Rancho Santa Fe’s Mantooth Films’ ‘Deadtime Stories for Kids’ TV series to be distributed worldwide

RSF’s Mantooth Films and Hill & Brand Kids recently announced that the “Deadtime Stories for Kids,” a television series (based on a series of books published by Starscape) will be distributed by Cookie Jar Entertainment. The first season of 26 half-hour episodes will be distributed worldwide. “Grave Secrets” will serve as the pilot episode.

Cool and creepy, funny and frightening, “Deadtime Stories” are books for children ages 8 to 12 — written by Annette and Gina Cascone — that offer thrills and chills without violence or gore.

Mantooth Films partners Dale Strack, Tonya Mantooth and Patti Judd, and filmmaking brothers Scott and David Hillenbrand of Hill & Brand Kids will be the local team co-producing the series.

The pilot episode “Grave Secrets” features Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Ladd and also stars Disney Channel celebrity Jennifer Stone (“Wizards of Waverly Place”) as the babysitter. In the episode, the babysitter reads the book to her young charges and then the story comes to life. This mechanism continues throughout the series.

Cookie Jar distributes over 6,000 episodes of kids’ programming around the world and serves as a worldwide merchandising agent for the shows. With Nickelodeon, they produced and distributed the highly successful show “Are You Afraid Of The Dark,” which was an anthology series in the same genre.

For more information, visit www.mantoothfilms.com.