EM.Sport Media AG to focus on its sport activities, the acquisition of EM.Entertainment expanded Studio 100's kids & family programme library and gave Studio 100 an Australia-based in-house entertainment & animation production studio and a German-language television channel as an entry into the broadcasting industry for Studio 100 Media's parent company Studio 100 outside of Belgium in which predates the launch of Studio 100 TV by its parent company with Studio 100 Media taken over EM.Entertainment's distribution library including Yoram Gross's animated productions like Blinky Bill alongside EM.Entertainment's classic catalogue such as Maya the Bee and Vic the Viking and the library of Japanese animation studio Zuiyo.[1]
In November 2008 following Studio 100 Media's acquisition of German kids & family entertainment division EM.Entertainment from EM.Sport Media AG back in May of that year, Studio 100 Media announced that its director of international productions & broadcast Dominique Neudecker (which joined Studio 100 Media following the EM.Entertainment acquistion in May) had stepped down the distribution company.[39]
In March 2009, Studio 100 Media had appointed former Universal Studios Consumer Products head of licensing & former managing director of Tele Muchen's licensing unit CTM, Peter Kleinschmidt, to become its director of marketing, licensing and merchandising of Studio 100's brands such as House of Anubis.[40] However Peter Kleinschmidt would later leave Studio 100 Media a few months later in late-July of that year as Studio 100 Media's co-founder & managing director Patrick Elmendorff assuming the role.[41]
Two days later on the 29th in that same month, Studio 100 Media (whom had already owned the classic German/Japanese 1975 anime Maya the Honey Bee, which was made by Japanese animation studio Zuiyo, since the acquisition of the classic 1975 anime alongside EM.Sport Media AG's former children's production unit EM.Entertainment and the Zuiyo catalouge one year prior back in May 2008) had brought out the remaining rights to the Maya the Bee franchise from the German public foundation, The Waldemar Bonsels Foundation, the acquistion of the entire rights to Maya the Bee had gained Studio 100 Media access to produce new film & television and stage show adaptations to the franchise.
In May 2013, Studio 100 Media announced the establishment of a dedicated film production & international sales distribution division that would handle in-house theatrical feature film production and international sales entitled Studio 100 Film, the new feature film sales division would expand the focus of strategic focus into the international movie business for both animated and live-action projects produced by its Belgian parent Studio 100 as well as film made by outside producers with Studio 100 Media's managing director & CEO Patrick Elmendorff and the latter's business operations head Thorsten Wegener served as president of Studio 100 Media's feature film sales unit Studio 100 Film, with its first production was the German/Australian animated film Maya the Bee: The Movie following the success of Studio 100's animation division's adaptation of the TV series of the same name.[11][42]
On 31 March 2016, Studio 100 Media partnered with Quatari entertainment network beIN Media Group to launch a dedicated kids & family channel in the MENA region called beJunior which launched a day later on 1 April 2016, the new television channel beJunior will broadcast programming from Studio 100's library including its new programming state like Arthur and the Minimoys and Nils Holgersson (which there produced by Studio 100's in-house French animation studio Studio 100 Animation) with Studio 100 Media providing branding for the new channel.[43]
In late-January 2017 nine years after Studio 100 Media's acquisition of EM.Sport Media AG's German kids & family production & distribution division EM.Entertainment including its German TV channel Junior and Australian animation studio Flying Bark Productions, Studio 100 Media had established a deal to acquire a 68% majority stake in German brand management and media production & distribution company Made 4 Entertainment (M4E AG) the producer of Mia and Me and the owner of the libraries of the former German distributor TV-Loonland AG & Danish animation outfit Egmont Imagination alongside its Dutch distribution subsidiary Telescreen in a deal that could combine the expanded catalogue of Studio 100 Media's parent company Studio 100 with Made 4 Entertainment (m4e)'s wider library which would make the former as the biggest kids & family entertainment content companies across Europe with Made 4 Entertainment (m4e) would continue to invest their new content and its global expansion.[13] A month later in late-February of that same year, Studio 100 Media announced that they've completed their acquisition of a 68% majority stake in German brand management and media production & distribution company Made 4 Entertainment (M4E AG) the producer of Mia and Me and the owner of the libraries of the former German distributor TV-Loonland AG & Danish animation outfit Egmont Imagination alongside its Dutch distribution subsidiary Telescreen, making it a subsidiary of Studio 100 Media with Made 4 Entertainment (M4E)'s CEO and founder Hans Ulrich Stoef continued to lead the acquired company through Studio 100 Media.[14] Studio 100 Media would eventually increase their stake of Made 4 Entertainment (m4e) and later took full control after selling and spinning off some of M4E's subsidiaries three years later in 2020.[44]
