Film Club USA and AAFD (Anglo American Film Distributors) have joined with Padmalaya Telefilms Ltd to produce and market a 200 part animation series based on the popular Indian folk stories, The Jataka Tales.

The Indo US joint venture will bring together Padmalaya's state-of-the-art animation studio in Hyderabad, and the expertise of AAFD and Film Club USA, in packaging and selling of entertainment products in developed and emerging markets.

Film Club has produced Bachelor Party, In The Shadow Of Kilimanjaro and The Jungle Book .The Jataka Tales will use leading international talent in the likes of Uli Meyer Studios (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Space Jam), EMMY award winner Joseph Kleinman and ToonCity.

Story-writing, screenplay, story board, voice directions and sound recording is being done in the US while production, layout, background, editing, titles, opticals and inserts are being done by Padmalaya in India. The cost of production per episode is estimated at $150,000 and for the 200 episodes at $30 million. The turnover for the entire series is expected to be between $50 million to $200 million over a period of three years. The series will air in September 2001.