Here - TBI Vision

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Here - TBI Vision

KidspOFC AprMay13
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Kids
Television Business International
TBIvision.com
April/May 2013
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p133 Annecy AprMay13.indd 1
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2013
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Con
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ǵ7,000 d
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ǵ 80 coun
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ǵ 1,910 c
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TBI KIDS INSIDE THIS ISSUE
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2 BBC AND FREMANTLEMEDIA TEAM FOR KIDS
Joe Godwin and Bob Higgins tell TBI about their programming pact, which will
see the public broadcaster and producer/distributor create up to ten series.
4 DISNEY’S BUSY START TO 2013
The Mouse House has launched a first-of-its kind channel in the UK and cut a
massive programming deal in the Middle East. TBI reports.
6 REINVENTING THE CLASSICS
Jane Marlowe looks at the pros and cons of reinventing classic kids properties and
checks out the latest reboots.
12 SECOND SCREEN
As sales of tablets and connected devices soar, Gary Smith talks to producers,
distributors and broadcasters keen to capture eyeballs on second screens.
18 MIPTV HOT PICKS
Many new kids shows will launch at MIPTV. TBI profiles the very best.
24 LAST WORD
Andrew Smith, CEO of Pukeko Pictures, talks opportunities in China.
18
CONTENTS APRIL/MAY 2013
For the latest in TV programming news visit TBIVISION.COM
TBI Kids April/May 2013
1
Kidsp02-03 BBC Fremantle AprMay13scFINALfinal
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MONITOR BBC/FREMANTLEMEDIA
FREMANTLEMEDIA AND BBC JOIN
FORCES FOR KIDS
Earlier this year the BBC and the Kids and Family division of FremantleMedia inked a deal that
will see them develop and produce a range of kids series for preschool and older audiences
together, across live-action and animation and over several years. BBC Children’s boss Joe
Godwin and FremantleMedia Kids and Family Entertainment’s Bob Higgins tell Stewart Clarke
about how the pair will work together and what we can expect to see come out of the agreement.
he BBC is one of the most prolific producers of kids programming in the world and the public
broadcaster supports a network of
indie producers in the UK and
beyond. That is one reason that eyebrows were
raised when it signed off on a multiyear deal
with the Kids and Family division of
FremantleMedia under the terms of which the
pair will co-develop, co-fund and coproduce a
raft of content in which they will invest ‘tens of
millions of pounds’.
Wasn’t that taking work from the indies that
provide 70% of the BBC’s kids output and putting it in the hands the relatively new kids and
family unit of large multinational company?
Joe Godwin, controller of Children’s at the
BBC says that isn’t the case and, in fact, the deal
means more money for independents at a time
when funds are being squeezed at the
Corporation, alongside a flow of top quality
work from the joint minds of the BBC
Children’s and FremantleMedia Kids and
Family Entertainment teams.
“There
isn’t
resource
going
to
FremantleMedia that we could give to indies,
the opposite is true,” Godwin says.
“FremantleMedia is giving resource to us,
which means there is more money in the pot
for other companies. Like all of the BBC, our
budget has been reduced as part of [the
Delivering Quality First programme]. This
frees up cash to commission extra programming and make up the DQF shortfall.”
He adds: “It frees up other money to do other
stuff with: [CBBC controller] Cheryl Taylor and
[CBeebies controller] Kay Benbow have got the
money they would have spent if we’d fully
funded these shows.”
The partnership will run for five years and
Bob Higgins, FremantleMedia Kids and Family
T
2 TBI Kids April/May 2013
Entertainment’s executive VP, says he expects
it will yield ten series. Some of these will be
returning shows and FremantleMedia and the
BBC already have a trio of projects under their
belt: preschool toon Tree Fu Tom (pictured),
live action series Wizards Vs Aliens from the
Doctor Who team and now off-the-wall school
comedy Strange Hill High.
“Our expectations are for a total of ten and
there will be a little bit of everything in there,”
Higgins says.
The work his company has already done with
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MONITOR BBC/FREMANTLEMEDIA
CBeebies and CBBC set the groundwork for
the formal deal between the pair and Strange
Hill High is a case in point, he adds.
“Sarah Muller [head of CBBC acquisitions
and drama development] asked if we were
interested in participating and then we brought
in Josh Weinstein (The Simpsons) and fleshed
out that whole world – it was two years’ worth
of work,” he says.
“The hardest thing when bringing a show to
market is getting that attention because everything looks very samey,” Higgins adds. It has
got around this problem with Strange Hill
High by utilising a new production technique
that combines puppets, Japanese vinyl toys and
digital effects. The show follows three students
in an off-the-wall inner city school. Voice talent
includes British TV stars John Thomson (Cold
Feet), Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd) and
Caroline Aherne (Mrs Merton). Factory
Transmedia is the third partner on the
13x30mins comedy adventure.
CBBC controller Cheryl Taylor ordered a second season of the show in February ahead of
the TX of season one on CBBC this spring.
FremantleMedia
Kids
&
Family
Entertainment has only been around since
2009 when Sander Schwartz came in to set up
the dedicated kids content unit. He brought
Bob Higgins on board in 2010. “Kids and animation is a long process,” Higgins says. “In
year one, we put a slate together in year two we
had My Babysitter’s a Vampire, Tree Fu Tom
and The Aquabats! Super Show. The golden
goose is to have it explode into all other areas of
kids’ lives and now there are Tree Fu Tom and
Max Steele products.”
It frees up
cash to
commission
extra
programming
with... Cheryl
Taylor and Kay Benbow
have got the money they
would have spent if we’d
fully funded these shows.
JOE GODWIN, BBC CHILDREN’S
The company has hit its stride and now has
the right amount of content coming through
various channels, he adds: “We have hit our
peak in terms of the number of shows we can
coproduce, effectively market and brand. We
have about a dozen and that’s about where we
want to be; we can’t stretch ourselves too thin
and we want to give each show the attention it
deserves.”
BBC Children’s still has a deal with BBC
Worldwide, the commercial arm of the public
broadcaster, which has first look at its shows
for international distribution, but Fremantle
Kids & Family Entertainment will take international rights to content from its BBC deal. The
agreement gives the company a pipeline of
top-quality shows that it can roll out internationally.
It has already shopped Wizards Vs Aliens to
broadcasters including The Hub in the US,
ABC in Australia, HBO Family across Latin
America, Canal J in France and Canal+ in
Poland. It has sold Tree Fu Tom, which was
one of the highest rated new series on
CBeebies in 2012 and has gone to a second
season, to broadcasters including Disney
(Australia and New Zealand) and Discovery
Kids (Latin America) and it will be selling
Strange Hill High internationally at MIPTV.
