Animated Power IDT Flexes Arm

IDT Entertainment has created a new sales arm, IDT Entertainment Sales, to handle domestic and international distribution of its new animated series, specials and feature films, as well as acquired product.

Telecommunications company IDT starting buying up stakes in animation houses last year, including DPS/Film Roman (The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Sci-Fi's Tripping the Rift).

While those shows and other existing properties are covered under earlier outside distribution agreements, there will be plenty of work for Andrew Berman, who has been put in charge of the new unit as EVP, sales, based in Los Angeles. Berman, who comes from animation house TMS Entertainment, will be looking for new product to acquire as well as selling a raft of new product coming down the pipe.

For example, IDT has rights to develop TV shows based on the Archie Comics characters; on the comic book icon, Spawn; for six animated projects from Stan Lee's (Spiderman) POW! Entertainment (in which it has a stake); and for family-friendly fare from the Christian Broadcasting Network, to name just a few.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.