Sixteen South Television has named The Jim Henson Company’s third party licensing label, HIP (Henson Independent Properties) as the exclusive worldwide distributor for its new mixed media, animated preschool series, Driftwood Bay. The announcement was made by Sixteen South Television’s Founder, and Creative Director Colin Williams, and Richard Goldsmith, EVP, Global Distribution for The Jim Henson Company.
Season one of Driftwood Bay (52 x 7’ episodes) is currently in production with delivery slated for Spring 2014. Driftwood Bay follows the imaginative adventures of five-year-old Lily who lives in a beach hut with her Dad on an island. Script edited by Sam Barlow (Thomas and friends, Bob the Builder), the series is inspired by the artwork of Joanne Carmichael, a mixed media artist whose work comprises items salvaged from the beach near her home on Scotland’s Isle of Arran. Storylines encourage youngsters to create their own fun and adventures, finding inspiration from the everyday and unusual items that appear in our lives.
“Having partnered with The Jim Henson Company on the production of Pajanimals, we’ve been impressed with the stellar reputation, breadth of relationships, trust and support that Henson brings to the project,” said Williams. “Driftwood Bay is a very special property for us, and we really wanted a distributor who would appreciate the subtleties of the series and be able to deliver global exposure as well. HIP was the ideal choice to bring the project to the global market.”
“Driftwood Bay is a unique children’s series with a distinct look from a world-class production company that is that is a perfect complement to the extraordinary and diverse properties already represented by HIP,” added Goldsmith. “Henson and Sixteen South have developed a successful partnership on the production of Pajanimals, “Driftwood Bay was a huge hit with television network buyers at MIPCOM in October so we aggressively pursued a partnership. The expansion of this relationship affords us the opportunity to build this new children’s property into a global success.”
In Driftwood Bay, each day Lily uses her creativity and imagination to craft wonderful adventures and colorful characters inspired by the extraordinary items that she finds washed ashore on the island’s beach. With her trusted friend Gull, a clever seagull, by her side, Lily travels to Driftwood Bay, the make-believe island Lily sees from the window of the beach hut where she lives, to engage in fabulous adventures with the interesting and unusual characters that inhabit the island. And with each new treasure that washes ashore, Lily invents another exciting adventure based on the item’s importance to her friends living on Driftwood Bay.
Source: The Jim Henson Company