NI's Sixteen South restructures as three companies

Children’s television producer Sixteen South is restructuring as a group of three companies: Sixteen South Originals, Sixteen South Studios and Sixteen South Rights.

The company says the move reflects Sixteen South’s “ongoing expansion and will enable it to better maximise the future growth of all three strands.”

While all three companies will continue to often work together, they can also work separately.

Sixteen South Originals will create and develop original children’s and family properties for screen including their own original ideas and formats, developing book properties for screen and partnering with other creators in co-developments. Their current slate will be realised in 2D, 3D, hybrid, live action and fur. Previous productions include Claude for Disney Junior and Lily’s Driftwood Bay for Nick Jr and Milkshake!

Working with Sixteen South Rights in pre-sales, they often team with their sibling 2D studio in Belfast, Sixteen South Studios, although Sixteen South Originals will carefully select the best animation studio for each particular show and format, wherever its location. Sixteen South Originals won the BAFTA for Best Independent Production Company in 2017 and is managed by Colin Williams.

Animation studio, Sixteen South Studios has produced 463 episodes of 11 hit kids shows. As well as producing 2D series service work for Sixteen South Originals, they’ve also worked with co-production partners including The Jim Henson Company, Sesame Workshop, WGBH and the BBC. A studio head will be appointed in due course. Being based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the studio can bring up to 32% of the cost of production in tax credits and screen funding.

Sixteen South Rights is the new commercial arm which represents and manages the global distribution and licensing of all Sixteen South shows. An independent distributor involved in pre-sales and rights management, it works with its sibling, selling their shows and managing the ancillary rights around the world. It will shortly also represent other shows from small independent producers. Sixteen South Rights is managed by Alexandros Van Blanken.

Colin Williams, Creative Director of Sixteen South maintains overall strategic oversight of all three companies. Commenting on the expansion he said: “Saint Patrick talked about the shamrock’s leaves being three parts of one flower – similarly, Sixteen South is three parts of the same name. With the growing success of all parts of the company, this was the logical next step to maximise our effectiveness across each area. We are really excited about the future opportunities this allows us to create.”