The Week at MIPJunior & MIPCOM

TV Kids recaps some of the children’s programming news that came out of MIPJunior and MIPCOM.

Amid all the concerns about seismic shifts in the way kids are accessing content these days, the children’s programming business is looking remarkably buoyant. There were deals aplenty announced during MIPJunior and MIPCOM. And attendance at MIPJunior was up to a record 1,600 participants, including more than 630 buyers (a 10 percent increase).

Buyers had plenty of content to sample over their two days at the Martinez, with some 1,200 programs in the screening library and 260 new development projects presented to potential partners. There were World Premiere TV Screenings of Splash and Bubbles, produced by The Jim Henson Company and Herschend Enterprises, and Grizzy and the Lemmings from Studio Hari Production.

The latter topped the list of the 30 most-screened shows at MIPJunior, followed by Bottersnikes & Gumbles from CAKE in the U.K. Rounding out the top five were Pat the Dog from Superights in France, Kitty is Not a Cat from Jetpack Distribution/Bogan Entertainment Solutions in the U.K./Australia and Gilbert & Allie from Cyber Group Studios in France (the Paris-based outfit had a total of four shows in the top 30).

Another big launch at MIPJunior was the brand-new Ben 10 from Cartoon Network. Steven T. Seagle, a founding partner of Man of Action Entertainment, the creators of the series, told TV Kids that the highly anticipated new iteration of the global franchise phenomenon “might freak out some longtime fans” with its new look and feel, but assures that all the core elements that viewers love are still in place.

Figuring out what kids will respond to is no easy task. As such, last year World Screen launched, together with Reed MIDEM, the Kids’ Content Trendsetter Awards to honor innovative programming executives. This year the recipients were Canal+’s Laurence Blaevoet, Disney XD’s Marc Buhaj, CBBC’s Sarah Muller and Amazon Studios’ Tara Sorensen. They received their statues at the end of the packed What Do Channels and Platforms Want? session moderated by Anna Carugati, the group editorial director ofWorld Screen. In the informative discussion, they weighed in on wish lists, digital and more. Amazon’s Sorensen said, “We’re always looking for great shows that have great stories and characters and innovation in design or storytelling. We are medium-agnostic—we will do live action, animation, CG, hybrid, puppet. Right now we are looking to fill the pipeline in animation because it takes longer for that to get through production. Otherwise, we’re totally open to something unique.”

Blaevoet noted the strong presence of the big American kids’ channels in France. To differentiate itself from those services, Canal+ is looking to get “into the French cultural footprint,” Blaevoet said. Also, she said, 8- to 10-year-olds are less interested in animation, so live action—particularly “spooky” live action—is a major priority.

Disney XD’s Buhaj said that it is critical to have a strong creative point of view. “If you’re going to do comedy, make sure you laugh. If you’re doing action adventure, make the stakes high. In this viewing universe, those who do that will stand out. That’s what we’re after.”

CBBC’s Muller—who is soon exiting the pubcaster to join Channel 5—reminded delegates to make sure they stay up to date with that channel’s needs. “Everything starts with good storytelling. The thing that has eluded those of us who are looking for gripping stories and great characters is how that works as a digital-first property. What does truly digital storytelling look like? None of us have cracked that yet. How do we take all this clever technology and platforms and our audiences’ ability to engage with content in different ways and turn that into something truly unique and special and revolutionary? That’s the challenge I’m going to throw down. I’m certain if you could bring that to BBC Children’s, there will be a lot of interest in it.”

The transformative impact of digital factored heavily in the keynote address by Catherine Balsam-Schwaber, chief content officer at Mattel. Kids are “transforming the business that we’re in from a ‘push’ business into something that is entirely consumer-centric,” Balsam-Schwaber said. Her presentation was followed by a Q&A with Kristin Brzoznowski, the executive editor of World Screen.

Deirdre Brennan, the VP of content at Corus Kids, also discussed digital media trends in her keynote and called on kids’ producers and distributors to be more willing to look beyond the traditional 11-minute and half-hour formats.

Across the board, sessions at MIPJunior showcased the vibrancy and diversity of kids’ content on the market today, a trend you could clearly see from the numerous announcements during the week.

It was a busy few days for Cyber Group Studios, which arrived at the market with six series in production and seven development projects encompassing a range of animation styles and target demos. The French outfit also landed deals with broadcasters and digital platforms worldwide for more than ten series and announced its foray into feature-film distribution with Iqbal, Tale of a Fearless Child.

Mattel also had several announcements during MIPCOM, including a deal for WellieWishers in the U.K. on Tiny Pop, new agreements for Thomas & Friends and an SVOD pact with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) Content Group for the Barbie movie catalog.

Zodiak Kids’ deals included sales for Floogals in Australia, Italy and Scottish Gaelic-speaking U.K., and licensing more than 70 hours of content to Amazon in the U.K., Ireland and Germany. Studio 100’s raft of announcements included licensing The Wild Adventures of Blinky Bill andNils Holgersson to Radio-Canada and selling Heidi to TVP.

4K Media further extended the broadcast presence of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise in Portugal and Canada, and ZDF Enterprises sold a package of programming targeted at children and young adults to AMC Networks International Central Europe.

Anime took center stage at the market as Japan was celebrated as the Country of Honour, and the AsiaPac region, in general, appears to be generating plenty of activity in the kids’ sector. m4e brokered a deal with UYoung Culture & Media for Mia and me in mainland China. ITV Studios Global Entertainment sold the first season of Thunderbirds Are Go to CCTV in China, marking the first time the property will air in the country. Mondo TV signed an agreement with China’s Henan York Animation for the production of three new animated series to be completed by November 2020.

Elsewhere in the region, FremantleMedia Kids & Family signed new agreements for its hit properties Danger Mouse, Kate & Mim-Mim and Tree Fu Tom with a number of broadcasters in Asia. Turner Asia Pacific acquired two additional seasons of Xilam Animation’s slapstick comedy series Oggy and the Cockroaches. And Beyond Distribution sold the CBBC shows The Dengineers and Junior Vets into several markets.

Another key trend of the week’s news was the importance of recognizable brands. Of note, m4e has teamed up with Emmy Award‐winning producer Sherry Gunther Shugerman (The Simpsons, Rugrats, Family Guy) to produce The Beatrix Girls, based on the multimedia brand and its toy line of collectible pop‐star dolls. Gaumont Animation is working with American Greetings Entertainment to co-develop, co-produce and co-distribute an all-new animated series based on the 1980s girls’ brand Herself the Elf.

Looking ahead to April, plans are under way to expand the Kids@MIPTV strand, which will again include the International Emmy Kids Awards, the nominees for which were announced last Monday. There are 28 nominees across seven categories. Nominations hail from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the Netherlands and the U.K. TV Kids is the media partner of the annual event.

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