Godwin says the agreement is a direct result
of working well together on the aforementioned projects. “We didn’t sit down, get the
phone book out and say ‘let’s do a co-development deal with an international distributor’,”
he says. “They’d been very good to work with
and we appreciated where each other was coming from. We’ve made some successful and
creatively bold stuff together and all three are
‘very CBeebies’ or ‘CBBC’.”
The public broadcaster has not had to compromise editorially he insists, which means
the BBC saying no to some things and
FremantleMedia others. “I’m always wary of
the possibility of having to make compromises
with international coproduction,” Godwin
says. “Fremantle have gone for things that they
can find an international market for and said
no to others. At no point have we compromised what we wanted creatively; this is a codification of, and extra layer to, what we were
already doing.”
Although the deal covers a range of genres,
some will be more challenging than others,
notably live action for older kids, an area that
the BBC as a public broadcaster has to use to
Our expectations are for a
total of ten
shows and
there will be a
little bit of
everything in
there.
BOB HIGGINS, FREMANTLEMEDIA
speak to kids in the UK about being a kid in the
UK. There are, however, exceptions.
“Often no-one else is doing that and no-one
else wants to,” Godwin says. “But then look at
Wizards Vs Aliens, there couldn’t be anything
more British or ‘BBCish’ about it and it is quality
storytelling and the result of a superb creative
vision.”
Live action can also be tricky internationally
given the domination of Disney and
Nickelodeon.
“We can’t compete with Nick or Disney making three-camera sitcoms about girls in high
school and no-one wants that from us,” Higgins
says. “Live action is challenging if you try to do
what they do, so we did a single camera horror
comedy with vampires who eat people!”
Accordingly, My Babysitter’s a Vampire, which
was for Teletoon in Canada, was picked up by
Disney in the US.
CBBC has worked with other international
partners recently, teaming with its German
counterpart ZDF for Wolfblood, a live action
series about a family of werewolf type humans,
but it doesn’t look like consummating its relationship with anyone else in the same way it has
with FremantleMedia.
The partners will meet two or three times a
year to go through ideas, but both sides are tightlipped on what’s coming next aside from saying it
will be different. “Will there be more of the same?
I hope not,” says Higgins. “We look at our slate to
make sure we’re not duplicating ourselves – we
don’t want Strange Hill Summer High.”
Wizards, mystical trees and off-kilter school
stories suggest that public broadcaster and international producer/distributor can find common
ground. Godwin concludes: “We do have different ambitions in a broad sense, but that’s academic because we know the two separate corporate remits can meet in the same creative realisation.” TBI
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MONITOR DISNEY
DISNEY FLIES INTO 2013 WITH KEY
CHANNEL AND PROGRAMMING DEALS
It has been a busy start to the year for Disney with a first-of-its-kind channel deal in the UK and
a huge pan-regional programme deal across the Middle East. TBI reports on the Mouse House’s
busy start to 2013.
Brave
isney has had a busy start to 2013
and the new channel it launched
in the UK launched at end of
March was a first for the
Hollywood giant. Sky Movies
Disney rolled out on March 28 and marks the first
time that Disney has ever been involved in a cobranded linear movie channel.
It has teamed with UK pay TV platform
BSkyB to launch the pay TV channel, which has
new and classic movies from Disney and Pixar.
Sky has a longstanding output deal with
Disney and the new channel launched as part
of a wider agreement between the pay TV platform and the studio. As well as securing
Disney and Pixar content, the deal also covers
further carriage of Disney’s channels on Sky.
In the US, Disney has recently inked a programming deal with Netflix that will give the
streaming site Disney and Pixar features in the
first pay TV window. The UK deal between Sky
and Disney secures first pay window rights for
the pay platform. It also covers first window
rights to Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios features, which Disney distributes.
The content on the channel is also available
on Sky’s mobile and on-demand services as
well as the core linear channel.
Jeremy Darroch, Sky’s chief executive, said:
“The launch of Sky Movies Disney is great
news for our customers and builds on the
D
strong relationship that Sky and Disney have
enjoyed for more than 20 years. We’re delighted that an entertainment company of Disney’s
international stature has chosen to work with
Sky on its first co-branded linear movie channel. This is a world-first collaboration.”
Ian Lewis, director of Sky Movies, added:
“Sky Movies Disney will be the home of new
and classic Disney and Disney/Pixar movies
and will offer all new titles at least a year before
other TV channels or subscription services.”
Huge programming deal
As well as launching the new UK channel,
Disney’s programme sales team was busy in
the first quarter, inking a pan-regional deal
with Al Jazeera Children’s Channel (JCC).
The agreement with Disney covers TV
series and Disney and Disney/Pixar movies for
its kids’ net and its preschool offshoot, TBI
was the first to report in March.
JCC, which reaches tens of millions of
homes across the Middle East, will get a raft of
Disney series including hit cartoon series
Phineas and Ferb and Lilo and Stitch as well
as live action shows including sitcom Zeke
and Luther under the terms of the multi-year
agreement.
The programming will air on the core JCC
channel and its preschool sister channel
Baraem, which will get shows including
Handy Manny and Little Einsteins.
The deal also covers Disney movies and
titles include A Bug’s Life, Toy Story and Cars.
JCC board member and acting executive
general manager Haya bint Khalifa Al Nassr
said: “In line with our child-centric strategy, we
will continue to address the needs of Arab children and households by creating or acquiring
content that is entertaining, culturally appropriate and supports their learning and development. This deal is the start of the exciting content transformation, considering the aspirations, culture, and identity of our Arab audience.”
Excluding Israel and Turkey, there is an estimated 74 million homes with television in the
Middle East and Africa.
Free-to-air broadcaster JCC, which has
expansive reach across the region, is funded by
Qatari state organisation the Qatar Foundation
for Education, Science and Community
Development and has recently changed its
programming strategy.
The deal with Disney follows a similar largescale programming agreement it inked with
BBC Worldwide late last year. That gave JCC
180 hours of content across different genres.
Disney, meanwhile, operates all of its pay
TV channels in the Middle East region, which
are carried on the OSN platform. The core
Disney Channel has been carried in the region
since 1997 and is transmitted in Arabic.
Disney XD and Disney Junior rolled out in
2009 and 2010 respectively and are Englishlanguage services.
Didier Vanneste, Disney’s country manager,
MENA said: “We continually look for opportunities to bring our hit stories and beloved characters to wider local audiences, and look forward to working with JCC to deliver this broad
range of popular kids and family programming to viewers across the Middle East”.
