Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and WGBH Boston Sign Co-production Agreement for Gossie & Friends Television Series
August 05 2015 - 10:23AM
Business Wire
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) (NASDAQ: HMHC) and national
public media producer WGBH today announced a co-production
agreement for the creation of a television and cross-platform
series based on the Gossie & Friends book series, published by
HMH and written and illustrated by Olivier Dunrea. HMH and WGBH
will partner to pursue a domestic broadcasting arrangement for the
series, as well as international co-production financing. The
series will emphasize social emotional learning, which is a
critical curriculum area for the preschool audience of two-to-five
year olds.
With more than one million copies sold globally across all
formats, the Gossie & Friends series is the story of a band of
inquisitive goslings who navigate common childhood concerns, such
as new siblings, sharing, and lost toys. Launched in 2002 with the
publication of Gossie and Gossie & Gertie, the series has since
grown to nineteen titles, has been reviewed by People Magazine, the
New York Times Book Review, and the Huffington Post, among others,
and been recommended by Parenting Magazine as a “must have” book
for babies.
“This cross-media co-production arrangement – a first for HMH –
underscores the Company’s expansion into children’s media
production,” said CJ Kettler, Executive Vice President and Chief of
Consumer Brands and Strategy for HMH. “Our position in the
marketplace as an award-winning provider of acclaimed children’s
books, as well as our early learning educational expertise,
provides us with a unique advantage in children’s media and
entertainment.”
“Bringing books to life through video and new media is a unique
talent of our award-winning creators and children’s producers at
WGBH,” said Brigid Sullivan, WGBH Vice President for Children’s and
Educational Media. “We are delighted to bring the gentle and
timeless world of Gossie and her friends to a broad audience of
preschoolers, who, like these goslings, are experiencing first
lessons in the art of friendship and thriving within a
community.”
The Gossie & Friends television series will be developed by
Carol Greenwald and Dorothea Gillim, executive producer of Curious
George, with Gillim as executive producer.
“As one of our most celebrated children’s titles and characters,
Gossie has brought joy to young learners all over the world,” added
Gary Gentel, President, HMH Trade Publishing. “We are thrilled to
extend the relationship we’ve enjoyed with WGBH on Curious George
and Martha Speaks to a co-production partnership, bringing the
world of Gossie & Friends to life in media.”
For more than 40 years, WGBH has been committed to harnessing
the power of media to benefit the nation’s children, addressing
unmet educational and social needs with high-quality content for
broadcast and new digital media. WGBH’s renowned and celebrated
children’s series include Arthur, Curious George, Between the
Lions, Martha Speaks, Fetch with Ruff Ruffman, Design Squad and the
multi-media series Plum Landing all for PBS, and PEEP and the Big
Wide World (TLC), and Time Warp Trio (Discovery Channel Kids). WGBH
currently has a pilot in development with PBS for the popular
children’s book series Pinkalicious.
Gossie & Friends creator Olivier Dunrea is an award-winning
children’s book writer and illustrator, painter, and sculptor; his
work centers around farms, animals, architecture, and folklore. He
lives in the village of Narrowsburg, New York, in the Catskill
Mountains. For more information on the series, visit
gossieandfriends.com.
About WGBH
WGBH Boston is America¹s preeminent public broadcaster and the
largest producer of PBS content for TV and the Web, including
Frontline, Nova, American Experience, Masterpiece, Antiques
Roadshow, Arthur, Curious George and more than a dozen other
prime-time, lifestyle, and children¹s series. WGBH also is a major
supplier of programming for public radio, and oversees Public Radio
International (PRI). As a leader in educational multimedia for the
classroom, WGBH supplies content to PBS LearningMedia, a national
broadband service for teachers and students. WGBH also is a pioneer
in technologies and services that make media accessible to those
with hearing or visual impairments. WGBH has been recognized with
hundreds of honors. More info at www.wgbh.org.
About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) (NASDAQ:HMHC) is a global
learning company dedicated to changing people’s lives by fostering
passionate, curious learners. As a leading provider of pre-K–12
education content, services, and cutting-edge technology solutions
across a variety of media, HMH enables learning in a changing
landscape. HMH is uniquely positioned to create engaging and
effective educational content and experiences from early childhood
to beyond the classroom. HMH serves more than 50 million students
in over 150 countries worldwide, while its award-winning children's
books, novels, non-fiction, and reference titles are enjoyed by
readers throughout the world. For more information, visit
www.hmhco.com.
Follow HMH on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150805006041/en/
WGBHColleen Flynn,
617-300-3904Colleen_flynn@wgbh.orgorHoughton Mifflin
HarcourtBianca Olson, 617-351-3841SVP, Corporate
AffairsBianca.olson@hmhco.com
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