Tom Beattie, MD of Banijay-owned Tiger Aspect Kids & Family in the UK, discusses what’s coming up in the company’s animation pipeline, how Mr Bean maintains its success, plans to work with digital content creators, going YouTube-first and the demise of Sky Kids’ commissioning arm.

Tom Beattie

Tell us about Stan & Gran, which Tiger Aspect Kids & Family boarded as a coproducer earlier this year.
It’s a lovely pre-school project with a huge nature base to it, it’s fun and [filled with] exploring and adventures. It made sense for Banijay Kids & Family, given we’re distributing it anyway, to come on board fully with it. [Original coproducer] Jellyfish Pictures [which went into administration earlier this year], were pretty far down the line; they’d written about 50 scripts, with three or four animation episodes completed. We brought about six of that team into the production from where it was before and they’re all working together. So they were a well-oiled machine already; we just needed to kick-start it again and get them back on the road. The project launches in November and the [Paramount-owned] Milkshake! team are super happy with it. Alison Steadman [Gavin & Stacey] is playing one of the characters, which is great. So we’ve got high hopes for it; it’s a really good show.

What else is in the pipeline at Tiger Aspect Kids & Family?
More Super Happy Magic Forest would be nice. And then we’re working on a show called Aquila & the Medieval Misfits which we took to Cartoon Forum two years ago and are now in production for. It’s a predominantly French production with French writers and a French animation studio, led by Tiger Aspect Kids & Family, and it’s an original IP [which shows] original IPs can get made [in the current climate]. It’s co-created by me and a stand-up comedian [Henry Paker] from the UK.

Tiger Aspect is onboard to coproduce Stan & Gran

The classic live-action Mr Bean is decades old, but the brand is still going strong and the animated series is hugely popular. What’s the secret sauce?
When you say classic, I’d say classic and still relevant, because sure it’s a heritage brand, but it’s still speaking to everyone now. For families, it’s co-generational. What I love about the animation is it doesn’t chase any zeitgeist; it’s not trying to be super trendy but just does its own thing. We’ll do spin-off things, but we’ve not tried to do too many things because the centre of it is Rowan [Atkinson] and he’s protective of it. There are certain things we can’t do and that’s key – the creator is leading it. Bean will keep going. The FAST channel is doing amazing work with 130-plus syndications in 37 territories. It’s a really interesting way of looking at it and getting Bean into different places. What’s also interesting with Bean and why it’s doing well is that it’s non-exclusive in a lot of places, and plays everywhere for everyone.

What’s your digital strategy and how do you decide what to do where?
It’s selective, because we don’t have deep pockets. We don’t spend lots of money on marketing everything on every show [but] we are definitely concentrating more on the digital distribution side of things. We’ve now got a great multi-channel network on YouTube, but also on Amazon and other social platforms, so we’re able to help other shows, new or old, get that audience through leveraging cross-promotion across all those channels. All of us within Banijay Kids & Family are looking at projects that either are finished content we can take and use on our digital platforms, or that we could partner with to go digital-first. It’s still early days for us, but we’re looking at routes to audience and how we can do that. We’re looking at still creating those 52×11’ episodes but what else we can do to get more content on digital at the same time that’s not just marketing or clips. That costs money, so it’s a difficult thing.

Mr Bean has 130-plussyndications in 37 territories

What are you looking for next?
We diversify all the time. That’s a key word – ‘diversify’ – because we don’t always put our eggs in the same basket, whether that’s pre-school or six-plus, or where those ideas come from. We do a lot of books-to-screen, and gaming and comic book series are relevant as well at the moment. [We’re] definitely [looking at] content creators from other platforms, like YouTube or TikTok, that have started online first and had a viralness around it and how we can turn that into a show. That’s definitely a fertile place to look. So we’re trying to find different places and ideas. We can look anywhere – whether that’s a brand first, because we’re looking for investment, so if a brand can come in with us so we can go YouTube-direct. It’s about trying not to keep bashing the same doors with the same financing.

What are the biggest issues and challenges you’re coming across at the business?
Sky Kids going [pulling out of commissioning]. They had an amazing investment in kids. Yes, they’re still doing acquisitions, but it’s [them ceasing commissions] shrinking the market. We’re using our group size to find ways to reduce our budgets so that while we have less money coming in we can go to greenlight quicker.

Do we need another commissioner to replace Sky Kids?
100% yes. We’ve got the BBC; ITV are doing some stuff as well and we’ve got Milkshake!, but to knock a table leg out from the industry when it’s already on its knees is not helpful. We did some great stuff with Sky, such as Aliens Love Underpants, and a couple of specials and short series, and they were doing other great stuff as well. [Outgoing director of kids’ content] Lucy [Murphy] was a fantastic finder of brilliant projects. The BBC is still doing what they’re doing at a similar level, but they’re stretched out.

