Animating for mixed media in The Brilliant World of Tom Gates

The Brilliant World of Tom Gates follows a young boy named Tom as he embarks of humorous adventures at home and school with his friends and family. The show's creators include author Liz Pichon, produced with the teams at Wild Child Animation, Black Camel, Sky Kids and TG Entertainment, and animated by Wild Child Animation Studios in Scotland. Recently, the series won a BAFTA Scotland award as well as the Children’s Choice Award at the British Animation Awards.

The show is based on the award-winning, multi-million-copy-bestselling Tom Gates books, written and illustrated by Liz Pichon and published by Scholastic. The show uses a combination of 2D and stop-motion animation with live action; every episode blends Tom’s humour and school life with crafting ideas that kids can recreate, along with interactive games and catchy songs. 

We caught up with George Sawyer, series director, and producer Sueann Rochester to learn about the development behind the series, challenges faced during production, and the show's mixed-media style. 

How would you describe The Brilliant World of Tom Gates to someone who has never seen the show before?

George: The Brilliant World of Tom Gates is a children’s animation show, but it’s done in a bit of a sitcom style. The show blends storytelling, animation, crafting, and music in a way that authentically reflects the vibe of the Tom Gates books. Although the show is made for kids, we find that adults also react to it because it’s just so relatable. The show reminds adult viewers about moments and feelings from their own childhoods.

The Brilliant World of Tom Gates started out as a book series. How did you, and Wild Child, join development on the television series?

George: Arabella Page Croft went to an event where Liz Pichon, author of the book series, was presenting The Brilliant World of Tom Gates. Arabella was enamoured and impressed by how Liz captured the attention of the kids. It was clear that the children found the presentation relatable and engaging. This sparked their interest in developing Tom Gates into an animated series. 

So, Arabella approached Ken Anderson to team up together to make the show. They started the long process of developing the series as executive producers with Ken’s animation team at Wild Child. Over time more and more people joined the project to help with developing the pitch deck and test footage. The development phases lasted a long time because we worked closely with Liz to make sure the project was authentic to her vision. 

Production on The Brilliant World of Tom Gates started during the pandemic. Can you talk a bit about that experience?

Sueann: Making the show has been a unique process because we started production on season one during the first lockdowns. Since everything had to be done remotely, we had to be super creative with how we went about shooting and animating the show. 

For example, our assistant director Jen Mackie ended up shooting all the stop motion in her loft with the help of her husband. And for the live action segments where Liz does the drawing instructions, we set up a studio in her back garden while George directed via video call. Our head of production, Anthony Eliot-Finch, was the linchpin that held it all together. 

George: Many of our team for the first season were brought in by Wild Child. In total, we were about 30 people, and we were all basically working remotely. I don’t think we even met each other in person for at least one year. 

The TV series blends a combination of 2D, stop-motion animation, and live action. What prompted your team to use mixed media in the series? 

George: Using mixed media was definitely inspired by the format of the Tom Gates books. Within every book there are so many elements. There’s a story, as well as illustrations, games, crafts, and more. Taking a mixed media approach felt like a good way to do the books justice. And blend in Liz’s personality as well. 

How did your team approach production, and did this mixed media style impact how you ran your pipeline?

Sueann: A mixed media show is a lot of work compared to one format; it’s like running lots of mini productions at the same time. For season one, we were truly flying by the seat of our pants. Especially since we were navigating the production remotely. The different mixed media segments and elements came together as we went along. While we roughly knew what order things would go in, we moved segments around. For season two, we shifted to having a dedicated team for each segment or section of every episode.

George: What helped is that we had a very cohesive theme for each episode. For example, one episode’s theme was a summer barbecue. Since that theme informed every part of the episode, from the animation to the live action, we were able to work on all the segments at the same time. We had a running order planned, and scripts, but things definitely shifted as we went. It wasn’t a strict plan. 

What was one of the biggest challenges that your team faced during production on The Brilliant World of Tom Gates?

Sueann: Most of the challenges for season one were pandemic-related. The main one being that we had a technical challenge around how to shoot remotely. But in a way, this challenge was liberating because it encouraged us to think outside of the box. As a result, the series didn’t end up overly scripted.

George: We learned that as a team, we can tackle just about anything. No matter what unexpected situation or problem we faced, there was always a workaround. We just had to get creative sometimes. Working with Sky on the production was really great because they were so supportive of us improvising and exploring creative ideas. Now, we know really well how to do production remotely, so it feels like anything is possible! All that said, it did help in season two to be able to work together in person more, bouncing ideas around in a room. 

How involved in production was Liz Pichon, and what was it like to collaborate with her?

Sueann: Working closely with Liz has been the best experience. She was very involved across the whole production. To be honest, I don’t think we’d have survived without her. She was absolutely part of the team, not a consulting creative, which is actually pretty rare.

George: Everything was run by Liz, from every big decision to the visual design. She inspired the whole production of course, which was especially valuable on a new series. She gave the team extra inspiration as well as guidance. For example, Liz provided us visual inspiration through her own drawings. 

What do you think it is that the kids and potential adult viewers connect with when they watch The Brilliant World of Tom Gates?

George: I think it’s the relatability of the show. Every time I pick out Tom Gates' book to read with my own kids, I have a moment of thinking: "aw, I remember when that happened to me as a kid." I can also see in my own children how they relate to the stories they see in the show, like forgetting your clothes for gym class. Although the aim for the TV series was to keep it entertaining for the kids, we did try to mix in fun little bits that adults might notice.

Sueann: The series just has so much heart. It’s funny, but also educational. And the feedback we’ve been given is that even kids who aren’t particularly artsy are still into the show because it mixes a story in with the arts and crafts element. This makes the arts a bit more accessible to kids who might otherwise not engage with them. And of course, the music videos are always a winner! 

The Brilliant World of Tom Gates recently won a BAFTA Scotland award as well as the Children’s Choice Award at the British Animation Awards. How does that recognition feel?  

Sueann: We’re delighted to have won both awards. The Children’s Choice Award in particular felt like a special accolade, because it’s been awarded to us by kids themselves. It’s super validating to know our viewers liked it so much!

What’s next for the series?

Sueann: We actually just started production on a 22-minute Halloween special. After that, who knows! 

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