Beth Stevenson

TV Kids Weekly, September 22, 2008

Executive VP, Development and Production

DECODE Entertainment

Just over a decade old, DECODE Entertainment has become one of Canada’s most prolific children’s production companies, with almost 40 series to its credit. Beth Stevenson, who has been with DECODE since its early days and today heads up all of its development and production efforts, enjoys being constantly reminded of that body of work. “On my desk I have this beautiful series of photographs of all the creators I’ve worked with that I’ve learned so much from.”

Stevenson has a passion for kids’ programming, even though it’s an industry she had never actually planned on entering, after getting her start in prime-time series, working on shows like the cult comedy sketch show Kids in the Hall. “I did accidentally fall into the kids’ business. I was at Alliance before it was Alliance Atlantis, in the development department and we had a show called ReBoot. That’s when I fell in love completely with animation.”

Stevenson followed her Alliance colleague Steve DeNure to DECODE, where the mandate was to “do things that looked different in the marketplace, that really stood out. Because of our knowledge and the risks we had already taken in animation, we felt we could push the envelope.”

For Stevenson, Angela Anaconda was the series that put DECODE on the international map, scoring slots on networks around the world. The next great step in the company’s evolution came with its expansion into live-action programming, with series like Radio Free Roscoe, which defined Canada’s Family Channel as a premier destination for tween content. DECODE went on to produce Naturally, Sadie, which was picked up by Disney Channel in the U.S., and the company’s latest show in this space is The Latest Buzz. “Live action for us is all about the script and the casting. You can’t write too sophisticated. Kids have to watch it and connect with the characters.”

Today, Stevenson is enjoying bringing animation and live action together in what she refers to as some “crazy combinations,” among them Dirt Girl. “It’s a live-action mouth and live-action eyes on a big cartoon head on a live-action body and this stunning animated background. It looks like the best CG ever!”

For Stevenson, at the heart of ushering the germ of an idea into a full broadcaster commission is a thorough understanding of production processes and of the needs of the marketplace. “There are hundreds of thousands of stunning, beautiful ideas that are brought through the doors of studios,” she notes. Culling through those, it’s important to be able to say, “I can take this blank sheet of paper and I know that if we put this and this and this together [it will work], or, this German broadcaster is looking specifically for [an idea like this]. Or, Do you remember that writer we thought would be good for something like this?”

DECODE has also kept creative concerns front and center in its development process, before thinking about the licensing and merchandising offshoots that have become so crucial in the kids’ business. “Sometimes when you’re trying to back into that stuff, the audience knows. We’ve always [felt that if you] build it they will come. We’re not going to limit our portfolio just down to preschool and boys action because that’s where we think the hits will be on the licensing side. We’re going to have a wide and varied portfolio. In the end three or four of our properties over a few years period may turn into respectable licensing campaigns.”

As an example, Stevenson cites Franny’s Feet, one of DECODE’s top preschool properties. “In 2001, two people came through our doors and pitched a story about a little girl who puts on a pair of shoes which take her on adventures. We just learned that Hasbro is going full into production on the toy line.”

With all her years in the business, Stevenson remains enthralled by how kids connect with DECODE’s shows. “The huge bonus is the imprinting you have on kids. It really came home to me when we were nominated for an Emmy for Angela Anaconda and I was sitting in a hair salon in Beverly Hills. There was a 10-year-old girl there getting her weekly manicure—obviously she was quite a jaded Beverly Hills 10-year-old! And the woman who was doing my hair [told her I was nominated for an award.] The girl looked at me and said, for what show? I said, you probably haven’t heard of it, it’s called Angela Anaconda. She said, Oh my gosh, Angela Anaconda! And for two minutes she was a real 10-year-old. That was more of an award than anything else.”