Kindle Entertainment

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Kindle Entertainment
Industry Children's television production
Predecessor(s) ITV Kids (ITV Productions)
Founded 2007
Headquarters London, England
Key people Anne Brogan, Melanie Stokes

Kindle Entertainment is an double BAFTA award winning independent television production company based in London, England. Kindle Entertainment was formed after ITV Kids (a section of ITV Productions) was closed, and current personnel includes Anne Brogan, the former controller of ITV Kids and ITV Kids, Head of Development Melanie Stokes.

Kindle Entertainment have most recently produced: the second series of Leonardo, a show that re-imagines Leonardo da Vinci as the teenage action hero; The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby a modern adaptation of Dickens' classic; and Get Well Soon a preschool show for children about going to the doctor for CBeebies.

Kindle's previous productions include: a series of behind-the-scenes documentaries about Harry Potter series, shown before cinematic release on ITV; a live-action children's comedy My Spy Family, which was shown on Boomerang; three series of the multi-award winning puppet show Big & Small; the Emmy Award winning Dustbin Baby, adapted from a book written by Jacqueline Wilson; Jinx following the story of Lulu Baker, a teenage girl who is able to cast spells from her magic cookbook; the Kidscreen award winning Some Dogs Bite; the first series of the multi-award winning Leonardo; and the two part mini-series, Treasure Island Starring Eddie Izzard and Elijah Wood for Sky One.

Kindle Entertainment are currently in production with preschool show Dinopaws.

History

Big (right) and Small from Kindle's preschool comedy Big & Small

Kindle is an independent company that was formed upon the closure of the Kids department of ITV Productions.[1] Kindle's director, Anne Brogan, who was formerly controller of ITV Kids, formed the company with her colleague Melanie Stokes, who was formerly Head of Development at ITV Kids.[2][3] Kindle's first productions were Harry Potter: Behind the Magic and Harry Potter: The Costume Drama, shown in July 2009 on ITV1.[4] Harry Potter: Behind the Magic was a one-off one hour documentary presented by Ben Shephard. The documentary looked behind the scenes of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and featured interviews with the cast.[5] Kindle's second project was My Spy Family, a live action children's television series following the Bannons. The Bannon parents are former spies.[4] The show, which spanned multiple series, was a co-production between Kindle and Turner Broadcasting, and was shown on Boomerang.[1]

Kindle's third production is the on-going Big & Small. Shown on BBC1, BBC2 and CBeebies in the UK,[4] it is also shown on Cyw in Wales, with a total of over 40 channels worldwide airing the show.[6] To produce the show, Kindle worked with 3J's Entertainment the BBC, Treehouse TV and Studio 100.[7] Big & Small is a puppet comedy aimed at pre-school children following the characters Big and Small which, every episode, features a song. Both Big and Small are voiced by Lenny Henry, and Imelda Staunton voices the other main characters.[8] Kindle and Start Licensing have made deals to merchandise the programme with indoor- and outdoor-clothing, nightwear and underwear lines.[9] In 2009, Big & Small Online (part of CBeebies Online) was awarded the Children's BAFTA for interactive content. At the same ceremony, Kindle itself was nominated for the Best Independent Production company, but lost out to Astley Baker Davies. The other shortlisted companies were The Foundation and Kudos Film and Television.[10]

A teenage girl wearing a school uniform stands in a graveyard, holding flowers
Dakota Blue Richards as April in Dustbin Baby, Kindle's first film production
Kindle's first film production was the television film Dustbin Baby, shown on BBC1 on 21 December 2008. An adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson's novel of the same name,[4] the screenplay was written by Helen Blakeman, for which she won a British Academy Children's Award for best writer,[11] and the film starred Dakota Blue Richards as April, a 14 year old girl abandoned as a baby, and Juliet Stevenson as Marion, her adoptive mother. The film also starred David Haig.[4] Dustbin Baby was received positively by both Wilson, who said it was the best ever film adaption of her work,[12] and critics. In an article in The Times David Chater awarded the programme the TV choice of the day, describing it as "tremendous", and "the wonderful surprise of Christmas".[13] The Telegraph described the film as a "rare treat", as it is "something that teenagers and parents can watch together".[14] The film was released on DVD in January 2009.[15] In 2009, Dustbin Baby won an International Emmy Award in the children and young people category at the 37th International Emmy Awards,[16] and was nominated for a British Academy Children's Award in the drama category,[17] as well as being shortlisted for the BAFTA Kid's vote.[18]

