Launched just five months ago, Mediability has become the first casualty among the recent wave of German private media funds; unable to raise sufficient cash from investors for its three proposed animation series: Frog, Thorgal,and Baron Muenchhausen, the Munich-based equity fund has now filed for insolvency.

Ellipse Deutschland, the German arm of French animation studio Ellipseanime which was to have co-produced the series with Mediability, now plans to realise the productions with its French sister company and other international partners.

Commenting on the collapse of Mediability, Ellipse Deutschland's managing director Stephan Schesch said he "regretted very much that the co-productions with Mediability are not coming about. It seems that on the part of the private investors the general uncertainty in light of the present economic and political situation is great".

Meanwhile, another Ellipse Deutschland project -the live-action/animation feature The Canterville Ghost - is to be one of the projects backed by the Studio Hamburg Worldwide Pictures (WWP) fund launched at the end of October.