TV Kids Festival Recap

Like every other area of the media business, the kids’ content sector heads into 2023 with a fair bit of trepidation about what’s to come. Amid strategy shifts, economic concerns, the ongoing conflict in Europe and course corrections at the platforms as they prepare for the next era in the streaming wars, everything is in flux. But as heard across the 18 amazing sessions at the TV Kids Festival last week, the people making, financing and selling children’s content are infinitely adept at navigating the sector’s challenges.

Missed any of the sessions live? You can access the entire festival on-demand here: TVKidsFestival.com. Short on time and want to listen to these sessions instead? Download our brand-new TV Kids Festival podcast here!

Our signature panel featuring leading content buyers opened the event on Tuesday, with Sky Kids’ Lucy Murphy, Paramount UK & Ireland’s Louise Bucknole, TFO’s Marianne Lambert and Future Today’s David Di Lorenzo articulating their acquisition strategies in a lively discussion. All stressed the importance of diversity and inclusion, comedy and titles that encourage co-viewing, as well as flexibility when it comes to rights negotiations.

“We’re looking for killer, not filler,” said Bucknole, the general manager of kids and family at Paramount Global UK & Ireland. “For Milkshake!, we’re very interested in game shows and slapstick and comedy silliness. We’re also looking for content that has a lot of STEM. Sustainability is also very important to us. We know kids love animals, so we’re looking at various animal and pet care [shows]. We obviously would look at any shows that have a great story or are book-based IP, or have the potential to be a franchise. Fact-ent formats are quite interesting for Milkshake! because we’re a public-service broadcaster. Those formats where they’re representing kids and showing their world. Preschool animation is very important to us. What will make the kids draw the picture, hum the theme tune and play based on that show? They’re always going to be the winners for us.”

“We want innovation and different ways of telling stories,” said Lambert, the director of acquisitions and co-productions at TFO. “We have a hard time finding content for 6- to 9-year-olds. Live action also is difficult for us because it has to be dubbed. Since we are educational and our content is used to teach, there are certain things like STEM and examples of girls in science, those kinds of role models. It’s really hard to get a show about math, so we’re always on the lookout for that.”

Murphy, director of kids’ content at Sky in the U.K. and Ireland, added: “We’re particularly looking for half-hour specials with evergreen longevity. We’re keen to find something for younger viewers that gets them moving around. We’re also looking for shows that spark a bit of curiosity in a child. It’s not necessarily a didactic educational show but something that will make them wonder about the world around them. We’re looking for shows with follow-through and a lasting value to them.”

HappyKids is fairly well served on the preschool front, said Di Lorenzo, senior VP of kids and family for Future Today, the streaming service’s parent company. “Our focus right now is on our 6-plus audience. We’ve been focusing on live-action series, trying to find more movies for our audience, looking at science exploration and things that will bring the family together.”

Next, in one of our many creative keynotes, Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey offered delegates an inside look at the process behind making the hit DreamWorks Animation series Gabby’s Dollhouse.

Inspiration for the series was drawn from “all the things that we loved as kids,” Twomey explained. “We loved dollhouses, miniatures, cats. We tuned in to this unboxing phenomenon and how much preschoolers were into it. We thought there was something there, but we wanted to take it to the next level. So instead of unboxing a toy or a product, what if we unbox a story? We put it all into the mix and came up with the idea for Gabby’s Dollhouse.”

On the mixed-media style used in the show, Paige Johnson noted, “In today’s kids’ landscape, there’s so much out there. You need to find something that feels different. We know that kids, through Blue’s Clues and watching YouTube videos, respond to that live-action person or kid looking into the camera and asking questions. We knew we wanted to bring that in. When we did the unboxing—unboxing is the catalyst to the story—we knew that the animated part would be more fun if she shrunk into the dollhouse and became animated in those worlds and all that wish fulfillment.”

Our first senior-level keynote of the day was delivered by Richard Dickson, the president and COO of Mattel, who highlighted the crucial role IP plays in the company’s overall brand-building strategies. “Following the completion of our turnaround in 2021, we evolved our strategy last year from transforming Mattel into an IP-driven, high-performing toy company to growing our IP-driven toy business and expanding our entertainment offering,” Dickson explained. “Film and television, consumer products, digital experiences like games and NFTs—these are directly adjacent businesses to the toy industry. We’re making a lot of progress on capturing the full value of our IP in what we believe are highly accretive business verticals.”

