Nickelodeon International Greenlights ‘Best & Bester,’ Its First Finnish Show

A significant announcement has reached us from the Kidscreen Summit, which is currently taking place in Miami, Florida.

Nickelodeon International has greenlit Best & Bester, a comedy series co-produced by Gigglebug Entertainment and Eye Present. Here are the details:

• Nickelodeon International has acquired pre-buy rights to the series, which will consist of 52 x 11-minute episodes. Best & Bester focuses on the two characters of the title, “best buddies obsessed with comparing the best things of all time while enjoying the power to transform themselves into anything they want, once a day.”
• Gigglebug is a producer of cross-media kids’ entertainment content based in Helsinki, Finland. This makes Best & Bester the first Finnish production for Nickelodeon. The studio made a name for itself with its eponymous app, which became a bestseller. It also developed the concept for the Disney series 101 Dalmatian Street and produced digital shorts to accompany the tv series. Its owners Joonas Utti and Anttu Harlin spoke to Cartoon Brew in 2016.
• Eye Present is a cg animation studio based in London, U.K, specializing in kids’ and family content. It was set up in 2015 as a joint venture between Genevieve Dexter (founder of Serious Lunch and Cake) and creative services company Squint/Opera.
• The deal includes creative editorial input and broadcast commitment from Nickelodeon International and YLE, Finland’s public broadcaster. There’s also development funding from Creative Europe, a cultural support program run by the European Union.
• “Best & Bester offer both the laughs and the smarts that we think will resonate with our audience,” said Layla Lewis, svp, global acquisitions and content partnerships, Nickelodeon. “We’re excited to welcome them to the Nick family and bring this comedic duo to our international screens.”
• Teija Rantala, head of children’s programs at YLE, said, “We love the positive message of this show which is, at its heart, a celebration of diverse opinions and identities. Kids today live in a world that is full of possibilities, when you have a curious mind.”
• Eye Present’s Dexter said, “This is great news, the Nickelodeon greenlight for the series now leads us to explore gaming and experiential content which is built into the core of the [intellectual property].” Gigglebug’s Harlin added, “We want to spread joy through animation. To make seriously silly stuff, with a purpose.”