HOLLYWOOD and DALLAS, June 02, 2008 – The Jim Henson Company announced today that it has engaged NCircle Entertainment as the home video distributor of the Company’s new animated preschool science-readiness series, “Sid the Science Kid,” currently in production on 40 half-hour episodes and scheduled to debut on the PBSKids preschool block on September 1, 2008. NCircle will exclusively handle all home video and digital formats in the U.S. and Canada.

“Sid the Science Kid” (formerly known as “What’s the Big Idea?”) continues the Company’s legacy of creating successful preschool programming such as “Fraggle Rock,” “Bear in the Big Blue House” and “Muppet Babies.” Produced through a partnership between The Jim Henson Company and the Los Angeles PBS affiliate KCET, the show features a bold initiative to provide science-readiness tools for its young audience members and their co-viewing parents and caregivers. The show will premiere on the PBS national feed in fall of 2008 with a two-year on-air commitment for the series.

“Sid the Science Kid” has a sketch-comedy format and features Sid, an inquisitive youngster who tackles the everyday ideas that preschoolers find fascinating (Why do bananas go “bad”? Why do my shoes seem to shrink? How does a bird fly without a plane?). The series is created using the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio, a proprietary technology that allows the Company’s world-class performers to puppeteer and voice digitally animated characters in real time creating a unique, more spontaneous and fresh result.

Peter Schube, President and COO of The Jim Henson Company said, “’Sid the Science Kid’ is the next chapter in our Company’s history of creating highly entertaining and meaningful programming for our youngest fans. We are thrilled to have NCircle join us as an ‘anchor’ partner and apply their smart and thorough approach to the distribution of children’s video product to this title, ensuring that our audience will enjoy this exciting series across all platforms in North American territories.”

”The Jim Henson Company is an iconic brand recognized by avid fans of all ages and we are extremely delighted to have been afforded the opportunity to launch and help build the ‘Sid the Science Kid’ franchise in the North American market,” said Debbie Ries, Senior Vice President and General Manager of NCircle Entertainment. “The property, which helps inquisitive children fill their insatiable appetite for everyday questions, is a perfect complement to our quality family and kids home video portfolio and we strongly believe our retail expertise and brand management capabilities will amplify its market potential.”

About NCircle Entertainment
NCircle Entertainment, an Alliance Entertainment, LLC division, licenses, manufactures and distributes family and children’s programming and related images for home entertainment and consumer products. Alliance maintains the largest in-stock catalog of CDs and DVDs in the U.S. — a combined total of more than 335,000 titles. The Company was named the 2006 Large Wholesaler of the Year by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM).

Alliance is a subsidiary of Source Interlink Companies, Inc., a media and marketing services company, one of the largest publishers of magazines and online content for enthusiast audiences and a leading distributor of home entertainment products, including DVDs, music CDs, magazines, games, books, and related items. With annual “run-rate” revenue in excess of $2.5 billion, Source Interlink serves approximately 110,000 retail store locations throughout North America. Supply chain relationships include consumer goods advertisers, subscribers, movie studios, record labels, magazine and newspaper publishers, confectionary companies and manufacturers of general merchandise. You can learn more about Alliance at www.aent.com and Source Interlink at www.sourceinterlink.com.

###

The Jim Henson Company has remained an established leader in family entertainment for over 50 years and is recognized worldwide as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics and digital animation. Best known as creators of the world famous Muppets, Henson has received over 50 Emmy Awards and nine Grammy Awards. Recent credits include the Emmy® nominated “Sid the Science Kid,” “Dinosaur Train,” “Wilson & Ditch: Digging America” and “Pajanimals.” Features include “The Dark Crystal,” “Labyrinth,” “MirrorMask,” and “Unstable Fables” and television productions include “Fraggle Rock” and the sci-fi cult series “Farscape.”

With additional locations in New York and London, The Jim Henson Company is headquartered in Los Angeles on the historic Charlie Chaplin lot, complete with soundstage and postproduction facilities. Independently owned and operated by the five adult children of founder Jim Henson, the Company is also home to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™, a pre-eminent character-building and visual effects group with international film, television and advertising clients, as well as Henson Recording Studios, one of the music industry’s top recording facilities known for its world-class blend of state-of-the-art and vintage equipment. The Company’s Henson Alternative brand has recently launched the national tour of “Stuffed and Unstrung,” a live puppet improvisational show named one of the top 10 “Best Stage Shows of 2010” by Entertainment Weekly.

https://www.henson.com
Join us on www.facebook.com/hensoncompany
and follow us at www.twitter.com/hensonparents