FSTVS - The Executive Sessions

Super Happy Magic Chat! Tom Beattie, ladies and gents! From Pot Noodle, to U2, to working with Rowan Atkinson, to his eclectic collection of fancy yet affordable eyewear, this week Julian gets to talk to MD of Tiger Aspect Kids about his career in kids media and how he progressed through the ranks at Tiger Aspect to become one of the most respected Execs working today. To make matters worse, he's...

Bestriding oceans, genres, and animation techniques, Allison Abbate is one of the most prolific Animated Feature Producers of the past few decades. The Little Mermaid, The Iron Giant, The Rescuers Down Under, Tom & Jerry as well as being the long time Tim Burton collaborator on Frankenweenie, Fantastic Mr Fox and The Corpse Bride, Allison's resume is impressive. Have a listen as Allison chats to J...

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, SpongeBob: Sponge on the Run, Sherlock Gnomes, The Paw Patrol Movie! He's worked on them all! Get to know Ramsay McBean and hear how his globetrotting early days informs how he engages with projects and with teams. A fascinating insight into a fascinating man and, without wishing to go all 'click baity' on you, listen out for some of the best career adv...

It's... the incomparable Marion Edwards! With a career that has taken her to Telemagination, Dreamworks, HiT/Mattel and, more recently Gutsy Animation, Marion's career path in animation was anything but set at the start. The classiest person in kids TV* gives us a glimpse behind the serenity that is shown to the world and hints at the incredible hard work that has gone into making it all look so e...

In this episode Julian chats to the director of the highest grossing animated film… OF... ALL... TIME, Kelsey Mann. Kelsey discusses his early passion for movies in Minnesota, where he grew up, and how that took him on a path, though not always direct, to Warner Brothers and Pixar and there through the ranks to direct his own movie. We discover the knock-backs and rejections in Kelsey’s career tha...

Bonjour et bienvenue dans un autre épisode Today’s guest is Philippe Alessandri. A gentleman whose whole life seems to have been immersed in media, from being a teenage TV presenter and creating his own comic strips, to senior roles in some of Europe’s largest animation studios, to now running his own, Watch Next Media, in France and Italy. As if that wasn’t enough, Philippe is also the Chairman o...

A lovely and engaging conversation between two old friends this week as Julian Scott chats with Nancy Kanter, owner of Available Light Pictures. Nancy talks about her time at Disney, Netflix, and Sesame Workshop and Julian tries to shamelessly namedrop on Nancy's behalf. Nancy looks to the future of kids TV entertainment and how it has changed over her illustrious career. Warm, charming, and wonde...

A lively chat with Andrew Baker, CEO of Cantilever Media and producer of The Amazing Maurice, one of the most successful independent animated films of recent years. Julian chats to Andrew about his interesting entry into the animation industry and where that path then led him. They discuss how rights are secured for projects, how Andrew financed some of his shows ,and what might be next for an Exe...

A wonderful chat this week with Helen Brunsdon. Feel the energy, passion and positivity from one of the UK's leading animation Execs. Julian digs into Helen's journey in the animation industry and how she channels her passion into mentoring, fighting for funding and infrastructure for skills and talent enhancement and how that then leads to exec producing short films . And we haven't even got to h...

In this episode Julian chats to Nico Lockhart, Director of Wildbrain's Digital Studios. We learn that animation wasn't Nico's first career choice, how he continues to adapt his approach and role to a constantly changing area of the industry, how he and Wildbrain look for new IP, and what he's rustling up for dinner tonight. A very tasty treat all round.

Today's guest is Alix Wiseman. Alix is Senior Vice President of Distribution and Acquisitions at 9 Story Media Group and Alix has also spent time at Aardman Animations and Channel 4. In this wonderfully diverse chat, Alix discusses her path into animation, how she and her team likes to operate when they look for new shows, the impact of new media and AI on the content landscape, and what the futur...

Today's guest is Kate O'Connor. Kate is best known to the animation industry as the founder and Executive Chair of Animation UK. Kate is also a senior consultant in the wider creative industries, collaborating with private and public-sector clients throughout the UK, Ireland, and internationally. Julian and Kate discuss how she got started in the industry and what led her to her role at Animation...