Gap funding from the Welsh Government has ensured the next two series of Grandpa in my Pocket – the high-rating children’s TV show that has been a global success – are to be produced entirely by Cardiff based Adastra Creative.
Welsh Government support of nearly £129,000 will bring £1.6m project spend into Wales and create work for around 120 freelancers as well as a number of highly specialised local companies.
Without this funding Adastra Creative would have had to consider co-producing it in Canada, with Wales losing out on the animation, visual effects and post production work.
Economy Minister Edwina Hart said : “Retaining 100% of the animation, visual effects and post production in Wales is especially important as these are highly skilled areas of television production.
“Attracting more post production to Wales is a key part of our creative industries sector strategy. Projects such as this will enable those skills to be retained here, increasing the volume of work carried out in Wales and making it a particularly attractive and viable base for productions. I am therefore delighted Welsh Government support helped secure these activities for Wales.”
Grandpa In My Pocket, which uses live action blended with animation, has been hugely successful with the first three series of 66 episodes selling to over a hundred international territories. It is anticipated the latest series will be equally successful.
The original content was created by Adastra, a media company specialising in children’s content that was founded in 2005 by its two directors Mellie Buse and Jan Page. Grandpa in my Pocket is a comedy drama about a Grandpa with a magic shrinking cap. The all-important grandparent-grandchild relationship lies at its heart, making this a show for all the family. It stars James Bolam in the title role.
Co-creator, writer and producer, Jan Page said, “The high skill base and levels of creativity that has been developed in Wales in recent years makes this country the destination of choice for media production.
“The Welsh Government realised that a fantastic commercial opportunity for local freelancers and companies was in danger of slipping away and stepped in to provide the last crucial piece of the funding jigsaw. We can’t wait to get back into Enfys Studios and start shooting the new episodes with our wonderful team.”
The latest series will consist of 52 x 12 minute episodes for transmission on BBC’s CBeebies channel. Production is planned to take place during 2013/14 with episodes to begin screening from April 2014
Adastra Creative Ltd will be working with a number of local companies including Enfys Studios (production), Red Wire Media/Cloth Cat Animation (animation and visual effects), Soundworks (music recording, track-lay and sound dubs) and Gorilla (post production).