All of the series on JCC and Baraem will be
dubbed into Arabic. TBI
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TBI KIDS REINVENTING THE CLASSICS
REINVENTING THE CLASSICS
Children’s TV is something that binds and defines peer groups. With new versions of
Thunderbirds, Noddy and various others in the works the commercial power of nostalgia is
clearly intense, but when updating a loved classic, respect and modern-day relevance are key
reports Jane Marlowe
Silvergate’s Peter Rabbit for CBeebies
urner’s Cartoon Network was
built with classic properties and
senior VP & COO, EMEA and
MD Kids EMEA Pete Flamman
says brands like Scooby Doo and
Tom & Jerry are being constantly reinvented.
“You have to be careful with the things you
adjust,” he says. “You have to respect and nurture those original characteristics or people
will turn off. If Tom & Jerry are still doing the
things you’d expect and doing them in a way
that’s well written and funny, then you’re still
T
going to love it.”
Lassie and Peter Pan producer, DQ
Entertainment is a specialist in this field.
Rouhini Jaswal, vice president IP, DQE highlights the need for sensitivity when reworking
brands with emotions attached and adds that
DQE takes all the legal and creative steps necessary to preserve the brand’s integrity. “This
happens right from the beginning,” she says.
“With the story adaptation process, the art
work, the content, brand positing in the right
market, and also value creation.”
Vice president, international programme
sales, Viacom International Media Networks
Caroline Beaton says it would be foolhardy to
think these reinvented classics sell themselves, even for Turtles, which in some markets has a 90% recognition rate among 6-11
year-olds even though the kids had never seen
it on screen.
“Nickelodeon played a blinder in engaging
with the ‘super fans’ to test out the various
parameters of its reinvention,” Beaton says.
“To get them on side isn’t just a political move
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on our part, but they are the fan base who is
most acutely aware of what will work in a
modern world for something like Turtles.”
The process isn’t as simple as remastering
an old favourite, as head of CBeebies production, animation and acquisitions, Alison
Stewart observes. “You watch [the tapes] and
realise it was made for a family audience, the
script is a bit old and the words are different.
You don’t just pick a show up and plonk it into
the 21st century and it works. You have to
keep the spirit of it, and think about the way
an audience has changed.”
She cites Mr Ben as loved property that is
difficult to modernise. “It wasn’t sophisticated
animation, but there was something magical
about that show. People have said they’re
going to reinvent it, but you’d have a duty to
update the technique and yet if you take it too
far away, will you reduce its charm?”
Hit Entertainment, VP Production, Marion
Edwards attributes Thomas & Friends popularity through its print, live action and CGI
Stephen from Thomas special King of the Railway
New Winnie The Pooh series Tales of Friendship
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incarnations to “classic storytelling, the characterisation of the engines and the universal
appeal of trains. That doesn’t change over the
years and it doesn’t change from country to
country,” she says.
Thomas special, King of the Railway,
launches at MIPTV and introduces Stephen, a
new engine based on Stephenson’s Rocket
while also tapping into locations and characters from the original books. As far as the
show’s look is concerned, Edwards says: “CGI
gives us the opportunity to add energy and
pacing. By giving the engines animated faces
that can lip-sync, we’re getting much better
expression. We have seen the sales of Thomas
expand since we’ve moved to CGI.”
Keeping kids and parents happy is key and
Turner’s Flamman says Boomerang’s classics
Tom & Jerry
have high levels of co-viewing. “It’s a
great democracy,” he says. “Are these
shows performing, are they delivering audiences, are people responding to them positively? If they are we’ll keep making them.”
There are rights holders to keep happy too.
Even if properties are out of copyright, they
might be held by a protective estate. “We’ve
always made the owners of the property very
happy with what [the property] looks like on
screen,” says DQE’s Jaswal. “I wouldn’t say
it’s an easy job, because each show goes
through a lot of development and we scratch
many looks before we arrive one that everyone’s happy with.”
Value lies in a brand’s heritage and Winnie
the Pooh’s new storytelling series Tales of
Friendship goes ‘back to basics’ in a response
PacMan and
the Ghostly
Adventures
to parents’ desire for a soothing, pre-nap
show. Vice president, original programming
and development, Disney Junior EMEA, Beth
Gardiner says: “We re-read the books and
looked at the Walt Disney featurettes made in
the ‘60s to become really aware of what’s
come before.”
In certain markets, however, nostalgia simply doesn’t factor at all: 41 Entertainment CEO
Allen Bohbot was instrumental in bringing
Pac-Man to a TV audience after movie producer Avi Arad saw the iconic character’s thirtieth
birthday celebrated on the Google homepage
and realised the brand – which registered a
recognition rate of 94% when taken to market
– had never been exploited globally on TV.
After selling Pacman and the Ghostly
Adventures to Russian broadcaster CTC,
Bohbot asked his Moscow agent if he planned
to do a lot of licensing in Russia with the 80s
icon. “He said in the 80s we were a communist
country, we never heard of Pacman,” recalls
Bohbot. “I asked why he bought the show and
he said, ‘I just think it’s cool’. I thought if this
guy’s right we’ve got a double hit.”
Imira’s head of distribution Christophe
Goldberger is wary of referring to reinventing
classics as a trend. “We are constantly asked to
innovate artistically,” he comments. “Classic
properties contribute to a balance; at one end
there’s innovative content and at the other
safe properties.”
CBeebies’ Stewart puts the number of classic properties on the market down to the fact
that people who are now running companies
are looking back to a rich seam of 70s/80s
programming from their childhoods.
40 x 11 minutes
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HOW THEY DID IT
tastic uncle rather than a stranger who we’re not sure that we trust.”
Developed with PBS as one of the partners, the series remains true
to Dr Seuss’ desire for his stories to be educational tools. “We decided not to create fantastical ‘Seussian’ characters,” adds Stall. “Because
the show had a science and nature curriculum, the new characters
spring from nature, but we have animals that behave like animals.”
For this property, the aim was to capitalise on the distinctive style
of the original brand. Stall concludes: “We wanted to make the series
feel like it was the books come to life but in full colour.”
Peter Rabbit
The Doozers
Once supporting cast in Henson classic Fraggle Rock, The Doozers
now have a show of their own. “We spent a good amount of time talking about the qualities of Fraggle Rock’s original Doozers that we
wanted to continue and embellish,” explains Lisa Henson CEO, The
Jim Henson Company who says buyers couldn’t wait for the new spinoff.
“The Doozers incorporates ideas about cooperation, awareness of
the environment and some of the larger themes that were in Fraggle
Rock, but the entire cast of The Doozers are original personalities.”
The industriousness seen in the original characters has been
extended to feed into the invention and creative problem-solving curriculum of the show. “We’ve introduced fresh devices and tools for
them that will grab the attention of modern children,” adds Henson.
The look has been updated too by teaming with producer DHX
Media. “The original Doozers were rod puppets and their body types
were very similar,” Henson continues. “We saw an opportunity in the
character design to make them in CG and introduce more variation
into the way they look.”
