For the last sixteen months or so I have been doing a lot of show development, for myself and for major companies - taking ideas from conception through to show bible onto pilot scripts and then to pitch.
My hit rate has been pretty high lately and quite a few of them should be making their way into the production soon. One has even won an award even though it's not actually been made yet!
This is they...
THE BIGGEST NEWS
DINOPAWS is coming to Cbeebies and Treehouse in Canada in 2013!
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Like 'Walking With Dinosaurs' only they take baby steps, this is my very own pre-school show and is now in production with Impossible Pictures (who make 'Waking With Dinosaurs') and Kindle Films
It's a quirky, charming, poetic series with a lot of visual comedy and will probably keep me busy for most of this year. All the charactees are named after my uncles and aunts!
'WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?' is a show about philosophy for pre-schoolers and won the Creativity award at the Seoul Animation Festival in early 2011.
Developed by me from a best selling series of French childrens books and produced by Planet Nemo, it is now in production, with Cbeebies and France 3 amongst its buyers.
I wrote twenty five of its fifty-two five minute episodes.
'K3' is a silly pink musical adventures show which I developed for Studio 100, based around the unlikely adventures of a trio of teeny pop stars.
In September 2010 I advised and helped pitch the show at Cartoon Forum in Hungary to a packed room of over a hundred and thirty broadcasters and investors from all over Europe.. only some of them there to see me sing Europop! It went really well and we sent everyone off with a smile on their faces and a maddening catchy song in their head.
'MINI-NINJAS' is a comedy adventure series which I've developed from a computer game for Impossible Kids and Eidos. Quirky and epic it's also due to go into production soon.
'OSCAR AND HOO' was 2011's Cartoon Forum project. A pre-school series based around a beautiful childrens book by Oscar winning animator Micheal DuDok Du Witt, I wrote the show bible and the pilot scripts. It's already attracted a lot of attention.
OTHER RECENT THINGS.
I've run several development workshops for new productions, including 'Mike The Knight' for Hit Entertainment and 'Tree Fu Tom' for Cbeebies. I also produced and presented a well recieved session at this years Childrens Media Conference on 'How To Train Your Writer.'
'EAST END BACKPASSAGES - an explorers guide' is my first book and will be published by Quartet in March 2011, and you can read more about it at eastendbackpassages.com
OLDER NEWS
THE PINKY AND PERKY SHOW.
Still screening around the world and doing especially well in Australia, P&P were short-listed as best kids show at Annency, Cartoons On The Bay and the Bradford Animation festival. I also wrote a special P&P viral for an industry award show where the pigs accidentally spread swine flu!
FRANKENSTEIN'S CAT continues to have nine lives too, still screening regularly around the world, it won Best Children's Series at Cartoons On The Bay in Italy in 2010 and at the Bradford Animation Festival.
BOUNTY HAMSTER is back too! Someone is posting high quality versions of every single episode of my early show on YouTube, and threatening to do the same with Pinky and Perky too. It's wrong.. but I kinda like it!
OTHER WORK IN 2009 included a script for Darryl McQueens first animated series 'Pet Squad' and a pilot for new C.G.I. Series inspired by 'The Little Prince.' I also continued my involvement with the Channel Four animation schemes as script mentor and one of the films I helped on a bit, Mother Of Many, went on to win a Bafta for best animated short. Two others, 'The Astronomers Son' and 'The Tannery' have also won a fair few awardf
EVEN OLDER NEWS
Here is some of the pleasingly approving press that our revival of Pinky and Perky got...
' An incredibly slick and successful update.
From tiny chipolatas, mighty bangers once grew,
and I think Pinky & Perky will sizzle again. Four stars. '
The Mail
'Witty scripts that will delight the kids
and should raise a smile from most parents.'
The Times
'There is much to recommend this incarnation.
Choice of the day '
The Sunday Times
'A Pixar approach to adult irony…
a wizard's hat of decent gags.'
The Guardian
CBBC's fantastic new show continues
to prove that two pert little piglets really can
be the saviours of children's TV.
The Mail again!
'We like it very much'
Jan and Vlasta Dalibor, the creators of Pinky and Perky.
AND STILL IN THE SHOPS ( BUT CHEAPER ON E-BAY )...
