Coolabi


Coolabi eyes acquisitions after £11m funding injection

Britain-based children’s entertainment firm Coolabi Group is on the acquisitions hunt after securing £11 million (US$14.7 million) in new funding. The firm, which counts Clangers, Bagpuss, Poppy Cat and Scream Street among its IP brands, received the cash injection from Santander Corporate & Commercial, a division of high street bank Santander. The funds will go […]

Coolabi, Chapman backer reveals £40m fund

A British financial firm that has invested kids TV properties Poppy Cat and The Clangers has launched a £40 million (US$61 million) fund the UK’s creative industries. Edge Investment has launched the Edge Creative Enterprise Fund, with support from the British government. This will look to invest in “high growth” companies in the creative industries […]

Zodiak, Coolabi team for Sea Quest adaptation

The kids division of Zodiak Media has joined forces with IP specialists Coolabi Group and will develop a TV series based on the popular Sea Quest book franchise. Coolabi owns the rights to the books, which are written by Adam Blade and have sold over 500,000 copies. The property is a spin-off from Blade’s 20-million […]

CBBC, ZDFE visit Scream Street

UK children’s channel CBBC has come on board a fast-paced comedy series that Germany’s ZDF Enterprises will sell on the international market. The 52x11mins Scream Street will be a stop-motion animation series from UK indies Coolabi and Factory Transmedia, the latter of which has just joined as coproducer. Puppet and model making firm Mackinnon & […]

News brief: Purple Ronnie owner launching YouTube channel

Purple Ronnie and Bagpuss rights owner Coolabi has partnered with online content specialist Little Dot Studios to launch a branded YouTube channel. The network will premiere Purple Ronnie animated shorts that are ideal for sharing via social media. All3Media-backed Little Dot will claim ownership of previously uploaded content from the Smallfilms catalogue, which includes Bagpuss […]

Girls want toons!

Commissioners want more girl-skewed animation and say there is not enough coming their way. Producers say that commissioners often shun girl-skewed ideas as they are worried boys will turn off. Meanwhile, a handful of shows with girl characters are global hits. Asking kids TV executives why there are not more cartoons with lead girl characters […]

Coolabi hires Val Fry as sales boss

Producer and rights management firm Coolabi has hired Valerie Fry as director of sales. Fry, who has previously worked for Chapman Entertainment, Celador and Gullane, will report to Coolabi chief executive Jeremy Banks. In the newly created director of sales role she will oversee sales and commercial exploitation of Coolabi’s portfolio of properties, which include […]

Coolabi hot-housing ideas after Working Partners deal

Coolabi, which owns or represents brands including Bagpuss, Purple Ronnie and Ivor the Engine, has a raft of new properties to work up for TV and other media after a deal that saw its financial backer Edge provide the funds for Jeremy Banks to acquire Working Partners. The latter has a US-style content division, which […]