New Zealand and Canadian broadcasters greenlight Be With Zee
EXCLUSIVE: Vérité Films, Oddly Quiet and Media Tech Productions are co-producing this preschool toon about mindfulness.
By Ryan Tuchow
October 1, 2025
Television New Zealand and Canada’s TVOKids, TFO and Knowledge Network have greenlit Be With Zee (52 x six minutes), a new animated preschool series about exploring emotions.
An international co-pro between Toronto-based animation studio Vérité Films (Jeremy and Jazzy) and Kiwi production company Oddly Quiet and consultancy Media Tech Productions, this 2D toon is about a cuddly forest creature who finds creative ways to cope with his feelings, such as organizing his favorite toys or drawing pictures of his emotions when he gets overwhelmed.
Vérité International Distribution is bringing the series to MIP Junior. Production will start this fall to hit a fall 2026 delivery. Several Canadian and New Zealand funds are helping to finance the project, including the Canada Media Fund, the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate and the Shaw Rocket Fund.
Kiwi writer and artist Matt Haworth created Be With Zee, and its focus on mindfulness has particular significance for him since he has cystic fibrosis (a disease that affects breathing and growth) and uses techniques featured in the show to manage it. Haworth also designed the episodes to have a slower pace that helps kids learn skills to regulate and understand their emotions. Mindfulness is a trend in children’s programming that really took off during the pandemic, when the kids media industry realized how critical it was to help children manage their stress.
“[Be With Zee is] a distinctive offering for broadcasters at a time when there is so much noise, chaos, and disruption,” Roger Shakes, executive producer at Media Tech Productions, tells Kidscreen. “Sometimes we just want calm and Be With Zee is that antidote.”
Vérité’s Virginia Thompson and Robert de Lint are producing with Haworth, writer/director Tim Evans and writer/producer Simon Ward (Haworth, Evans and Ward all worked on the Canadian/New Zealand co-pro Badjelly at Auckland-based studio Mukpuddy). The trio are running Be With Zee through Oddly Quiet, and it’s the company’s first project to go into production. Mukpuddy is doing the animation, with help from Canada’s Smiley Guy Studios.