Kids TV producer and distributor Cloudco Entertainment has hired Sam Partner as VP international content distribution. Based at Cloudco’s London office, Partner joins from Beyond Distribution, where he was SVP sales for German-speaking Europe, Scandinavia, Benelux & Kids. He has previously worked at The Pokémon Company International and Fremantle. Partner will report to Karen Vermeulen, […]
Beano Studios has appointed CBBC exec Tim Searle as its head of animation. In the role, Searle will creatively direct and develop all of Beano Studios’ animated content. The 25-year animation veteran was previously executive producer of animation at CBBC. He also served as EP of Danger Mouse. Previously, he was series director of Mr. […]
Kay Benbow is the leaving the children’s division of UK pubcaster the BBC as part of a major shake-up that makes Cheryl Taylor its content chief. The key change sees CBeebies chief Benbow (pictured right) leaving the Corporation at the end of the year, with current CBBC chief Cheryl Taylor (below left) becoming head of […]
The head of UK pubcaster the BBC’s kids department has said her division’s commissioning focus has switched to ordering fewer, but “bigger and better” shows. Alice Webb, controller of BBC Children’s, announced the strategy in the opening keynote session at the Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield last night. “With so much competition out there, we […]
With trips to Miami and Liverpool coming up, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, BBC Worldwide’s director of childrens, tells TBI about new and returning shows, and her kids TV shopping list. The calendar for kids execs is well-populated with kids conferences, markets, screenings and producer get-togethers, and Showcase comes just days after the Kidscreen event, which corrals all […]
FremantleMedia’s Kids & Family unit has moved into formats, striking a deal for a Swedish version of CBBC live-action show Marrying Mum and Dad. The show is made in-house by CBBC in the UK, but building upon an existing coproduction deal between the pair, FremantleMedia has taken the format to market and secured a deal […]
Viacom has hired Sarah Muller to run its kids programming at Channel 5. The new recruit is joining from UK pubcaster the BBC where she is creative director – scripted, animation, coproduction and feature film. She will oversee commissioning and acquisitions at the free-to-air net, which Viacom acquired in 2014, and places her in charge […]
Streaming service Netflix has ordered a pair of tween-skewed scripted series, on of which comes from CBBC, a Bill Nye talk show and a second season of summer hit Stranger Things. The tween series are an untitled Horse Mystery project and one based on Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch novels, both of which are billed […]
UK kids channel CBBC has commissioned a ob-doc series in which the animals of Paignton Zoo will star. The Zoo comes from CBBC’s BBC sister division BBC Natural History Unit and Canada’s DHX Media. It will air on UK public broadcast television next year, with DHX taking international sales rights. The 30-part series began shooting […]
The kids TV business is starting to weigh the impact of Britain’s pending European Union exit. The kids sector in the UK was already under pressure, with the amount of locally made content steadily declining, and there was immediate concern over what Brexit will mean in terms of coproduction, access to EU funding and schemes, and […]
