This story has been amended, please see final paragraph.
The disability charity Scope is in talks with two major entertainment companies to develop and distribute a television show based on its Mindful Monsters subscription boxes.
Scope launched Mindful Monsters in June 2017 as a way to provide regular unrestricted income by offering a monthly box of family activities to help introduce children to mindfulness, featuring four colourful monster characters: Thinky, Sparky, Giggles and Snug.
The scheme, which also includes a version designed for use in schools, has so far brought in about £1m in income for Scope, and the charity has started negotiations for licencing and royalties for the characters.
It has already secured a publishing deal with the educational publishing company Scholastic, with books due to hit the shelves next February.
And Scope is working to secure a deal with an entertainment giant to distribute a series of digital animations based on the characters, the first step towards developing a television series.
The charity is in talks with another large media company to produce the films.
If the films generate sufficient interest, they will be turned into a full television series.
The charity is working with producers who have previously worked on The New Teletubbies, and The Floogals to develop the idea.
Tracy Griffin, executive director of marketing, fundraising and communications at Scope, told Third Sector the charity was also exploring the possibility of merchandise, such as plush toys, based on the books and TV series.
She said there was currently no financial value attached to the deal, but the charity would receive royalties from the licencing deal if the television series went ahead.
But she added that the real value to the charity would be to enhance brand awareness, increase the number of subscribers and lower the cost of acquisition for the Mindful Monsters subscription boxes.
“It’s really exciting that we’ve created something with so much scope to flex and develop into something that can be used in so many different ways,” Griffin said.
“Many of the schools are using it to talk about mindfulness and empathy around race and disability, it’s supporting children with their mental health and then it’s offering a fun toy through the vibrancy of the monsters. It’s great to see the ecosystem around this beginning to flourish.”
She said her ambition for the project was for it “to become the next Teletubbies”.
An earlier version of this story named one of the entertainment companies involved and suggested a deal had been fully secured, as a result of Third Sector’s discussions with Scope. This reference has now been removed after concerns were raised about commercial sensitivities.