Shabnam Rezaei

Shabnam Rezaei
NationalityIranian-American
Occupation(s)Children's television screen writer and producer
Notable work16 Hudson
The Bravest Knight
1001 Nights

Shabnam Rezaei is a children's television creator, director, producer and co-founder of Big Bad Boo Studios and VOD service Oznoz.[1] She created the TVOKids Original series Galapagos X, starring Odd Squad actress Millie Davis as Orchid, Gavin MacIver-Wright as Quinn Croc, Battlestar Galactica star Alessandro Juliani and Riverdale star Nathalie Boltt as the power-hungry mogul Doc Croc.[2] Shabnam is the director and producer of Hulu Original series The Bravest Knight, the first children's series with an LGBT protagonist.[3] The all-star cast includes T. R. Knight, Bobby Moynihan, Storm Reid, RuPaul, Wanda Sykes, Wilson Cruz, and Christine Baranski. The Bravest Knight won the 2020 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming.[4]

In 2019, Rezaei directed the short film Balloon Girl, which was a finalist in the PBS Online Film Fest. Set in Stadtpark, Vienna, the short film was part of the worldwide, London-based Hope Works Project, a series of short films to inspire kindness, understanding and hope in children around the world.[5][6]

Rezaei is the creator of the animated preschool series 16 Hudson,[7] which features a family with two dads, and families from various backgrounds such as Ireland, India, China and Iran. The series is based on Lili & Lola a mini-series created by Rezaei in 2015.[8] 16 Hudson currently airs on TVOKids, Ici Radio-Canada Télé, Knowledge Network, Amazon Prime Video, Discovery Kids, TFO, Oznoz, Vme Kids, and Rádio e Televisão de Portugal with Season 2 introducing a refugee family.[9]

16 Hudson won the Mipcom Diversify TV Award in 2021 in Cannes, France, beating out Disney Junior's Mira, Royal Detective and the CBeebies' JoJo & Gran Gran in Preschool category.[10] In 2022, Lili & Lola was nominated for the Mipcom Diversify TV Award in the Preschool category.[11]

In 2022, Rezaei greenlit her climate change series Galapagos X with public broadcasters TVOKids and Mediacorp Singapore among other commissioning partners.[12]

  1. ^ "Empathy Through Storytelling with Shabnam Rezaei, Big Bad Boo". BC Creates Magazine. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  2. ^ "Mediacorp Goes Green with Big Bad Boo's 'Galapagos X'". Animation Magazine. 18 December 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Hulu Orders Big Bad Boo Toon with LGBTQ Lead". Playback Online. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  4. ^ ""The Bravest Knight," "Star Wars: Doctor Aphra" win 2020 GLAAD Media Awards". Playback Online. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  5. ^ "Big Bad Boo's 'Balloon Girl' One of 25 PBS Online Film Fest Finalists". Animation Magazine. 11 July 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  6. ^ Hope Works Website
  7. ^ "TVO greenlights 16 Hudson". Playback Online. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  8. ^ "Big Bad Boo gets TVO deal for new preschool series". Kidscreen Magazine. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Drawing on the Immigrant Experience: Big Bad Boo's '16 Hudson' Introduces a Refugee Family". Animation Magazine. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  10. ^ "'It's A Sin', 'Dreaming Whilst Black' Among Winners at MIPCOM Diversify TV Excellence Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. 13 October 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  11. ^ "MIPCOM: 2022 Diversify TV Award Winners Revealed". The Hollywood Reporter. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  12. ^ "Mediacorp Goes Green with Big Bad Boo's 'Galapagos X'". Animation Magazine. 18 December 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2023.