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Boat Rocker promotes kids exec

Canadian prodco Boat Rocker Studios has promoted a former Fremantle exec to executive VP of content for its kids’ and family division.

Bob Higgins

Bob Higgins will oversee a reorganised content unit, with children’s entertainment label Radical Sheep being integrated into Boat Rocker Studios Kids and Family. He will also manage coproductions with its Industrial Brothers outfit.

Higgins has steered the studio’s children’s creative strategy over the past year, having moved to the firm when parent company Boat Rocker Media acquired Fremantle’s kids’ and family entertainment division at the beginning of 2018.

In the integrated unit, Higgins and his team will manage a beefed-up production slate, which includes series such as The Next Step, Remy & Boo and Danger Mouse and a number of new projects.

Shaleen Sangha, VP of Radical Sheep, and Chapman Maddox, former Fremantle kids’ and family VP of development, will report to Higgins.

Higgins’ promotion comes off the back of a major restructuring of Boat Rocker Studios, which saw it combine its content, distribution and brands teams into a single outfit led by MD Jon Rutherford. Higgins will continue to report to Rutherford, while Jam Filled Entertainment, Boat Rocker Media’s animation studio, will remain an independent operation led by president Kyle MacDougal and co-founders Jamie Leclaire and Phil Lafrance.

“My mandate is to blend the creative talent and philosophies within the Boat Rocker family, amassing a stable of the best artists, writers and directors working today and helping them to develop some of the most original, creatively dynamic entertainment product in the marketplace,” said Higgins.

Rutherford added: “Bob is a long-time champion of children’s programming and has made a significant impact since joining Boat Rocker last year. His knowledge, skills and leadership will be an integral part of our business as we continue to build our portfolio.”

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