Kindle Entertainment

**Kindle Entertainment** is an independent television production company based in London, England. Kindle Entertainment was formed after ITV Kids (a section of ITV Productions) was closed, and current personnel includes Anne Brogan, the former controller of ITV Kids, and former Head of Development at ITV Kids, Melanie Stokes.

Recent productions include teen supernatural thriller The A List for BBC iPlayer, Hit Channel 4 drama Kiss Me First (TV series), and comedy, Hank Zipzer starring Henry Winkler; Dinopaws an animated comedy about a trio of dinosaurs; Minibeast Adventure with Jess, fact-ent for preschoolers; and Dixi, an interactive mystery set in the world of social networking.

Kindle Entertainment's previous productions include: Dixi, an interactive mystery set in the world of social networking, Minibeast Adventure with Jess, fact-ent for preschoolers; a series of behind-the-scenes documentaries about Harry Potter including specials on The Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Costume Drama, and Animals; a live-action children's comedy My Spy Family, which was shown on Boomerang; three series of the puppet show Big & Small; Dustbin Baby, adapted from a book written by Jacqueline Wilson; Jinx following the story of Lulu Baker, a teenage girl who is able to cast spells from her magic cookbook; the CBeebies series Get Well Soon, 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 classic; Some Dogs Bite; two series of Leonardo for CBBC; and the two part mini-series, Treasure Island Starring Eddie Izzard and Elijah Wood for Sky One.

## History

Kindle Entertainment is an independent 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. *Harry Potter: Behind the Magic* was a one-off one hour documentary presented by Ben Shephard. The documentary looked behind the scenes of *Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince* and featured interviews with the cast. Kindle's second project was *My Spy Family*, a live action children's television series following the Bannons. The Bannon parents are former spies. The show, which spanned multiple series, was a co-production between Kindle and Turner Broadcasting, and was shown on Boomerang.

Kindle Entertainment's third production, *Big & Small* was shown on BBC1, BBC2 and CBeebies in the UK, it is also shown on Cyw 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 for the BBC, Treehouse TV and Studio 100. *Big & Small* is a puppet 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, and Imelda Staunton 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 for interactive content. Kindle Entertainment went on to win the BAFTA for Best Independent Production Company of the Year in 2010, 2011 and 2014.

Dakota Blue Richards as April in *Dustbin Baby*, Kindle Entertainment's first single drama

Kindle Entertainment's first single drama was the television film *Dustbin Baby*, shown on BBC1 on 21 December 2008. An adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson'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 as April, a 14-year-old girl abandoned as a baby, and Juliet Stevenson as Marion, her adoptive mother. The film also starred David Haig. *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* David Chater awarded the programme the TV choice of the day, describing it as "tremendous", and "the wonderful surprise of Christmas". *The Telegraph* 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 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 *Jinx* aired for the first time on CBBC. 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, Lucy Chalkley and Chizzy Akudolu and featured a large number of special effects. The show is based on the Lulu Baker trilogy by author Fiona Dunbar.

## Dixi (2014-2021)

Children’s show Dixi started on 24 February 2014 and is viewable on mobile, tablet and desktop platforms in the UK. There were 30 webisodes in total in the first series, which became available to watch over three weeks.

The BAFTA award-winning online drama Dixi then returned for a second series. Dixi 2: Dixi Unchained, launched on Safer Internet Day, 10 February 2015 – with new vlogs and episodes uploaded to the CBBC website every weekday until 6 March 2015.

The launch of Dixi:3 - Game of Dixi coincided with Safer Internet Day 2016: 15 February with new vlogs, profiles and interactive content uploaded daily until 5 March

In late 2016, a prequel to the fourth series was launched over the CBBC website, called Dixi 4 Extra

In July 2017, another prequel to the series was also launched over the CBBC website, called Dixi 4 Escape. This, however, was in a different format to usual where all of the characters were stuck in an Escape Room and the audience had to help to get them out by choosing what to do.

The full thirty episode series then began in October 2017, named Dixi: Friends4Ever. This series introduced new characters to the programme, as well as a few of old faces returning. This series was promoted like with Series 1-3, with TV adverts on CBBC and announcements and clips being released on the official CBBC website.

Then Dixi: Dracula was released, it was a cover of the same film "Dracula" by Bram Stoker in 2018.

My Heroes Comic Strip was released for Abi, Abi's dad had an illness that's why Abi framed Billie.It was how her dad got better in My Heroes Comic Strip.