Tiger Aspect Productions (part of the Endemol Shine group) has announced that Tim Searle has been appointed as creative director of animation and children’s for the studio. Tim has been with Tiger Aspect since 2013 as series director of the new Mr Bean: The Animated Series that will be premiering this year.
Prior to this, he was head of animation at Baby Cow Animation which he had established in 2001 with Steve Coogan and Henry Normal. At Baby Cow he created I Am Not An Animal for BBC2, Horrible Histories, Alan Partridge, Dara O’Briain’s School of Hard Sums and Man Down with Greg Davies. As producer and director, his recent work includes The Cow that Almost Missed Christmas (CBeebies) and Uncle Wormsley’s Christmas (Sky Arts) and Warren United (ITV).
In his new role, Tim will continue to direct Mr Bean till autumn 2015 and also work for other projects alongside head of animation and children’s Tom Beattie. He will be responsible for creating and looking for projects across disciplines.
Tim is also a board member of Animation UK, the group that lobbied government for the UK tax break and a member of the Skillset Animation Group.
Speaking on his appointment, Tom Beattie said, “It has been a pleasure working with Tim on Mr Bean and I know that we can continue that relationship on future projects. Tim has such a wealth of knowledge and excellent programming behind him and it’s going to be fun continuing on. He fits perfectly into the Tiger Team.”
“While I’ll miss my good friends at Baby Cow, I’m delighted to be joining Tiger Aspect, a company I’ve admired for many years. Directing Mr Bean has been an enjoyable challenge and I look forward to continue working with this excellent team.”
Tiger Aspect managing director Sophie Clarke-Jervoise said, “Tim has an enviable track record, spanning a wide range of programming and we’re very much looking forward to welcoming him into the Tiger Aspect fold.”
Tim has been in the animation industry since 25 years. He set up Triffic Films which produced Absolutely, Father Ted, Harry Enfield’s Television Programme, Paramount City, Murder Most Horrid and Have I Got News For You. It also produced five series of 2DTV for ITV.