Tom Beattie, MD of Banijay-owned Tiger Aspect Kids & Family in the UK, discusses what’s coming up in the company’s animation pipeline, how Mr Bean maintains its success, plans to work with digital content creators, going YouTube-first and the demise of Sky Kids’ commissioning arm.

Tom Beattie

Tell us about Stan & Gran, which Tiger Aspect Kids & Family boarded as a coproducer earlier this year.
It’s a lovely pre-school project with a huge nature base to it, it’s fun and [filled with] exploring and adventures. It made sense for Banijay Kids & Family, given we’re distributing it anyway, to come on board fully with it. [Original coproducer] Jellyfish Pictures [which went into administration earlier this year], were pretty far down the line; they’d written about 50 scripts, with three or four animation episodes completed. We brought about six of that team into the production from where it was before and they’re all working together. So they were a well-oiled machine already; we just needed to kick-start it again and get them back on the road. The project launches in November and the [Paramount-owned] Milkshake! team are super happy with it. Alison Steadman [Gavin & Stacey] is playing one of the characters, which is great. So we’ve got high hopes for it; it’s a really good show.

What else is in the pipeline at Tiger Aspect Kids & Family?
More Super Happy Magic Forest would be nice. And then we’re working on a show called Aquila & the Medieval Misfits which we took to Cartoon Forum two years ago and are now in production for. It’s a predominantly French production with French writers and a French animation studio, led by Tiger Aspect Kids & Family, and it’s an original IP [which shows] original IPs can get made [in the current climate]. It’s co-created by me and a stand-up comedian [Henry Paker] from the UK.

Tiger Aspect is onboard to coproduce Stan & Gran

The classic live-action Mr Bean is decades old, but the brand is still going strong and the animated series is hugely popular. What’s the secret sauce?
When you say classic, I’d say classic and still relevant, because sure it’s a heritage brand, but it’s still speaking to everyone now. For families, it’s co-generational. What I love about the animation is it doesn’t chase any zeitgeist; it’s not trying to be super trendy but just does its own thing. We’ll do spin-off things, but we’ve not tried to do too many things because the centre of it is Rowan [Atkinson] and he’s protective of it. There are certain things we can’t do and that’s key – the creator is leading it. Bean will keep going. The FAST channel is doing amazing work with 130-plus syndications in 37 territories. It’s a really interesting way of looking at it and getting Bean into different places. What’s also interesting with Bean and why it’s doing well is that it’s non-exclusive in a lot of places, and plays everywhere for everyone.

What’s your digital strategy and how do you decide what to do where?
It’s selective, because we don’t have deep pockets. We don’t spend lots of money on marketing everything on every show [but] we are definitely concentrating more on the digital distribution side of things. We’ve now got a great multi-channel network on YouTube, but also on Amazon and other social platforms, so we’re able to help other shows, new or old, get that audience through leveraging cross-promotion across all those channels. All of us within Banijay Kids & Family are looking at projects that either are finished content we can take and use on our digital platforms, or that we could partner with to go digital-first. It’s still early days for us, but we’re looking at routes to audience and how we can do that. We’re looking at still creating those 52×11’ episodes but what else we can do to get more content on digital at the same time that’s not just marketing or clips. That costs money, so it’s a difficult thing.

Mr Bean has 130-plussyndications in 37 territories

What are you looking for next?
We diversify all the time. That’s a key word – ‘diversify’ – because we don’t always put our eggs in the same basket, whether that’s pre-school or six-plus, or where those ideas come from. We do a lot of books-to-screen, and gaming and comic book series are relevant as well at the moment. [We’re] definitely [looking at] content creators from other platforms, like YouTube or TikTok, that have started online first and had a viralness around it and how we can turn that into a show. That’s definitely a fertile place to look. So we’re trying to find different places and ideas. We can look anywhere – whether that’s a brand first, because we’re looking for investment, so if a brand can come in with us so we can go YouTube-direct. It’s about trying not to keep bashing the same doors with the same financing.

What are the biggest issues and challenges you’re coming across at the business?
Sky Kids going [pulling out of commissioning]. They had an amazing investment in kids. Yes, they’re still doing acquisitions, but it’s [them ceasing commissions] shrinking the market. We’re using our group size to find ways to reduce our budgets so that while we have less money coming in we can go to greenlight quicker.

Do we need another commissioner to replace Sky Kids?
100% yes. We’ve got the BBC; ITV are doing some stuff as well and we’ve got Milkshake!, but to knock a table leg out from the industry when it’s already on its knees is not helpful. We did some great stuff with Sky, such as Aliens Love Underpants, and a couple of specials and short series, and they were doing other great stuff as well. [Outgoing director of kids’ content] Lucy [Murphy] was a fantastic finder of brilliant projects. The BBC is still doing what they’re doing at a similar level, but they’re stretched out.