Animation
Omens Studios’ preschool heroes go global with fresh content deals
MUMBAI: Omens Studios is on a wild roll. The Singapore-headquartered animation outfit has locked in a raft of international deals for its preschool powerhouses Leo the Wildlife Ranger, Counting with Paula, and Paula & Pals, bringing the adventures of the trio to more screens — and hearts — worldwide.
beIN Media Group has snapped up media rights for Leo the Wildlife Ranger season 3 (80 x 7’), Paula & Pals season 2 (65 x 7’), and Counting with Paula seasons 5 to 7 (a total of 100 x 11’) across the Middle East and North Africa. Meanwhile, AMC Networks will beam seasons 2 and 3 of Leo to European audiences via its preschool channel Jim Jam, and Brazil’s Globo has pounced on season 3 while renewing seasons 1 and 2.
That’s no exaggeration. Leo the Wildlife Ranger has racked up billions of views on YouTube, hundreds of thousands of mobile game downloads, and even made the leap to the metaverse with a new Roblox simulator experience.
Omens Studios CEO Chi Sim Tang said, “We’re delighted to welcome our new premium broadcast partners on board, and excited that Leo the Wildlife Ranger, Counting with Paula and Paula & Pals are all finding and connecting with new global audiences, over broadcast and in a range of different ways.”
Commissioned by Mediacorp, Leo the Wildlife Ranger now airs in over 50 territories and has scored top honours including Best Children’s Programme at the 2024 Asian Television Awards and a Silver Telly Award. The show blends zoology, teamwork and environmental awareness into bite-sized edutainment for the 3–7 age group.
Newer spin-off Paula & Pals (68 x 7’) — also from the Mediacorp stable — takes a gentler turn, focusing on mental wellbeing and emotional development for the 3–6 set. Meanwhile, the long-running Counting with Paula has notched up seven seasons (384 x 11’) and continues to make maths marvellous for the youngest learners.
With strong storytelling, screen appeal and a finger on the pulse of kids’ content trends, Omens Studios is proving that preschool programming doesn’t just educate — it travels, too.
MUMBAI: History is getting a fresh rewrite this time with code, creativity and a longer arc in mind. Lens Vault Studios has announced its first original production, Bal Tanhaji, marking the official entry of the newly launched, tech-driven studio into India’s evolving entertainment landscape.
Arriving six years after the box-office success of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, the new project expands the universe rather than revisiting familiar ground. Bal Tanhaji explores uncharted narrative territory, signalling a clear shift from one-off cinematic spectacles to long-format, world-building storytelling designed for digital-first audiences.
At the heart of this ambition is Prismix Studios, the in-house generative AI and technology arm powering the creative engine behind the show. The studio’s approach blends storytelling with next-generation tools, aiming to reimagine how Indian IPs are created, scaled and sustained beyond theatrical releases.
For Lens Vault Studios chairman Ajay Devgn the new venture represents a deliberate step beyond traditional cinema. The focus is firmly on building long-form intellectual properties across fiction and non-fiction, tailored to changing viewing habits and platform-led consumption. He said the studio intends to explore formats that remain largely untapped, while drawing on the team’s experience with large-scale cinematic storytelling.
Lens Vault Studios founder and CEO Danish Devgn echoed that sentiment, describing Bal Tanhaji as the studio’s first generative-AI-led IP and the starting point of a broader vision. The aim, he noted, is to carry forward the legacy of the Tanhaji universe while connecting with younger audiences through a blend of powerful narratives and emerging technologies.
With Bal Tanhaji, Lens Vault Studios is planting its flag early not just launching a show, but signalling a larger play for cinematic universes that live, grow and evolve across platforms. If this debut is any indication, the future of Indian storytelling may be as much about imagination as it is about innovation.
