Husband & Wife team create a new children's book
Written by Bernard Sparkes   
January 12, 2007
Husband & Wife team create a new children's book, based on stories written and told to their fourteen children, two of them Autistic:

NORTHERN IRELAND, 1/12/07 (PRBUZZ.COM) based Bernard Sparkes and his wife Patricia have created a new children’s animation which has already proved such a hit that celebrities have got in on the action!

Shelltown is the production of many stories written by Patricia for her 14 children when they were growing up. Proving to be such a success with her own children, who’s imagination made them dream of seeing the characters on television, gave Bernard the idea of making that dream a reality.

“My wife’s been writing stories for years but this is the first one we’ve looked at taking commercially,” said Bernard. “The kids eyes lit up as soon as they heard it, and of course me being in the marketing mode that I am decided to take it forward and go with it. We’ve been working on the animation, which is based on the story of the Meggabike, since 1999 but the problem is raising the finance to put the project together, it’s huge, absolutely huge!”

The amount of money needed to get the project off the ground may be huge but that’s nothing compared to the expected success of Shelltown. The response so far has been phenomenal that Ronan Keating has become a shareholder in the company and is lending his voice to the lead character and the theme tune.

“It’s fantastic to have Ronan on board,” added Bernard, “being a father himself he saw the appeal to children and instantly loved it. Along with Ronan we have Kerry Katona, Johnny Vegas, Ken Branagh and Julian Fellows, who people may know from Monarch of the Glen, lending their voices to characters.

“To give you an example of how Shelltown has had children engrossed, I was on a plane back from London to Belfast and a seven year old boy was sat in front of me rather bored. I asked his father if it would be all right that he watch the four-minute pilot DVD we’d put together, and the little lad was still watching it over and over 45 minutes later when we arrived in Belfast!

“The story of the Meggabike is based around the good eggs and the bad eggs. You’ve got Splat, Cracker and Exactly, and the bad eggs Rotten Ron, Stinker and Eddie. There’s also PC Boiler, your friendly local policeman who’s tough on crime.”

With the creative characters and well-known personalities, Shelltown is well on it’s way to becoming a regular feature on our television screens, although one thing still remains, the financial backing.

“We’ve had letters of interest from RTE, UTV, ABC Australia and Channel 13 in New York, but for us to produce 26 ten minute episodes for TV we need in the region of £2,500,000,” said Bernard. “We’re also looking into putting it straight to DVD but again the costs could reach up to £500,000. As a small company just starting out we don’t have that kind of money, which is why we’re appealing to local and international businesses or anyone that can help get it off the ground. Be part of the growing town of Shelltown and something that’s made locally.”

Even though money is the main concern, it’s not stopping Bernard and Patricia donating part of their profits to charity. “2.5% of the recommended retail price on all our merchandise sold will be donated to the National Autistic Society, this is something very close to our hearts as we have two children that are autistic. We also have pin badges of PC Boiler that are being sold via our website for £2, 50p of which will be donated to UK COPS (Care of Police Survivors), to help families who’ve lost a loved one killed in the line of duty,” added Bernard.

“The demand for the t-shirts, mugs, pin badges and all the merchandise has been huge and we’re glad to be able to give something back. We have published a book based on the story of the Meggabike and have just had a dance track produced on CD, featuring Splat and Cracker – it’s fantastic!”

With fans from across the world leaving messages of support on the website and demanding the new theme tune to be played on radio stations globally, it’s not long before Shelltown becomes the word on every kids lips.

To view a preview of Shelltown please click on an image below, or visit the web site



For further information please contact This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Bernard Sparkes
Shelltown Productions Ltd
PO Box 21
Ballymoney
BT53 8TJ
Northern Ireland
UK T: +44 (0)871 0971077
US T: +1 (516) 8745209
F: +44 (0)870 762 7731
I.M: shelltown_productions
E: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
W: www.shelltown.co.uk
About the Press Release
Husband & Wife team create a new children's book, based on stories written and told to their fourteen children, two of them Autistic:


 
< Prev   Next >