Famed Children's Publisher Chandamama to Publish Award-Winning Comic for Indian Audience
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait, March 25, 2008 — Teshkeel Media Group, KSC, announced today that it will partner with leading Indian publisher Chandamama to license its award-winning comic book series, THE 99, throughout India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Chandamama plans to publish an English-language version for all markets, with other local language editions planned to follow.
"India is not only one of the world's fastest-growing economies but also a country with a long Muslim tradition. It's a natural market for THE 99 and a logical progression from our current operations in the Middle East, Indonesia and the United States," said Teshkeel CEO Naif Al-Mutawa. "We're delighted to have a partner like Chandamama publishing THE 99 locally. Their company name is synonymous with quality children's entertainment and their experience and success in Indian children's publishing makes them the ideal choice to spread the legend of THE 99."
Chandamama CEO L. Subramanyan said, "We feel that we have found a kindred spirit in Teshkeel. Like Chandamama, they are using a combination of history and culture to create modern stories to entertain children. We feel that the message of diversity and tolerance taught by THE 99 will strike a chord with Indian audiences." He added, "The contributions of west-Asian society and literature have been major components in the development of India's heterogeneous culture, so we believe that there is huge potential for THE 99 to become successful here."
Chandamama — one of the region's leading children's' publishers — will launch the local version of THE 99 at the end of April. Under the terms of the agreement, THE 99 will be made available in bookstores, department stores and newsstands throughout India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and the Maldives.
Headquartered in Kuwait, Egypt and the United States, Teshkeel Comics' stated goal is for its flagship title, THE 99, to bring positive entertainment to young readers not only in the Middle East and North Africa, but also throughout the world. "Building on our publishing efforts in the United States, Indonesia and Malaysia, our partnership with Chandamama is another significant step in making THE 99 a truly worldwide brand," concluded Al-Mutawa.
About Teshkeel Media Group, KSC
Teshkeel Media Group, KSC (http://www.teshkeel.com) is one of the Middle East's leading developers of comic books, magazines, and other forms of children's entertainment. Based in Kuwait with offices in New York and Cairo, the company's mission is to fill a significant void in positive, high-quality children's content in the region, including in print and electronic media, film and television. In addition to working with global publishers like DC, Marvel and Archie Comics, Teshkeel also develops its own original character properties, including THE 99 (http://www.the99.org), an award-winning original superhero property based on Islamic culture and history, which debuted in June 2006. Forbes magazine recently identified THE 99 as one of the "Top 20 Trends Sweeping the Globe."
About Chandamama
Chandamama was conceptualized by legendary filmmakers B. Nagi Reddi and his friend Chakrapani in 1947. Since then, Chandamama, published in over 13 Indian languages, has become one of the inseparable parts of the Indian society. The objective of Chandamama is to familiarize the post-Independence Indian Society with Indian tradition, folklore, mythology and history in the form of stories.
Chandamama has recently been acquired by the Bombay-based Geodesic. Incorporated in 1999, Geodesic is a publicly traded company with offices in the US, UK, Sweden and Hong Kong. The company has developed the popular universal instant messaging system Mundu ). The Mundu products successfully combine AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, MSN and Yahoo. Over six million users worldwide communicate through the various Munds products. Geodesic has been profitable from its first year of operations. Recently the company was awarded the Red Herring Small Cap 100 award … the only Indian company to be included in the Red Herring Small Cap 100 list.
Image:
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Media Contacts:
Teshkeel Media Group, KSC
Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa
CEO
Tel: (Kuwait) (+965) 961-8666
Tel: (USA) (+1) 917-689-8880
Email: Email
Chandamama
Surajit Agarwal / L. Subramanyan
Tel: (India) (+996) 2070015
Email: Email
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