On 31 October 2009, Kindle's show Jinx aired for the first time on CBBC,[19] having been in production since July.[20] The first series consisted of 13 episodes of 30 minutes.[20] Jinx follows the story of Lulu Baker, a teenage girl who is able to cast spells thanks to her magical cookbook, and stars Amber Beattie, Michael Nardone, Lucy Chalkley and Chizzy Akudolu,[19] and featured a large number of special effects.[21] The show is based on the Lulu Baker trilogy by author Fiona Dunbar.[22]

Personnel

  • Anne Brogan - Co-Director
  • Melanie Stokes - Co-Director
  • Valerie Ames - Director of Production
  • Lance Crossey - Director of Finance
  • Pia Ashberry - Head of Development
  • Richard Pink - Commercial Director of Big and Small
  • Jacqueline McGee - PA and Development Researcher
  • Nina Metivier - Development Executive
  • Sheena Bucktowonsing - Script Editor
  • Munir Malik - Digital Media Editor

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Spies return to Boomerang". C21Media. 25 March 2008. 
  2. ↑ "Meet the Kindle team...". Kindle Entertainment. Retrieved 4 March 2010. 
  3. ↑ Oatts, Joanne (22 June 2007). "Boomerang gets its own 'Spy' Family". Digital Spy. Retrieved 5 March 2010. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Find out more about Kindle's completed productions". Kindle Entertainment. Retrieved 4 March 2010. 
  5. ↑ "Harry Potter: Behind The Magic". ITV. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2010. 
  6. ↑ "Second UK network for Big & Small". C21Media. 12 February 2010. 
  7. ↑ Waller, Ed (29 August 2009). "CBeebies is having a laugh!". C21Media. 
  8. ↑ "Big & Small". BBC. Retrieved 7 March 2010. 
  9. ↑ Loveday, Samantha (16 February 2010). "APPAREL MONTH: Big & Small welcomes new lines". Licensing.biz. 
  10. ↑ "Children's Nominations 2009". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 7 March 2010. 
  11. ↑ "Richard Hammond wins Bafta for best presenter". BBC. 2009-11-30. Retrieved 16 February 2010. 
  12. ↑ Riley, Joe (2008-12-19). "Helen's tale of woe". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 21 December 2008. 
  13. ↑ Chater, David (2008-12-20). "TV Choice". London: The Times. Retrieved 22 December 2008. 
  14. ↑ McNulty, Bernadette (2008-12-19). "Dustbin Baby". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 December 2008. 
  15. ↑ "Dustbin Baby". Powerplay Direct. Retrieved 2009-01-29. 
  16. ↑ Robinson, James (2009-11-24). "Sir David Frost wins International Emmy in ceremony dominated by Brits". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 February 2010. 
  17. ↑ "Hammond gets Children's Bafta nod". The Press Association. 2009-10-26. Retrieved 16 February 2010. 
  18. ↑ Daswani, Mansha (2009-10-27). "BAFTA Kids' Nominations Announced". WorldScreen.com. Retrieved 16 February 2010. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Prepare to be spellbound by the new CBBC show Jinx this Halloween". Primary Times. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "New CBBC shows Jinx and This Kid Could Change the World to be made in Manchester". How-Do. 
  21. ↑ Strauss, Will (3 November 2009). "SumCreative completes Jinx effects". Broadcast. 
  22. ↑ "Find out what's in production with Kindle Entertainment". Kindle Entertainment. Retrieved 7 March 2010. 

External links

Television shows
Films
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