HIT Founder Passes Away

LONDON, December 7: Peter Orton, the founder and former
chairman of HIT Entertainment, has passed away after a long battle with cancer.

Orton retired from HIT in 2005 following its sale to Apax
Partners. That same year, he was honored by Reed MIDEM with a Lifetime
Achievement Award.

Born in 1943, Orton’s first job was as a naval tailor,
before meeting David Stirling and securing his first TV job at Television
International Enterprises (TIE), which had contracts to acquire content for 14
TV stations in Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East. He made a name for
himself in kids’ content when he secured slots for Sesame Street across Africa and Asia, leading him to a job at the
Children’s Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop). Orton pioneered the
concept of international productions at CTW, before moving on to The Jim Henson
Company and then setting up his own company, HIT Entertainment, which he built
into one of the most successful kids’ brand-management entities in the world,
with a stable of properties that includes Bob the Builder, Barney
and Thomas the Tank Engine.

Click here
to read an interview Orton gave to World Screen in April 2005.

—By Mansha Daswani