Video Interview: Skywriter’s Kevin Gillis

NEW YORK: Kevin Gillis, CEO and executive producer of Skywriter Media & Entertainment Group, discusses the slate of kids’ properties the recently founded Toronto-based company is developing for the worldwide market in this video interview.

Starting up a new company in 2009, the year of the worst economic downturn in decades, might seem like a very risky decision. But for Kevin Gillis, launching Skywriter Media & Entertainment Group last year was the right thing to do. As the company’s executive producer and CEO, Gillis assembled a team of professionals that includes Paula McLaren, the VP of distribution and acquisitions, and Meghan Davies, the head of creative development. Their aim is to develop high-quality programming that leads to long-term franchises, and if they can have some fun along the way, all the better!

Skywriter is working on a number of properties and he mentions two in particular. The first is a pure comedy 2-D animation series with a Ren and Stimpy feel to it called Chuckles ‘N’ Knuckles, which poses the question, Can two lost and confused circus performers find their way back to the big top that abandoned them? The outcome of their quest is doubtful, but the series packs plenty of silliness and funny antics to please the 8-to-12 set.

Another series from Skywriter is Live from Earth, which Gillis calls a hybrid show that is mainly live-action with a bit of animation. The two genres help depict the world of Simon, a high school student who doesn’t realize he has been chosen as the biggest star in the galaxy and is the subject of a reality show. For Live from Earth, Gillis has chosen some of the top talent around, including writer Robin Stein, who has worked on Hannah Montana, and director Keith Samples, whose credits include Dawson’s Creek, Felicity and The O.C. As Gillis explains, Samples has a long track record of getting the best possible performances out of teenagers and Stein knows how to write for them.

Skywriter not only develops, produces and distributes for TV—its digital-media division creates content for a variety of screens, including websites, games, mobisodes, webisodes and social-media content. Music is an integral part of content across all sorts of platforms. Skywriter has a music division and Gillis, a creator, writer and publisher of music, has had numerous successes in the music industry. And finally, Skywriter’s Media Trading Arm is in the business of facilitating content financing and providing its broadcast and program partners with the opportunity to time inventory rather than cash resources to fund program acquisitions.

Gillis is one of Canada’s leading independent producers. He created, produced, directed and served as head writer for the animated family series The Raccoons, he produced the theatrical animated feature The Nutcracker Prince for Warner Bros. and also executive produced a number of TV movies, including Robocop: The Series, Eckhart, Atomic Betty, Miss BG and Captain Flamingo.

Gillis’s enthusiasm for his work and penchant for seeing the lighter side of life are readily apparent. As his biography on the Skywriter website, states, “Kevin lives in Toronto with his wife, composer Sally Gillis and their two cats. His kids are following in his footsteps (but not too closely). He loves to landscape, eat sushi, watch films with his wife, and play with his cats (but not necessarily in that order).”