Q&A with Katie Barba, Development Producer at A Productions
Skwigly and Bristol Animation Meetup (BAM) continue our series of articles dedicated to the Bristol animation scene.
Our latest professional focus is on Katie Barba who, having previously worked at Disney on their EMEA development slate and several high-profile children’s series, is currently Development Producer at Bristol-based A Productions, having joined in November 2023. A studio known for creating award-winning children’s content across all animation mediums for TV, film and streaming, recent project highlights include Jojo & Gran Gran for BBC Children’s, the Emmy-nominated The Nutcracker starring Elmo & Tango for Sesame Workshop, My Friend Maisy (with Karrot Animation) and the upcoming BBC Ignite series The Underglow (with Gigglebug Entertainment). Following the studio’s return to independent ownership, Skwigly spoke with Katie to learn more about what her role entails and what the future has in store.
Katie Barba, Development Producer at A Productions. The Bristol-based, independently- owned animation production studio, which recently celebrated 40 years in business, makes iconic, award-winning children’s content for TV and film for audiences around the world. (Image: A Productions)
To start with, it would be great to learn about your personal background and what drew you to the creative industries (and, ultimately, animation)?
I have always had a great love of stories and the act of storytelling itself. When I was younger, I wanted to be a performer, then a casting director, now, as a development producer, I get to oversee lots of stories at varying stages of production. I didn’t know I wanted to work in kids’ entertainment or even TV until I started doing it. I was so lucky that my first industry job was an internship at Disney because I got to track the progression of a story from a short springboard made up of two sentences to a fully delivered episode. I knew so little about animation pipelines at the beginning of my career, but it felt like as soon as I had started, my feet were firmly planted and I love it here!
Prior to your current role at A Productions you were at Disney. How did that relationship begin and what skillsets did it cultivate?
I remember applying for the Live Action Production Internship at Disney EMEA whilst I was in university, laughing about what a longshot it was. When I got that interview, I was stunned! Beth Parker, who was heading up the animation production team at Disney EMEA at the time, nabbed me from the live action line up and I will be forever grateful. That internship laid the groundwork for my career, gave me incredible opportunities to form relationships with people and companies that I still hold dear all these years later. It was really one of those times in life when if you don’t throw yourself at the opportunity in front of you then you miss out long-term.
That single year taught me so much about animation production but crucially about the industry as a whole. I made so many friends there who shared their knowledge freely – lawyers who would talk me through contract terms, producers who taught me to read schedules and scrutinise budgets, creatives who taught me how to deliver feedback and all of them taught me how to collaborate. It was very much the most formative year of my adult life, to date.
You’ve contributed to several standout animated productions in recent years, such as Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire, 101 Dalmatian Street and Chip ‘n’ Dale: Park Life. What was your role in these projects and did the experiences of working on them prove valuable in terms of your own professional growth?
My very first series was 101 Dalmatian Street. Beth Parker called me up while I was working on my dissertation and asked how soon I could come back as a Production Coordinator on the series. I knew the name of every single one of those 101 dalmatians and every episode like the back of my hand. I was so excited to be part of such an incredible series with such fantastic talent across the board.
Once 101 Dalmatian Street had started wrapping up, I moved to Chip ‘n’ Dale: Park Life as Production Coordinator (then later supervisor). It was a really collaborative team, and I had been so encouraged on 101 Dalmatian Street, that Chip ‘n’ Dale: Park Life was a series where I was really able to find my ‘creative’ footing and began giving creative feedback alongside the execs. I learned a tonne about storytelling (have you ever seen a time-travel story told in 7-minutes, without dialogue?! I have!) and the value of a character-driven emotional story.
Now, Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire… this show was a whirlwind in the VERY best way possible. 10 stories, 13 directors, 6 countries represented and an incredible line up of talent throughout. I had the privilege of working on this anthology at Disney from shortlisting the stories right through to post-production and loved every second of it.
I then moved away from my role in production to Development Supervisor in the creative team, working closely with powerhouse duo Shamik Majumdar and Orion Ross while overseeing the development slate alongside the second season of Chip ‘n’ Dale: Park Life and Kizazi Moto. However, the skills and relationships I had cultivated with the production team meant that I often wore both hats; working with the fantastic Karen Doyle who was Director of Animation Production to keep things moving. It was just the environment that I tend to thrive in: furiously fast and methodically organised.
