Tom Gates is a boy who takes us into a world full of friends, family, mischief, music, creativity… and lots of doodling!
The Tom Gates books are written and illustrated by Liz Pichon, a top 5 UK illustrator (TCM 2020) and top 15 children’s author in the UK. Books are published in the UK by Scholastic, and have been translated into 47 languages and sold over 16.5 million copies worldwide. Liza has won over 25 awards. The huge success of the 21 books has led TG Entertainment to create a cross-media brand with broad gender-neutral appeal across the 6-12 age range.
After being brought to life in a play in 2019, Tom is starring in his own exciting TV show, The Brilliant World of Tom Gates, now in its third series. The forth season is currently under discussion with SkyKids. With 60 episodes and two long form specials, this award-winning show has everything that fans know and love about the bestselling book series, plus the chance to “meet” author Liz Pichon, who shows children how to draw and create just like Tom. Designed to appeal to all ages, this original mixedmedia series is interwoven with live-action crafts and drawing, stop-motion games and music videos.
For the TV show, we developed the visual style of the books, which are black and white, but with colourful covers. We took that colour palette and also inspiration from pop art to create a visual style that would work for television and normal cartoons. – Ken Anderson, Co-Founder of TG Entertainment
Through its global distributor WildBrain, the tv series are broadcast in European territories such as Portugal and Spain, as well as Africa, USA & Canada, MENA and Pakistan, China, Australia and many more.
Over 400 clips are available on the dedicated YouTube channel with a global reach. Discussions are under way for a potential feature film and further live entertainment options. The Halloween and Christmas TV specials are broadcast every year on Sky and across the distributed territories.
The success of Tom Gates is also reflected in the excellent brand development across CP, Digital & Social, Live Events, Gaming and the many retail activations and creative collaborations. Licensing partners include University Games, Tonies, Poetic Brands, Winning Moves, Moonpig, Woodmansterne.
Read the article in the new issue of The European Animation Journal.
