Billy Barnes is a perfectly normal kid…that is until two aliens erupt into his life through the family toilet. In a time when presales are hard to come by, the far-out premise behind Decode Entertainment’s hybrid live-action/CGI children’s series draws on universal themes and characters, which have already secured The Blobheads extensive distribution deals worldwide, including Nickelodeon International’s largest multi-territory deal to date.

In addition to Nickelodeon, the CBC (English Canada) and Quebec broadcaster VRAK-TV, Blobheads has been picked up by German broadcaster ZDF and France’s Canal J. In its first program presale across multiple territories, Nickelodeon will distribute Blobheads in all its markets but the U.S., including Australia, the U.K., Eastern Europe and Spain.

What makes Blobheads different from other children’s series is also what makes it attractive to international buyers, says Decode partner and series producer John A. Delmage.

‘The show is absolutely unique in terms of the style of production,’ says Delmage. ‘The mix of live action and CGI is probably one of the first of its kind to be seen and pitched in the international market.’

Blobheads is also an attractive buy because it appeals to a wide age-range of children and the series is designed to allow both parents and children to watch the show and enjoy it, he adds.

‘The eight- to 12 year-olds, which this show was initially focused on, always want to see kids older than them because that’s what they strive to emulate,’ says Delmage. ‘But the humor is quite sophisticated, which I think will attract that next demographic.’

On the back of shows like Angela Anaconda and The Zack Files, Decode’s reputation as a supplier of innovative children’s programming was an advantage in the international market. Decode was also able to give potential buyers a taste of what Blobheads would look like using a test episode completed through Toronto’s C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures, which demonstrated how the live-action and CGI components could be integrated.

The test ‘really helped secure the financing,’ says Beth Stevenson, producer and partner at Decode. ‘This is full-on environmental compatibility – these aliens look like they belong in this world. It’s completely surpassed our expectations in terms of what we thought we could achieve in this show.’

Based on a series of books created by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell from Macmillan Children’s Books, the 26-episode, half-hour series ($500,000/ep) is coproduced by U.K.-based Wark Clements. Principal photography and live-action segments are being completed in Toronto and CG work is being done at Absolute Studios in Glasgow, Scotland.

Zerek and Derek are aliens who have been sent to Earth to protect Billy’s baby brother Silas, whom they regard as their ‘Most High Emperor of the Universe.’ The aliens, unseen by Billy’s mother (Shauna MacDonald), father (John Fitzgerald Jay) and friends are featured in more than half the series’ scenes, and in most of those will interact with actor Jonathan Malen, who plays Billy.

‘Jonathan has great comedic instincts, he’s great to work with,’ says executive producer and executive story editor Howard Busgang. ‘Comedy takes timing, he has to act without anyone there and he does it. He’s the lynchpin of the show.’

On Halloween the cast and crew were busy shooting episodes 10 and 11 with director Don McCutcheon. The hybrid family sitcom-style kids’ show has presented unique challenges for the production team headed by Delmage, but on this day one of the biggest issues was keeping cast and crew from laughing out loud when Scab Damage, a rock star played by Lawrence Bayne, is revealed to be a wig-wearing, lip-synching fraud in front of a crowd of Billy’s schoolmates.

Delmage, who has been producing for more than 30 years, says one of the key challenges on Blobheads is making the interaction between live actors and CGI characters as believable as possible and to avoid having the series look cartoonish. ‘The audience has to believe that [the aliens] are actually right here with Jonathan [Malen],’ he says, pointing to a position on-set where Zerek and Derek are meant to be standing in a scene with Billy.

Delmage says the trick to making the hybrid scenes believable is to treat the Blobs like real characters, difficult considering they aren’t actually there. Live actors rehearse with plywood cutouts of the Blobs to establish eye levels and facilitate realistic interaction between live and CGI characters. There is also an off-camera voice actor who reads the aliens’ lines so actors can get the timing right.

Set design is also a key element in adding authenticity to the story. Dalmage says one challenge was developing a color palate that works with the very bold colors typical of CGI, but that still makes the set look like a place people actually live in. All but one of the sets have been constructed as four-wall sets, which Delmage says is difficult for the camera crew, but helps give the series a feeling that the viewer is in the room with the family.

The series is being shot on CGI-compatible 24p HD cameras, and Delmage says Hosek’s task is to bring the textures and depth of 35mm to the digital footage. Two cameras shoot simultaneously to save time and stay on budget.

One of the last TV series to benefit from the U.K.’s sale-and-leaseback program, Blobheads receives funding from the EIP and LFP, the Shaw Children’s Programming Initiative through the Shaw Television Broadcast Fund, the Dr. Geoffrey R. Conway Fund and provincial and federal tax credits.

Delivery is planned for February 2003, with principal photography taking place from Sept. 18 to the end of January at Toronto’s Landsdowne Studios. Two episodes are shot each week and it will take an additional six weeks of CG work per episode to create the aliens.

-www.decode-ent.com