After numerous broadcasts on German and international TV (currently Sundays on Germany’s ZDF) and online, our favourite apple witch PETRONELLA is now also available on bed linen. Together with Leah and Luis, she guarantees magical dreams and ensures a cosy slumber! As a perfect match, new bedtime stories from the series can be found in the newly released books for first-readers, published by Bastei LÜBBE. Zip zap – and off to bed!

Cheeky little Raven is back on the big screen! His latest adventure HUNT FOR THE LOST TREASURE will be shown at the big open air screening of International Film Festival Stuttgart alongside such prominent features as ENCANTO, TURNING RED, JOSEP or THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE. Raven’s big show will be on Thurs, 05/05/22 at 3pm at Schlossplatz Stuttgart and in an online livestream.

This Easter is gonna rock! In tune with Easter and the cinematic release, 2 Lane Records is releasing the soundtrack of our movie RABBIT ACADEMY – MISSION EGGPOSSIBLE. From catchy “Let’s color the world” (in German and English) to the thrilling theme accompanying the battle for the golden egg, the soundtrack brings the must memorable songs and themes of the movie together in one place. It is available on Spotify, Apple Music, deezer and iTunes or via LINK.

After only three weeks in cinemas, RABBIT ACADEMY has sold 260,000 box office tickets in Germany speaking countries. Germany’s trade magazine, Blickpunkt:Film, calls it “a small sensation for Akkord Film’s animation success”, given that our film just tripled(!) its previous week’s results with 75,000 admissions last weekend. And Easter has yet to come!
Our rabbits have also convinced one of Germany’s most important children’s film festival. From May 29th to June 4th, 2022 RABBIT ACADEMY will be in competition at Goldener Spatz. We are super very proud of our rabbits and excited to see where the journey will take us!

Finally! Today RABBIT ACADEMY is coming to more than 600 cinema screens in Germany and Austria! We are so happy that our lovely rabbits are hopping onto the big screen. We want to thank our great co-producing partners SERU Animation and arx anima, as well as our distributor LEONINE Distribution, our world sales SOLA Media and the many public funders. Hopp-hopp-hurray!

Before the theatrical release of RABBIT ACADEMY in German-speaking cinemas tomorrow, the charming students of the magical Rabbit Academy got a great introduction in Hamburg, Cologne, Vienna and Stuttgart. In the presence of producers, creatives, voice actors and funding representatives, the rabbits enchanted not only young audiences. A nice occasion to finally celebrate our great film in person and in cinemas!

The theatrical release in Germany this Thursday (March 17th) is only the beginning of the international cinema trip for our rabbits. Soon after, audiences big and small will have the opportunity to see our charming film all over the world!
On March 25th, RABBIT ACADEMY will start its journey in Poland, followed by the UK on about 300 cinema screens on April 1st (see poster attached). One week later, they are hopping “down under” onto 240 cinema screens. After those theatrical releases in Australia and New Zealand, France will follow April 13th, Slovenia April 14th, etc. That’s just the beginning, there will be more releases worldwide!

One week to go! On March 17th our bunnies will finally be hopping onto the big screen all over Germany, before they will be screened in cinemas worldwide. Hopp-hopp-hurray!

We are delighted that our lovely rabbits have been shortlisted for the German Film Awards 2022!  Since THE ELFKINS (aka A PIECE OF CAKE) got shortlisted in 2020, we have now had two consecutive short-listings – how wonderful!
Our bunnies are already hopping along nicely before they land in more than 500 German cinemas on March 17^th, followed by many other countries! 
To tease even more – HERE is the link to our great trailer.

2022 has just begun, and PETRONELLA APPLEWITCH is already ready for take-off! Petronella episodes will air again on German KiKa at 8:25 am (Mo – Fr) in double episodes, as well as on KiKa’s online services.
Zip zap – to a magical start of spring!

From now on you will not only find apple pies, but also an apple witch at McDonald’s! Because our favorite witch PETRONELLA APPLEWITCH is now also part of the Happy Meal® gift series in Germany and Austria. What is hidden inside for our little customers? A magical story for young and old. Have fun and bon appétit!