The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That!
When bringing iconic Seuss character The Cat in the Hat to screen,
Portfolio Entertainment series producer, Julie Stall recalls: “We
couldn’t have the cat appear as a stranger who comes into the house
and frightens the children as he did in the book. “What everyone
loved about him was that he was spontaneous and fun and an exciting character to be around, so we made him more like a quirky, fan-
One challenge in adapting Beatrix Potter for TV was remaining
true to the books while ensuring some of the more violent action
was suitable for its preschool audience.
Head of CBeebies production, animation and acquisitions, Alison
Stewart says: “Compliance was very rigorous and there were certain
shots that were just too near the mark but we were able to alter those
without changing the story. We’ve left in the fox, who wants to eat
Peter and Mr McGregor who doesn’t like the rabbits. We’ve taken
away the really overtly scary bits.
“The colours are exactly what you’d expect if you know the Potter
books. This is CGI in a very painterly palate,” she adds.
Working closely with rights holder Frederick Warne kept the producers on track. Silvergate CEO Mary Durkan adds: “They reminded
us of the need to link back to [Potter’s] love of nature. We challenged
ourselves to walk in her shoes – to tell clever, imaginative, often
unapologetic, stories that would resonate with today’s audiences.”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Turtles are back with original creator, Kevin Eastman, on board
and a new look. Rich Magallanes, senior VP, animation, current
series, Nickelodeon says: “It was important that we stayed true to the
franchise, celebrating the great characters and engaging storylines
that have made it what it is today, whilst re-energising it by using the
latest CG animation techniques, introducing new characters,
upping the humour, and even adding a more urban vibe to the show.
It was imperative that the core of the show remain the same.”
Character reboots include changing April from journalist to a
young Comic-Con style hipster
blogger.
Viacom’s Caroline Beaton describes
the new look as a CG/Anime mashup. “The fight sequences are beautifully done in an anime style that is like
nothing else out there,” she says. “It
stays true to the principles of
Nickelodeon because they’re stylised
and fantasy based. Emoticons come up
on screen so it’s got a comic book heritage.” TBI
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TBI KIDS SECOND SCREENS
Nickelodeon’s ‘Mon Nickelodeon
Junior’ app
WELCOME TO
SECOND SCREEN 3.0
The 155 million smart phones sold in 2012 - alongside the over 200 million tablet devices
bought in the last two years – mean that one of the first things a modern child will come into
contact with the moment they start to move around independently is the touch screen of a
mobile device.....and so it starts. By Gary Smith.
t was roughly five years ago that the idea
of using a second device to comment
on what was going on on the TV – in
the form of SMS messaging – first
became recognised as a bona fide phenomenon. And from there, until recently, the
evolution of second screen habits was comparatively genteel; the live comments that had previously been sent by SMS moved to social networks, with Twitter remaining the de-facto destination, while websites gradually became
more sophisticated and engaging, featuring
complimentary games and rewards for fans
I
such as previously unseen footage. But about
12 months ago the second screen ecosystem hit
critical mass, partly thanks to the penetration of
mobile devices, and partly due to the dawning
realisation among broadcasters that they have
to reinvent themselves as curators of every
aspect of the digital experience surrounding the
modern TV series.
“The digital department is the fastest growing part of the company,” Philip O’Ferrall, senior VP, digital, Viacom International Media
Networks, confirms. “And ironically that’s
because our number one priority is driving
people to watch TV. But as a youth and kidsfocussed company, we know that we have to be
immersive on every platform.”
The apps for very young kids market is growing rapidly, and O’Ferrall sees a clear trend:
“The younger the child, the more you’re talking
to the parent as well, and that parent most usually wants to see some educational value in
order to feel comfortable about letting the child
interact with our app. So with the Mon
Nickelodeon Junior app we give full editorial
control to the parents.”
For Sharon Rechter, executive VP, business
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We create short-form videos
which go up on YouTube for the
older fans, and consequently the
show generates a considerable
amount of UGC which gets tens of
millions of hits and thousands of
comments
ELIE DEKEL, SABAN BRANDS
development and marketing at the BabyFirst
Network, the relationship between that network – currently available in 80 million homes
globally – and its viewers is even more delicate,
hardly surprising given that BabyFirst is for
children of 6 months old up to 4 years.
She says: “When we launched there were a
few people who said we were crazy, but ‘crazy’
is where you find opportunities. If it was an
easy market, there’d be a lot more competition.” BabyFirst’s range of 41 apps have been
downloaded three million times, some of them
paid-for, offering premium services, and some
free-to-use. “It’s a good start, but when you
know that the Baby Einstein DVDs sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of units, I
think we can do better,” Rechter admits. “But in
terms of length of engagement and repeat visits we are extremely happy with the results.”
BabyFirst is currently developing an app that
will allow kids to influence what is going on
during a show: “It’s aimed at 18 month olds
and up, and will allow them to add things like
bubbles and colours to the TV from a mobile
device,” she reveals. “We also have an interesting development for Baby U, or Baby
University. Initially the concept was a mistake,
simply because we launched about six months
before tablets started selling and we didn’t get
the traction. But we recently licensed it to a
leading US telco operator who will be pre-loading it on their tablets.”
Co-founder of the Apps Playground website
and Guardian tech writer Stuart Dredge says
many kids’ apps are, at root, modern versions
of the plastic telephones and toys of previous
generations. “They are about learning life
skills,” he comments. “And in the apps for
babies market, we’re seeing a lot of edutainment, and some very good book-based apps
BabyFirst has 41 apps
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Saban’s Vortex
from Penguin and Ladybird.”
Following the recent reports of children
racking up large bills through in-app purchases, companies like Toca Boca are deliberately
producing apps that don’t feature any purchase function, but that do teach kids social
skills. Toca Boca is building a brand based on
quality with apps like the Toca Hair Salon,
Toca Tailor Fairy Tales and Toca Band, and
successfully charging, anything from 50
pence to £2 per app.
MadeInMe is another app publisher of note.
Its game Sneak, where kids have to be really
quiet in order to sneak up and catch the monster that has appeared on the tablet screen, has
been well-reviewed. Nosy Crow is another very
creative company. Its series of apps based on
classic fairytales such as Cinderella and The
Three Little Pigs are hybrid games with animated stories that allow kids to interact with the
characters and, by using the tablet’s camera,
appear in the games.
At the very upper end of the youth demographic, shows like Geordie Shore are using
apps and social networks to serve the show’s
super fans. The cast regularly interact with the
audience and have impressive social network
followings, with six of them having over one
million Twitter followers. “It’s a whole new way
of running a media business,” says O’Ferrall.
