Rich Staplehurst, a former global creative director at Moonbug Entertainment, is aiming to give kids audiences the whole kit and caboodle with his new development company Noodle & Caboodle Entertainment. 

The London-based creative announced on LinkedIn yesterday that he has set up shop with a handful of projects in development, and he’s hoping to attract partners to get them off the ground.  

“For years, I’ve been creative director on campaigns and stories for studios, games companies and global entertainment brands,” said Staplehurst in his LinkedIn post. “But like many creatives, my own noodle has always been full of original ideas waiting for the right moment. As a creative myself, I am passionate about building something meaningful that will somehow add value [to] the wider creative community.” 

He’s got some big ambitions for his slate, and is open to production, investor, broadcast, distribution and licensing partnerships on his projects, which have pitch decks, storyboards and scripts ready. “We’re particularly interested in partners who see IP as a long-term brand ecosystem, not just a single-format show,” Staplehurst tells Kidscreen. 

In addition to his own projects. he is also offering development and creative director services, like creating brand guidelines and style guides.  

A fledgling independent creator, Staplehurst’s background is in advertising and marketing, leading campaigns at creative agencies both as a freelancer and with firms such as DRUM and Katlist. He has 14 years of experience in that world, and it’s this creative work with brands that got him a job at Moonbug. 

Rich Staplehurst.

While at Moonbug, he led creative direction and brand marketing as global creative director from 2023 to 2025. He worked on brands like CoComelon, Blippi and Oddbods during that time, creating brand guidelines, producing campaigns and marketing assets for partnerships.

Throughout all this, he’s been developing his own kids IPs. Starting Noodle & Caboodle is his way of working toward building properties that can inspire curiosity in kids. 

His website highlights four animated kids projects (in addition to one animated and one live-action teen/adult series):

• Flo & Otto, a preschool series about two otters who explore nature  
• Comedy/action-adventure series Chuck Loris (for six to 12s), which follows a kid on a journey to find his way home, inspired by classic martial arts films (and Staplehurst’s own karate training)
• Rupert Regis & His Magical Bookshop, a series for five to 11s about a wise old magician who takes kids on magical fairytale adventures 
• Noah & Fred: The Unexpected Adventure, a feature-length buddy movie for eight to 12s about two friends during the holidays 

Staplehurst says he’s currently in talks with creatives and studios about some of these.

Staplehurst first got on Moonbug’s radar after he ran a small crowdfunding campaign for Rupert Regis & His Magical Bookshop in 2023, aimed at raising financing to publish original books and donate them to children’s hospitals. Noah & Fred started as a book he wrote as part of this campaign.

Now he’s been diving into the children’s industry, going to markets like MIP and Annecy, where he was warmly welcomed into the kids sector, he says. “I understand how to brand something and how to create meaningful stories for audiences, and now with the experience I have I want to jump into this personally full time,” he says. “Noodle and Caboodle is a place where these IPs can take life.”