Yoram and Sandra Gross set up their very first film studio Yoram Gross Films in Israel in 1962. After emigrating to Australia in the mid-1960s they re-established the company, as Yoram Gross Film Studios, in 1968. The company, which was located in the inner Sydney suburb of Paddington, quickly evolved into a highly respected producer of animation for cinema, television and video, distributed worldwide.
The studio's first international success was in 1977 with the animated film Dot and the Kangaroo based on the novel by Ethel Pedley (q.v.). Gross' company went on to make a further nine films in the Dot series. Other animated feature films produced in Australia have included: The Little Convict (1979), Sarah (1982), The Camel Boy (1984), Epic (1985) and The Magic Riddle (1991). Among the short films produced by the company have been John Farnham's One, Jenny Slater's Poem, The Politicians and To Nefertiti.
The company's television productions include: Skippy: Adventures in Bushtown (1998), Tabaluga (2001), Bambaloo (2003) and Flipper and Lopaka (2005). Its most successful television series, however, has been the internationally recognised animated adaptation of Blinky Bill, an original Australian bush (koala) character conceived by Dorothy Wall (q.v.). Comprising 52 half-hour episodes, this series was first produced in 1992. Two years later the Gross' opened Forest Interactive, a cross-media production studio which allowed the company to broaden its production capabilities through live action, puppetry, 3D and mixed media.
In 1996 Yoram Gross Film Studios formed a partnership with Village Roadshow. Three years later EM.TV and Merchandising AG bought out Village Roadshow, acquiring 50% ownership of Yoram Gross Film Studios. The company then became known as Yoram Gross-EM.TV. In early 2006 EM. Entertainment acquired the remaining 50% share ownership from the Gross family, and soon afterwards changed its name to Flying Bark Productions Pty Ltd.
Other children's television series undertaken during the early 2000s have been That's Not Right!, The Young Musicians and Prof. Filutek.
