Wish Films is an animation and live-action studio, established by Will Brenton and Iain Lauchlan in 2006. It is the successor to Tell-Tale Productions, which was formed in 1994, first producing live shows, and later went on to produce TV shows.
Most of Wish's catalogue when it was known as Tell-Tale Productions is currently owned by NBCUniversal (via DreamWorks Animation), with the exception of Tweenies, which is owned by BBC Studios. The rights to Boo! have been owned by NBCUniversal since 2003, followed by the most of their shows in 2016.
History As Tell-Tale Productions On 14 September 2001, Tell-Tale signed a deal with Gullane Entertainment for the production on two new shows, Ella, and Sprogs, with the latter company distributing the series.
On 26 July 2002, the BBC picked up the UK broadcasting rights to Boo! for broadcast in September 2003. On September 1 that year, it was announced that Universal Pictures had acquired worldwide distribution rights to the series.
On 18 September 2002, Tell-Tale announced the production of a hybrid 2D/3D series titled WARP. On the same day, it was confirmed that the distribution rights to Ella and Sprogs reverted to Tell-Tale after the deal with Gullane fell through due to HIT Entertainment's acquisition of Gullane, alongside the production on two 60-minute direct-to-video Tweenies specials.
On 1 February 2003, the company signed a property management deal with LMI for Sprogs, alongside a deal with BBC Music to allow music production for the series, which would air in early 2004.
On 27 January 2004, Carlton International acquired distribution rights to Sprogs. The company purchased the home video rights in all regions except for the US and French-speaking territories, and worldwide TV rights excluding the UK, the US, and French and German-speaking territories. It was also confirmed that CBBC had acquired the UK broadcast rights to the series for a late 2004 broadcast date.
On 13 September 2004, Entertainment Rights announced they would acquire Tell-Tale for £3.1 million. The buyout would include the rights to Sprogs, which had, by then been renamed BB3B (previously handled by Carlton) and would be broadcast on CBBC in late 2005, alongside the rights to a new reboot of Fun Song Factory to air on CITV. The Tweenies property was retained by BBC Worldwide although Entertainment Rights would gain royalty income for the property, alongside rights to a planned feature-length film adaptation of the series. The purchase was completed on 1 October 2004.
On 20 December 2005, ITV acquired the broadcast rights to Jim Jam and Sunny for broadcast on the then-new CITV Channel, and that production would start in 2006, being the largest broadcast deal made by ITV for a children's series.
Wish Films In 2006, Will Brenton and Iain Lauchlan reformed Tell-Tale Productions as Wish Films. The company took over production of Jim Jam and Sunny, which premiered on CITV later that year.
In 2008, Wish produced their first international co-production, a TV adaptation of Wibbly Pig, based on the children's book of the same name by Mick Inkpen, with Canadian-based 9 Story Entertainment, with the latter holding distribution rights in the Americas, and BBC Worldwide holding distribution rights in all other regions.
On 6 May 2010, CBeebies commissioned a new show from Wish to air on the channel's summer schedule called Mighty-Mites, presented by Sarah-Jane Honeywell.
Other shows produced by Wish around these time frames include Florrie's Dragons, a co-production with Studio 100 and Clockwork Zoo, and Melody, a co-production with LAAH Entertainment.
Filmography Television series Title Year(s) Broadcaster(s) Notes Fun Song Factory 1994 Direct-to-Video Co-production with Abbey Broadcast Communications Fun Song Factory 2 1996 Party Time at the Fun Song Factory The Fun Song Factory at Old MacDonald's Farm Christmas at the Fun Song Factory Fun Song Factory – Fun and Games 1997 Fun Song Factory – Nursery Rhyme Land Fun Song Factory 1998–2004 GMTV/CITV Co-production with Abbey Broadcast Communications (season 1) and Entertainment Rights (season 2) Tweenies 1999–2002 BBC OneBBC TwoCBeebies Co-production with the BBC Wow! That's What I Call Nursery Rhymes 1999 Direct-to-Video Co-production with Abbey Broadcast Communications Wow! That's What I Call Christmas 2000 Boo! 2003–06 CBeebies Co-production with Universal Pictures Visual Programming WARP 2003 N/A TV pilot Sprogs Jim Jam Tweenies - Night-Time Magic Direct-to-Video Co-production with BBC Worldwide Tweenies - Jungle Adventure 2004 BB3B 2004 CBBC Co-production with Entertainment Rights Jim Jam and Sunny 2006–08 CITV Channel First production as Wish FilmsCo-production with Entertainment Rights Wibbly Pig 2009–10 CBeebiesTVO (Canada) Co-production with 9 Story Entertainment Mighty Mites 2010 CBeebies Florrie's Dragons 2010–11 Playhouse Disney co-production with Studio 100 and Clockwork Zoo Melody 2013–15 CBeebies Co-production with LAAH Entertainment and BBC Music (Series 2)
Live theatrical shows Title Touring Year(s) Notes Tweenies Live! 2001 (United Kingdom)2002 (Australia) Co-produced with DC Entertainment and BBC Worldwide Tweenies Live! - The Christmas Present 2001-2002, 2003-2004 Tweenies Live! 2 - The Fab-a-Rooney Tour 2002 Thomas & Friends: The Big Live Tour 2002-2003 Co-produced with DC Entertainment and HIT Entertainment Thomas & Friends: The All Aboard! Live Tour 2004 Co-produced with DC Entertainment and HIT EntertainmentThe 2005 Japanese run was produced by Fuji Television, while the 2006 run was produced by IVE Limited and Trend & Culture Tweenies Live! - No Sleep 'til Bedtime 2005Co-produced with DC Entertainment and BBC WorldwideAll future Tweenies Live! shows were solely produced by BBC Worldwide CBeebies Live! Co-produced with BBC WorldwideAll future CBeebies Live! shows were solely produced by BBC Worldwide
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