Jonathan M. Shiff Signs On for TV Kids Festival

Creator and producer Jonathan M. Shiff, whose long list of credits includes H2O: Just Add Water, Mako Mermaids and The Bureau of Magical Things, will deliver a creative keynote as part of the upcoming TV Kids Festival.

Formerly a practicing lawyer, Shiff has been the hands-on creator and originator of all programs for his company, which he established in 1988. During a one-on-one conversation with TV Kids’ Anna Carugati, Shiff will discuss the inspiration behind the shows he’s created, the keys to providing high-quality live-action programming for tweens and teens, the challenges and opportunities involved in working with young actors and what’s coming up, among other topics.

Free registration will open next week.

The TV Kids Festival will also hear from Dan Povenmire, whose credits include the global hit Phineas and Ferb; Traci Paige Johnson and Angela Santomero, the co-creators of the hit series Blue’s Clues and Blue’s Clues & You!; Eric Ellenbogen, the CEO and vice chair of WildBrain; Claude Schmit, the CEO of Super RTL; and Sebastian Debertin, the head of fiction, acquisitions and co-productions at KiKA.

Panels lined up as part of the TV Kids Festival include one on distribution trends, featuring CAKE’s Ed Galton, eOne’s Monica Candiani and 9 Story’s Alix Wiseman; a session on co-productions, with Toon2Tango’s Ulli Stoef, Serious Lunch and Eye Present’s Genevieve Dexter, Boat Rocker Studios’ Jon Rutherford and Guru Studio’s Frank Falcone; and an acquisitions panel that features Cartoon Network’s Adina Pitt, M6’s Maud Branly, Kidoodle.TV’s Brenda Bisner and Hopster’s Ellen Solberg.

Taking place from February 2 to 5, 2021, the TV Kids Festival will feature keynotes and panels with leading executives and creatives discussing the importance of alliances in producing and distributing top-notch kids’ programming today. It will be streamed live and available on-demand on World Screen’s brand-new, state-of-the-art events and festivals platform.