Shoebox Zoo
Claire Mundell, Executive
Producer for C大象传媒 Scotland and Co-Creator of Shoebox Zoo
The germ of the idea which became Shoebox Zoo was first
mooted over two years ago by Claire Mundell, then Head of C大象传媒 Scotland,
and Justin Molotnikov, who directed the award-winning CiTV sitcom My
Parents Are Aliens.
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Claire, who is Executive Producer on the series, and
on secondment from her position as Head of C大象传媒 Scotland explains:
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"I was keen to raise C大象传媒 Scotland's game in the
children's and family drama stakes and get a more ambitious, international
show with high production values commissioned.
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"Justin and I, and the department, had been working
on an idea using CGI but aimed at a much younger audience and of a simpler
format.
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"It wasn't right, but it got us thinking and we
finally decided on a quest idea."
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Scottish writer Brian Ward became co-creator after he
was approached by Claire and Justin and became a key part of the three-way
team who created Shoebox Zoo.
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Claire continues: "Brian has over 20 years experience
in writing features for mainstream family audiences.
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"Both Justin and I felt a real connection with
him and together we started to develop the idea further.
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"It had a lot of big elements, including: live
action, drama, CGI animation, special effects and grand locations, which
all add to the cost."
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Looking to raise significant deficit funding, Claire
travelled to the 2002 Banff Television Festival in Canada with 大象传媒 Scotland's
Commercial Manager.
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They were seeking a co-producer for the project and
it was there Claire and C大象传媒 Scotland joined forces with Blueprint Entertainment.
The young Los Angeles-based company had been set up in 2002 by former
Head of Television for the Canadian television company Alliance Atlantis,
John Morayniss, and Noreen Halpern.
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In his position at Alliance Atlantis, John had overseen
the ground-breaking CGI animation series Ace Lightning, which used techniques
similar to those seen in Shoebox Zoo.
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"We wanted to find people with the same mindset
as us and who could open up the potential of a Scotland/Canada co-production
and we found it in Blueprint," says Claire.
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The next stage was finding internationally known names
to star in Shoebox Zoo.
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Claire managed to talk Hollywood A-lister Alan Cumming
into playing the voice of one of the animated animals.
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"Luckily, he said he really liked the idea and
a few weeks later said he would do it," she explains.
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"Once he had agreed, there was a domino effect.
Simon Callow is a big fan of the writer, Brian Ward, so he said yes.
Rik Mayall, Jason Connery and Siobhan Redmond really liked the scripts
as did Peter Mullan and David McKay."
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With big names signed up, and funding secured, the hunt
began in earnest for a young actress to play the key character of Marnie
McBride, who appears in almost every scene.
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"To find Marnie, we had casting agents doing a
sweep across North America," says Claire.
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"Justin and I attended the last audition and Vivien
stood head and shoulders above the rest. She was the character and it
was completely effortless."
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