“Big City Greens” Creators Enter Overall Deal With Disney Branded TV
[via press release]
CHRIS HOUGHTON AND SHANE HOUGHTON, CREATORS AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS OF DISNEY CHANNEL’S ‘BIG CITY GREENS,’ ENTER INTO OVERALL WITH DISNEY BRANDED TELEVISION
Chris Houghton and Shane Houghton, creators and executive producers of Disney Channel’s “Big City Greens,” have struck a wide-ranging deal with Disney Branded Television, it was announced today by Ayo Davis, president, Disney Branded Television, during the 2024 Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena, California. Under this multiyear producing deal, the Houghtons will produce animated projects with Disney Television Animation studio while also providing opportunities to develop live-action projects within Disney Branded Television across linear and streaming platforms. Additionally, the deal includes development opportunities for adult animation projects with 20th Television Animation.
Under the Houghtons’ direction, “Big City Greens,” which debuted in June 2018, has been making kids laugh for four seasons and nearly 100 episodes. It was the No. 2 most-watched kids animated series of 2023, with more than 2 billion hours watched across linear and streaming since it debuted in 2018.* The series follows the offbeat adventures of 10-year-old Cricket Green (voiced by Chris Houghton), a mischievous and optimistic country boy who moved to the big city with his wildly out-of-place family. The show is heavily influenced by the brothers’ childhood growing up in St. Johns, Michigan, a small rural town north of Lansing, also known as the mint capital of the world. Many of the characters are inspired by real-life family members and childhood townsfolk.
The “Big City Greens” franchise will soon expand with a movie, set to premiere this summer. The series content also extends into many of Disney Branded Television’s hit animated short-form series, including “How NOT to Draw,” “Chibi Tiny Tales” and “Broken Karaoke.” Additionally, “Big City Greens” recently collaborated with ESPN for the “NHL Big City Greens Classic” — a live, animated NHL game telecast, powered by volumetric and motion capture technologies — which is returning for a second iteration this year.
The Houghtons are also well-known for creating, writing and illustrating the “Reed Gunther” comic book series about a bear-riding cowboy, which was published by Image Comics. Upon making their foray into television, Chris worked as a storyboard artist for Disney’s “Gravity Falls” and “Wander Over Yonder,” and Shane was an editor for the reality series “Tattoo School.” The brothers also collaborated on “Harvey Beaks,” with Chris serving as a storyboard director and Shane as a staff writer.
Chris and Shane Houghton are repped by Julie Kane-Ritsch at The Gotham Group and Matt Saver of the Law Offices of Matt Saver.