Weinstein Takes on 'Santa's Apprentice' | The Irish Film & Television Network

’Santa’s Apprentice’, directed by Luc Vinciguerra, sees Santa having to retire against his wishes and thus having to train his replacement. He must find an orphan of a pure heart to take on his role and, to further complicate matters, the child must be a boy called Nicholas.

The film’s Irish producers are Cartoon Saloon’s Paul Young (Song of the Sea) and Ross Murray (The Secret of Kells). Background animation was carried out in Cartoon Saloon under the supervision of Marco Martin.

‘Santa's Apprentice’ was produced by Gaumont/Alphanim in co-production with Australia-based Avrill Stark Entertainment and in association with Cartoon Saloon and is to premiere in Paris on November 24th.

Sales at Cannes and Mipcom have meant that the film has already been acquired by Universum in Germany, Odeon in Greece, Victory Prod in Benelux, Cinemax in CIS, Four Star in Middle East, Yenibir in Turkey, Vision in Poland, Lusomundo in Portugal, Monopole Pathé in Switzerland,Weg in India, PT Amero in Indonesia, and HBO in Latin America.

Cartoon Salloon’s Managing Director, Ross Murray tells IFTN that the feature will be released in Ireland in 2011. Of the company’s work on the feature’s backgrounds Ross explains: “We had a small but very creative input and the film overall looks gorgeous.”

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