Later in that same month following the acquisition of a majority stake in German kids & family brand management & media entertainment company m4e AG by Studio 100 Media, Studio 100 Media had announced that its president, Patrick Elmendorff, had depatured the distribution division with m4e's founder Hans Ulrich Stoef had been named as president of Studio 100 Film and itsparent Studio 100 Media whilst founder of Studio 100 Film's Belgian parent Studio 100 & co-MD, Hans Bourlon, managed its distribution parent & continued to lead the distribution division with Hans Ulrich Stoef.[45][46] Nine months later in October of that year, Studio 100 Media alongside its brand management & media production subsidiary m4e had restructured their international licensing team with Studio 100 Media's licensing team merged with those of m4e as m4e's commercial director Peter Kleinschmidt returning to Studio 100's German intetnational subsidiary Studio 100 Media with him assuming the title of Commercial Director of newly merged international licensing team of Studio 100 Media and m4e's licensing of their programming portfolio with him handling licensing of brands such as Mia and Me and Maya the Bee, meanwhile Esra Sahin had joined the distribution division and been named international licensing manager while Sara Acquier, of Studio 100's Paris-based French animation division Studio 100 Animation, became head of licensing at France.[47][48]
In late-July 2018 one year after the acquisition of a majority stake in German media management, production & distribution company Made 4 Entertainment (M4E) by Studio 100 Media, Studio 100 Media announced the launch of feature-focused German CGI animation studio named Studio Isar Animation in order for Studio 100 Media's parent company Studio 100 to expand their film productions completely in-house with the new animation production studio being located at Studio 100's Munich-based headquarters which opened three months later in October of that same year.[19][20]
Also in that year Studio 100 Media increased their stake in its subsidiary M4E to 95% and one year in late-January 2019 two years after Studio 100 Media had brought a majority stake in M4E back in February 2017, M4E and its parent Studio 100 Media announced that its CEO of and M4E's co-founder Ulli Stoef would step down his role of CEO in June while Hans Bourlon, co-founder of Studio 100 Media's parent Studio 100 would assume the role of the distribution division's management team while a new CEO will be announced.[49][50]
One month in July of that year, Studio 100 Media named Martin Krieger (who had previously headed Studio 100 Media's global distribution) as their new CEO of Studio 100's global international distribution division Studio 100 Media alongside its subsidiaries Made 4 Entertainment (M4E) which Studio 100 Media acquired two years ago in February 2017, Studio 100 Film and Munich-based CGI feature animation production studio Studio Isar Animation which was launched one year before, markinc Martin Krieger's return to the .[34]
In April 2021, Studio 100 Media entered a partnership with Mediatoon Licensing, the licensing division of Média Participations-owned French distribution subsidiary Mediatoon Distribution, to represent Mediatoon's franchises mainly from Mediatoon Distribution's programming catalogue and publishing catalogues of both Dupuis and Dargaud such as Lucky Luke to the German-speaking territories and other Central Europe territories to expand its international presence.[51]
In April 2022, Studio 100 Media teamed up with ZDF Studios, the Mainz-based commercial & distribution arm of German's largest public broadcaster ZDF, to launch a new international channel brand that would bring Studio 100's extensive kids & family programming catalogue from Studio 100 (mainly from the EM.Entertainment and Made 4 Entertainment (M4E) libraries) such as Maya the Bee, Mia and Me and Heidi together with ZDF Studios' kids & family programming catalogue under one streaming channel brand named Pash and was launched on Amazon Prime Channels in the UK, Italy and Spain with further territories with the two companies planning to launch their joint venture channel brand in other territories.[52]
In March 2023, Studio 100 Media signed a worldwide first-look production & distribution partnership with Gaumont Animation, the animation division of French film studio Gaumont, to co-produce & distribute programming a state of upcoming animated series starting with Ash which the two companies co-produce with BigChild Entertainment and Tiny Head (a series Gaumont Animation is co-producing with American entertainment studio Cloudco Entertainment) in which Studio 100 Media will handle distribution to the upcoming series internationally as part of the partnership.[53][54]
