Studio 100

Studio 100 is a Flemish company that produces popular children's television series and owns three amusement parks and four musical ensembles.

History

Studio 100 was founded in 1996 by Gert Verhulst, Danny Verbiest, and Hans Bourlon. They first came together in 1989, when the programme "Samson" was first produced.

When Studio 100 started in 1996, they only had one programme, Samson en Gert. They immediately decided to create a new programme to be able to advertise themselves more. They chose for Kabouter Plop, broadcasted on VTM since 1997.

In 1999, Studio 100 expanded significantly. Four new projects were launched in Flanders: a musical, a film, and two new television programmes. For both the musical and the film, VTM was asked to provide financial support. In October that year, Studio 100 and the VMMa (Vlaamse Media Maatschappij) announced that they would incorporate Meli-Park.

In 2000, Studio 100 took over the popular girl group K3 from Niels William. Prior to that, they were already cooperating for merchandising sales.

Danny Verbiest announced in 2005 that he would no longer play the role of Samson in Samson en Gert, and shortly after, the announced his departure from Studio 100. In the subsequent years, many new programmes were created, such as Piet Piraat, Mega Mindy, Spring, Het Huis Anubis, and several others.

In 2007, Studio 100 started exporting some of its productions to other countries. Wir 3 (a carbon copy version of K3) was introduced in Germany and they charted there, although they yet have to achieve the same level of success as the originals. Fred & Samson, the French-language equivalent to Samson en Gert, was introduced in Wallonia. Bumba, a programme about a clown intended for very young children, was sold to several other countries, including Canada and Israel.

In 2008, Studio 100 bough the rights of foreign 1970s TV-hits such as Germany's Die Biene Maja and Sweden's Pippi Longstocking (still shown in the Netherlands). The next project is a digital radio-station devoted to its own acts. As quoted "Dutch-language children's songs only get so much airplay on regular stations".

Headquarters

The headquarters of Studio 100 are located in Schelle and Londerzeel. Studio 100 has access to the largest recording studios in all of Belgium. Frequently, big events are hosted there, such as the preselections for the Eurovision Song Contest.

The Dutch department of Studio 100 resides in the Mediapark in Hilversum.

List of Studio 100 productions

TV programmes

Musicals

Musical ensembles

* K3
* Spring (to be discontinued from August 2008 onwards)
* Topstars
* Bo en Monica
* The 6-teens (discontinued)
* Samson en Gert
* Kabouter Plop
* Wir 3 (Germany)
* Nienke (from "Het Huis Anubis")
* Pim Symoens