As Tell-Tale Productions
On 14 September 2001, Tell-Tale signed a deal with Gullane Entertainment for the production on two new shows, Ella, and Sprogs, with the latter company distributing the series. [1]
On 26 July 2002, the BBC picked up the UK broadcasting rights to Boo! for broadcast in September 2003. [2] On September 1 that year, it was announced that Universal Pictures had acquired worldwide distribution rights to the series. [3]
On 18 September 2002, Tell-Tale announced the production of a hybrid 2D/3D series titled WARP. On the same day, it was confirmed that the distribution rights to Ella and Sprogs reverted to Tell-Tale after the deal with Gullane fell through due to HIT Entertainment's acquisition of Gullane, alongside the production on two 60-minute direct-to-video Tweenies specials. [4]
On 1 February 2003, the company signed a property management deal with LMI for Sprogs, alongside a deal with BBC Music to allow music production for the series, which would air in early 2004. [5]
On 27 January 2004, Carlton International acquired distribution rights to Sprogs. The company purchased the home video rights in all regions except for the US and French-speaking territories, and worldwide TV rights excluding the UK, the US, and French and German-speaking territories. It was also confirmed that CBBC had acquired the UK broadcast rights to the series for a late 2004 broadcast date. [6]
On 13 September 2004, Entertainment Rights announced they would acquire Tell-Tale for £3.1 million. The buyout would include the rights to Sprogs, which had, by then been renamed BB3B (previously handled by Carlton) and would be broadcast on CBBC in late 2005, alongside the rights to a new reboot of Fun Song Factory to air on CITV. The Tweenies property was retained by BBC Worldwide although Entertainment Rights would gain royalty income for the property, alongside rights to a planned feature-length film adaptation of the series. [7] The purchase was completed on 1 October 2004. [8]
On 20 December 2005, ITV acquired the broadcast rights to Jim Jam and Sunny for broadcast on the then-new CITV Channel, and that production would start in 2006, being the largest broadcast deal made by ITV for a children's series. [9]
Wish Films
In 2006, Will Brenton and Iain Lauchlan bought back Tell-Tale (excluding most of its catalogue) and rebranded it as Wish Films. [10] Wish Films took over production of Jim Jam and Sunny, which premiered on CITV later that year.
In 2008, Wish produced their first international co-production, a TV adaptation of Wibbly Pig , based on the children's book of the same name by Mick Inkpen, with Canadian-based 9 Story Entertainment, with the latter holding distribution rights in the Americas, and BBC Worldwide holding distribution rights in all other regions. [11] [12]
On 6 May 2010, CBeebies commissioned a new show from Wish to air on the channel's summer schedule called Mighty-Mites, presented by Sarah-Jane Honeywell. [13]
Other shows produced by Wish around these time frames include Florrie's Dragons , a co-production with Studio 100 and Clockwork Zoo, and Melody , a co-production with LAAH Entertainment.