What a great way to start the new year! With the new TRAILER for RABBIT ACADEMY – MISSION EGGPOSSIBLE we get a taste of all the fun and excitement of when the film hits German cinemas starting March 17, 2022! This time around, city rabbit Max is chosen by the Golden Egg to become a Master Rabbit!  But before his first training session begins, the Golden Egg – the source of all Easter magic – turns black!  Leo, the leader of a city rabbit gang and former student of Rabbit Academy, wants to destroy Easter once and for all, and he tricks a family of foxes into stealing all Easter eggs.  Max and his best friend Emmy‘s only chance to save Easter lies in teaming up with fox boy Ferdinand. But can a rabbit truly trust a fox?

THE ELFKINS arrived in France! LES ELFKINS – OPERATION PATISSERIE came in as #8 of the French box office charts in its 1^st week, setting a festive mood with delicious baking on 500 screens. Allez, les elfkins!

This Sunday, RAVEN THE LITTLE RASCAL – HUNT FOR THE LOST TREASURE will celebrate its TV premiere on KiKA. Two years after the movie premiere and numerous festival screenings, this third instalment of the cheeky, charming hero is now premiering on German television. Raven The Little Rascal sets off once again on a great adventure and, with the support of his animal friends, tries to follow the tracks of a treasure map and solves the riddle of a lost treasure….

After numerous airings on German broadcasters “ZDF” and “KiKA”, our favorite apple witch PETRONELLA is represented with a magical episode at the Italian festival “Cartoons on the Bay” taking place from Dec 3^rd to Dec 8^th! This year, the international crossmedia and children’s television festival hosted by “RAI” will take place both online and on-site. An opportunity for PETRONELLA to enchant even more viewers and an international professional audience!

Just in time for Akkord Film’s 20th anniversary, our top management will be strengthened by the addition of producers Imke Fehrmann and Valentin Greulich, alongside company founder Dirk Beinhold. With the new Co-CEOs, the company is aiming to produce universally relevant stories in an innovative way and in top quality with a stronger focus on international exploitation. A more detailed press release can be found below. Looking forward to the next 20 years!

We are proud to finally release the first images of RABBIT ACADEMY in a teaser trailer (watch HERE, German version HERE). The movie will hop onto the big screen on March 17, 2022 in Germany, and in many other countries prior to Easter!  In this adventure, city rabbit Max is chosen by the Golden Egg to become a Master Rabbit!  But before his first training session begins, the Golden Egg – the source of all Easter magic – turns black!  Leo, the leader of a city rabbit gang and former student of Rabbit Academy, wants to destroy Easter once and for all and tricks a family of foxes into stealing all Easter eggs.  Max‘ and his best friend Emmie‘s only chance to save Easter lies in teaming up with fox boy Ferdinand. But can a rabbit truly trust a fox?

For the second time in a row, Senta Berger and Friedrich von Thun lend their voices to our favorite rabbits, this time in RABBIT ACADEMY – MISSION EGGPOSSIBLE. Senta Berger, who just received the Honorary LOLA for Outstanding Services to the German film at the German Film Awards ceremony last Friday, voices Madame Hermione. And Friedrich von Thun again takes on the role of teacher Mr. Fitz. Both characters accompany city rabbit Max, spoken by Noah Levi, in another adventure in the magical world of the rabbit school.
The German-Austrian co-production will be released in over 400 German cinemas by LEONINE Distribution on March 17, 2022. 

THE ELFKINS go America! Under the title A PIECE OF CAKE, the movie will be available exclusively on directV starting October 7th and on various other digital and on demand outlets starting November 9th. Starring in the main role is none other than TikTok star Madi Monroe, beloved by her 17 mio fans for her cool TikTok dance moves and cheeky clips. In A PIECE OF CAKE, Madi not only makes her feature film debut but also performs the title song alongside her co-star Stuart Reimers. Here’s a first glimpse of the US version of the movie.

For the second time in a row, Akkord’s founder and CEO, Dirk Beinhold, was elected as Vice-Chairman to the board of Animation in Europe, the federation of European animation producers‘ associations. Representing the interests of the animation industry in Europe, Animation in Europe specifically advocates for independent animation production companies and is in constant dialogue with the relevant regulating authorities of the European Union.
The election coincides with Dirk‘s election as head of the newly founded Animation branch of the German Film Academy (along with Emely Christians, Ulysses Filmproduktion).
Additionally he was elected onto the board of the German Film Academy. Congratulations!
Looks like Dirk has an animated future lying ahead of him!