Understanding how to harness the power of YouTube was the focus of our afternoon session featuring Entertainment One’s Yannick Ferrero, pocket.watch’s David B. Williams, Cloudco Entertainment’s Sean Gorman and Kartoon Channel! Worldwide’s Paul Robinson.

“One of the things that is so exciting about YouTube is it’s the most data-rich environment we’ve ever had and the richest with engagement as well,” said Williams, senior VP and general manager of channels for pocket.watch. “Sometimes I call it the Galapagos Islands of media because it’s like this fiercely competitive environment where you see all these new forms of life evolve.”

We closed the day with Chris Nee, creator of the breakthrough show Doc McStuffins and a slew of other titles via an overall deal with Netflix, talking about innovation in preschool narrative techniques, the keys to encouraging co-viewing and her work in driving forward diversity and inclusion in children’s media.

“It’s important that you’re seeing it on-screen,” said Nee. “But also, you’re not going to see it on-screen or see it on-screen properly if we’re not starting to see real change in the halls where we work. In that respect, I still get frustrated because, of course, we’re not there. We tend to do three steps forward and two steps back. I wish we could just do a ten-step leap forward and maybe one back. But I get excited when I look around a space like Netflix or Disney…and see a lot more diversity in the ranks. We have to keep pushing the same process. My big thing is that we have to stop having so many programs and just hire people for the jobs. That’s what I try to do.”

Day two opened with an engaging spotlight on British and Irish animation with Jetpack Distribution’s Dominic Gardiner, Serious Kids’ Genevieve Dexter, Monster Entertainment’s Andrew Fitzpatrick, Sixteen South’s Colin Williams and Magic Light Pictures’ Muriel Thomas. The panelists all agreed that financing is the biggest challenge they are facing today.

“It’s the biggest challenge, but also what makes us more creative in how we approach productions,” Gardiner, CEO of Jetpack, said. “How we collaborate and partner and have all these inventive government-sponsored schemes that enable series to be made. What doesn’t destroy us—our lack of financing—in a way, makes us resilient and robust. That’s why the industry is growing, even though we’re always struggling to find money.”

Next, Vince Commisso, 9 Story Media Group’s president and CEO, discussed the state of the kids’ media market today and articulated how his company is navigating the challenges and opportunities in the landscape. “What we’re seeing is a belief—an accurate one—that the current business model as a result of streaming content is not as lucrative as the one that preceded it,” Commisso said. “That’s caused a bit of a pause in the marketplace, manifesting itself in two ways. One is a reduction in the commissions of shows and then the reduction of budgets. That’s going to be the case for the foreseeable future. I think it’s time for companies like us to look at how we do everything and adjust for the way the world is moving forward, especially in the area of content.”

Content innovation was the focus of our keynote conversation with Halle Stanford, the president of television at The Jim Henson Company, who talked about how the outfit places “humor, heart and hope” at the center of every show it is involved with.

Kevin and Dan Hageman discussed making the first animated series for kids set in the beloved Star Trek universe. Star Trek: Prodigy has rolled out on Paramount+ and Nickelodeon, with a second season in the works.

Day two of the festival wrapped with a panel about how companies approach crafting development strategies with Sesame Workshop’s Kay Wilson Stallings, Nelvana’s Athena Georgaklis, Cyber Group Studios’ Ira Singerman and Boat Rocker Studio’s Shaleen Sangha.

“We’re looking for characters that are relatable to our audience,” said Wilson Stallings, Sesame Workshop’s executive VP of creative and production. “Characters that our audience will want to be friends with. We look for stories that are meaningful to our audience. Stories that are on topics that our audience can relate to. And then, as an educational media company, we look for the pressing and most critical needs of kids at any time.”

Benoît Di Sabatino, the CEO of Banijay Kids & Family, laid out his growth strategy for the company as day three of the festival opened. He highlighted the company’s scale in the kids’ sector with its slate of production labels and dedicated distribution and commercial arm. “With six production companies, we have six times more opportunities to develop amazing shows and potentially global brands. All those companies are based in important financial territories with key commissioning broadcasters and tax incentive policies. Thanks to this organization, we can cater to a wide range of audiences from preschool to kids, young adults and family in live action and animation.”

