Manchester digital content hub The Sharp Project has been chosen as the production base for a new BBC children’s series being made by Shine TV.

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Filming for the show, My Genius Idea, has already started and 9x30-min programmes will be made for broadcast on CBBC later this year.

The producers have built a large scale set in one of the Project’s sound stages, designed by Barcode Media’s Stephen Graham who is based in the former Sharp electronics warehouse.

Series producer Moray London said: “I was really impressed at the spaces the Sharp Project could offer our production. In the end we opted for one of the huge ground floor spaces which gave us the industrial look we were after.”

Sue Woodward, the director for the Sharp Project, said that Shine is just one of a number of TV producers that are interested in the Sharp Project.

“We now have a host of companies located here that can support production companies by offering services such as kit hire, post-production, editing facilities and set design,” she said. “One of our tenants, Barcode Media, designed this particular set. We really are creating our very own eco-system where both small and large businesses can feed off each other and thrive.”

  • The Sharp Project is being led by New East Manchester Ltd.
  • The site is currently undergoing a £16.5 million refurbishment funded by Manchester City Council, the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and the European Regional Development Fund.
  • Phase 1 was completed in April 2010.
  • Phase 2 is open to tenants and a further two phases will be completed by the end of the year in time for the opening of the new Central Park Metrolink station, due to open next Spring.  
  • The Sharp Project is currently home to 25 companies specialising in digital content production, digital media and production for TV and film.
  • The BBC1 Victorian hospital drama Casualty 1909 was shot at The Sharp Project last year.

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