‘Mythbusters Jr.’
Beyond Distribution is launching a children’s division, aiming to capitalise on the success of the Netflix Original series Beat Bugs.
Beyond Kids will launch at Mipcom with three new live-action titles including Beyond Productions’ Mythbusters Jr. (10×30’), a spin-off from the long-running Mythbusters franchise.
Commissioned by Discovery Science, the series will see one of the original hosts, Adam Savage, and his team of junior Mythbusters tackle myths similar to those seen in the Discovery Channel series, with Savage separating fact from fiction.
Wow! That’s Amazing (26×30’) features 10-13 year-olds conducting experiments, solving mind-bending puzzles and performing magic tricks that can be recreated at home. The show is a co-production between Beyond Productions and Germany’s Super RTL.
Finally, Gym Stars (15×22’) goes behind the scenes to find out about the ups and downs of life for some of the UK’s most promising young gymnasts. Produced by Drummer Television, the series follows the Gym Stars as they travel the world to compete against the best in their category.
At launch, Beyond Kids will have around 950 hours of kids’ content from the past 25 years. The slate includes Johnathan M Shiff Productions’ Ocean Girl (78×30’), CBBC’s Numberjacks (66×15’) and The Dengineers (36×30’) and True North Productions’ Junior Vets (40×30’).
Beyond Kids will later have Motown Magic, a new animated series for kids inspired by classic Motown songs, produced by US-based Grace: A Storytelling Company and Beyond Screen Production. That duo made Beat Bugs, which features songs by The Beatles.
The kids’ division will be headed by Sarah McCormack, senior VP, acquisitions, and Sam Partner, VP sales, who is a former Pokemon sales executive. They will be responsible for growing the catalogue and developing relationships with children’s producers.
Michael Murphy, general manager of Beyond Distribution, tells IF: “We are launching Beyond Kids as the natural home for kids’ programming aimed at an international audience.
“We are also looking to develop our co-production capabilities with kids’ producers based in North America and Australia, having previously worked with Atomic Cartoons in Canada (Beat Bugs) and Blue Rocket Productions in Australia (Fanshaw & Crudnut), as well as supporting more UK kids’ producers like Drummer TV (Gym Stars, Circus Kids).
“The rise of digital networks, SVOD operators and other platform aggregators means the demand for content is even greater and we have over 950 hours of quality kids programming available from launch.”