John Reynolds

World
Screen Weekly, November 2, 2006

Managing Director

Millimages

Often when people are young they
don’t have any qualms about accepting a job in another country. John Reynolds,
however, crossed the Atlantic from his native Ireland to America without a job.
But he did have a coveted visa. Only a very small amount had been
allocated to Ireland, and he was lucky enough to get one of them. Luck followed
him in the U.S. as well, where he rather quickly found a position in the
marketing department at Sunbow Entertainment, a producer and distributor of
children’s programming.

After four years, Reynolds
returned to Europe to work for Cinar and then was approached by Millimages. “They
were looking for someone to set up their commercial division, and it was going
to be based in the U.K.; I thought it was a great opportunity and that’s where
I’ve been since,” says Reynolds, who is now managing director at Millimages.

The experience he had acquired
working in the U.S. market served him well. Millimages has placed three
animated series in the U.S. market: the preschool series 64 Zoo Lane on Noggin, the comedy Corneil and Bernie on Nicktoons Network, and the futuristic action-adventure
series Skyland premieres this month on
Nicktoons.

“The U.S. market has opened up to
European content—well, quality European content—and we’ve just been
lucky enough to be there at the right time,” says Reynolds. When he was working
in the U.S., channels were extremely reliant on North American content. “But
there are talent pools elsewhere and kids want to see diversity.”

While breaking into the American
market has been very important, as Reynolds explains, “at the end of the day,
our core markets have always been the major European territories: France, the
U.K. and Germany. And Millimages is offering broadcasters in these countries
and others three new shows. Louie is
based on the French book property. Didou dessine moi is an animated series for preschoolers that involves
children in imaginative stories and motivates them to draw. Pitt &
Kantrop is a comedy series for 6- to
9-year-olds that follows the adventures of two buddies in their fight for
survival in prehistoric times. Skyland, on the other hand, is an
action-adventure animated series set in 2251. It follows the quest of a brother
and sister to reunite with their mother, while at the same time bringing the
downfall of the evil empire known as the Sphere.

Reynolds enjoys working in the
children’s business. “You have to be a jack of all trades. It’s not just about
selling programs, it’s about merchandising and licensing and understanding the
business across the board.”