Welsh Government
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New series of Grandpa in My Pocket made entirely in Wales
The latest two series of the globally successful children’s TV series ‘Grandpa in My Pocket’, starring James Bolam, have been completed for CBeebies by Cardiff based Shrinking Cap Productions with support from the Welsh Government.
New series of Grandpa in My Pocket made entirely in Wales
Gap funding of £129,000 was provided by the Welsh Government which guaranteed that 100% of the work was carried out by the company, without any co-production required which could have seen much of the skilled post production work going outside of Wales.
It ensured that £1.6m - 69% of the total project cost of £2.3m – was spent in Wales and that 100% of the animation and visual effects and post production work was carried out in Wales, providing work for around 40 freelancers as well as a number of Wales based businesses.
Economy Minister Edwina Hart said:
“We have a strong and vibrant cluster of creative companies around Cardiff and successful productions like Grandpa in my Pocket which are shown worldwide help promote the expertise we have in Wales.
“I am pleased Welsh Government support ensured that all of the animation, visual effects and post production was undertaken in Wales. These are highly skilled areas of work and we want to ensure more post production is carried out in Wales to retain those skills in Wales and help attract additional work here.”
Set in the picture book town of Sunnysands, Grandpa in My Pocket is a magical story that has enthralled children around the world, selling to over 106 territories. Grandpa has a magic shrinking cap which makes him shrink to the size of a coffee cup. He gets up to all sorts of mischief when he’s small but he and his grandchildren Jason, Josh and Elsie always work together to make everything turn out for the best.
Mellie Buse and Jan Page – the creative team behind the successful series – have produced 118 episodes of the hit show which has been nominated for Baftas on six occasions, twice for Kidscreen Awards in the U.S. and it won the Bafta Cymru for Best Children’s Programme in 2009.
They have been involved in children’s media for more than 30 years and worked as writers, consultants, producers and script editors on many of the global kids’ brands They founded Adastra Creative Ltd, a media company specialising in children’s content in 2005 and Shrinking Cap Productions Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary.
Mellie Buse says
“We’ve been delighted to have forged strong links with the talented creative community in Wales as a result of the Welsh Government support. The success of “Grandpa” is in no small measure due to the skill and dedication of our Welsh colleagues. The relationships are on-going and we are currently working with Bait Studios in Cardiff on the development of a new animated show - “Monkey in a Little Coat” which is now at pilot stage. We very much hope that further live action commissions will enable us to shoot more shows in Cardiff in the near future. ”
