Keith Chapman (born 1959) is a British television writer and producer, best known as the creator of children's television programmes ''

Bob the Builder ''Bob the Builder'' is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment and Hot Animation. The series follows the adventures of Bob, a building contractor, specialising in masonry, along with ...

'' and ''

PAW Patrol ''PAW Patrol'' is a Canadian computer-animated children's television series, children's television series created by Keith Chapman. It is produced by Spin Master, Spin Master Entertainment, with animation provided by Guru Studio. In Canada, the ...

.''

Biography

He worked for

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...

International, designing characters related to the Muppets, before leaving to pursue a career in

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

. While freelancing as an agency art director in the early 1990s, Chapman worked on his own creations, one of them being

, who was created after he spotted a JCB

backhoe loader A backhoe loader, also called a loader backhoe, loader excavator, digger in layman's terms, or colloquially shortened to backhoe within the industry, is a heavy equipment vehicle that consists of a tractor-like unit fitted with a loader-style sh ...

on a work site and thought they could bring it to life with cartoon eyes, which became the character Scoop (then named "Digger"), followed by other machines, and then thought the machines needed a human operator, which led to the creation of Bob, eventually showing it and his other creations to

Peter Orton Peter Charles Orton, CVO (17 June 1943 – 5 December 2007) was a British media entrepreneur and television producer noted for his work in children's television. He, Muppets creator Jim Henson and businesswoman Sophie Turner Laing founded HIT ...

, executive chairman of

HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Soph ...

., and Orton, sensing potential in Bob the Builder, acquired the

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...

and created a television show based on the property. The deal saw Chapman retain a share of the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

and also a contractual clause which sees his name appear on all

merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more i ...

related to the character including an appearance on the blockbuster film

Elf An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...

. Bob the Builder was produced at

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

's HOT Animation Studio, with

Curtis Jobling Curtis Jobling (born 14 February 1972) is a British illustrator, animator and author, born in Blackpool, England but lives in Warrington. He was the original production designer of the stop-motion puppet version of children's TV hit ''Bob the ...

's character and world designs helping propel the character, and the show, onto a global audience. The show became a huge success, generating around £1 billion in international retail sales. Chapman decided to invest his share of the profits in setting up his own television production and rights ownership company,

Chapman Entertainment Chapman Entertainment was a British television production company founded by Keith Chapman and Greg Lynn and based in London, England. History The 2001-2008 Era The company was founded by Greg Lynn in London in 2001, together with Keith Chapman a ...

, stating his belief that "the closer involvement of creative talent can get more out of a property over the longer term". In 2005, Chapman created ''

Fifi and the Flowertots ''Fifi and the Flowertots'' is a British stop-motion children's television series created by Keith Chapman for Five (acquired rights only) and Nick Jr. (under the "Original Series" brand). It aired from 2 May 2005 to 16 July 2010. The series ...

''. In 2007, Chapman produced ''

Roary the Racing Car ''Roary the Racing Car'' (stylised as ''ROARY: The Racing Car'') is a British-stop-motion children's television series created by David Jenkins and produced by Chapman Entertainment and Cosgrove Hall Films. It follows the adventures of Roary ...

''. In 2013, Chapman created

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

's ''

''. In 2020, a new show from Chapman named ''

Mighty Express ''Mighty Express'' is a computer animated children's television series created by the British producer Keith Chapman. The series is produced by Spin Master Entertainment in partnership with Netflix, while the animation is produced by Atomic Cart ...

'' was announced, premiering on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

in September of the same year. In 2022, Chapman partnered with MXT to create an ''

NFT A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...

'' project called Moonie Moo.

Personal life

In 2013, Keith Chapman split from his wife. He is now married to Emily, whom he married in 2019. Keith originates from

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

, though some of his formative years were spent in

Basildon Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

where he went to

Nicholas Comprehensive School The James Hornsby School is a co-educational secondary school located in Laindon, in the Borough of Basildon, Essex, England. It was formed from the merger in 1998 of the Laindon School and Nicholas Comprehensive, and occupies the site of the latt ...

. Keith attended art college in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

. He has 3 sons and a daughter and currently resides in Monaco.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Keith 1959 births Advertising directors British television writers Living people Muppet designers Alumni of Norwich University of the Arts