The actor’s yet-to-be-titled project is part of a multimedia deal with the children’s content company.
Actor and filmmaker Eugenio Derbez will create an animated series for Encantos, an application that teaches kids through storytelling.
The still-untitled series is part of a development deal that Derbez and his 3Pas Studios partner Ben Odell has struck with Encantos Media Studios PBC, an entertainment and education company based in Culver City, California.
The show will feature a “confident, street-smart, brilliant boy who unwittingly gets into trouble and uses his humor, wit, and ingenuity to get himself out of sticky situations” along with an “ensemble cast of odd-ball multi-generational characters,” says 3Pas in a press release. It is part of an intellectual property aiming to encourage critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills in entertaining ways that are also culturally authentic and relatable, according to Debez’s company. There will also be consumer products, publishing and interactive content in the Encantos app associated with the series.
It is clear yet if the series will also be available on television. Encantos’s previous, bilingual and Daytime Emmy-nominated Canticos aired on Nick Jr. Channel.
Making the new series with a Latino angle seems to be a must for Derbez, whose company reportedly prefers family-oriented projects. “Making a child laugh is the best feeling in the world,” says the actor in a press statement. “Now just imagine if they can also learn while they are being entertained! We want it to be universal but through a specific Latino lens.”
For the Instructions Not Included and Overboard star this new enterprise with Encantos is also personal. “I have a seven-year-old daughter and I just never feel like there is enough content that speaks to her and reflects who she is,” says the Mexican actor. “We want 3pas to be part of the solution and Encantos is the perfect partner to help us achieve this.”
Derbez and Odell will serve as executive producers on the property on behalf of 3Pas Studios, along with Susie Jaramillo and Steven Wolfe Pereira on behalf of Encantos.
“Eugenio has a special gift for connecting with children and it shines through his work,” says Jaramillo, chief story officer and president of Encantos. “He is a natural story teacher who understands the power of humor to help kids learn. We can’t wait to channel his bigheartedness and comedic genius into a property that entertains and engages kids while teaching them valuable new fundamental skills like critical thinking, problem-solving and perseverance.”
Encantos CEO Wolfe Pereira says there is a need for more inclusive and culturally relevant content in American media for children. “While over 50 percent of kids in the United States are multicultural, children’s entertainment and education does not reflect today’s diverse world,” he states. “Families expect and deserve greater representation in what their kids are seeing and learning. Encantos is bringing culturally authentic voices together on a platform that provides the broader range of perspectives that has been missing.”
Making fun content with purpose is a priority for the Los Angeles-based 3Pas, according to Odell. “One of our priorities at 3Pas is bringing more diverse-focused content to the kids and family space and we love Steven and Susie’s vision for Encantos,” he says. “We want to swing big and build out a lasting property that can teach kids using all of the multimedia platforms available to them. And as always, we want to do it with humor and heart and we love to work with and support talented Latinx partners to get there.”
3Pas Studios is represented by UTA & attorney Howard Abramson. Encantos is represented by attorney Lisa E. Davis at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC.
Featured Photo: Eugenio Derbez (Credit: 3Pas Studios)
Check out this this video episode of Canticos, an example of the animated work of the Encantos company.
