Lord Waheed Alli

April 2008

Since its acquisition by the private-equity firm 3i in 2006, Chorion has been gaining ground as an independent rights owner in the crowded kids’ landscape. In addition to owning the literary estates of the likes of Raymond Chandler and Agatha Christie, Chorion is home to properties by Enid Blyton and Roger Hargreaves, resulting in a catalogue that boasts well-loved kids’ franchises like Noddy and Mr. Men, among others. The company’s chairman is Lord Waheed Alli, the investment-banker-turned-producer whose former company, Planet 24 Productions, which he owned with Charlie Parsons and Bob Geldof, created the global hit Survivor, among a number of other successes. Alli, who in 1998 became the youngest peer in the British parliament, was first attracted to joining Chorion’s board because of his love of Agatha Christie’s books. He speaks with TV Kids about what’s ahead for the company.

TV KIDS: What effect did the sale of Chorion to a private-equity firm have on the business?

ALLI: Going private has allowed us to invest in the properties and to scale up our production, which is vital to growing our business for the long term.

TV KIDS: I understand that building your business in the U.S. is a priority—what is your strategy for the American market?

ALLI: We are a global media-content company, so our brands need to work well across many territories. With regard to the U.S., up until recently the business has basically been limited to the PBS outlets with Noddy, Miss Marple and Poirot. This year, we are introducing The Mr. Men Show—based on the characters in the 1970’s British book series Mr. Men and Little Miss—which debuted on Cartoon Network; and in 2009, Nick Jr. will debut our new series, Olivia, based on Ian Falconer’s books. In short, we are developing A-list properties which will work in the U.S. as well as other key territories.

TV KIDS: Are you looking to expand Chorion’s stable of brands?

ALLI: We are always looking for the right brands that are in keeping with our classic and contemporary [book]-based properties. Recently, we acquired The Copyrights Group, which manages the licensing-and-merchandising rights to brands such as Beatrix Potter, Paddington Bear and The Snowman. We also recently acquired all the nonpublishing rights from Simon & Schuster of Jon Scieszka’s TruckTown.

TV KIDS: How have you integrated The Copyrights Group into Chorion’s business?

ALLI: We are very excited about this deal. Through this acquisition, the combined company will represent one of the most comprehensive portfolios of classic licensing and merchandising brands in the world. With brands ranging from classics such as Beatrix Potter, Paddington Bear, Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman and Spot to lifestyle brands such as Marie Claire and Rough Guides, our major focus is the expansion of Copyrights’ [properties] in key international territories, including the world’s two biggest markets, North America and Japan.

TV KIDS: As you develop new productions, are you factoring in a brand-licensing strategy from the outset?

ALLI: Licensing is an essential aspect of our business. However, we also understand that licensing cannot drive the creative process. Compelling characters, wonderful artwork and a good story all need to come first. If you can get that, the licensing element will follow.

TV KIDS: Make Way for Noddy has been a hit for you. How have you reinvented the brand for contemporary audiences?

ALLI: Noddy is a loved character, and Make Way for Noddy is currently airing in more than 100 countries across the world, including the U.S., Japan, China, Germany, Australia, India and Portugal (where Noddy is the number one preschool show). We are “refreshing” Noddy rather than reinventing him—there are subtle design changes for Noddy and some of the other key characters. We think the new stories and focus on Toy Town will resonate with today’s kids yet still work seamlessly with the existing programs. It’s going to be great for our broadcast partners around the world and perfect timing as we head toward Noddy’s 60th anniversary, in 2009.

TV KIDS: Why was the Mr. Men franchise an important one for you to acquire, and what are your plans for that brand?

ALLI: The Mr. Men and Little Miss books by British author Roger Hargreaves have been a family favorite for 35 years, with more than 100 million books sold worldwide. The books have an iconic status in the U.K. and are well known around the world. We saw an opportunity to put our creative teams to work on Mr. Men to create a global worldwide hit. The Mr. Men Show was launched in the U.S., U.K., with France, Australia and several other territories to follow. In Japan, our partner is Sony Creative. It’s still early days, but we are excited and pleased with the positive response to the show.

TV KIDS: What’s the key to relaunching classic brands for kids today?

ALLI: We try to strike a balance between retaining the essential elements that made the properties icons in the first place and reinventing them for today’s audiences. The Mr. Men Show and the upcoming Noddy are good examples of that philosophy.

TV KIDS: Are you focusing primarily on book-based properties, or are you also developing your own shows internally?

ALLI: We tend to look at children’s literature as the basis of our content. We have an extensive portfolio of fabulous properties to work with and we find the process of adaptation tremendously rewarding. We are also doing a lot of development and experimentation with different formats of media.

TV KIDS: How are you going about maximizing your brands across multiple platforms?

ALLI: We have a strategy in place to ensure we keep pace with the fast rate of change in digital media, recognizing its importance for consumer enjoyment of our properties. The Mr. Men Show is a great example of where we have deliberately blurred the boundaries between TV and online—the website launched first, and we saw that people were, and still are, engaging with the characters. Audiences now expect their favorite shows to live outside of television, and we have to provide them with content-rich online destinations. Another example is our latest launch, TruckTown, a new publishing property with no television but where we have developed a website through which children will be able to interact. Properties increasingly can develop an online following before transferring to more mainstream media, and our strategy will help us stay strong in this area.

TV KIDS: How has the shakeup in the U.K. kids’ market, with the junk-food-advertising ban and a drop in local commissions, affected Chorion?

ALLI: Clearly, the case for U.K. broadcaster investment in new children’s programming is being eroded by influences beyond our immediate control, and if this is not addressed soon it will have serious consequences for the children’s television business. However, we feel very strongly that there will always be demand for the most entertaining content of the highest quality derived from brands boasting enormous affection around the world—and it is generating this content that is at the heart of our business.

In the U.K. we are blessed with the BBC. They do not have the same commercial pressures as other broadcasters. BBC Children’s is being challenged. Its budgets are being cut. The fight to save the BBC children’s output is more important in the U.K. than a junk-food ban.

TV KIDS: What are your primary goals for Chorion this year?

ALLI: To make more great programs that kids love and parents respect.