Rainbow’s Iginio Straffi

***Iginio Straffi***When the animated Winx Club’s teenage fairies first hit the Italian airwaves, employing their supernatural powers in fantastic adventures to save the world, young viewers were enthralled. It didn’t take long for Winx fever to spread to other countries. In fact, the show has sold to more than 100 countries, including the U.S. Winx Club is just one of the series produced and distributed by the Italian company Rainbow. CEO Iginio Straffi talks about his commitment to quality and how it has been the driving force behind his business.

TV KIDS: What factors have contributed to Rainbow’s current level of success?
STRAFFI: We have remained very focused on strong content. To give you an example, if some of our competitors have $10 they might decide to invest $2 [each] on five projects, instead of spending $10 on only one project. [The latter] is a somewhat risky choice, because if that one project doesn’t work, you have to pay the consequences. By spreading the money over five projects, there is a chance that one will work and four won’t—that is less risky, but the quality will be inferior.

We, however, believe that it is necessary to put the proper amount of effort and resources into every project. It’s useless to present 100 projects instead of five if enough attention isn’t paid to the development of the story lines, or the characters, or the graphic design, or to the marketing—all elements that are vital to at least aspiring to reach an international success.

TV KIDS: Why have girls in so many countries found Winx Club appealing?
STRAFFI: It’s a unique product, starting with the stories, which are much more detailed and multilevel compared to the more simple plotlines of average cartoons. The plotline in Winx carries over from episode to episode, with many mini-stories that make up the total story that stretches out not only for an entire season of 26 episodes, but over 100 episodes and also over a feature film that deals with the origins of Bloom [one of the main characters]. Winx represents an entire world, rich and complex, and the content of the stories is similar to those in series for adults.

On the graphic and design side, the Winx girls change costumes and hairdos up to three or four times per episode, depending on whether they are at school, or involved in sports, or on a mission. This required a huge amount of extra designs and animation, because we couldn’t reuse anything, compared to a cartoon with characters that are always dressed in the same costume with the same hairdo. But clearly, today’s young female viewers, who pay close attention to detail, have understood that Winx is a special series, and they really enjoy being able to identify with these characters who are a bit older—the Winx girls are teenagers—and wear fashions that ordinary schoolgirls do not. Plus, Italian fashion designers oversaw the outfits in the series, and this helped contribute to the originality and uniqueness of Winx.

Another key factor that contributed to Winx’s success, and was a big investment that paid off, was that every series contains 15 or 16 original songs. We composed these songs because we know that music is an important element in the lives of teens, and now increasingly even for children, and our audience enjoys the songs very much.

Not everyone does this. Those producers I mentioned who have to create five series with the same amount of money that we use to create one cannot afford to compose and record songs. Dubbing is expensive on its own, but to find singers with the same young and fresh voices in Turkish, Russian or even Hebrew is quite an investment of time and money.

All of these efforts yield the type of detail that contributes to a special project and an international success.

TV KIDS: What new projects are you working on?
STRAFFI: We are developing the second series of Huntik: Secrets & Seekers, and with 52 episodes we can start a licensing plan, which is not possible with only 26 episodes.

Since PopPixie started with an important licensing campaign, we have 52 episodes right from the start, and the first 26 will be ready in the fall and the second 26 at the beginning of next year.

PopPixie cannot be considered simply a spinoff of Winx. There is only 5 percent of the Pixie world in Winx. PopPixie is full of pixies as well as elves and gnomes and magical animals and fantastic creatures. It’s a brand-new series with a lot of fast-paced comedy. Despite the fact that the show’s look is appealing to girls, we are sure the series will also pull in boys because it is very funny and there are many male characters. It’s a comedy series consisting of self-contained episodes.

TV KIDS: As license fees continue to fall, does merchandising become increasingly important?
STRAFFI: It’s very important for us and it always has been. Nowadays maybe even more, because despite the fact that there has been a proliferation of channels for children, license fees have become ridiculously low. Broadcasters just keep cutting both the time slots dedicated to children’s programming and the budgets to produce and acquire shows. This is a very difficult time for all of us producers and even more so for those who aim at only selling TV and home-video rights. The television industry is also facing the challenge of all the content that is available for free on the Internet. Clearly the main problem now is that many broadcasters, compared to ten years ago, are paying one-tenth of what they used to pay in license fees, and in some cases with Japanese product based on toys, some broadcasters have gotten used to receiving programming for free. This is a big problem. Because if a producer has to make the best possible content he has to finance it through broadcast sales. If there are no slots and there aren’t sufficient budgets and broadcasters are getting product for free, the children’s business will suffer, or it will be subject to the major studios that have the leverage to impose their conditions on broadcasters and make them pay.

TV KIDS: What growth opportunities do you see in the next 12 to 24 months?
STRAFFI: Our main growth opportunity will be in the area of movies. We were the first in Italy, and among the first in Europe, to produce animated films, even in stereoscopic 3-D. The experience of a 3-D movie is not something that can be replicated with a movie downloaded from the Internet illegally. The box office has shown the potential of 3-D, and thanks in great part to Avatar, movies are enjoying a newfound energy.

We have two films coming out: the second Winx movie will be released this fall, and a film about ancient Rome is slated for next year. We believe that Rainbow will take a big leap forward in theatrical movies.
Of course, TV series and licensing remain our core businesses, and with the properties we have we seem to be protected from the economic downturn. Winx is always number one and has been growing exponentially in some markets. PopPixie already has numerous presales and licensees, starting with Bandai for toys and followed by some 60 or 70 companies. Huntik will have a licensing plan next year with 52 episodes available, and clearly we feel we are well positioned for the next few years.

TV KIDS: Where do you find the drive to keep initiating new projects?
STRAFFI: That’s a good question that I often ask myself! We’ve had several accomplishments we are proud of, but every day I find myself wanting to reach some other, more ambitious goals. In fact, next year we will be opening Rainbow Magic Land, a theme park outside Rome that will be the largest in Italy.

We won’t stop at TV and movie content. My drive stems from a desire to do things and the satisfaction of working with many young, talented and dedicated people who, like me, want to create something in Italy and in Europe that hasn’t been done before.