Company’s new UK-based division kicks off with a slate of five new shows including ‘Peeled Prawn & Shaved Sheep,’ ‘Snö,’ ‘Wise Island Woohoos,’ ‘Trippin,’ and ‘Cassidy’s Castle;’ BGF Invests £6 million, acquiring a minority share in the animation studio.
Animation studio Snipple has launched a brand-new UK-based division and team, Snipple Originals, devoted to the development of long form animated content for global audiences. The company also announced that it has secured a £6 million minority stake investment from BGF, the UK’s most active investor.
Under the leadership of London-based CEO Kaine Patel along with co- founders, studio director Jonathan Tinsay and creative director Romy Gacia, Philippines-based Snipple Animation has worked consistently with some of the biggest broadcast networks globally including Warner Bros, Disney, DreamWorks, and Nickelodeon. Its portfolio of animation includes Where’s Waldo?; Dora And Friends: Into the City!; Animaniacs; Green Eggs and Ham; Ducktales; Be Cool Scooby Doo; Phineas and Ferb; and many others.
Drawing on its wealth of knowledge, talent and expertise, the company is now realizing its ambition to launch an original production arm. The operation will be led by newly named animation development director, award-winning producer Karina Stanford-Smith. Her 30 years of experience includes working with industry leaders Disney, Nickelodeon, Amazon, CBBC, CITV, Zodiak Kids, Milkshake and The Jim Henson Company. She will report directly to Patel.
Vincent James has been named creative director; his experience includes BBC, Nickelodeon, ITV, Children’s TV Workshop and DreamWorks. Simon Godfrey joins as creative development producer, having worked with companies including Amazon, Coolabi, The Jim Henson Company, and Zodiak Kids.
Snipple Originals is ready to present their first content slate of five shows to potential broadcasters, streamers, and IP partners. The line-up includes Peeled Prawn & Shaved Sheep, a comedy action-adventure series aimed at 6-12-year-olds starring a sheep and prawn combo who join forces to fight crime in Thousand Island City; Snö, a magical adventure series for 4-7-year-olds set in the far, far North; Cassidy’s Castle, a metaphysical mystery series for 6-12-year-olds about dreams, doors, and destiny; Wise Island Woohoos, an environmental edu-tainment series aimed at 3-6-year-olds; and Trippin’, an 18+ comedy series based around a high octane and extremely offensive US road trip.
“It is so exciting to draw on the huge talent and expertise of Snipple and to have the freedom to create and develop home grown ideas,” shared Stanford-Smith. “We have the perfect team in place to produce high-quality global hits that audiences will love! The Snipple Originals development team have been working together for 30 years in various guises. We have a chemistry that has allowed us to hit the ground running; now bringing a varied slate of projects to the table.”
“It has been a dream for me to expand Snipple into the world of original content,” added Patel. “It’s the perfect expression of our creativity and heritage as a studio. Animation is really having a moment right now and I can’t wait to start talking to potential broadcast partners and bring them on our journey.”
“As a rapidly growing and highly profitable animation production business, Snipple is well-placed to capitalize on significant and increasing demand for new content from the likes of Netflix, Disney and Amazon,” noted BGF investor Tom McDonnell. “We’re thrilled to be investing in the business and have been particularly impressed by the strength of the management team and the creative caliber of its new hires. Animation has proved particularly resilient to the headwinds of COVID and this represents an exciting opportunity to invest in a business competing on a on world stage.”
Source: Snipple Animation Studio
