Headspinner Productions, celebrating their fifth anniversary this week, and CBC Kids announce that production has begun on new live-action preschool series Aunty B’s House, created by and starring Khalilah Brooks.
Aunty B’s House (20x7) is a live-action sitcom for preschoolers and their families, set in a foster home with foster mom Aunty B (Brooks) and her three foster children: Zack, played by Luke Dietz (Happy House of Frightenstein), Nendia Lewars (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat) as Khadijah and Claire Poon (Blues Clues & You) as Shelley. Aunty B’s House focuses on heart, humour, music and unconditional love.
The series is based on Brook’s own experiences growing up in the Canadian foster care system. It will address some difficult themes not usually seen in preschool television, including becoming a new foster child, social worker visits and parental visits, and will deal with them in an honest, sincere and child-friendly way.
“Aunty B’s House is an incredible property based on a character Khalilah created from her extraordinary life experience and has been performing in theatres for Canadian children for years. We feel very fortunate that she trusted Headspinner to adapt the production to television. This is truly a meaningful and important series,” says Michelle Melanson.
“CBC Kids is excited to work with Headspinner and Khalilah to bring Aunty B’s House to life on screen for kids across Canada. The series will authentically represent the experience of growing up in foster care in an age-appropriate manner, while also sharing the warmth of the family’s love and support for one another,” says Swin Chang, Executive in Charge of Development and Production, CBC Kids.
The series showrunner is Kara Harun (Abroad, You’re My Hero) and executive producers are Michelle Melanson and Ken Cuperus of Headspinner Productions. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual and Sports; Marie McCann is Senior Director, Children’s Content, CBC Kids; and Swin Chang is Executive in Charge of Development and Production, CBC Kids. Additional funding support from the Canada Media Fund and the Shaw Rocket Fund. Headspinner retains worldwide rights outside of English Canada.
About Headspinner
Headspinner is an award-winning creative production company spearheaded by industry veterans Michelle Melanson and Ken Cuperus. Headspinner is committed to creating and executing great content for the international market. From kids and family to drama and genre, Ken and Michelle are driven by an unparalleled passion for the creative industry.
About CBC Kids
CBC Kids’ mandate is to inform, enlighten and entertain Canadian kids from ages 2 to 13 and their caregivers on CBC TV, CBC Gem, cbckids.ca and cbckidsnews.ca as well as on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi and Tagalog, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.
For more information, press only:
Michelle Melanson, Headspinner Productions
416-882-5579
michelle@headspinnerproductions.com
www.headspinnerproductions.com
Tanya Koivusalo, CBC PR
647.649.6067
