The first UK pre-school animation that centres around a black British family, based on creator Laura Henry-Allain MBE’s children’s books and animated by A Productions, won big at the British television awards.
Bristol independent animation production studio A Productions scooped a national TV industry award for ‘Best Pre-School Programme’, for an iconic series that has broken new ground in pre-school programming.
JoJo and Gran Gran: It’s Time to Go to the Hairdresser’s won the ‘Best Pre-School Programme’ category at the Broadcast Awards, this year held virtually on Thursday the 27th of May, which celebrate the very best in British TV programming. The programme, which is the first UK pre-school animation to centre around a black British family and is based on the books by Laura Henry-Allain MBE, was created by the BBC Children’s In-House Productions in collaboration with A Productions for CBeebies.
“This fantastic recognition is testament to the entire team who have thrown their hearts and souls into this important show. For us, it was crucial that JoJo and Gran Gran had an authentic voice and truly told the stories and experiences of the communities and characters it portrayed. We hope this series will help to pave the way for better representation in pre-school programming and beyond in the future.”
Katherine McQueen, joint Managing Director of A Productions
A Productions is an internationally recognised, creative-led, multi-discipline animation production studio with a strong track record for producing award-winning children’s content for broadcast.
The studio’s 150-strong team is based in Bristol, a city renowned as a hotbed of production for TV and film, and it specialises in traditional and digital 2D stop-frame, CGI, AFX, Flash and live-action, both in-studio and on location. A Productions undertook extensive research and interviews in Bristol, creating a panel made up of a range of voices from local communities that worked closely with the creative team on JoJo and Gran Gran.
The Broadcast Awards recognise the UK’s most ground-breaking content, creators and channels. The winners were announced at a virtual awards show hosted by TV presenter Claudia Winkleman.
To find out more about A Productions, visit: aproductions.co.uk