Noone can stop these rabbits! Our animated children’s movie THE RABBIT SCHOOL – GUARDIANS OF THE GOLDEN EGG was awarded the ARD Program Bonus worth 25,000 EUR at a virtual award ceremony on Tuesday evening. National public broadcaster ARD annually awards its Program Bonus to producers who have made a particularly successful production on behalf of or in cooperation with ARD, combined with the opportunity to develop a new project for ARD. 
We are very proud of our bunnies, say thank you to the Rabbit School commissing editors of SWR and NDR and are looking forward to working and developing the next project together with ARD and its regional public broadcasters. Hopping on! 

After a successful funding kick-off by MFG Filmförderung Baden-Württemberg in January 2021, we are pleased to receive two more positive funding commitments.
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg awarded our new tv-series RABBIT ACADEMY – THE SERIES with 125.000 EUR, nordmedia with 350.000 EUR. A great kickstarter for the production! Special thanks to our co-producers and partners SWR and NDR. Together with them, KiKA, SERU Animation and 2 Minutes (FR), we are looking forward to the next steps for this exciting new project!

We are thrilled to announce that THE ELFKINS – BAKING A DIFFERENCE took home the Bavarian Film Award as Best Animated Feature at last night’s award ceremony. The Bavarian Film Award (“Bayerischer Filmpreis”) is one of the most prestigious and highly endowed film awards in Germany, and we‘re happy to receive this national honor after already having won Chicago and Giffoni. 
Since animated films are not awarded annually but only for special achievements, this award is a special honor and an important acknowledgement for the animation industry in Germany and the fantastic talent behind it. Such as our great screenwriter Jan Strathmann, exceptional director Ute von Münchow-Pohl, brilliant art director Heiko Hentschel and the incomparable Jella Haase as the German voice of elfkin girl Elfie, to name just a few. 
A huge THANK YOU to everyone!

Fantastic applewitch PETRONELLA will air with new episodes at the end of April. Starting on April 29^th, the last 13 episodes of the series will broadcast daily at 6.35 pm on German tv station KiKA. Afterwards, the first 26 episodes will be rebroadcast. In addition, the new episodes will be shown every Sunday from May 23^rd on ZDF at 6.40 am. 
All wands out for a magical summer! Zip zap! 

After the successful release of our tv-series PETRONELLA APFELWITCH on prominent German tv stations KiKa and ZDF, lovely applewitch Petronella is turning to the magic of music. The original soundtrack to the series is now available on Spotify, Amazon and iTunes. To sing along anytime and anywhere!
And for even more Easter fun, our feature film RABBIT SCHOOL – GUARDIANS OF THE GOLDEN EGG will air for the first time on German broadcaster ARD. Right on time for the Easter bunny at 07:10 a.m.!

With one of the highest international box office results, THE ELFKINS ranked number 4 of all German productions sold abroad in 2020. This is not only another milestone for us, but also a success for German animated films which are gaining popularity worldwide.
We’ve also had a solid year on a rather difficult domestic market. Akkord Film’s THE ELFKINS and RAVEN THE LITTLE RASCAL – HUNT FOR THE LOST TREASURE both ranked among the top 15 German movies in 2020. With a market share of 6.4%, Akkord Film’s productions contributed to the success of German films at the German box office in 2020. THE ELFKINS also held up against Hollywood movies, ranking No. 23 among all films released in German cinemas in 2020.

The MFG film fund Baden-Württemberg awarded a sum of EUR 400,000 to our new series project RABBIT ACADEMY – THE SERIES at their first meeting in 2021. Packed with action and comedy, the new TV series (2D, 52×11 min) is based on our feature films THE RABBIT SCHOOL – GUARDIANS THE GOLDEN EGG (2017) and THE RABBIT SCHOOL – THE EGG FORCE (currently in production).
In collaboration with our co-producers SWR, NDR and KiKA as well as SERU Animation and 2 Minutes (France) we are excited to send the cheeky bunny Max and his big city buddies on adventurous missions in the magical forest boarding school. Production start is scheduled for 2022.