Superights’ Nathalie Pinguet

Nathalie Pinguet, Superights’ deputy general manager of sales and acquisitions, tells TV Kids’ Kristin Brzoznowski about her overall strategy, the rollout of Pat the Dog, and more.

Last summer, Pinguet was hired by Superights, where she is charged with leading the sales and acquisitions strategy for all media, among other duties. Prior to joining the company, she worked for TF1 as deputy director of the youth programming unit and deputy head of programming.

TV KIDS: What is guiding your overall strategy at Superights?
PINGUET: I am very proud to have joined Superights’ team [around] six months ago now! My 20 years’ experience at the youth department of the main TV channel in France, TF1, is a real benefit to understanding the needs of broadcasters, who are now my clients.

Superights became a not-to-be-missed partner on the international market with a catalog of around 20 programs, among which there are 12 completed series and six in production or in development. Our strategy is, of course, to be in symbiosis with our buyers—we go and meet with them on site and at all major kids’ markets—but also to keep close partnerships with the producers we represent. From the development phase of each project to the final delivery, we set up a tailor-made strategy and start closing presales as soon as possible.

We are very much looking for quality programs to expand our catalog; our focus is on production value rather than quantity.

TV KIDS: How has the rollout been for Pat the Dog and are there any new developments for the IP that you would like to share?
PINGUET: Pat the Dog is our biggest hit to date. We closed many presales early in the process, which is quite unusual today in the industry, but thanks to the high quality of the first elements and the strong initial concept, broadcasters were convinced of its potential!

Commissioned by Canal+ Family, Teletoon+ and Rai, with RTBF and VRT, the series has been sold in over 180 territories and is broadcast on major pay-TV kids’ networks such as Disney Channel in the U.S., Turner channels in EMEA and the Asia Pacific, and Discovery Kids in Latin America. We are now working on expanding the free-TV exposure of the brand. We recently signed with Disney in Spain and Germany. To reinforce the exposure of the brand, we entrusted worldwide L&M rights to ProSiebenSat.1 Licensing.

The series is performing very well, and we [just] announced season two.

TV KIDS: Where are you scouting for new IP outside of the Superprod family?
PINGUET: As we are present at all major kids’ markets, we have the chance to meet lots of producers. Cartoon Forum is probably the richest one in this field. This year, we had several crushes on projects from France, of course, but also Belgium, Switzerland, the U.K. and Croatia.

We are also working on new comedy shows. The first one [is made] with the Pat the Dog creators. The name of the series is Osmond. It tells the stories of a brave little girl and a green, hairy creature. The second one is Joker Joe, with jokes and snappy comebacks for a simply irresistible little boy. This new series will be in 3D.

TV KIDS: What are the company’s plans in the live-action space?
PINGUET: Indeed, our strategy is to keep diversifying our catalog with live-action series. This category requires specific production know-how and high-quality productions.

We are very happy to welcome Bo Bear—our very first live-action series, produced by the Norwegian company Spark—aimed at a preschool and family audience. The series follows the daily adventures of young kids and their fluffy friend Bo Bear, who guides them through life with a lot of imagination, fantasy, kindliness and complicity.

We are still looking for new live-action series to complete our lineup.

TV KIDS: Where are you going to be focusing your energy in the next year or so?
PINGUET: Our main objectives are various. First, it’s to keep diversifying our premium catalog while maintaining a coherent editorial line. Then, to maintain strong and close relationships with broadcasters to perfectly understand and meet their needs, as well as with producers to help them close their projects. We can offer financial support (a minimum guarantee) in addition to our sales and programming expertise. Last but not least, to bring the same energy to each program we distribute.