Mia and the White Lion Producers Set For Indiana and the Otter’s Legend

The team behind global household hits “Mia and the White Lion” and “The Wolf and the Lion,” Mediawan‘s Mai Juin Productions, is heading back into the wild with “Indiana and the Otter’s Legend.”

Set to shoot in the wilds of Canada’s Eastern Townships in 2026, the English-language household adventure project has been boarded by Playtime, the Paris-based company which is a part of Vuelta.

Playtime (“The Quiet Son”) is launching worldwide sales for the formidable project at the American Film Market, marking its first collaboration with Mai Juin Productions.

Following the journey of animals and kids set against against a lush backdrop, “Indiana and the Otter’s Legend” has already secured distribution companions in major territories, including another Vuelta-affiliated banner, Pan Distribution in France, in addition to Mediawan’s Leonine Studios in Germany, and Photon Films and TVA Films in Canada.

The new film might be directed by Julien Decoin, best recognized for the acclaimed French drama sequence “Les Bracelets Rouges,” and written by Cynthia Knight, whose youth-focused credit embody the sequence “The Next Step.”

Marguerite Laurence, who was seen in Amazon’s “Three Pines,” stars in a first lead function as 12-year-old Indiana (Laurence), who’s “uprooted from the city to the struggling riverside town of Otterville — once famous for its otters, now hauntingly without them. When two unexpectedly return, the town dares to hope again. But protecting them leads Indiana and her friends into a battle against a predatory developer, a corrupt mayor, and her own father — the town sheriff,” reads the synopsis.

Mai Juin Productions’ Catherine Camborde, the driving pressure behind the animal-led household hits, “Mia and the White Lion” ($40M), “The Wolf and the Lion” ($25M) and “The Last Jaguar” ($22M), is producing “Indiana and the Otter’s Legend,” alongside Wishing Tree Productions’ Jonathan Vanger and Sylvain Proulx, whose credit span “Cat & Dog,” “Best Sellers,” and “Crisis”. The project is backed by Telefilm Canada.

“Otters as the main characters are highly engaging,” said Playtime Co-CEO Sébastien Beffa. “They bring an imaginary background of positive values such as family and work, but also tenderness, humor, and genuine empathy.”

Beffa also praised the script for providing an “authentic ecological perspective, not in a guilt-inducing way but in a constructive manner, allowing audiences of all ages to get involved in an entertaining way.”

Camborde and Vanger, meanwhile, said they’re “delighted with this first partnership with Playtime.

The pair described “Indiana and the Otter’s Legend” as “an adventure film in the spirit of ‘E.T.,’ ‘Super 8,’ ‘The Goonies’ and ‘Stranger Things,’ featuring a group of children and otters.” The producers said the movie will mix “adventure, emotion, and comedy thanks to the mischievous nature of the animals,” and common themes such as ” friendship, teenage emancipation, environmental safety.”