“And it is directly impacting on the way the
shows are constructed. A typical episode used
to have a beginning, middle and end, but now
they tend to have a peak every two or three minutes which create a series of continuous social
media moments, and the story arcs are made to
be continued online after the show has aired.”
There is the question of how to make that arc
live after the show while remaining in-brand.
Eric Weymuller, president of zyntroPICS
comes from a film and TV background, but
currently is entirely focused on creating second
screen experiences. He says: “With all these
extraneous environments, you have to ask
yourself why TV remains so popular.
Consumption in the US is still at around five
hours per day, and that’s because people like
being in a storied environment. So extending
that into apps and other second screen environments means there’s so much you can do to
expand the story arc.”
Zyntropics, currently developing a second
screen ecosystem for one of the major US networks, runs a couple of kids’ websites featuring
one-to-one chats in the form of My Tooth Fairy
Chat and My Santa Chat, plus publishes the
abcDog app series, which teaches English as a
second language. “Our interactive characters
are part of a three-dimensional script with the
user as a supporting character. The scene has
length, like a traditional script - it also has
width, in the form of personalised branches to
follow. On top of that it has depth, or back-story,
which is random knowledge that can be
accessed by the user. But it all starts with a
script,” Weymuller says.
Game-ification was one of the earliest second
screen offers, and remains an enduring one
thanks to the levels of engagement it generates.
Imira’s Lucky Fred, a sort of Men In Black for
kids, features puzzles, collectables, and a game
based on geo-localisation. When the player gets
to within 30 metres of the hidden alien, the app
unlocks a reward. “When you collect all the
monsters you can get discounts at local cine-
Kidsp15 Foothill AprMay13.indd 1
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The Deep: Here Be Dragons,
episodes activate features in
the app which synchronise in
real time
ALISON WARNER, TECHNICOLOR
mas and restaurants,” said Christophe
Goldberger, producer and head of sales and
acquisition at Imira.
“Organisationally it’s complicated because
you need a local partner, but the geo-localisation is now functioning in Spain, France, the
UK, Sweden, Germany and Ireland.”
In terms of new revenue streams, Lucky
Fred is close to recovering its development
costs: “Given that revenues from broadcasters
haven’t grown for 10 years, we are keen to find
ancillary incomes, although it isn’t our prime
objective,” Goldberger admits. “On Lucky Fred
the basic levels are free, but anyone who wants
to move through the game more quickly can
buy extra power.” Imira is currently developing
a series of interactive books based on Sandra
The Fairytale Detective to be launched this
summer. The accompanying apps focus on
Sandra’s detective activities with the user helping her find clues.
As both a US broadcaster – through the five
hour Vortexx block on The CW every Saturday
morning – and a producer, Saban Brands is in
a unique position in terms of both leveraging
second screen experiences, and attracting a
very mixed demographic. One of its core properties is Power Rangers, which is now 20 years
old.
“We have a lot of fans who grew up with the
early series and who still remember it fondly,”
Elie Dekel, president of Saban Brands and copresident of Vortexx, reveals. “We create shortform videos which go up on YouTube for the
older fans, and consequently the show generates a considerable amount of UGC which gets
tens of millions of hits and thousands of comments.”
For the younger viewers, the digital platform
myvortexx.com and zui.com are pulling in millions of visits per month. The company is, says
Dekel, deadly serious about the second screen:
MOBILE BBC CHILDRENS
Tumble Tapp snap is a fully-accessible
CBeebies game built in HTML5 so kids can
play on mobile and tablets. Like the show
Something Special they were also built with
the needs of kids with learning difficulties in
mind.
“We know our audiences are always
online and keen to interact with and deepen
their relationships with their favourite shows
and brands,” director of BBC Children’s Joe
Godwin says. “Our websites are amongst the
most popular for their target age groups and
we are looking to expand our offering with
mobile apps. Our websites are well-used by
all age groups and we’ve actually just
launched a CBeebies First Time Online campaign with a selection of interactive activities
specifically designed for young children (2-3
years old). This year we’re keen to ensure
more of our sites are mobile-enabled so children can take their favourite channels with
them wherever they go.”
The Deep
“We’re not playing at this,” he says. “It’s a hugely important project because we recognise the
demand for deeper storylines and enhanced
experiences around series, which we in turn
see as living brands. Currently monetisation is
far from being a priority, it’s about buying in,
investing in the future audience and creating
love. But I’m confident that a market place will
emerge eventually.”
Alison Warner VP, IP sales, acquisitions
and co-productions, Technicolor Digital
Productions, who published the King’s Speech
app, sees multiple possibilities for monetisation: “When fans are engaged and want to dive
deeper in, it allows you introduce brand
engagement and e-commerce elements,” she
states. “Our latest project The Deep: Here Be
Dragons, episodes activate features in the app
which synchronise in real time.”
Technicolor, and its digital production partner Magic Ruby, are also working closely with
broadcast partners: “The app can be branded by
any channel because our aim is to bring the
viewer back to the broadcaster. We can also tailor the second screen content to be more educational, or to have more emphasis on games,”
says Cedric Arnaud-Battandier, co-founder &
VP, business development at Magic Ruby. “It’s
crucial that you don’t distract kids from the first
screen. Viewers are going to be engaging with
the second screen anyway, so you may as well
provide the best possible environment, which
is one that is controlled by the primary content.” TBI
Cartoon Cine
Top Seminar On Animated Features
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Prepare
April 2013
Viborg
Denmark
Market Trends - Case Studies - Networking
CARTOON masters
Kidsp17 Cartoon Masters AprMay13.indd 1
14/03/2013 12:18
p18-20, 22-23 KIds Hot Picks AprMay13scFINALin progressscFINAL
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TBI KIDS HOT PICKS
KIDS HOT PICKS
THE SHOW: Marvin Marvin
THE PRODUCER: Nickelodeon Productions, The Collective
THE DISTRIBUTOR: Viacom International Media Networks
THE BROADCASTER: Nickelodeon (US)
CONCEPT: An alien teenager sent to Earth for protection struggles to
adapt to life as an ordinary American boy
The growing influence of YouTube as a treasure trove of transferable talent is becoming ever clearer, and it’s a trend US children’s
networks have embraced. Last year, Cartoon Network took The
Annoying Orange to television screens, while Nickelodeon had
already established a relationship with online teen sensation Lucas
Cruikshank and his popular Fred web series through a trio of telemovies and a 24-episode series.
Both Orange and Fred came to the attention of the channels
through US talent agency The Collective, which has championed
digital platforms as a breeding ground for new TV stars.
The Collective and Nickelodeon Productions are behind
Cruikshank’s latest programme, 20x30mins live-action sitcom
Marvin, Marvin, in which he plays an alien teenager struggling to
adjust to life as part of with a regular American family.
