Bionicle Co-Creator Goes Solo

Yet another animation player has struck out on his own. Following the news last week of former TV-Loonland head of programming John Bullivant forming his own company to create and develop character based projects, UK animation scriptwriter Alastair Swinnerton has announced he has left Skryptonite, the animation production company he co-founded five years ago. Swinnerton has now set up a new company called BA20 Entertainment in order to develop and market animation properties in a style similar to that of LEGO's BIONICLE, which Swinnerton helped create. He plans to produce projects not just as animation series and features, but simultaneously as video games, books, online stories and games, and other associated mass merchandising. "The beauty of modern design techniques is that once characters, locations and props are designed and built in the computer, whether in 2D or 3D, they can be automatically ported across any medium you want, " explained Swinnerton. "Sounds simple, but we're still not seeing much evidence of it in the market. He went on to explain that BIONICLE is a great example, as the brand began with story and character. "From there sprang the whole, billion dollar world that kids now know and love," he concluded. BA20 is currently in the process of forging strategic alliances with other producers and will be attending MIPCOM. Alastair Swinnerton can be contacted at +44 1935 428 777; Fax: +44 1935 428 772; email: mail@ba20.com; or, while at MIPCOM, mobile: +44 797 434 5899.