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    Back to The Business

    The Business

    ‘Beat Bugs’ & ‘Motown Magic’ creator on his passionate pursuit of music rights

    For his Netflix kids show ‘Beat Bugs’, Josh Wakely worked a miracle: he got the rights to use Beatles music in the series.

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    By Kim Masters • Nov 30, 2018 • 28m Listen

    If you’re a young child, or the parent of a young child, you may be familiar with the Netflix kids show ‘Beat Bugs’--which follows the adventures of five animated insects who sing along to Beatles songs. The creator of ‘Beat Bugs’ is Josh Wakely, an Australian writer who--before he made that show--had never worked in children’s TV or animation. And there was an even bigger hurdle--he had his heart set on getting the rights to The Beatles catalog. Wakely tells us about his years-long pursuit of the rights to some of the world’s most famous music for ‘Beat Bugs’ and his newest show, ‘Motown Magic,’ which uses songs from another iconic catalog.

    In this episode

    2 stories
    1. 1:14

      Hollywood news banter

      A New York Times investigation explains how Les Moonves tried to silence an accuser in the final months before his fall.

      Read the story
      7 min
    2. 8:16

      Josh Wakely on ‘Beat Bugs’ and ‘Motown Magic’

      For his Netflix kids show ‘ Beat Bugs ,’ Josh Wakely--a writer from Australia with no name recognition in Hollywood--worked a miracle: he got the rights to use Beatles music in the series.

      Read the story
      21 min
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Kim Masters

      partner/writer at Puck News, host of KCRW's “The Business.”

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Kaitlin Parker

      Producer, 'The Business' and 'Hollywood Breakdown'

      CultureEntertainmentArts

    In this episode

    2 stories
    1. 1:147 min

      Hollywood news banter

    2. 8:1621 min

      Josh Wakely on ‘Beat Bugs’ and ‘Motown Magic’

    Back to The Business