Kindle Entertainment is an independent television production company based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. Kindle Entertainment was formed by Anne Brogan, the former controller of ITV Kids, and former head of development at ITV Kids, Melanie Stokes after ITV Kids (a section of ITV Productions) was closed. The company is currently owned by

Banijay Entertainment Banijay Entertainment S.A. (formerly Banijay Group and later Banijay) is a French multinational television production and distribution company which is the world's largest international content producer and distributor with over 130 production co ...

, via its

Banijay Kids & Family Banijay Kids & Family (formerly known as Zodiak Kids, Zodiak Kids Studios and Zodiak Kids & Family) is a French television production company owned by Banijay Entertainment based in Neuilly-sur-Seine. The company was originally founded in Februa ...

division. Recent productions include

Sky Kids Sky Kids may refer to: * ''Sky Kids'' (magazine), a magazine * Sky Kids (TV channel), a British television channel * ''The Flyboys'' (film), a 2008 film that was released internationally as ''Sky Kids'' See also * '' Sky Kid'' * '' Spy Kids (di ...

' ''Little Darlings'', teen supernatural thriller '' The A List'' for the

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...

and the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

drama '' Kiss Me First''. Kindle Entertainment's previous productions include: '' Dixi'' an interactive mystery set in the world of social networking, '' Minibeast Adventure with Jess'', fact-ent for pre-schoolers; a series of behind-the-scenes documentaries about ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' including specials on '' The Goblet of Fire'', '' Order of the Phoenix'', '' Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' and '' Deathly Hallows – Part 2'' as part of ''Harry Potter: Behind the Magic'' and ''Harry Potter: The Costume Drama''; the live-action action comedy '' My Spy Family'', which was shown on

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

; three series of the puppet show ''

Big & Small ''Big & Small'' is a children's television series aimed at preschoolers following the lives of two very different best friends named Big and Small. ''Big & Small'' is a co-production between Kindle Entertainment and 3J's Productions produce ...

;'' '' Dustbin Baby'', adapted from the book written by

Jacqueline Wilson Dame Jacqueline Wilson (' Aitken; born 17 December 1945) is an English novelist known for her popular children's literature. Her novels have been notable for tackling realistic topics such as adoption and divorce. Since her debut novel in 1969, ...

; ''

Jinx A jinx (also jynx), in popular superstition and folklore, is a curse or the attribute of attracting bad or negative luck. Examples of "jinxing" in the 21st-century press include the suggestion a ship might be "jinxed". The connection was made wi ...

'' following the story of Lulu Baker, a teenage girl who is able to cast spells from her magic cookbook; the

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...

series ''Get Well Soon Hospital'', a pre-school show that eases children's fears about illness' and going to the doctor's surgery; ''The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby'', a modern retelling of the

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

classic; ''Some Dogs Bite''; two series of '' Leonardo'' for

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

, a drama telling the adventures of a teenage

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

and his friends; and the two part mini-series, ''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure a ...

'' starring

Eddie Izzard Suzy Eddie Izzard ( ; born Edward John Izzard, 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomi ...

and

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. Wood made his film debut with a minor part in ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989) at the age of eight and achieved recognition in the early 1990s as a child acto ...

for

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

History

Kindle Entertainment is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

company that was formed upon the closure of the Kids department of ITV Productions. Kindle's director, Anne Brogan, who was formerly controller of ITV Kids, formed the company with her colleague Melanie Stokes, who was formerly head of development at ITV Kids. Kindle's first productions were ''Harry Potter: Behind the Magic'' and ''Harry Potter: The Costume Drama'', shown in July 2009 on

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

. ''Harry Potter: Behind the Magic'' was a one-off one hour documentary presented by

Ben Shephard Benjamin Peter Sherrington Shephard (born 11 December 1974) is an English television presenter and journalist who is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2024–present), alongside Cat Deeley. Shephard was a main presenter ...

. The documentary looked behind the scenes of ''

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth and penultimate novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series, and takes place during Harry Potter's sixth year at the wizard scho ...

'' and featured interviews with the cast. Kindle's second project was '' My Spy Family'', a live action action family sitcom television series following the Bannons. The Bannon parents are former spies. The show, which spanned multiple series, was a co-production between Kindle, Warner Bros. and

Turner Broadcasting Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. was an American television and media conglomerate founded by Ted Turner in 1965. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (later WarnerMedia) on October 10, 1996. As of April 2022, all of its ass ...

, and was shown on

. Kindle Entertainment's third production, ''

'' was shown on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

and

in the UK, it was also shown on

Cyw , ) is a Welsh-language children's television block from S4C, which launched on 23 June 2008. Primarily aimed at children in the 3 to 6 age group, Cyw operates from Monday to Friday from 6am to 12pm, and includes programmes which have been ...

in Wales, with a total of over 40 channels worldwide airing the show. To produce the show, Kindle Entertainment worked with 3J's Entertainment and

Sixteen South Sixteen South is a Northern Irish production and distribution company that specialises in creating children's television programmes. Founded in Belfast in 2007 by Colin Williams, Sixteen South has partnered with major names in children's enter ...

for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Treehouse TV Treehouse TV (commonly known as Treehouse) is a Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary specialty channel that was launched in 1997. Its name comes from sister network YTV (Canadian TV channel), YTV's former programming b ...

and

Studio 100 Studio 100 N.V. is a Belgian children's entertainment production & distribution company that specialized in high quality kids & family entertainment content and operated their in-house animation studios such as their Australian animation compa ...

. ''Big & Small'' is a

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...

comedy aimed at pre-school children following the characters Big and Small which, every episode, features a song. Both Big and Small are voiced by

Lenny Henry Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British Jamaicans, British-Jamaican comedian, actor and writer. He gained success as a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in ' ...

