Spinning plates

Developing original ideas isn't an easy business. Sure, an idea that might work for a book or a show can pop into one's head at the most unexpected moment, but to see that through into a finished, published book or broadcast animated series is another matter altogether. The majority of my time in the last few months has been spent keeping up the momentum on a number of new properties, as well as seeing others up to a level where they can be presented. This would be the spinning plates, for that's how it often feels, keeping the energy alive on one idea while picking the speed up on another. I suppose a better analogy for a short fat northern lad would be having his fingers in lots of pies.

Visited the Showcomotion Childrens Media Conference in Sheffield the other week which was terrific - a great place to catch up with writers, artists, creatives, producers and broadcasters. If you're in the business of developing ideas for television, in particular kids TV, I can't recommend your attending Showcomotion enough. It's the perfect sounding ground for potential collaborators as well as a great place to hear the ideas, first-hand, from broadcasters re: what they're looking for.

Just waiting for proofs back on the FLORA, FAUNA & MERRYWEATHER limited edition art prints. As soon as they're in I'll be opening up for orders.

Novel manuscript? Argh! Wish I could say more on that front, but we've got specific interest from one wonderful editor from a well established publishing house. Have to sit tight while we wait for a response. In the meantime I'm looking to crack on with my next attempt at a novel, this one a fantasy novel for girls as well as boys.

Bada Bling!

Flora, Fauna & Merryweather

A new series of paintings based upon my favourite Disney Movie, SLEEPING BEAUTY. Flora, Fauna and Merryweather (for those are their names) are the three fairies in the movie. Been wanting to do this triptych for ages now, and am expecting the originals to be going to an art gallery in the US in the very near future. These are also available as limited edition fine art prints - if you're interested just contact me directly, post on here with your details or drop me a line at frankscat@hotmail.com and I can fill you in with the details.

FLORA - the Green Fairy

FAUNA - the Red Fairy

MERRYWEATHER - the Blue Fairy

The High School Of Doctor Moreau

Here's a first sneaky peek at the new show I have in development, "THE HIGH SCHOOL OF DOCTOR MOREAU". I've collaborated with good chum and Spongebob Squarepants scribe Eric Shaw on the development of this, and the article shown above is from this month's Kidscreen magazine, a trade publication that features what's happening in the world of childrens television. Next week is the MIPTV trade fair in Cannes, which I won't be attending, but the lovely folk at Kidscreen asked if they could feature Moreau in the magazine in their "Cool New Shows" feature.

We're already getting a good deal of interest in the property and will hopefully be able to announce a deal with a production company in the very near future. It's a show that I feel is really read to run, packed with ridiculous characters and a world of nonsensical experiments. In a line, it's Weird Science crashing headlong into High School Musical...

Bada Bling!

Blowing off the cobwebs!

If there is such a thing in the worldwide tinterweb of an organisation that protects against the misuse and neglect of sorry, sad blogs, then I suspect I should be looking over the shoulder right now, waiting for a booted foot to come crashing through the front door as the blog police come and liberate the poor Badablingthing blogspot. I have, of course, been a bit busy - which is grand - but that's a feeble excuse for not keeping up to date on here with my happenings and goings on.

Big news on the business front is that I now have a new literary agent, John Jarrold. I met up with him for the first time a couple of weeks ago in Lincoln and enjoyed a tremendously pleasant evening in his company, as we outgeeked one another over all things fanboy. John is best known in the literary world as uber-editor of all things fantasy, scifi and horror. It's quite a departure from Laura Cecil, my previous literary agent who specialised purely in childrens literature. John is a dedicated adult fiction editor/agent, but he's been very happy to take me under his grown up wing. Which sounds rude. But isn't. Do check out his website for more about the fellow and the staggering list of famous authors he's edited, not least Iain Banks, Tad Williams and Terry Brooks.

The Animex Festival in February was fantastic as always, this time round the speakers' highlight was dinner at the Dun Cow Inn in Sedgefield, the infamous pub where Tony Blair took George W Bush for a meal of fish and chips towards the end of his tenure as prime minister. I was the only Brit in a party of fourteen, most of who were liberal Americans and staunch anit-Bush types. We asked the owner if we could purchase the chair that "Dubya" sat in for his meal, but he declined. Then we asked for just a wee stool, and still he said no but seemed to waver. When questioned we admitted that we planned to burn it in the street. This put an end to the prospects of us acquiring any furniture from the Dun Cow that evening...

