Press article mentioning Gerry Anderson

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Hi all,
just found a press article mentioning GA. Here's an excerpt.
teresa
ISOSHADO
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Time to post those profits
The Independent 23/09/2003    
     
(.............)

In the battle for in-store shelf space, that "reverse pester-power" is even more valuable, says Rupert Dilnott-Cooper, chief executive of Carlton International, which owns the entire opus of classic children's television veteran Gerry Anderson. "When we relaunched Thunderbirds, we found that the 160 related product lines generated nine times more revenue than the television income. So the parental comfort from classic brands is very important. In pre-school, parents may not always control the remote, but they always control the pocket money."

The chorus throughout the industry is that the entire merchandising edifice rests upon the quality of the television shows. "Any new series mustget the thumbs-up from a toy company before it's even shown to TV commissioners," laments one animator. "Many great scripts get dropped because they lack the merchandise potential."

Consequently, Carlton is now on board with a computer-generated remake of Captain Scarlet, is developing a new Thunderbirds series for 2005 and - on the back of the big screen success of Spy Kids - is also being courtedby two major US animation studios about a new Joe 90 series.

With the focus now on global brand management and toy sales, rather than television production fees, it's now worthwhile for these erstwhile television companies to give their programmes to channels in order to reap thein-store harvest. "Some US channels like PBS now expect to get their kids animation for free and want up to 5 per cent of our merchandise revenues aswell," says Dilnott-Cooper. "They have finally realised the importance of their airtime as a shop window for our products."

THE CHILDREN'S FAVOURITES MAKING A RETURN

SuperTed (1982-86, S4C)

UK and LA animators are busy raising £7m to get SuperTed off the ground again. This time the show is aimed at the five-year-old market: eight-year-olds are now too old for teddy bears.

Muffin the Mule (1946, BBC, below)

The Watch with Mother star Muffin is trading in his piano to become the "moral guardian" of a côterie of animals living in a city farm. The first-ever kids'-TV character returns to BBC1 and to CBeebies in 2005.

Captain Scarlet (1968, ITV)

£15m of private finance is bringing the indestructible Spectrum agent back to life. The puppet master Gerry Anderson has coined the term "hypermarionation" to describe the computer-generated technique behind the new show, which is launching late in 2005.

Postman Pat (1981, BBC1)

The children's-media outfit Entertainment Rights paid £5m for the rights to Postman Pat, who will be resuming deliveries on CBeebies next autumn. A spin-off series centring on Pat's feline friend, Jess, is also in thepipeline for 2005.

Thunderbirds (1965-66, ITV)

With finance from broadcasters in the UK, the US and Japan, Carlton is about to start production on another 26 half-hour shows, on the back of the upcoming live-action film. The series launches early in 2005.
     
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