“The collaboration was a metaphor of how production is going
and how we need to work with talented creators from all sources,”
says Caroline Beaton, senior VP, international sales at the show’s
distributor, Viacom International Media Networks. “We’ve looked at
what is truly trending and then collaborated creatively. Our formats
do not have to come from traditional route anymore.”
Furthermore, “a key USP is Lucas Cruikshank himself, who’s
already known to Nickelodeon fans through Fred”, says Beaton.
“The way he became popular – he’s originally from the YouTube
world – is a really nice side to the show.”
Beaton describes Marvin as fitting into the comic sci-fi genre and
the “Nickelodeon tradition of comedic talents” and adds that it’s
aimed at boys and girls aged 6-11. “It’s been doing really well with
them [in the states] but it has also found an audience with girls 914 and that’s probably down to Lucas himself and the show’s subtle sophistication.”
The show debuted in the US on November 24 and goes live on
Nick channels globally in April.
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TBI KIDS HOT PICKS
THE SHOW: Wish Come True
THE PRODUCERS: Home Plate
Entertainment and Guru Studio,
based on a concept from art
collective Friends With You
THE DISTRIBUTORS: Guru
Distribution, Home Plate
Entertainment
THE BROADCASTER: TVO (Canada)
THE CONCEPT: The adventures of
a young girl in the faraway land of
the Rainbow King, who spends her
days exploring a fantastical castle
Bringing together the production houses
behind Nickelodeon’s Wild Grinders and
Sprout’s Justin Time suggests the ingredients
are there for a successful show. Add in the
influence of North American art collective and
creative studio Friends With You, which seeks
to spread the ideas of magic, love and friendship all around the world no matter what platform’, and that recipe becomes that bit more
complete.
The 52x11mins CGI series follows nine yearold True who lives in magical castle in the faraway land of the Rainbow King. She spends
her days with her talking cat, Bartleby, exploring the endless rooms of the castle she lives
in. The show’s producers say the format aims
to answer the question of what kids would
want if they could wish for anything.
“Wish Come True takes a girl character and
gives her a modern twist – she’s got a fresh,
achievement-led personality that’s not like
anything on the market. It really is about
reaching children’s imaginations,” says Guru
Studio’s VP Mary Bredin.
The concept’s originator, Friends With You,
is a two-person troupe that organises pop-up
art installations across the globe, including an
‘interactive rainbow shrine’ in a Hong Kong
mall and a ceiling high twirling inflatable piece
at the Santa Barbara Contemporary Art Forum.
Wish Come True stays in keeping with that
colourful and identifiable style, and Guru and
Home Plate will be on the ground in Cannes
trying to pass on the sense of childish wonder to new partners.
The partners are currently putting the full
budget in place, though Bredin says it is
“early days”. The plan is for Wish Come True
is to go into production in December for delivery in 2014. TVO is already onboard, while
major European kidscasters are interested.
THE SHOW: Mini Ninjas
THE PRODUCERS: TF1 Production, Cyber Group Studios
THE DISTRIBUTOR: Cyber Group Studios
THE BROADCASTERS: TF1 (France), Rai (Italy)
CONCEPT: Animated kids series for 6-to-10s, based on
the popular video game of the same name
Since 2009, over a million units of the Mini
Ninjas video game have been shifted, which
helped convince TF1 Production to embark on
making its first animated TV series.
The 52x13mins Mini Ninjas series is a
coproduction between the production arm of
the French commercial broadcaster and French
producer and distributor Cyber Group Studios.
Giovanna Milano, producer at TF1 production, says: “The video games sold extremely
well, and most particularly in the US and
Europe.” He adds. “We have already received
some strong interest from all over the world,
including global deals. We also know that
the series will sell very well in Asia as there
is a high demand for top quality HD action
series and the cultural background is also
very attractive to broadcasters in the region.”
TF1 Group discovered the video game and
thought that it was a great concept for an animated TV show and platform on which to
develop merchandising. TF1 Production
picked up the adaptation rights from Square
Enix in London, the rights owner, and then
closely collaborated with Square Enix
Danmark, the subsidiary company that creat-
ed the video game, explains Carole Brin, head
of international TV sales & acquisitions at
Cyber Group Studios.
Cyber Group is distributing the show and
will launch it internationally at MIPTV. The
show itself is an action comedy aimed at 6to-10s and follows the adventures of a new
generation of ninjas, trained by their older
master. They fight to liberate innocent animals that have been transformed into samurais by the warlord Ashida.
“The video game players will recognise
the sets and their heroes with their peculiar
ninjas skills and look,” Brin says of the
series. “But they will also discover new
adventures and feel even closer to Hiro,
Suzume and Futo as their personality has
been developed. A wider range of human
characters has also been specially created for
the series.”
Square Enix launched Mini Ninjas iPhone
and iPad apps in March.
The first batch of TV episodes will deliver
next April and the remaining half in
November. Cyber Group will have a trailer for
buyers at MIPTV.
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TBI KIDS HOT PICKS
THE SHOW: Nicky Deuce
THE PRODUCERS: Marvista Entertainment, R&R Productions
THE DISTRIBUTOR: Marvista Entertainment
THE BROADCASTERS: Nickelodeon (US and global channels),YTV
CONCEPT: A nerdy teen staying with his uncle in Brooklyn unwittingly
gains a tough guy reputation and learns some interesting family secrets
along the way
The news that the main cast members of The
Sopranos were reuniting for a one-off children’s movie was as exciting to HBO fans and
box set enthusiasts as it is for the actual target demographic. Marvista Entertainment’s
president Fernando Szew is hoping to use
that enthusiasm to secure sales for TV movie
Nicky Deuce.
“It’s definitely great for the kids’ demographic but also has the added element of a
group of characters that have a huge standing with many adults. This is a very family
friendly movie,” he says.
Marvista and Canada’s R&R Productions are
coproducing, with broadcast partners
Nickelodeon and YTV both active in script
development. Steve Schirripa, who played
underboss Bobby Baccalieri in The Sopranos,
is among the executive producers having
originally created Nicky as a (now published)
children’s book. It was down to his influence
that James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli,
Vincent Curatola and Tony Sirico all appear.
The telefilm stars iCarly’s Noah Munck as a
sheltered teenager who moves in with his
uncle (Schirripa) in Brooklyn and unintentionally develops a tough guy reputation, while
simultaneously learning some home truths.
“We feel fantastic about this one,” says Szew.
“The whole experience of working with Steve
has been really phenomenal.”
The film is currently close to completion and
testing of footage has been “received really
positively, hitting all the levels we hoped it
would as a comedy with some great slapstick
moments,” says Szew.