I'm about to embark upon a trio of paintings based upon the fairies from Sleeping Beauty: Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. If you're liking the look of these and are interested in the originals, let me know. It's the Biteneck Beatniks hurtling headlong into the Grimm Faerie Tales. They're red, green and blue respectively. Or at least will be when I'm finished!

My Art Show is now in full effect in that there London. If you're in the capital, be sure to visit the Animation Art Gallery in County Hall, next to the London Eye. The original Frankenstein's Cat paintings and the Biteneck Beatniks show will be hung together there for the next month until mid-April. There are also limited edition giclee prints available of the nine Cat paintings.

New properties in development include a show that Jetix are just about to option, plus HIT Entertainment have picked up a preschool show from me directly and are optioning another exciting property too - more on this in the coming weeks!

Belated New Year to all

I've been asked by my better half to put a post on the blog as it's our homepage for the home PC - whenever we connect to the tinterweb we get SNOWFALL blaring full volume from our speakers and it's driving her a bit loopy, especially as Christmas was four weeks ago now.

Been busy already this year with a lot of school projects kicking off, principally an ongoing arts project with English Martyrs School in Hartlepool. I'm booked up until the beginning of April with schools which is pretty splendid stuff. The kids at English Martyrs have been great, and it's doubley a pleasure to be working up there as I get to stay with Niel Bushnell of Qurios Entertainment, and generally goof around a lot like a big gullah. We met up for a quiet night's suppage with Chris Williams, director of the Animex Festival of Animation, on Tuesday and what started out gentle enough ended with me leaving the drinking den with a shadow firmly cast over my reputation. Tarnished, I'd go so far as to say. I apologise to the Barmaid, just in case she's reading this!


Will be up in Teesside for Animex next month holding workshop and talks (4th to 6th Feb) - if you've never been along, get yourself down there. Better still log onto the website to view Qurios's rather brilliant sting for this, the festivals TENTH year:

Bada Bling!

Merry Christmas!!!

(Removed for the sake of the family Bling's sanity)

Jobling out and about

OK, let's get this out of the way with first - me meeting SANTA!!!! :-D See as I struggle to keep my excitement in check! This was at Farlington School btw...

Thought I'd next show you all a delightful picture of the delightful Alan Gilbey, the delightful script editor and lead writer of Frankenstein's Cat the animated series, holding aloft the delightful BAF Award for Best TV Series. I believe he's pawned it for filthy cash already... Couldn't be there myself but glad Al got to grab the gong on behalf of everyone from the production team.

Below is a picture of Mr Josh Lewis's left kneecap in Australia. Josh's wife, Felise, got in touch with me on Facebook and let me know that the family love the show so much that Josh felt obliged to get a Nine tattoo added to his tats. This is work in progress, and mighty fine it is too - as Josh sends me the finished tattoo I'll put it up on here. But this is tremendously flattering - I've never seen a Bob tattoo but then I think Nine lends himself to the art form more...

Just back from a whirlwind few days in West Sussex, opening the Farlington Christmas Fair as well as a new nursery hall at Burgess Hill School for Girls. Had a lovely time at both events, in no small part thanks to the hospitality of the pupils, parents and staff at the schools. Particularly have to thank Joy, Casie and Lucia at Farlington for enduring me, Emma and the girls, and also Fen, Georgina, Yudi and the gang at Burgess Hill for supplying me with hot cups of tea in the freezing weather. Here are some pictures from the event at Burgess Hill. Note the small army of Bob the Builders who were present. They're mid-shout there yelling out the word "PARSNIP" - I guess you'd need to have been there to understand the ramifications of this exultation...
And lastly, but by no means least, below is a picture of Frankenstein's Cat as done by Maria Chance (aged 6) of Stratford Upon Avon. Clever cookie that Maria is she's used the fridge magnet from the DVD box as a stencil and drawn around the titular moggie that way - great stuff Maria and many many thanks for sending this through to us!