Grubby, cheeky and usually up to no good, Horrid Henry is the stuff of most teachers’ nightmares but for one Oxford-based business, he is proving to be a dream.
Independent production company Novel Entertainment, based in Mill Street, is the creative force behind a TV series based on Francesca Simon’s best-selling children’s books.
And next month the naughty schoolboy hits the big screen in a film starring Richard E Grant and Anjelica Huston.
Lucinda Whiteley and Mike Watts both drew on a strong track records before starting their business ten years ago.
An Emmy and BAFTA award-winning producer and writer, Ms Whiteley was head of children’s and family programming at Polygram Universal and before that commissioning editor for children’s programmes at Channel 4.
She penned the scripts for the Horrid Henry TV series and also for what is the first British children’s movie to be filmed in 3D.
It was a challenge to take the much-loved character of Henry and transplant it to television.
“We met a certain amount of resistance from TV channels,” Mr Watts said.
“In the books, Horrid Henry pulls his brother’s hair and kicks him, which is fine in a book but as soon as you put it on TV, broadcasting executives become nervous.”
Ms Whiteley added: “We have made him a bit older and turned it into a bit more of a sitcom.”
Novel Entertainment got off to a flying start when it developed a TV series for pre-school children called The Fimbles.
The BBC were casting around for something to follow the success of Teletubbies and The Tweenies and Novel found itself pitching against 80 other production companies.
Although the company had only been formed a few weeks earlier, it won and was commissioned to make 200 episodes for BBC’s children’s channel CBeebies.
Next came 140 episodes of a spin-off show called Roly Mo, also for CBeebies and it was at that point the husband-and-wife team’s association with Horrid Henry began.
Ms Whiteley explained: “We were looking for children’s books we could adapt for television and came across Horrid Henry.
“We could see very clearly how we could turn him into an animated character. We rang the publishers and found they were just about to invite people to pitch for ideas.
“We presented our ideas in competition with up to eight other pitches they had from other people including the BBC and Granada.
“They asked us to come in and meet the author Francesca Simon and it turned out she is a huge fan of The Simpsons and had always visualised it as animation. Apparently, everyone except us had pitched it as live action.”
Mr Watts, whose CV lists Walt Disney Television, Virgin Vision and Chrysalis Records, said the independent production industry has undergone a transformation since they set the company up.
In the past, broadcasters paid a fee to a production company to make programmes. Now, producers can own the rights to those programmes themselves, which allows them to make money through international, format and merchandise sales.
The changes are a double-edged sword, as Mr Watts explained.
“In the past, broadcasters paid 100 per cent of the cost of making the programme and the producer was just paid a straight fee.
“But because producers now own these rights, broadcasters will not pay for the whole cost, so we have to fund the cost of making something ourselves.
“That makes us more focused on how we exploit the rights.”
Novel Entertainment owns the merchandise rights for Horrid Henry and works with several partners to market a range of toys, DVDs and computer games.
Other activities include a stage production and Horrid Henry website.
He and Ms Whiteley spent four years developing the Horrid Henry television format before selling it to ITV.
He pointed out: “We took a deep breath after weighing up potential income from rights sales versus the amount we needed to invest.
“The industry is littered with casualties due to insufficient funding but we looked on this as a long-term investment.
“We saw Horrid Henry’s potential to become a brand and are building it, bit by bit.”
Ms Whiteley added: “In terms of managing the brand, the really important thing is that we are consistent.
“We have to make sure whatever we write is Henry and doesn’t go off-message.
“It might seem overly protective but we have to be obsessive about little things like what colour his jumper is.
“On screen, he has to be instantly recognisable as Horrid Henry.”
With sales of DVDs passing the one million mark and the movie tipped to be this summer’s hit, Horrid Henry looks set to be a cheeky little earner for some time to come.
Novel Entertainment and Helen & Douglas House will be hosting the regional premiere of Horrid Henry The Movie at the Ultimate Picture Palace in Oxford on July 27. The premiere will be followed by a Q&A with the writer and some of the cast, subject to availablity, and refreshments will be provided for all ages. Tickets are available at wegottickets.com All proceeds from ticket sales will go to Helen & Douglas House
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