The UK and Canadian studios are co-producing two animated series, “S.TINK” and “Alien Book Club”, both launching internationally from San Diego Summit.
UK animation studio Beakus and Canada’s Big Bad Boo Studios have announced a new partnership to co-produce two animated children’s series currently in advanced development: comedy “S.TINK” and preschool title “Alien Book Club”. Both projects have completed pilot scripts and series bibles and are attracting interest from international broadcasters ahead of their official launch at Kidscreen Summit.
Based on Jenny McLachlan’s “Fairy vs Boy books”, “S.TINK” (26×11’) targets 6–12-year-olds and follows the chaotic friendship between 13-year-old Danny and S.Tink, the world’s worst fairy, whose magic rarely goes to plan. McLachlan joins the writing team alongside supervising director Eddie Soriano and producer Paddy Gillen, with Steve Smith and Shabnam Rezaei attached as executive producers.
Aimed at 4–6-year-olds, “Alien Book Club” (39×7’) centres on four young aliens discovering classic stories inside the Intergalactic Library Bus, blending storytelling with early literacy themes. The series was created by Steve Smith with Rachel Barnett-Jones and former Moonbug executive Jemma Gross, and has been greenlit for development by Canadian broadcaster TVO.
Steve Smith, founder of Beakus comments: “Big Bad Boo Studios is our perfect partner. The team embodies the exact same ambitions as Beakus, and we speak the same language about animation and kids’ content in general. These two brilliant projects herald the start of a new and exciting adventure for both of us, and we can’t wait to share our development projects with the world.”
Shabnam Rezaei, co-founder of Big Bad Boo adds: “We are excited to work with Beakus, creating fresh new series that we believe will resonate with young audiences and their caregivers worldwide. ‘S.TINK’ is truly hilarious and comes from extraordinary IP that already has a global following, while ‘Alien Book Club’ taps into concerns about declining children’s literacy and the very real benefits of engendering a love of books from a young age.”
Jenny McLachlan, author adds: “Seeing the team at Beakus and Big Bad Boo bring ‘S.Tink’ to life as an animation has been thrilling! I can’t wait to see Danny and S.Tink fully unleashed on the world and I know children are going to love the animation just as much as they love the books. I think S.Tink would agree that she’s destined to be a star.”