Grom Social Enterprises’ Curiosity Ink Media today announced that Emmy-nominated kids’ TV writer McPaul Smith (The Backyardigans, The New Mickey Mouse Club), has been tapped to develop Curiosity’s new animated preschool series, Baldwin, based on its intellectual property of the same name. The news was shared by Darren Marks, Chairman & CEO of Grom Social Enterprises.
The Baldwin franchise, which invites preschoolers on the adventures of a young switcher train who takes to the rails to reunite with his father, kicks off in earnest beginning October 1 with the publishing debut of Baldwin’s Big Adventure.
McPaul Smith brings a trove of experience in kids’ and preschool entertainment to his new role. He began his writing career on MTV’s game show Remote Control before serving as head writer on the iconic PBS show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? He then wrote for PBS’s Reading Rainbow and Disney Channel’s The New Mickey Mouse Club, prior to joining Nickelodeon, where he held a number of roles, including head writer and lyricist for the animated musical series, The Backyardigans.
As a composer, Smith has written songs for the Disney Channel shows Bear in the Big Blue House and Book of Pooh, and for Sprout House on Universal Kids.
Smith also served as an executive at BBC America, where he led a team of producers, writers and editors in creating the network’s on-air promos, trailers and hosted day-part packaging. More recently, McPaul created live-action games for the syndicated kids’ variety series Wonderama, wrote scripts for the PBS animated series Arthur and Molly of Denali, and was head writer on the Netflix animated show Charlie’s Colorforms City. He has co-created several kids’ podcasts for Pinna and written and produced songs for the new preschool video series, Hippo Park.
“McPaul Smith is representative of the high-caliber talent that Grom and Curiosity are recruiting to bring our original IP to life,” said Marks. “His incredible biography in both kids and preschool entertainment will certainly be put to great use, as we introduce Baldwin to the programming marketplace and help underscore the premium quality of our programming. On behalf of all of us at Grom and Curiosity, we welcome him with open arms!”
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