It’s for this reason he’ll be in Cannes target-
ing a slate of second window, VOD, DVD,
home entertainment and digital rights at buyers with family slots on non-thematic channels, along with the usual children’s network
suspects. “This is a comedy coming-of-age
story, older skewing than Home Alone but in
the same vein,” says Szew.
THE SHOW: The Jonny and Inel Show
THE PRODUCER: Princess Productions
THE DISTRIBUTOR: Shine International
THE BROADCASTER: CBBC (UK)
CONCEPT: Character-based sketch show with live studio elements
performed by a newly discovered British comedy duo
Shine International’s director of acquisitions
Georgia Brown says that CBBC’s commission
of 13x30mins series The Jonny and Inel Show is
a major departure from the usual content on
the children’s channel. “It’s a unique blend of
scripted comedy and strong entertainment values,” she says.
At the heart of the show is the relationship
between the comic duo Johnny Cochrane and
Inel Tomlinson, who were discovered by producer Rebecca Papworth at the Edinburgh
Fringe Festival last year and bring an urban
flavour that’s been likened to Will Smith’s character from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
“The wonderful thing about the duo is they
are as amusing to four year-olds as they are to
15 year-olds and their mums and dads, which
encourages co-viewing. Internationally, it could
cross over to a broader audience,” says Brown.
Brown says it increased its CBBC slot average by 27%, and did especially well with girls
aged 3-9. “It’s slightly female skewing,” she
says. “The sketches are relevant and a lot of fun,
which is why it spans well from young kids to
teenagers.”
The show is also the clearest example of
CBBC controller Cheryl Taylor’s natural
comedic inclinations since she took on the kids
role last year having formerly been the BBC’s
comedy head.
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TBI KIDS HOT PICKS
THE SHOW: Super Mega Hyper Pets
THE PRODUCERS: Studio 100 Animation in association
with Flying Bark Productions
THE DISTRIBUTOR: Studio 100
THE BROADCASTER: TBC
CONCEPT: CGI series for upper preschoolers about an eight year-old and
his team of superhero alien pets
Super Mega Hyper Pets is a preschool show
about eight year-old Timmy and his team of
superhero alien friends Super Zee the Dog,
Hyper Harrier the Rabbit and a cat called
Megakat Thunderpaw.
Aimed at 4-to-6 year-olds, the show is a
coproduction between Studio 100 and
Australia’s Flying Bark.
Studio 100 is handling distribution and will
launch the 52x12mins series at MIPTV.
“The show combines comedy and slapstick humour filled with action, which is comparatively unique for a series targeted to a
young audience,” says Patrick Elmendorff,
MD, Studio 100 Media.
In the 3D CGI series the Super Mega Hyper
Pets of the title have just arrived on earth
and duly set about saving the world.
Teamwork is a key message as when the
pets face challenges they invariably try to
THE SHOW: Larva
THE PRODUCER: Tuba Entertainment
THE DISTRIBUTOR: Imira Entertainment
THE BROADCASTERS: ABC (Australia), NRK Super (Norway), SVT
(Sweden), Canal+ (France), Disney Channel (Taiwan, Hong Kong and
Macau), Nickelodeon (Spain, Portugal and South Africa)
THE CONCEPT: A non-verbal slapstick comedy featuring a pair of sewer
dwelling worms who encounter various animals and items that filter
through the pavement grates
Spanish animation companies have long been
supporters of non-verbal comic animation and
Imira Entertainment is continuing that tradition with Larva, which comes from Tuba
Entertainment’s digital 3D animation studio in
Korea. “It’s classic slapstick comedy – short
form, no dialogue and in the same lineage as
Tom and Jerry,” says Imira’s head of sales and
acquisitions Christophe Goldberger.
Imira has third-party sales rights in Europe
and Latin America, while Tuba is handling Asia
and North America. “We’re happy to share the
rights because we have been expanding our
third-party catalogue in Europe. We needed
some additional content and it made sense to
add the property, as it’s in line with our regular
editorial strategy,” says Goldberger.
The show launches to the international market in Cannes but the 104x2mins season one
has already been acquired by a batch of key
broadcasters. The season, set in a dank sewer,
sees the worm protagonists playing pranks on
wasps, bees and other insects unfortunate
enough to fall through the cracks of the pave-
use their super powers to solve them individually before Timmy steps in and reinforces
the importance of teamwork and empathy.
“The young audience will learn how to
care for pets through Timmy’s eyes,” says
Elmendorff. He adds: “The series has great
licensing and merchandising potential too.”
The series is currently in early production
and Studio 100 says it could still recruit additional coproduction partners.
ment grate into their habitat. Season two is
longer form, at 52x4mins, and moves the action
to an old house sandwiched between two highrise buildings in New York. Goldberger is keen
to get pre-sales secured.
“The appeal of the show is it can go as young
as six but will also attract tweens, teens and family viewers. Furthermore, Red and Yellow are
non-human characters, which makes it even
more accessible,” says Goldberger. He recommends the programme as a lead-in for longer
content such as a Disney Original Movie or an
hour-long programme.
Tuba took season one to ATF as a soft launch
and scored sales but MIPTV marks its full international debut. Korean shortform toons are
growing in stature and number at the moment
with the likes of Goldilocks Studios’ Kioka,
Sunnyside Imaginary Space’s Doong Doong
and Andong Media Centre/Funny Flux coproduction Katuri all finding international homes.
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TBI KIDS HOT PICKS
THE SHOW: LoliRock
THE PRODUCER: Marathon Media
THE DISTRIBUTOR: Zodiak Kids
THE BROADCASTERS: Disney
France, France Télévisions
CONCEPT: A teenage girl who
auditions for a local band finds her
voice is magical and is soon
embroiled in the battle to save an
enchanted kingdom
Marathon Media has pedigree when it comes
to second guessing a coming trend. The
Zodiak Kids-owned Paris toon producer is
behind global hit Totally Spies!, which was
picked up for Nickelodeon for its sixth season
just before MIPCOM last year. That’s why general manager David Michel is sure new girlsskewed magic adventure series LoliRock will
strike a cord with international broadcasters.
“The ‘magical girl’ genre developed in Asia
and shows like Winx Club have done very well
in licensing. The challenge was to reinterpret
that in a very Western way. But when we
looked at the wider [girls’ content] space, we
realised there are still so few shows truly dedicated to them,” he says.
The 52x11mins toon follows a girl who auditions for a local band only to find her voice
transports her to a magical kingdom, which
she is destined to save from evil.
Michel says the musical element was a key
factor in development. He says: “Certainly if
you look at music-themed girls shows, it’s
almost always done in the classic Disney style
of wanting to be a star, as in Hannah
Montana. We feel that today’s generation is in
a very different place in terms of their interests.”
