Building Creative and Meaningful Children's Television
Looking forward to being in Tel Aviv July 3-4 to teach a Master Class in children’s television writing and original IP development with Anne Marie Asner of Animation Israel. Can’t wait to be there!
So excited to receive my second Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Award nomination – this one with my brilliant co-writer Carolyn Hay for Ranger Rob. What an honour it is to be in the company of such an amazing group of fellow nominees!
The WGC Screenwriting Awards are now in their 26th year of celebrating and acknowledging the best of the best in Canadian screenwriting and the all-important creators behind the most engaging and powerful Canadian-made series, films, documentaries and webseries.
The WGC Screenwriting Awards will recognize and celebrate Canadian screenwriters and their scripts at a virtual ceremony on April 25, 2022. Details on the ceremony, including registration, will be coming soon to wgc.ca.
Congratulations to the awards finalists! @WGCtweet #WGCAwards2022
Thank you to everyone at Portfolio for making the development and writing of this Christmas special and series of shorts such a joy to be a part of! Getting in the Christmas spirit during the summer of 2020 sure helped with the pandemic blues.
By Mercedes Milligan | Published on June 4, 2021
Portfolio Entertainment’s award-winning animation studio, in partnership with the CMF/SRF Digital Animated Series Program and Corus Entertainment’s Treehouse TV, has produced a brand-new family Christmas special, Where Oliver Fits: A Christmas Eve Tale, and an accompanying series of 9 x 2.5′ shorts based on the hit Canadian children’s book Where Oliver Fits by Cale Atkinson. The heartfelt animated comedy special and series explore the challenges of not knowing where you fit in with your friends, and how to be yourself.
Beyond thrilled to have had our original preschool property “Gopher It!” (co-created with the wonderful Ron Rubin) selected by bulbKidz for their launch. Looking forward to the adventures ahead!
By Mercedes Milligan | Published on April 20, 2021
A new Canadian-U.S. kids entertainment company bulbKIDZ has launched, with industry veterans Nancy Aries Koff and Kiersten Halstead at the helm, announcing their first original preschool animation project, Gopher It! (52 x 11’). Working with Award-winning Canadian creators Andrew Sabiston (Super Wings, The Remarkable Mr. King, Ranger Rob, The Moblees) and Ron Rubin (Beetlejuice, X-Men, Avengers, Care Bears), this Canadian production is now in development, planned for Fall 2022 (Season 1) and Spring 2023 (Season 2).
Congratulations to all the 8th International Emmy® Kids Awards Best Preschool Show Nominees. It was an honour and a thrill to be in your company with SUPER WINGS Season 3 from FunnyFlux, Alpha and EBS China. Kudos to Australia’s BLUEY on their win.
Mission Teams is the concept for SUPER WINGS Season 3 episodes – promo video below
Congratulations to all the 2020 Writers’ Guild of Canada Award Nominees. It was an honour and a thrill to be nominated for Best Preschool Writing for Nelvana’s THE REMARKABLE MR KING among all those other remarkable writers and shows. Kudos to JJ Johnson, Christin Simms and Amish Patel on their win for DINO DANA.
The WGC Screenwriting Awards are now in their 24th year of celebrating and acknowledging the best of the best in Canadian screenwriting and the all-important talent behind the creation of the most engaging and powerful Canadian-made series, films, documentaries and webseries.
The WGC Screenwriting Awards will recognize and celebrate Canadian screenwriters and their scripts at a gala ceremony on April 27, 2020 at Toronto’s Koerner Hall (ticket info is coming soon to wgc.ca). Gavin Crawford, writer, comedian, and host of CBC Radio’s Because News, returns as this year’s host along with his long-time collaborator, screenwriter Kyle Tingley, as awards show writer.
Congratulations to everyone at Suzhou Aola Animation Technology Co. Ltd. in China! I’m thrilled to have been a part of the development of this heartwarming preschool series.
Hong Kong-based MediaLink Group will distribute Chinese animation studio’s new CG preschool show, set to launch in summer 2020.
By Dan Sarto
Chinese animation studio Aola Animation has signed a pre-sales and distribution deal with Hong Kong-based distributor MediaLink Group for its new original CG preschool series, Kiki & Nuna.
The development of THE REMARKABLE MR. KING has been a remarkably rewarding experience with a team that’s been such a joy to work with. Thank you, Geneviève Côté, for writing such a beautiful book series. We all can’t wait to do you and Mr. King proud as we move forward into production!
Head of development Athena Georgaklis dishes on the innovations that moved Mr. King, P.U.R.S.T. Agent Binky and Miss Persona to the top of the slate.
By Alexandra Whyte
Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana is revamping its slate with three new preschool productions—live-action Miss Persona, comedy-action series P.U.R.S.T. Agent Binky and 2D-animated Mr. King. From shorter production cycles to digital-first rollout—all three shows have some special quality that marks new territory for Nelvana, and they’ll hit the market at MIPCOM next month before debuting on Canadian preschool network Treehouse.
Congratulations to creator Alexander Bar and to Nelvana on this recognition for this incredibly fun series that I was so happy to be a part of in the role of Squirt, Mike’s little blue dragon. Rooooarrrrr!
6 Winners Span 6 Countries: Chile, France, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands & The United Kingdom
NEW YORK, February 20, 2015 – The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced tonight the winners of the 3rd International Emmy® Kids Awards. Winning programs from Chile, France, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom are: Polseres Vermelles (The Red Band Society) (Kids:Series); Wild Kids (Kids: Non-Scripted Entertainment); Mike The Knight (Kids: Pre-School); Con Que Suenas? (What’s Your Dream? Season 2), (Kids: Factual); Jungle Bunch to the Rescue (Kids: Animation) and Alles Mag (Anything Goes), (Kids: TV-Movie/Mini-Series). Complete winners information follows this release.
“There is great responsibility associated with creating content for children, and tonight’s winning programs demonstrate the high standard of quality the world has every right to expect,” said International Academy President, Bruce L. Paisner.
Congratulations to all the 2015 Canadian Screen Award Nominees. It was an honour and a thrill to be nominated for Best Writing in an Animated Series for Guru Studio’s JUSTIN TIME among such talented and terrific other writers and shows. Kudos to Seán Cullen on his win for ROCKET MONKEYS.
Article by PLAYBACK Staff
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Barbara Sears Award for Best Editorial Research
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