Team Appointed to Manage Mounting Interest for Toys and Publishing.
Pablo – the clever and creative star of global kids’ TV sensation ‘Pablo’ – is fast emerging as a hit among pre-school audiences.
Paper Owl Films, the Belfast based company which owns and produces Pablo, has appointed Ingrid Selberg, MD of Ingrid Selberg Consulting Ltd, and Tim Collins of The Brand Director to advise and manage the mounting interest from publishers, toy makers and other companies keen to add the series’ diversity-championing protagonist to their portfolios.
Pablo follows the colourful adventures of a five-year-old boy with autism who uses magic crayons to create an imaginary Art World populated by animal characters which help him turn life’s little challenges into great big adventures.
Launched in the UK and Ireland on CBeebies and RTEJr. last autumn, the show has gone on to take the world by storm, headlining children’s TV schedules on international networks such as US broadcast giant, Universal Kids, Canada’s CBC, Australia’s ABC, and Discovery Latin America.
Pablo has also been sold to China, Korea, Hong Kong, Finland, Sweden, the Middle East and Africa, and worldwide on Netflix.
Series two is currently in production, with 104 all-new episodes due to air from autumn 2019.
“The unprecedented audience feedback and viewing figures have confirmed that Pablo has enormous universal appeal. Every child loves Pablo, whether they identify with him themselves, recognise a sibling or friend or classmate in him, or just think he is terrific fun,” said Grainne McGuinness, Pablo creator and director of Paper Owl Films. “Pablo’s tremendous popularity has already been driving enquiries from within the licensing sector and so we have appointed Ingrid and Tim to advise on who to work with and to manage the right strategic partnerships for Pablo.”
Tim Collins and Ingrid Selberg added: “It was love at first sight when we saw Pablo which we believe has huge potential to appeal to all children as well as offering something unique for children who think differently. The glorious visuals, endearing characters, warm humour and stories with universal appeal, make this a brand for everyone. Our initial focus is with toys and publishing to establish the merchandising programme for launch later in 2020.”
Pablo has also caught the eye of the awards industry, named ‘Best Children’s Programme’ in the recent Celtic Media Festival Awards, nominated by the global Prix Jeunesse Foundation for ‘Excellence in Children’s TV’, and by the British Broadcast Digital Awards for ‘Best Children’s Content’.