Intriguingly, Disney France is one of two
broadcasters already attached to the show,
the other being France Televisions. “Both
Disney France and France Télévisions really
like the musical aspect,” explains Michel. “In
fact, everybody seems excited by that aspect
of the production.”
Marathon tends toward innovative launch
projects for its shows (the new Totally Spies!
season has a full scale event at the Palace of
Verseilles promoting it) and LoliRock will be
no different. Marathon has hooked up with a
popular French producer/DJ on a series of
themed YouTube music videos, which will
launch before the first television broadcast in
France this fall.
THE SHOW: Cache Craze
THE PRODUCERS: 9 Story Entertainment in association with YTV
THE DISTRIBUTOR: 9 Story Entertainment
THE BROADCASTER:YTV
THE CONCEPT: Physical gameshow built around the idea of geocaching
Geochaching is the craze whereby players
use a GPS system and other navigation methods to find containers, or caches.
“We noticed that a lot of people were talking about it and thought it would be cool to
do a geochaching show, but it couldn’t just be
caching so we added in challenges to make it
even more entertaining,” says Vince
Commisso, CEO of 9 Story Entertainment,
which is making and selling Cache Craze.
The series started airing on Canadian kids
and family broadcaster YTV in March. In each
hour-long show, teams of two family members battle against each other to find caches
and accumulate points. These are tallied up at
the end of each instalment and the team with
the least is eliminated until, at the end of the
ten-episode run, only one winning pair
remains.
The pairs are siblings, parents and kids and
other family members, with the younger team
member always in charge. There is not a
deliberate celebrity slant, but one of the contestants is Brad May, an NHL hockey player
who is taking part with his 13-year-old
daughter.
The teams must also take on wacky physical challenges, such as building a huge tower
of milk crates while suspended upside down
and in mid-air, and these open the way to
accumulating more caches.
The opening episode performed well and
YTV will make a call on a second season after
a few more have aired. 9 Story will start selling the finished show at MIPTV by which
point it will have eight completed episodes of
the show, which was shot in Toronto, to show
potential buyers and four episodes worth of
ratings.
The producer and distributor has some
experience of selling adventure gameshows,
having shopped Survive This to over seventy
buyers, including Cartoon Network in the US.
“Survive This sold well and I think that was
a far more local show whereas Cache Craze is
location neutral as the viewers are rooting for
the individuals and the teams,” says
Commisso.
23
Kidsp24 Last Word AprMay13scFINAL
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LAST WORD ANDREW SMITH
LAST WORD
ANDREW SMITH, CEO, PUKEKO PICTURES
China: taking care of business
What is the China Opportunity?
When asked to write this article on China, it got
me thinking - how much do people really know
about the Chinese film and TV market? I concluded that many industry execs have probably
heard a lot of hype, but might be missing some
basic facts. So I thought I should start by outlining some of the basics:
● There are approximately 5,000 companies eligible to produce films and TV in China
● There are 250 companies active in the film distribution market
● China Film Group and HuaXia are the only
two companies eligible for distributing imported films
● There are approximately 39 movie theatre
lines in China; 8 out of 39 companies have over
500 screens
● China’s box office has grown from approximately $500M in 2007 to over $2,500M in
2012
● China has a quota on imported films, limiting
importation to just 34 foreign films per annum
● Imported TV programmes are not allowed to
be screened during peak viewing hours of 5pm
to 10pm.
● Only TV stations of provincial and above level
are allowed to import TV programmes. For TV
series, that’s 50 episodes for each TV station per
year.
So what is the China opportunity? At a simplistic economic level, it is the ability to extract
super-normal profits from a vast market that
has significant quota restrictions. In other
words, get your film or TV series into China and
there is vast potential. The trick is to get access,
and then work out how to realise a profit from a
market notoriously difficult to navigate.
But how do you access the Chinese Market?
For films, there are two access paths to have
your film imported:
1. It qualifies as a Taiwan or Hong Kong film (coproductions are also possible with certain
requirements)
2. Your film is selected by the management of
the China Film Group.
Otherwise the only other method is to coproduce your film with a locally permitted production company. State Administration of Radio,
Film and Television (SARFT) is the official body
responsible for permitting film activity.
However, the most critical player here is the
China Film Coproduction Corporation (CFCC).
This is due to CFCC being the body that actually supervises the filmmaking production
process.
For TV series, importation is very strict with a
huge amount of worldwide competition.
Opportunity does exist for coproduction, however the official coproduction are difficult to meet
and need the support of a Chinese TV station.
By far the easiest avenue to access the
Chinese market is via online media because of
the following factors: no quota limitations, no
screening limitations and online media must
purchase the copyright from the producer
before broadcasting and as long as the TV programs are do not feature sensitive topics (e.g.
political, erotic, ethical, etc.) SARFT allows it to
broadcast online.
The large population base, rapid growth rate
of Chinese netizen, plus the wide penetration of
network video constitute a huge customer base
and market size. Despite the large number of
netizens, not many users are willing to pay for
videos given the easy access to illegal video
sources, resulting in minor income for pay-
videos. This means that producers need to look
to ancillary forms of revenue, in order to maximize their income from this market. For properties that lend themselves to transmedia and
licensing in the merchandise space, this is an
attractive proposition.
Our sister company, Weta Workshop, has
been doing business in China for over a decade
now, producing collectible consumer products
as well as film props. Over time we have been
introduced to many people and companies
active in the film and TV distribution space.
Ultimately we took the view that we would enter
the market with a company that we knew, so we
challenged this company to get access to the TV
market for our preschool show, The WotWots.
They met the challenge and we subsequently
signed them up as our licensing agent for the
China market.
Since then we have been building brand
awareness of the WotWots via a number of different broadcast platforms, most recently securing a license with CCTV channel 11 for broadcast on their children’s block. We are now turning our focus to rolling out a licensing program.
In rolling out this program, we have become
acutely aware of the challenges we now face.
The Chinese licensing industry is very much in
its infancy, meaning that local companies are
not geared up to access their local market.
Coupled with a retail market that is characterised by a large number of retail stores that are
somewhat unfamiliar with character licensed
product. While this is challenging, it also means
that there is significant scope once we have put
a robust program in place.
Without a doubt, the Chinese market is a
huge learning curve with its own rules, and
hopefully its own rewards. TBI
CaRtoon
17-20
Sept.
2013
Toulouse
Illustration : Seb Cazes
Midi-Pyrénées
European Co-production Forum • Animated TV Series
KidspIBC Cartoon Forum AprMay13.indd 1
www.cartoon-media.eu
19/03/2013 18:58
KidspOBC MarVista AprMay13.indd 1
13/03/2013 18:39

Here - TBI Vision

Transcription

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