Sixteen South Launches Distribution Division

Sixteen South, a BAFTA-winning producer of children’s television programming, has established Sixteen South Rights to distribute some of its properties, including the preschool series Lily’s Driftwood Bay.

Gillian Calvert-Ridge has come on board to lead the division as head of global distribution. She will initially concentrate on Lily’s Driftwood Bay, taking charge of new shows as they are developed. Calvert-Ridge previously served as acquisitions manager at Foxtel in Australia. Earlier in her career, she worked for Viacom International Media Networks and Entertainment Rights.

Existing distribution agreements for other titles in Sixteen South’s catalog will remain in place, with American Greetings Entertainment continuing to represent Claude and WDR handling distribution for WildWoods.

Colin Williams, the creative director of Sixteen South, commented: “This is a really exciting chapter in our studio’s growth. We really enjoy doing presales on all of our new properties to get them over the line, so it feels very natural for us to begin to distribute our own wholly owned properties ourselves. I’m thrilled to welcome Gillian back home to Belfast and to join our Sixteen South family. We’ll continue to work with our valued distribution partners—American Greetings Entertainment on Claude and WDR on WildWoods.”

Calvert-Ridge added: “I am delighted to be finally back home working with an incredibly talented and passionate team. I’m excited about bringing Sixteen South’s unique, endearing and fun-infused properties to an even wider global audience.”