Freelance producer
“I believe story telling through television and online entertainment will continue to play a major role in children’s lives for the foreseeable future, and people who think they can banish it from childhood are simply wrong. I understand their concerns but it’s redundant to argue about whether or not TV is good or bad for children. It’s a fact of their lives, we should instead debate what kind of screen-based media meets the needs of children growing up in the 21st century. Do you want high quality imported media conceived for a mythical mid-Atlantic child, featuring people and places that are remote from their own lives? Or do you want high quality, UK-produced children’s media that is culturally relevant? And if, like us, you want the latter then how do you propose we deliver it?”
Colin Ward has produced BAFTA award-winning programmes for both the BBC and ITV. He started his career with Yorkshire Television working on The Big Bang, Bad Influence, Wilmot, and The Scoop. When the department merged into Granada Kids he was asked to produce Jungle Run, which was nominated for a children’s entertainment BAFTA. He then joined the BBC to produce the first series of Raven and stayed on as Executive Producer on Raven, 50/50 and The Saturday Show, and as Executive Producer for the BBC on Byker Grove. He has won both a children’s factual BAFTA for The Scoop and a children’s entertainment BAFTA for ‘Raven’.
