Brazilian Animated Movie ‘Tito and the Birds’ Bought for North America by Shout

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Shout! Studios has acquired North American distribution rights to the Brazilian animated movie “Tito and the Birds.”

Shout plans a rollout across multiple entertainment distribution platforms, beginning with a theatrical launch later this year.

“” is directed by Gustavo Steinberg, Gabriel Bitar and André Catoto from a script by Eduardo Benaim and Steinberg. Producers are Steinberg, Daniel Greco, Felipe Sabino, and Brenda Wooding.

The story centers on Tito, a shy 10-year-old boy, who lives in a world on the brink of pandemic. Fear is crippling people, making them sick and transforming them. Tito realizes, based on his father’s past research, that there may be a way to utilize the local pigeon population and their songs to create a cure for the disease.

The film premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and won the best feature for children at Anima Mundi 2018. The film will have its North American festival premiere at Toronto International Film Festival.

Steinberg said, “I am really happy to release ‘Tito and the Birds’ in North America with Shout! Studios. Unfortunately, it seems that the ‘fear epidemic’ that the movie dwells on is not exclusive to Brazil — it has been affecting the whole world. So I hope that the movie inspires North American kids to face it — just like Tito and his friends do.”

The film deal was negotiated by Jordan Fields, and Vanessa Keiko Flanders for Shout! Factory, and Nicolas Eschbach of Indie Sales on behalf of the filmmakers.