Manchester Animation Festival

Karaoke Club

In a world where singing is magic, karaoke is more than just a hobby. Based on Maria’s Filipino culture where karaoke is a key part of the community, Karaoke Club is a joyous family feature, following a starry-eyed teen called Aria on her journey to becoming an Idol! As she discovers the true power of her voice, she will empower the audience to not only sing but express their true selves too!

Producer  – Jamie Badminton

Jamie Badminton is a BAFTA and EMMY winning television producer. He co-founded Karrot and has been its Senior Creative Producer for 18 years, producing Karrot’s original TV series like Sarah & Duck and MaeBee (launching this autumn on CBeebies). Jamie also co-directed and produced The Snowy Day for Amazon Prime, nominated for outstanding direction at the Daytime Emmys and winning for producing. He was Series Creative Producer on the latest series of Peppa Pig, Love Monster and My Friend Maisy. Jamie is an LGBTQ+ producer, and this would be his first feature project. www.wearekarrot.com

Creator and Co-Developer  – Maria Pal Pullen

Maria Pal Pullen is half British and half Filipino, which is core to the culture of the Karaoke Club project. Maria joined Karrot as an Edit Assistant back in 2019 then became part of Karrot’s Production team and occasional voice actor for roles in shows such as Peppa Pig, Ten Little…Who? and more recently lending her singing vocals to the lead roles of the Tish Tash Sing-Along! During lockdown, she showed her passion for idea creation when she participated in Karrot’s internal development programme ‘Karrot Seeds’ from which Karaoke Club sprouted from. She is now a Senior Production Coordinator on MaeBee whilst developing Karaoke Club with the support of Karrot.

Co-Developer and Designer  – James Harvey

James Harvey has been a storyboard artist with Karrot for 6 years, working on TV Series such as Tish Tash, Ten Little Who?, and MaeBee. Joining Karaoke Club in his first leading character design role, his contribution has since evolved to co-developing the project with Maria, including story writing, character exploration, and finishing a first draft of the film’s beat sheet which he is working closely with Maria to finalise. He is an LGBTQ+ creator with experience in design and animation, and is keen to be a director, a journey that Karrot are nurturing and supporting.