Manchester’s Three Arrows Media has hired Simon Partington as its new head of animation to lead the development of new animated and live-action content.

Partington joins the prodco after a 16-year stint as head of animation at VFX and post-production house Flix Facilities, also based in Manchester. In this role, he developed the character Baby Bear for Three Arrows’ The Baby Club. The 40 x 15-minute live-action series is aimed at parents of preschoolers and aims to teach them about a variety of educational activities they can do with their kids.

Since launching in 2015, Three Arrows has established its position in the UK industry with 2D-animated CBeebies show Treasure Champs (30 x 15 minutes) and live-action comedy Andy and the Band (15 x 15 minutes) for CBBC. Now Partington is charged with building the studio’s international presence and getting its catalogue onto more screens around the world. He will also produce and advise on new mixed-media, live-action and animated projects, with an eye to global broadcast deals.

The UK’s Wonderborn Studio acquired Three Arrows in 2020 in order to get into the kids and family market. At the time, Wonderborn CEO Toby Hughes announced plans to expand Three Arrows and create more IPs and content.