Chris Houghton and Shane Houghton, the creators and executive producers of the Disney Channel animated series “Big City Greens,” have signed an overall deal with Disney Branded Television.
The announcement was made at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. Under the multi-year deal, the Houghtons will produce animated projects with Disney Television Animation studio while also developing live-action projects with Disney Branded Television across all platforms. The deal also includes the chance to develop adult animated projects with 20th Television Animation.
“Big City Greens” originally debuted in June 2018 and has aired nearly 100 episodes to date. The official description of the series states that it “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 Houghtons’ childhood in St. Johns, Michigan.
A “Big City Greens” movie is set to premiere this summer. The show also recently collaborated with ESPN for the “NHL Big City Greens Classic” — a live, animated NHL game telecast, powered by volumetric and motion capture technologies. It will return for a second iteration this year.
In addition to their work on “Big City Greens,” the Houghtons are known for writing and illustrating the “Reed Gunter” comic book series, published by Image Comics. Chris previously worked as a storyboard artist on Disney’s “Gravity Falls” and “Wander Over Yonder,” while Shane was an editor for “Tattoo School.” They both also worked on the series “Harvey Breaks,” with Chris as storyboard director and Shane as a staff writer.
The Houghtons are repped by Gothm Group and the Law Offices of Matt Saver.