In October 2023, Studio 100 Media had entered the Spanish animation market with the acquisition of a stake in Spanish animation production & VFX company based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, 3Doubles Producciones, whom Studio 100 Media previously colloarborated on its feature films which were Mia and Me: The Hero of Centopia and Giants of La Mancha, marking Studio 100 Media's entry into the Spanish entertainment services & gained its own in-house animation unit alongside its Belgian parent Studio 100 with Studio 100 Media will produce feature films & series with 3Doubles Producciones along with Los-Angeles-based film distributor Viva Pictures via its kids & family arm Viva Kids with Studio 100 Media would handle international sales while the latter handling distribution in North America.[55][56]
In March 2024 when Studio 100 Media's parent company Studio 100 entered a major rebranding, Studio 100 Media was renamed to Studio 100 International as adopted their redesigned company logo like its parent alongside its relaunch of their website and reflecting their expanded role for the entire Studio 100 group. The name "Studio 100 International" was previously used by Studio 100's Benelux division before being renamed to Studio 100 Benelux with the rebranded division expanded its first-look production and distribution partnership with French animation studio Gaumont Animation the animation division of French film studio Gaumont to co-produce animated shows and feature films with Studio 100.[30]
In May 2024 two months following Studio 100 Media's rebranding to Studio 100 International back in March of that same year, Studio 100 International established its own nostalgic YouTube channel dedicated to take teens and young adults on a retroistic trip to their childhood named Studio 100 – Heroes of Childhood which had launched in April of that year as many of the programming from Studio 100 International's catalogue mainly from the EM.Entertainment library including the library of Japanese animation studio Zuiyo such as Maya the Bee and Vic the Viking being placed on their new YouTube channel. In addition to clips of the original series from the 1970s and 1980s from Studio 100 International's catalogue new character specials, shorts and compilations will be uploaded to the channel every week.[57]
At the start of October 2025, Studio 100 International signed a stragic production alliance with French digital-first kids' entertainment company Animaj to reimagine Studio 100's most famous children's brand Maya the Bee to shape the future of the franchise. As part of the deal, French entertainment company Animaj had acquired Studio 100's rights to the property including the 1975, 1979 (excluding Japan) and 2012 TV series outside of Belgium and German-speaking countries as part of Animaj's international strategy to acquire international IPs and turn them into global franchises with Studio 100 partnering with Animaj to expand the brand to digital & international footprint using the latter's GenAI animation production tools that would lead the franchise's future series content development and international expansion, Studio 100 retained the production, international sales & feature film rights to the Maya the Bee films that they produced including its spin-off Arnie & Barney and would continue overseeing global theme park rights to the franchise in its home country Belgium and German-speaking countries.[32][33]
Made 4 Entertainment
Made 4 Entertainment GmbH, also known as M4E GmbH was the German international brand management and media production & distribution subsidiary of Studio 100 Media in which to be owned by Belgian production group Studio 100 that specializes in children's & family entertainment and manages brands and licenses products. It was founded in November 2003 by Hans Ulrich Stoef, Michael Büttner, Oliver Jansen, Cees Wessels and Ulli Sotef.
By July 2007 ten years before Belgian production group Studio 100 acquired Made 4 Entertainment (M4E) in 2017, Made 4 Entertainment (M4E) entered publication on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange to booster their expanded properties.[58] Three months later in October 2007, Made 4 Entertainment (M4E) established a joint venture production company with Berlin-based German animation studio Hahn Film AG named Lucky Punch with m4e handling finance and distribution rights to the projects with their joint venture company Lucky Punch AG.
In April 2008, Made 4 Entertainment (M4E) signed a five-year co-production partnership with Italian animation production company Rainbow to develop and produce television series with M4E granting the rights to then-upcoming season of Rainbow's series Winx Club and its then-upcoming spin-off Pixie (now PopPixie) as the former would manage distribution to the two series alongside Rainbow whilst M4E and Rainbow would co-produce a new television series.[59][60]
