Creator of Bob the Builder and PAW Patrol, Keith Chapman honoured with special award.
The Licensing Awards reached an emotional conclusion on Tuesday night, when Keith Chapman was presented with the Honorary Achievement award.
The announcement of the winner was met with rapturous applause, with attendees in The Great Room of the Grosvenor House Hotel all rising to their feet as Keith made his way to the stage.
Introducing the award, Jakki Brown, joint md of Max Publishing, which owns and organises The Licensing Awards, said: “Everyone in licensing is always on the lookout for ‘the next big thing’, well tonight we honour someone who knows a great deal about this. But our winner also knows an enormous amount about the little things – what makes children tick, what enthuses them, what makes them feel that a character is their best friend and empowers them to be a better person.
“Tonight we honour someone who selflessly shares this knowledge, ever generous to impart their insights and inspire others, making time for those just starting out on their creative journey.”
Keith commented: “Firstly, I’d like to say thank you to Ian and Jakki and everyone at The Licensing Awards and Rory has been brilliant tonight. Thank you to everyone that I’ve worked with here tonight; it’s been a great ride and I’ve worked with some amazingly talented people.
“Who wouldn’t want to be working in licensing and creating amazing characters? I love what I do and there is loads of stuff coming up and hopefully I will be winning more awards in the future. Thanks to everyone for honouring me.”
Keith began his career in licensing with a role at The Jim Henson Company, but it was sharing one of his own creations – which went on to become Bob the Builder – with a former colleague that was to prove a major building block.
He went on to create Fifi and the Flowertots, while also nurturing and developing a number of ideas from others, including Roary the Racing Car, before blasting back onto TV screens with PAW Patrol.
Want to read more news like this? Simply sign up to our daily digest by clicking here. You can also follow @LicensingSource on Twitter.
