Introducing The Ideas Fund!

Today we officially announce the launch of The Ideas Fund, an internal initiative designed to offer a fast-track experimental development process and put creator-driven content directly into the hands of audiences.

This initiative aims to be an alternative method to the traditional industry model. The Ideas Fund opens the floor to its entire studio, with multiple calls a year for experimental content across different genres, formats, and demographics. Winning pitches receive a fast-track 4-to-6-week sprint funded by the studio to create a nugget of their idea, be it a webtoon, an animated short, or a game.

We will launch these projects online, working alongside Blue Zoo Digital's expertise to analyse audience appetite, favouring genuine engagement over surface-level view counts. Crucially, the initiative ensures that we are not driven by data, only influenced by it, meaning the creators always remain in control of their vision.

If an idea resonates, we fund further work to scale the project with the digital creator. To further empower talent, Blue Zoo co-owns the IP with the creator, ensuring that if a project hits the jackpot, the creator fully shares in the IP’s long-term success.

The Ideas Fund has already proven to be a hub of innovation, yielding multiple projects that showcase the sheer breadth of Blue Zoo’s internal talent, including:

  • ‘Found in Wonderland’ (Out Now): A captivating romantasy webtoon created by Blue Zoo designer Katie Gascoyne, available to read now.
  • ‘The Great Goblin Detectives’ (Coming Soon): An upcoming webtoon written by Charlie P. Higson, following Holmes and Watson if they were goblins.
  • ‘Band Against Robots’ (Releases Friday 24th July 2026): An animated music video about a girl band who moonlight as robot-fighters, created by Blue Zoo animator Matt Clarke, will be available to watch on the studio's dedicated YouTube channel, Disco Chicken.

BandAgainstRobots still 2

Band Against Robots by Matt Clarke

The launch comes at a time of extreme polarisation in the media landscape, where massive, multi-million-pound TV IPs sit on one end, and bite-sized digital content sits on the other. This initiative is here to bridge that divide experimentally.

"For 26 years, Blue Zoo has thrived because we keep questioning how we work. In a fast-moving industry, complacency is where companies go to die," says Tom Box, co-founder of Blue Zoo.

"If you've been in the industry a while, you know the big IP model inside out. You develop an idea for a year or two, raise funds for another two years, and spend 18 months making it. Because that financial risk is so massive, executives naturally want to hedge their bets. While this model has worked well for us in the past, it's getting harder to sustain with fewer commissioning opportunities out there."

The Ideas Fund acts as a parallel engine running right alongside Blue Zoo's traditional production slate, offering a low-risk, high-reward ecosystem where bold ideas can fail fast or scale rapidly.

"This is creator-led, not committee-led. Crucially, it's agile enough that it's not a major concern if a concept doesn't quite hit the spot. Ultimately, it's a playground for the bold ideas of tomorrow, and exactly the kind of creative environment we want to offer the talent joining our studio."

Follow Disco Chicken on YouTube and keep an eye on Blue Zoo’s social media platforms for upcoming projects from The Ideas Fund.

Disco Chicken YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Disco-Chicken