Can you tell our readers a bit about the role of Development Producer and how it differs from other Producer roles within animation?
As Development Producer at A Productions, both my experience in production and as a creative executive have been vital. It often feels that there is a hard line between creative and production roles but being a Development Producer has seen me squarely across both and that’s just the way I like it!
So much of what I do is forming and maintaining strong relationships with talent, studios, commissioners and more. I have always loved talking to people and as somewhat of an extrovert, it comes quite naturally most of the time. Stick me in a room full of people I don’t know, and you’ll have found me in my element. To work in development, your two great loves need to be stories and the people that have a story to tell.
Also, one of the key things a Development Producer does is stay very on top of content trends. When I was working at Disney, I managed the submissions, so I got to see a lot of projects and trends in development on a global scale. Knowing what is in production, what is working well on certain platforms and what commissioners are looking for at any given moment is half the battle when you are allocating resources to development projects and considering new submissions. The only way to find out about that is watching a lot of TV, reading a lot of articles and talking to a lot of people!
One of the strings to your bow is discovering new animation talent – how do you tend to go about this process and what would you say are the key things you’re on the lookout for?
Honestly, it really comes back to that love of networking and reading. I read a TONNE. When I first got the role, I spent a lot of time in libraries and signing up to newsletters for publishers and bookshops. I want to know what kind of stories are being loved by our audiences and the different places they are discovering them.
We are really open in our approach to sourcing stories as a studio. One thing I just love about A Productions is that our studio is open to pitches all year around, from everyone. Creativity and fresh, exciting stories really can come from anybody and that is an ethos that the studio maintains at its core in development.
We are always looking at new places to find those inspirations too. When we consider a pitch submission, or a book, podcast, webseries etc, we look at more than just the singular property in front of us and think about the talent behind the idea and if they might work for another idea we have in the pipeline.
Further to that, when searching for potential IPs, are there any crucial tenets/qualities that you look for in a prospective series? And, perhaps more crucially, are there any common pitfalls or mistakes that those hoping to develop their own IPs should avoid?
Yes! One of the very common reasons we turn down a series will be if it is too similar to something that already exists. We stay really on top of show releases and announcements. If we know something similar is in the works, or thematic development trends, then we need to make sure our development slate provides fresh, exciting ideas instead.
So really, what we look for is to be surprised. We try to balance our slate with projects based on existing IP and original ideas. It’s important to us to have both because we want to see new content being championed and we know there is appetite for it from our audiences.
A Productions has voiced an intent to develop its own original creator-driven content – has this process begun, and are there any upcoming projects, including across your service-based work, that you are able to currently speak about?
We have indeed been busy building a gorgeous development slate of our own original projects in the kids & family space that I’m really proud of. We have some very exciting productions coming down the road, but they are still under wraps for the time being – so watch this space!
More widely, we were very pleased to announce our collaboration with Finnish animation production studio, Gigglebug, on The Underglow earlier this year. It’s a stunning 2D animated, preschool series with two brilliant creators Tanya Scott and Sam Morrison that’s all about inspiring curiosity and wonder in children. The Underglow was developed in partnership with the BBC as part of BBC Ignite, a talent programme to find the UK’s next animation hit, and A Productions was chosen as the UK producer on the show.
We are also very proud to be a partner on the second iteration of BBC Ignite, which we can’t talk too much about just yet.
Without giving too much away, our own original development slate and our service-based production pipeline are looking really healthy and varied these days, and hopefully there will be more to come…there is a lot to look forward to!
How do you find Bristol as a locale for animation production and its animation community?
I adore Bristol! It is such a hub of creativity, music, art and attracts a huge amount of brilliant animation talent. It’s quite special being part of such a thriving creative ecosystem and TV production powerhouse. It’s a very collaborative, close-knit environment and incredibly innovative as well. Bursting with festivals, events and culture, there is always something happening here, and I love that A Productions’ studio is right in the heart of the city. As someone who lives outside of London, closer to Brighton, I love getting to be in-house every couple of weeks and immerse myself in Bristol-living (and eating!)
To see more of the work of A Productions, visit aproductions.co.uk
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