Shout! Studios, the multi-platform entertainment distribution and production arm of Shout! Factory, has acquired U.S. rights to new animated feature AINBO: SPIRIT OF THE AMAZON from Beverly Hills based Sales Agent, Cinema Management Group. Based on a story by award-winning filmmaker José Zelada (Kayara, Searching for Hearts), AINBO: SPIRIT OF THE AMAZON, an inspiring animated adventure of a young heroine and her thrilling journey to save the endangered Amazon rainforest, is directed by Zelada and Richard Claus (The Little Vampire and The Thief Lord) with a Peruvian-Dutch co-production among Tunche Films (Lima) and Cool Beans (Amsterdam). An official selection of the 2021 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and the 2021 Shanghai International Film Festival, AINBO: SPIRIT OF THE AMAZON opened to great audience enthusiasm and despite covid restrictions garnered over $12 Million at the international box office so far. The announcement was made today by Melissa Boag, Shout’s Executive Vice President of Kids & Family Entertainment, Edward Noeltner, President of Cinema Management Group, and Jordan Fields, Vice President of Acquisitions at Shout! Studios.
Shout! Studios secured all U.S. distribution rights to AINBO: SPIRIT OF THE AMAZON, including theatrical, home entertainment rights (digital, video-on-demand, broadcast, and all packaged media) for cross-platform releases. Shout plans a strategic rollout of the feature across multiple entertainment platforms, beginning with select film festival plays and a theatrical launch later this year.
Recently nominated for Best Feature, Best Sound Design, and Best Original Music at the Ibero-American Animation Quirino Awards in Madrid, AINBO smashed the box office in Spain, opening #3 and reaching $1.5 Million with over 186,000 Admissions and counting. Other international success includes $2.26 million for Le Pacte at the French box office, $1.9 million in Australia/New Zealand and a first-three-weeks $800,000 in Poland. The Netherlands Distributor, WW Entertainment, garnered $1.5 million in theatrical gross, a remarkable performance for a country of just 18 million inhabitants. Elsewhere, AINBO has punched Top 10 box office bows, opening No. 2 in Central America (CDC), No. 3 in the Ukraine (Monumental Pictures) and Norway and No. 4 in Singapore (Shaw Entertainment), and Switzerland (Praesens) as well as Iceland (Sena) and Vietnam (Blue Lantern).
“AINBO is a strikingly visual animated movie with the relevant theme of environmental conservation with a strong young female lead character. This movie will resonate with everyone who sees it. We look forward to presenting this remarkable film to broad movie audiences and animation enthusiasts later this year,” stated Melissa Boag, Executive Vice President of Kids & Family Entertainment.
”We are thrilled to be partnering in the US with Shout! Studios and look forward to this highly anticipated film being released state side. We have seen AINBO take the international audience by storm amid a pandemic and know it will be a huge success here in the United States with the distribution expertise of Shout! Studios.” – says Cinema Management Group’s President, Edward Noeltner.
The deal was negotiated by Jordan Fields and Steven Katz, Shout’s Vice President of Business Affairs for Shout! Studios, and Edward Noeltner on behalf of Cinema Management Group and the producers.
Movie Synopsis:
Ainbo (meaning “young woman” in Shipibo, an official language of Peru) was born and grew up in the deepest jungle of the Amazon rainforest. One day she discovers that her village is being threatened by unsavory gold miners. With the help of her spirit guides “Dillo” a cute and humorous armadillo and “Vaca” a heavy-set tapir, Ainbo embarks on a journey to save her homeland. As she fights to protect her paradise against the greed and exploitation by illegal miners, she struggles to reverse the destruction and the impending evil of the “Yacaruna”, the darkness that lives in the Amazon. Guided by her mother’s spirit, Ainbo is determined to save her land before it’s too late.
Directed by José Zelada and Richard Claus
Produced by Cesar Zelada, Richard Claus, Sergio Zelada, and José Zelada
Screenwriters: Brian Cleveland, Jason Cleveland, Richard Claus, and Larry Wilson
Music by Vidjay Beerepoot
Supervising Film Editor: Job ter Burg
Art Direction by Pierre Salazar