Kindle Entertainment

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

Kindle Entertainment is a triple 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 former Head of Development at ITV Kids, Melanie Stokes.

Recent productions include comedy, Hank Zipzer starring Henry Winkler; Dinopaws an animated comedy about a trio of dinosaurs; Minibeast Adventure with Jess, fact-ent for preschoolers; and Dixi, an interactive mystery set in the world of social networking. The third series of Dixi has just finished production.

Kindle Entertainment's previous productions include: a series of behind-the-scenes documentaries about Harry Potter including specials on The Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2, Costume Drama, and Animals; 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 International 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 CBeebies series Get Well Soon, a pre-school show that eases children’s fears about illness’ and going to the doctor’s surgery;The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby, a modern retelling of the Charles Dickens classic; the Kidscreen award winning Some Dogs Bite; two series of the multi-award winning Leonardo for CBBC; and the two part mini-series, Treasure Island Starring Eddie Izzard and Elijah Wood for Sky One.

History

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

Kindle Entertainment 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 Entertainment's third production is the ongoing 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 Entertainment worked with 3J's Entertainment and Sixteen South for 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 Entertainment's first single drama

Kindle Entertainment's first single drama 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 Entertainment'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
  • Colin Dungey - Head of Finance
  • Pia Ashberry - Head of Development
  • Jacqueline McGee - PA and Development Researcher
  • Bridget Goodman - Production Executive
  • Maureen Walker - Business Affairs Consultant
  • Annie Harrison-Baxter - Drama Development
  • Siobhan Bachman - Comedy Development
  • Sheena Bucktowonsing - Children's Development
[23]

Awards

2009

  • International Emmy Award Winner- Children's and Young People, 'Dustbin Baby'
  • BAFTA Winner Children's - Best Writer, 'Dustbin Baby'
  • BAFTA Winner in Children's - Best Interactive Content, 'Big & Small'
  • International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences - Winner for Children and Young People’s, 'Dustbin Baby'

2010

  • BAFTA Winner Children's - Best Independent Production Company
  • British Film Festival, Nantes - Winner of the Audience Award, 'Some Dogs Bite'

2011

  • BAFTA Winner Children's - Best Independent Production Company
  • BANFF Rocky Mountain Award Nominee - Best Youth (13+) Fiction Programme, ‘Some Dogs Bite’
  • International Film Festival European Children’s Film Association - Jury Award for Children & Young Audience, 'Some Dogs Bite'

2012

  • Royal Television Society - Best Children's Programme, 'Big & Small'
  • The Chicago International Film Festival Television Awards - Gold Plaque for Children’s Series, 'Big & Small'
  • Kidscreen - Best TV Movie/Mini-Series for Tweens/Teens, 'Some Dogs Bite'
  • Kidscreen - Best Show, 'Leonardo'
  • Kidscreen - Best Music, 'Leonardo'
  • Kidscreen - Best Design for non-animated/mixed series for Tweens/Teens, 'Leonardo'

2013

  • Kidscreen of Brunico - Best Writing in Creative Talent, 'Big & Small'

2014

  • BAFTA Winner Children's - Best Independent Production Company
  • BANFF Rocky Mountain Award Nominee - Best Children's Fiction Programme, ‘Hank Zipzer’
  • Chicago Film Festival TV Awards - Certificate of Merit, 'Hank Zipzer'
  • CINE - CINE Golden Eagle Award, 'Hank Zipzer'

[24] [25]

References

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  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ http://kindleentertainment.com/#staff
  24. ↑ http://kindleentertainment.com/#about
  25. ↑ http://kidscreen.com/2012/02/09/and-the-2012-kidscreen-awards-go-to/

External links

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