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Workshop to bring Thunderbirds Are Go! to screens in 2015. We will be screening the first completed episode on Saturday night at MIP Junior. We’ve been working hard to create a very unique look and feel to the show by combining a CGI overlay of characters, crafted onto the live-action model sets. They are just gorgeous. Everybody involved has been careful to preserve the best elements of the original. Our voice cast is topnotch, too, with Rosamund Pike as Lady Penelope and the original [Aloysius] Parker, David Graham, returning. WS: What are your consumer-products plans for the new series? KYRIACOU: Vivid is the master toy partner for Thunderbirds Are Go! in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. There are a lot of possibilities, and the other merchandising conversations are happening right now. We are conscious of how children are turning more to virtual toys and games, and of the need to ensure the show lives and breathes in a digital world.
Among the series that ITVS GE is launching at MIPCOM is Schitt’s Creek, a Canadian comedy co-created by and starring Eugene Levy.
Swedish noir that everybody loves so much. We want to invest wherever the best drama is. WS: One of ITVS GE’s big news items is that Thunderbirds is coming back! Tell us about the new show. KYRIACOU: We have been working with a very talented writer and producers from Pukeko Pictures and Weta
WS: Have digital platforms become a good distribution outlet for you? KYRIACOU: Absolutely. The digital players provide more choice, which means you can connect to a broader audience than ever before. In certain territories, the sales we make to digital platforms outstrip the sales we make to linear platforms. But we always come back to that core principal that if you offer great content, people are going to watch it, no matter what device. Our task is to respond quickly to the needs of the market and make content available as widely as possible.
The 1970s British costume drama Poldark is returning to television in 2015 with a new six-part series commissioned by the BBC and being sold internationally by ITVS GE. 58 World Screen 9/14