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HIT Entertainment Greenlights Two New Projects

In a move to focus on the organic growth of new properties, HIT Entertainment, a leading provider of quality children’s entertainment, has bolstered its Global Development team with the naming of four experts to a newly created Global Advisory Committee.

Press Release from HIT Entertainment

February 9, 2010 -- New York, NY – In a move to focus on the organic growth of new properties, HIT Entertainment, a leading provider of quality children’s entertainment, has bolstered its Global Development team with the naming of four experts to a newly created Global Advisory Committee.  Additionally, HIT’s Development Team has greenlit the development of two new projects by renowned, US-based children’s television producers and writers.

HIT Entertainment’s new development projects include “For the Birds” and “Zip Zip Zippy.”  “For the Birds” is an animated comedy series following the adventures of Earl E. Bird for kids 8-11 from the award-winning producers Tom Ruegger and Randy Rogel.  Ruegger is a fourteen-time Emmy Award winner and the creative force behind many popular animated television series, including "Tiny Toon Adventures," "Animaniacs," and "Pinky and the Brain." Randy Rogel is a three-time Emmy Award winner and recipient of the prestigious Peabody Award and two Annie Awards as a writer and producer in children’s television.

The second project, “Zip, Zip, Zippy,” is a music driven series that encourages preschoolers to physically participate in story based adventures. Created by Jeanine Kay and Luciana Brafman Bienstock, a two time Emmy-nominated producer, the series stars a live action host in an animated world full animals and children.

At the same time, HIT has promoted Chris Rose to Vice President of Programming and Development, reporting to Christopher Skala, Senior Vice President, Programming & New Content Development, and has appointed Christina Schick to the newly created position of Director of Development, reporting to Karen Barnes, Senior Vice President, Development & Production.

“HIT’s expanded North American Development team complements our existing team in the UK and allows us to better canvass the globe for innovative, exciting new projects and talent,” said Lenora Hume, EVP, Production & Programming, HIT Entertainment.  “We are proactively looking to augment our world-class portfolio of properties with original ideas and memorable characters. HIT’s Development team, in consultation with the new Global Advisory Committee, will continue HIT’s tradition of bringing rich, engaging and trusted content to children and families worldwide.”

The newly appointed HIT Global Advisory Committee guides the Development and Programming teams around the world, acting as an educational resource to HIT’s writers and producers throughout the creative process.  Members of this committee include:

Dr. David Buckingham from The Institute of Education, London. Dr. Buckingham has expertise in both research and children’s media and is the Head of the Centre of Study of Children, Youth and Media in the UK.

Dr. Sandra Calvert is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Georgetown University and is the Director of the Children’s Digital Media Center, a multi-university Center funded by the National Science Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Dr. Renee Cherow-O'Leary is President of Education for the 21st Century, a research and consulting firm in New York City. She is a former Professor of Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.  Dr. Cherow-O'Leary's expertise is in child development, curriculum design for media in many platforms, assessment of the impact of media on learning and media literacy for parents, children and teachers.

Dr. Wendy Sims from the University of Missouri-Columbia is Associate Chair of the Department of Learning, Teaching & Curriculum, as well as a Professor and Director of Music Education at the University of Missouri-Columbia’s School of Music. Dr. Sims is a researcher and author in the area of early childhood music education.  She is also the music advisor on the new series Angelina Ballerina The Next Steps and was responsible for creating the music curriculum for the series.

By providing education and background information on issues that are important to children and parents and by making their expertise available to HIT’s development staff, this team will assist HIT Entertainment in creating programming that is age appropriate and that contributes to the development and education of our audience.

Chris Rose, Vice President, Programming & Development is based in HIT’s London office and is charged with shaping HIT’s new content strategy by sourcing and developing trans-media programming. Mr Rose joined HIT in September 2008 as Director, Programming and Development, following over 10 years at the BBC, working across various departments.  In his last role as Content and Acquisitions Manager for CBeebies he was the Executive Producer for acquired and commissioned animation, including “Postman Pat,” “Charlie and Lola” and “Harry and Toto.”

Christina Schick, Director of Development for HIT Entertainment is based in New York and is responsible for identifying creators and projects, and developing those properties to expand the HIT portfolio of brands for preschoolers and older children.  In her role, she works with Karen Barnes and the UK Development team to find character-based properties that will resonate around the world. Previously, Ms. Schick was Senior Manager, Brand Marketing/Digital Marketing, HIT Entertainment.

About HIT Entertainment

HIT Entertainment is one of the world's leading independent children's entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT's portfolio includes properties, such as Barney, Bob the Builder, Thomas & Friends, Pingu, Fireman Sam, Angelina Ballerina and Rainbow Magic. HIT represents Chapman Entertainment’s Fifi and the Flowertots and Roary the Racing Car in North America.  HIT also acts as representative for The Wiggles in the UK. Launched in 1989, HIT’s lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan.   HIT is a part-owner of US-based preschool channel, PBS KIDS SproutSM, and international preschool channel JimJam, (outside of the US, UK and China). For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com.

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