Chorion (company)

Chorion

Former type	Private ownership, Limited liability company
Industry	Media, Television Production & Distribution
Successor	Silvergate Media
Founded	4 April 1998
Defunct	March 2012
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom New York City, United States Sydney, Australia
Products	Children's Animation, Production Films Animation
Owner	3i Group Plc
Number of employees	150+
Subsidiaries	Silver Lining Productions
Website	[1]

Chorion Limited was an international media production company with offices in London, New York and Sydney. The company produced TV shows and feature films, and was best known for its portfolio of entertainment brands. These included children's characters such as Paddington Bear, Peter Rabbit, The Mr. Men, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Olivia, and Gaspard and Lisa. The company also owned the rights to the Agatha Christie Estate (including the Miss Marple and Poirot characters), Raymond Chandler, and Georges Simenon.

The company existed initially as a diversified entertainment company, with a portfolio of Intellectual Property rights, live entertainment venues and commercial real estate. From 2002 onwards, the business was refocused towards heritage IP Rights management and media production. Following a management buyout in 2006, Chorion delivered one new children's TV show every year and launched an associated merchandise range at retail.

Chorion was created in April 1998, as a new name for the London-based entertainment and retail company, Trocadero PLC. The formation of the new company occurred at the same time as the acquisition of three London entertainment venues from Luminar PLC. The newly formed company owned a diverse range of assets in the entertainment industry, including the retail complex at the London Trocadero, the rights to the Enid Blyton literary estate, and several other entertainment venues, bars and nightclubs in the UK.

In June 1998, Chorion acquired the rights to the Agatha Christie literary estate, with a vision of reviving the crime brand through new TV production and exporting the property to the United States. This acquisition marked the first step towards becoming the media production company it is today. It nonetheless remained a company with a diverse portfolio, as evidenced by the founding of the Tiger Tiger nightclub on London's Haymarket in late 1998. The Tiger Tiger format was expanded to other cities during 1999