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Huggable Bestselling Bear Optioned For TV: Favourite picture book character Hugless Douglas optioned for TV by Kindle Entertainment
Hodder Children’s Books and Kindle Entertainment are delighted to announce an animation deal for David Melling’s internationally bestselling Hugless Douglas character. The 52 x 11 minute pre-school series is currently in development and is targeted at boys and girls aged 3 to 6 years old. The Hugless Douglas series is a huge international success for Hodder Children’s Books: the 2014 World Book Day title Hello, Hugless Douglas was a number one bestseller across all charts; the range has sold over 1.5 million books in under five years.
The deal was brokered by Karen Lawler, Executive Manager of Licensing at Hachette Children’s Group, Nirmal Sandhu, Head of Rights at Hachette Children’s Group, and Val Ames, Director of Production at Kindle Entertainment.
Karen Lawler says: “Kindle is the perfect home for Hugless Douglas. Their work is exciting, innovative and creative. They fully understand the heart of the Hugless Douglas books, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with.”
Nirmal Sandhu says: “We are thrilled to have placed these rights with a fantastic partner. This represents the latest in a string of TV and film deals for the Hachette Children’s Group.”
Anne McNeil says: “Having worked for fourteen years with the unique creator that is David Melling – it is an momentous to be able to announce that this best-selling character will be making his TV debut.”
Anne Brogan co-director of Kindle Entertainment says, “We fell in love with the books the very first time we saw them and can’t wait to bring the wonderfully funny and innocent character of Hugless Douglas alive on TV”.
David Melling says: ‘An important part of my early years as an illustrator were spent working in animation studios, an experience that continues to inspire and influence the way I work today. I’ve always been conscious when creating the Hugless Douglas books that Douglas is a character full of action and movement – just like a typical toddler! It’s amazing to think that an idea I had with my son at bedtime is not only a book series, but now due to appear on screen. I’m really looking forward to working with the brilliant team at Kindle.’
About David Melling
David Melling is an internationally bestselling author-illustrator with worldwide acclaim, published in 33 languages; his best-known series, Hugless Douglas, has sold over 1.5 million books in under 5 years. Hello, Hugless Douglas! – a World Book Day picture book in 2014 – was a number one bestseller across all Nielsen BookScan charts, with over 450,000 copies now sold. David’s titles have been turned into apps (Hugless Douglas and Just Like My Dad) and read on BBC’s CBeebies. David has been shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal, the Smarties Book Award and the Independent Booksellers Award. For more information on David visit www.davidmelling.co.uk