Shine Group and Andrew Davenport Launch New Children’s Production Company

Shine Group today announced the formation of a new children’s venture to be headed by Andrew Davenport creator of In the Night Garden and co-creator of Teletubbies.

Davenport commences his role as CEO of the as-yet-unnamed company next month focusing on creating both traditional and interactive content for children, initially for the pre-school market.

Shine Group’s first company dedicated to the children’s genre, the properties created will be distributed through group sales and distribution arm Shine International, and commercialised by Shine 360° the division responsible for the management of non-broadcast rights at Shine Group worldwide. In the latter, Davenport will be reunited with Frances Adams, Shine 360°s Creative Director, with whom he worked in her former role at BBC Worldwide on the international and commercial development of the Teletubbies and In the Night Garden brands.

Originally joining Ragdoll Productions in 1991 as puppeteer and co-writer on Tots TV, Davenport went on to play a lead role in the transformation of Ragdoll into a globally recognized, specialist pre-school producer. He is the award-winning creator, writer and composer of In the Night Garden and co-creator/writer of all 365 episodes of Teletubbies. Teletubbies pioneered programming for pre-school children winning in total 17 industry awards, has been seen in over 120 countries and translated into 45 languages. In the Night Garden won two BAFTA’s (2007 and 2008) and a Broadcast Award in 2010. He departed Ragdoll as Creative Director in 2010.

Shine CEO and Chairman Elisabeth Murdoch said: “Shine Group always strives to work with world class creative talent, and as a visionary behind two of the world’s most innovative and successful pre-school properties, Andy is exactly that. Partnering with him brings opportunities to create truly multi-platform children’s brands whose full ambitions can be realized by working closely with our ancillary and distribution teams.”

Andrew Davenport said: “I am thrilled at this opportunity to join forces with the talent, expertise and innovative energy of Shine Group.  We share a vision for the incredible imaginative potential of a specialist children’s production company with traditional values in a multi-platform and digital world.”