ABC Australia and the CBC in Canada have selected a pair of animated series for development funding as part of the Kindred ABC/CBC Animation Collaboration. This initiative was launched in March 2022 to fund animated content for preschool and tween audiences, with an open call for project pitches reflecting values such as inclusivity, empathy and kindness. 

The pubcasters have awarded My Shadow in Pink (Toronto’s Headspinner Productions and Sydney-based Sticky Pictures) and creator-driven concept The Eerie Chapters of Chhaya with co-pro development deals with CBC Kids and ABC Kids. 

Based on a 2020 book of the same name by Scott Stuart, My Shadow is Pink is a half-hour series aimed at kids ages three to seven. It centers around a boy who starts out longing for a blue shadow but learns to embrace a pink one instead.

For 10- to 14-year-olds, the pubcasters picked The Eerie Chapters of Chhaya (pictured), created by animation artist Suren Perera and writers Georgina Love and Thomas Duncan-Watt. It stars a teen girl who runs an old bookstore with her father, but discovers that it’s actually an underground “spelltorium” with a magical legacy.

ABC and CBC have also renewed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that serves as the backbone of their co-development and co-financing partnership for three more years. The companies first signed the agreement in June 2019, and Kindred was set up this year to expand on the collaboration, which cover kids series, podcasts, dramas, comedies and factual entertainment.

Correction: The aforementioned series have only received development funding and have not been greenlit for production. An earlier version of the story stated that the series were greenlit.