, and

Imelda Staunton Dame Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born 9 January 1956) is an English actress and singer. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Staunton began her career in repertory theatre in 1976 and appeared in various theatre pr ...

voices the other main characters. Kindle and Start Licensing have made deals to merchandise the programme with indoor- and outdoor-clothing, nightwear and underwear lines. In 2009, ''Big & Small'' Online (part of CBeebies Online) was awarded the

Children's BAFTA The British Academy Children's Awards were presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). They were awarded annually since 1996, before which time they were a part of the main British Academy ...

for interactive content. Kindle Entertainment went on to win the BAFTA for Best Independent Production Company of the Year in 2010, 2011 and 2014. Dustbin Baby- April in the graveyard

Kindle Entertainment's first single drama was the television film '' Dustbin Baby'', shown on BBC1 on 21 December 2008. An adaptation of

's novel of the same name, the screenplay was written by Helen Blakeman, for which she won a British Academy Children's Award for best writer, and the film starred

Dakota Blue Richards Dakota Blue Richards (born 11 April 1994) is an English actress. Her film debut at the age of 13 was in '' The Golden Compass'', as the lead character Lyra Belacqua. Other lead roles include the wayward teenager April in '' Dustbin Baby'' and ...

as April, a 14-year-old girl abandoned as a baby, and

Juliet Stevenson Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, (born 30 October 1956) is an English actress of stage and screen. She is known for her role in the film '' Truly, Madly, Deeply'' (1991), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Le ...

as Marion, her adoptive mother. The film also starred

David Haig David Haig Collum Ward (born 20 September 1955) is an English actor and playwright. He has appeared in West End productions and numerous television and film roles over a career spanning four decades. Haig wrote the play '' My Boy Jack'', whic ...

. ''Dustbin Baby'' was received positively by both Wilson, who said it was the best ever film adaption of her work, and critics. In an article in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' David Chater awarded the programme the TV choice of the day, describing it as "tremendous", and "the wonderful surprise of Christmas". ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' described the film as a "rare treat", as it is "something that teenagers and parents can watch together". The film was released on DVD in January 2009. In 2009, ''Dustbin Baby'' won an

International Emmy Award The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York City, New York–based International Academy of Televisi ...

in the children and young people category at the 37th International Emmy Awards, and was nominated for a British Academy Children's Award in the drama category, as well as being shortlisted for the BAFTA Kid's vote. On 31 October 2009, Kindle Entertainment's show ''

'' aired for the first time on

. The first series consisted of 13 episodes of 30 minutes. ''Jinx'' follows the story of Lulu Baker, a teenage girl who is able to cast spells thanks to her magical cookbook, and stars Amber Beattie,

Michael Nardone Michael Nardone (born 20 January 1967) is a Scottish actor. He was raised in Ballingry, Fife, and trained in Drama at Queen Margaret College in Edinburgh. Nardone starred as Mascius in the BBC/HBO/RAI TV series Rome and appeared as DCI Richa ...

, Lucy Chalkley and

Chizzy Akudolu Andrea Chizoba "Chizzy" Akudolu (born 7 October 1973) is a British actress. Career In 2002, Akudolu was one of eight new comedy performers who won the BBC Talent Initiative, The Urban Sketch Showcase. All eight performed a comedy sketch show ...

, and featured a large number of special effects. The show is based on the Lulu Baker trilogy by author Fiona Dunbar.

Personnel

*Anne Brogan – co-director *Melanie Stokes – co-director *Sacha Whitmarsh - head of production *Pia Ashberry – executive producer *Emma Stuart - executive producer *Harriet Hammond - production executive *Chloe Lansley - development editor

Television shows

Awards

2009 *International Emmy Award Winner- Children's and Young People, 'Dustbin Baby' *BAFTA Winner Children's – Best Writer, 'Dustbin Baby' *BAFTA Winner in Children's – Best Interactive Content, 'Big & Small' *International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences – Winner for Children and Young People's, 'Dustbin Baby' 2010 *BAFTA Winner Children's – Best Independent Production Company *British Film Festival, Nantes – Winner of the Audience Award, 'Some Dogs Bite' 2011 *BAFTA Winner Children's – Best Independent Production Company *BANFF Rocky Mountain Award Nominee – Best Youth (13+) Fiction Programme, ‘Some Dogs Bite’ *International Film Festival European Children's Film Association – Jury Award for Children & Young Audience, 'Some Dogs Bite' 2012 *Royal Television Society – Best Children's Programme, 'Big & Small' *The Chicago International Film Festival Television Awards – Gold Plaque for Children's Series, 'Big & Small' *Kidscreen – Best TV Movie/Mini-Series for Tweens/Teens, 'Some Dogs Bite' *Kidscreen – Best Show, 'Leonardo' *Kidscreen – Best Music, 'Leonardo' *Kidscreen – Best Design for non-animated/mixed series for Tweens/Teens, 'Leonardo' 2013 *Kidscreen of Brunico – Best Writing in Creative Talent, 'Big & Small' 2014 *BAFTA Winner Children's – Best Independent Production Company *BANFF Rocky Mountain Award Nominee – Best Children's Fiction Programme, ‘Hank Zipzer’ *Chicago Film Festival TV Awards – Certificate of Merit, 'Hank Zipzer' *CINE – CINE Golden Eagle Award, 'Hank Zipzer' 2017 *International Emmy Award Children's - Best TV Movie, 'Hank Zipzer'

References

External links

Official siteKindle Entertainment
at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

''Big & Small'' Online
at

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

{{Authority control Television production companies of the United Kingdom Film production companies of the United Kingdom Mass media companies established in 2007 Mass media companies based in London British subsidiaries of foreign companies 2022 mergers and acquisitions Banijay