( May 15, 2006– Vancouver, Canada )

Studio B, one of Canada’s leading animation studios, won three Leo Awards on Saturday, May 13, 2006. For the second year in a row, Studio B received Best Animation Program or Series for their highly successful original animated series Being Ian, which airs on YTV, they also won Best Screenwriting in an Animation Program or Series and Best Overall Sound in an Animation Program or Series for Pucca, a series produced for Jetix Europe. The Leo Awards showcase the best and brightest film and television talent and programs in British Columbia.

Best Animation Program or Series

• Being Ian (Kathy Antonsen-Rocchio, Blair Peters, Chris Bartleman - Producers)

Best Screenwriting in an Animation Program or Series

• ‘Noodle ‘Round the World’ episode from Pucca (Colin Yardley, Larry Raskin)

Best Overall Sound in an Animation Program or Series

• Marcel Duperreault, Todd Araki, Jason Fredrickson, Kirk Furniss (Dick and Rogers Sound Studio) for Pucca episodes ‘A Force of Won’, ‘Cat Toy’ and ‘Noodle ‘Round the World’

“We are honoured to win these awards, the competition was tough,” said Blair Peters, Studio B Partner. “This has certainly been a great month for Being Ian, it also won the Shaw Rocket Prize for Best Canadian Children’s Television Program. We’re very proud of both the Being Ian and Pucca production teams. They continually create world-class animation from our studio in Vancouver.”

Being Ian is aimed at nine to 12 year-olds and follows the adventures of Ian Kelley – his incredible imagination, fascination for films, quirky family and epic adventures. Being Ian mixes slapstick silliness with the wry humour of everyday life and Ian’s far-out, off-the-wall fantasies that regularly turn a typical day at the beach into Castaway and an ordinary camping trip into the Blair Witch Project. The series airs on YTV and is distributed by Nelvana.

The daughter of a Chinese restaurant owner, feisty Pucca is obsessed with her one true love, Garu. Young Garu has a different idea; he is following the stoic path of the Ninja and wants to be left in peace.  Pucca's uncles want to perfect their restaurant's noodle recipe, and Abyo just wants to rip his shirt off and be like Bruce Lee! Funny love and kung-fu kicks abound in this new comedy. The brand new animated 78 x 7 minute Pucca series is being produced for Jetix Europe and is based on the funky cult Korean property created by VOOZ Co., Ltd. 

An award-winning Vancouver-based animation studio founded in 1988, Studio B has earned an international reputation for quality work. Studio B produces both highly successful original series while also providing top-level service work for some of the most well-known companies in the world like Pucca for Jetix Europe. Enjoyed by parents and children alike in over 90 countries, Studio B’s original series include Being Ian, Class of the Titans, D’Myna Leagues, What About Mimi? and Yvon of the Yukon. Studio B’s co-production series are George of the Jungle, Ricky Sprocket – Showbiz Boy, Something Else, The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers! and Yakkity Yak. For more information on their shows, the studio and the wacky characters that work there, please visit www.studiobproductions.com. There is no limit to their imagination!

 

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