The conundrum of pulling together the financing of shows was debated at our Money Matters panel featuring CAKE’s Ed Galton, Guru Studio’s Frank Falcone, DeAPlaneta Entertainment’s Carlos Biern and Big Bad Boo Studios’ Shabnam Rezaei.

“There was an abundance of content created with overexuberance and enthusiasm for the people trapped at home that were suddenly a captive audience,” said Falcone, president and executive creative director at Guru Studio. “A lot of that content isn’t attracting the eyeballs. It’s a time to regroup and look closer at what we’re commissioning. It’s healthy for the business to make things that people watch and not burn money on shows that never find an audience.”

The influx of money into the ecosystem over the last few years also set unreasonable long-term expectations, Galton noted. “When you have people like Netflix giving you 100 percent finance to make a show; they’re giving you $15 million to $18 million to produce a series, and then suddenly that starts to go away, that’s becoming a problem for a lot of people. We’re relying on a small number of platforms that were doling out a lot of money to get shows off the ground. We’re almost going back to the model that some of us were very successful at for many years, which is putting multiple partners together to get to 100 percent.”

In his keynote session, Eric Ellenbogen, CEO and vice chair of WildBrain, also weighed in on how the market is evolving. “The headlines have been exaggerating the rationalization happening in the business,” he noted. “There has been enormous, unprecedented investment in content. A lot of it was about audience acquisition and retention. We’re seeing more careful choices and development by the streamers. The level of investment is still extremely high. Kids’ content has always been a cornerstone of these services. Some services are de-emphasizing kids’ content, but we are seeing growth in FAST channels. There’ll be continuing shifts in the marketplace. But our business has always endured those things. Again, it’s just about great creative.”

We closed the day with a spotlight on the Australian live-action series First Day, with Julie Kalceff, creator, and Kirsty Stark, producer, showcasing how the show is breaking barriers in its representation of transgender kids.

“Children’s television has such an impact on kids,” Kalceff said. “It’s how they view the world. And if they don’t see themselves on screen, it impacts how they feel about themselves. I think children’s television has a great, important role in not only diverse representation, but also representation in a way that creates an environment where people can start conversations and see what best behavior is and how they should be acting.”

Day four of the TV Kids Festival opened with us honoring Francesca Newington, director of the POP Channels, with the TV Kids Pioneer Award. Newington discussed her programming choices, which have kept the Narrative Entertainment-owned portfolio in pole position in the competitive U.K. market. “We’re using our knowledge of what kids are attracted to and providing them with the funny stuff, the franchises, the variety and the quality they would expect. We’re doing that as best we can, and we’re trying to remain current and emulate the trends that kids are tapping into in the digital world so we can stay in touch with them and be a part of their conversation.”

Next up, in the Smarter Kids session, Dandelooo’s Emmanuèle Pétry-Sirvin, Toonz Media Group’s Bruno Zarka and The itsy bitsy Entertainment Company’s Kenn Viselman delivered lessons on successfully incorporating curricula and important social themes in kids’ content.

“‘Educational’ is very broad now because it’s almost in every show,” said Pétry-Sirvin, partner and producer at Dandelooo. “Even in shows that are ‘commercial,’ so to speak, there is a social-emotional, educational part in it; I think we are over this era when people just wanted to entertain kids.”

Brenda Bisner, the chief content officer at Kidoodle.TV, talked about the platform’s commitment to keeping kids safe as it provides them with engaging content online. “Parents are looking for alternatives that are not just safe but also something free, with no barrier to entry. With a recession and the cost-of-living squeeze, it’s another great thing we can do to ensure that families can afford it and that their kids can be safe while doing it.”

The festival wrapped with a final creative keynote, delivered by Emma Watkins, a former member of The Wiggles who is now merging her interest in music, sign language and dance to educate and entertain in Emma Memma: Sing. Dance. Sign. “Everything that we give to children visually, they’re absorbing. Everything in the frame should support that goal.”

Watch all the sessions from the TV Kids Festival here.