Charlie Aspinwall

In 2013 Aspinwall was one of the producers of Ludo’s multiplatform series #7DaysLater.⁠[1]

Aspinwall and his Ludo partner Daley Pearson were developing the 2D animated series The Strange Chores for ABC3 and wrote a bible for the show; as neither had experience in animation, they brought in Media World’s Colin South. Screen Queensland and Screen Australia supported them to pitch at the Asian Animation Summit, and Aspinwall said international broadcasters, particularly from Korea and Malaysia, responded well.⁠[2]

Aspinwall and Pearson pitched The Strange Chores, a 52-episode animated tween comedy, at the Asian Animation Summit in Thailand and at Kidscreen in New York, drawing strong responses from broadcasters in Asia and Europe.⁠[3]

In 2015 Aspinwall and Pearson created The Sketchy Show, in which real sketches come to life in the real world, with Joe BrummJoe BrummJoe Brumm is an Australian animator, writer and director, the creator and writer of the preschool animated series Bluey; he worked in children’s animation in London for about ten years, co-founded Studio Joho in Brisbane in 2011, and is writing and directing the Bluey film scheduled for 2027.Open the full entry as animation director.⁠[4]

He was also among the producers and writers of the interactive animated comedy Doodles (2015–2017).⁠[5]

German broadcaster ZDF optioned the rights to the #7DaysLater format created by Pearson, Nick Boshier and Aspinwall; the deal was negotiated by global sales agent All3Media International.⁠[6]

Ludo and Media World Pictures teamed up on The Strange Chores, a 26 x 11-minute animated comedy for ABCABCABC (American Broadcasting Company) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It grew out of NBC’s Blue radio network, took its name after becoming independent in 1943, developed into a national television network after merging with United Paramount Theatres in 1953, was acquired by Capital Cities in 1985, and has been owned by The Walt Disney Company since 1996. With CBS and NBC it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks, and it is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry ME; Aspinwall and Media World’s Colin South were co-producers, and Pearson wrote the script.⁠[7]

The ABC and BBCBBCThe BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is the United Kingdom’s public broadcaster. Its predecessor was the British Broadcasting Company, formed in 1922, and since 1927 it has been established under a Royal Charter. It provides television, radio, and online services in the UK, is funded mainly by the television licence fee, and broadcasts worldwide in multiple languages through BBC World Service.Open the full entry Studios co-commissioned a second season of Bluey, 52 seven-minute episodes; Aspinwall and Pearson were executive producers working with creator and showrunner Joe Brumm. Aspinwall said, “We’ve all been amazed and overwhelmed by how Australians have taken BlueyBlueyBluey is an Australian preschool animated series created by Joe Brumm and produced by Brisbane’s Ludo Studio, which premiered on ABC Kids in 2018 and follows a Blue Heeler puppy and her family through everyday play; with BBC Studios handling international distribution and licensing and Disney holding overseas broadcast rights, it has grown into a franchise spanning books, toys, a stage show, an attraction and a film.Open the full entry into their hearts.”⁠[8]

Ludo partnered with 1788 Productions on Dylan River’s series Robbie Hood, with Aspinwall and Pearson as executive producers.⁠[9]

The series won the 2019 AACTA Award for Best Online Comedy or Drama and a Screen Producers Australia Award and was an official selection at Canneseries.⁠[10]

The Strange Chores premiered on ABC ME for Halloween on October 31, 2019, presented by Screen Australia and the ABC in association with Film Victoria and Screen Queensland.⁠[11]

Aspinwall and Pearson created the series, and Aspinwall was also one of its producers; it was nominated at the Kidscreen Awards, the Screen Producers Australia Awards and the 25th Asian Television Awards.⁠[12]

Aspinwall and Pearson gave an interview on how they met and how their working relationship developed; Aspinwall began, “I’d recently moved to Brisbane from the UK.”⁠[13]

Ludo’s vertical comedy Content was nominated for the International Emmy for Short-Form Series; the idea of a comedy shot on mobile phones arose in a pitch meeting that Pearson and Aspinwall had with Que Minh Luu.⁠[14]

Production of a third season of Bluey was announced to begin in Brisbane later that year, with major production investment from BBC Studios. Aspinwall said, “We’re so happy to be given this opportunity to make a third series of Bluey.”⁠[15]

Aspinwall and Pearson, as members of the Bluey team, took part in an AACTA Screenfest 2020 panel on creating screen content for children.⁠[16]

Aspinwall and Ludo’s Sam Moor were among the first speakers announced for Screenworks’ hybrid conference.⁠[17]

Screen Australia announced A$975,000 in story development funding for 28 projects, including Ludo’s family comedy feature Staycation, directed by Pearson, written by Kim Huffman Cary, Donick Cary and Pearson, and produced by Aspinwall.⁠[18]

Screen Australia and Australians in Film named Aspinwall and Pearson, representing Ludo Studio, among the participants in the Global Producers Exchange.⁠[19]

Bluey received a Peabody Award for 2023; the credits list Aspinwall, Libbie Doherty, Henrietta Hurford-Jones and Pearson as executive producers.⁠[20]

Stan commissioned Ludo’s eight-episode road series Thou Shalt Not Steal, set in Central and South Australia in the 1980s, directed by Dylan River and co-created with Tanith Glynn-Maloney; Aspinwall and Pearson were executive producers.⁠[21]

The series won Best TV Drama at the 2024 Screen Producers Australia Awards and received 11 nominations at the 2025 AACTA Awards.⁠[22]

The 28-minute Bluey special The Sign was set to air on the ABC on April 14, with Aspinwall and Pearson as executive producers.⁠[23]

Screen Australia backed Willy, a 10 x 24-minute coming-of-age animated series from Ludo Studio, Mad Ones and Sad Man Studio created by Samuel Leighton-Dore and his husband Bradley Tennant, with Pearson and Aspinwall as executive producers.⁠[24]

The third season of The Strange Chores premiered on ABC Family; Pearson and Aspinwall were its creators and executive producers alongside Colin South.⁠[25]

BBC Studios and Disney announced a Bluey feature film for release in 2027, executive produced by Joe Brumm with BBC Studios’ Justine Flynn and Ludo’s Aspinwall and Pearson.⁠[26]

Willy, a 2D animated series in development, was presented at the Annecy Animation Festival, executive produced by Pearson, Aspinwall and Cyna Strachan.⁠[27]

Ludo began production on Allen, its first live-action feature for Netflix, shot across Brisbane and the Gold Coast and filmed at Screen Queensland Studios; Pearson wrote the script with Sophie Miller, and the pair executive produce with Aspinwall.⁠[28]

Ludo Studio: Official website: https://www.ludostudio.com.au/ (opens in a new window)⁠[29]