Showcase: Australian Children’s Television Foundation

Four animal friends training to be lifeguards on the idyllic Kangaroo Beach, a group of grade-five detectives solving playground mysteries and a fun park haunted by mischievous teenage ghouls: there’s something for every audience in the extensive Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) catalog.

From preschoolers to young adults, the Australian Children’s Television Foundation distributes world-class live-action, animated and factual content for every demographic. The ACTF catalog boasts more than 60 series, movies and telemovies—over 400 hours of content, which is screened across the world.

For the preschool audience, Kangaroo Beach is a fun-filled animated series about the adventures of four young animal friends training with their lifeguard heroes. Every day is an action-packed adventure for the furry friends as they train to be lifeguards, exploring the sea, rivers and rock pools, while empowering viewers with an imperative message about water safety in every story.

“There’s lots of fun, lots of adventure and water-safety awareness and guidance in every episode,” says Cheeky Little Media executive producer Patrick Egerton. “We developed Kangaroo Beach in response to the fact that drowning is one of the leading causes of child mortality globally. We wanted to create a show that was entertainment first and foremost but also provided crucial water-safety messages.”

Teenagers will be enthralled by Crazy Fun Park, a brand-new live-action horror-comedy series about two best friends, so close that even death can’t keep them apart. When Mapplethorpe is killed at an eerie abandoned theme park, his spirit lives on, and his best friend Chester returns each night to see him and the other undead teenagers who haunt the fun park.

“It’s a unique show about boyhood friendship and dealing with growing up and moving apart from each other, but also loss and grief,” says producer Joanna Werner. “It’s a really fun show to watch, with moments of beautiful depth as well. People who love Stranger Things will love this.”

For 6- to 12-year-olds, The Inbestigators is a unique live-action comedy/mystery series about a friendly neighborhood detective agency run by a mismatched group of grade-five students. In every episode, there’s an intriguing case to crack, with the story narrated by the kids in a similar mockumentary style to Little Lunch, created by the same team.

“We took the comic tone of Little Lunch and married it with the private detective/mystery genre, inventing a groundbreaking procedural comedy for kids,” say Gristmill producers Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope. “We are immensely proud of the show that we have produced.”

Whatever the age group and whatever the genre, there’s a slew of other shows from the ACTF to engage, inspire and entertain.

See ACTF’s Showcase here.