TV Kids Festival Preview: Day 2

The second day of the TV Kids Festival includes a panel on trends in preschool programming, a creative keynote from Aardman’s Nick Park, a conversation with Mattel Television’s Fred Soulie, a behind-the-scenes look at Alma’s Way and a candid discussion about navigating the complexities of the kids’ business. See the full rundown for the event, running from February 1 to 4, here.

At 9 a.m. EST, Genevieve Dexter, founder and CEO of Serious Kids and Eye Present; Jetpack Distribution CEO Dominic Gardiner; Emmanuèle Pétry-Sirvin, partner and producer at Dandelooo; and Daniel Bays, VP of development at CAKE, will weigh in on the keys to appealing to preschool audiences.

This is followed at 10:30 a.m. EST by a one-on-one with Park, co-director at Aardman and a four-time Academy Award winner, who will discuss his creative approach to megahit properties such as Shaun the Sheep and Wallace & Gromit.

At 12 p.m. EST, we hear from Soulie, senior VP and general manager of Mattel Television who oversees a slate of content inspired by the toy giant’s treasure trove of IP. Immediately following Soulie’s keynote, TV Kids Festival participants will be treated to a full episode of the brand-new Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go.

Sonia Manzano, best known for her long run on Sesame Street, and Ellen Doherty, the chief creative officer at Fred Rogers Productions, go behind the scenes of their new PBS KIDS preschool show Alma’s Way in a special session at 1:30 p.m. EST.

The day caps off with a panel entitled Engaging Kids Today at 3 p.m. EST. During the panel, Deirdre Brennan, COO of WildBrain, and Frank Falcone, president and executive creative director at Guru Studio, will take part in a candid conversation about navigating the complexities of the kids’ business today.