TBI Kids: ‘Odo’ producer Sixteen South on partnering up to get creative

Odo

Belfast-based children’s producer Sixteen South is focusing on international co-productions in order to grow its creative output.

The Irish firm behind animated shows Odo and The Coop Troop has gradually been stepping back from in-house production to a new model with a greater focus on creation and development that sees them increasingly partnering with other firms on projects.

Speaking to TBI at the Annecy Festival recently, chief exec Colin Williams explained: “Essentially we’ve expanded our creative and development team and we’re doing much less work in-house ourselves,” a move which he says is “probably reflective of a bunch of studios” in Ireland and the UK.

“Rather than focus on ‘create the show, make the show, sell the show’, we realised that it if we find really good production partners… who would partner with us either as a co-pro or a service [it gives] us the capacity and more time to create more, develop more and pitch more – and that’s kind of what we love the most.”

Williams added: “We’ve always been proud of making high quality stuff in-house, but I suppose what we are probably the best at is telling stories. Also, the tax credit systems in other countries are more kind than the ones in our part of the world.”

Sixteen South previously partnered with international companies such as Letko in Poland for Odo and with Tencent in China and Technicolor Animation Productions in France for The Coop Troop. The company’s most recent co-pro partnership is with leading Canadian firm Nelvana on A Horse Named Steve, an adaptation of Kelly Collier’s Steve The Horse books.

The 52 x 11-minute series follows self-absorbed equine Steve as he hatches a variety of schemes in order to stand out from the crowd. “We saw the books and we thought they were hilarious,” shared Williams, praising their “perfect, dry humour.”

The exec added that Sixteen South had been looking to partner with Nelvana and parent Corus Entertainment “for years”. “We want to make the best shows and Nelvana are one of the best,” said Williams.