WorldScreenings: CAKE’s Ed Galton on Kids’ Content Suited to the Times

Ed Galton, the chief commercial officer and managing director of CAKE, on the value of kids’ shows that promote empathy, social awareness and address the anxiety young ones may be feeling amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the U.K.-based indie CAKE, the responses from its clients regarding their programming needs amid the global pandemic have been varied. “For some, it is business as usual and their needs aren’t changing,” says Ed Galton, CAKE’s chief commercial officer and managing director. “Other clients are requesting educational content to fill the need of kids being at home, which is obviously a concern, as the longer this continues, broadcasters are feeling a responsibility to put content on that is curriculum-focused and has a learning takeaway. And some broadcasters are pausing on acquisitions because of the economic uncertainty.”

As some broadcasters have reached out requesting content quickly, CAKE has found opportunities for titles where it has dubbing assets already created, he adds. And library titles have become a key asset. “We have seen an increased demand for library content that is already dubbed or non-dialogue content that we can deliver immediately,” Galton explains. “Angry Birds remains strong, and we continue to make deals on legacy titles such as Oscar’s Oasis.”

With a slate that is largely driven by animation, Galton says that CAKE is “very fortunate that we have not been impacted as much as other sectors.” Production continues on the new Angry Birds series, on Mama K’s Team 4 for Netflix and Mush-Mush & the Mushables is still wrapping up.

Addressing COVID-19 concerns head-on, some of CAKE’s partners have been creating PSAs that include shows it’s involved in. Total Dramarama, for example, is doing a PSA about washing your hands that will be aired on Cartoon Network. “PSAs are one of the most direct ways that this is being addressed,” Galton says.

“From a distribution perspective, and the argument I would be making to some of our clients, is that we should be focusing on putting content out there that emphasizes empathy, social awareness and addresses anxiety that kids may be experiencing at this time,” he continues. “A show like Kiri and Lou, where kindness is key, is as important as educating kids and teaching them to learn math via television. Dealing with the anxieties of being locked up in your home and putting content up that makes kids feel good and gives them a departure from their everyday realities is equally important.”

Galton admits that it’s difficult to pinpoint at the moment what the long-term effects of the pandemic will be for the kids’ content community, “as it will obviously depend on the length of time we are in lockdown. For sure, some broadcasters and platforms will not survive this crisis and this will have an effect on the creation of content and where content will ultimately end up. The economics surrounding how content gets made and how content is monetized is obviously being dramatically impacted, so we will have to see how that is resolved.”

On a more positive note, he says, “the consumption of content certainly has not gone down; there is still a demand for content from the end user and that won’t change.”

See CAKE’s Spring 2020 Showcase here.