{"id":11340,"date":"2016-12-02T09:41:06","date_gmt":"2016-12-02T14:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/taking-flight\/"},"modified":"2016-12-05T09:44:07","modified_gmt":"2016-12-05T14:44:07","slug":"taking-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/taking-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NilsHolgersson\"<\/a>SVOD and the need for stand-out brands are among the trends reshaping the kids\u2019 content distribution business in Asia.<\/em><\/p>\n

Asia proved to be a hub of activity for kids\u2019 content distributors at MIPCOM, generating a wealth of deal news out of the market. Of note, m4e brokered a deal for Mia and me<\/em> in mainland China. ITV Studios Global Entertainment sold the first season of Thunderbirds Are Go<\/em> to CCTV, marking the first time the property will air in the country. Mondo TV clinched an agreement with China\u2019s Henan York Animation for the production of three new animated series to be completed by November 2020. FremantleMedia Kids & Family signed new agreements for its hit properties Danger Mouse<\/em>, Kate & Mim-Mim<\/em> and Tree Fu Tom<\/em> across the region, and Turner Asia Pacific acquired two additional seasons of Xilam Animation\u2019s slapstick comedy series Oggy and the Cockroaches<\/em>.<\/p>\n

All that activity sets the stage for what should be a vibrant and busy week for children\u2019s programming producers and distributors this Asia TV Forum (ATF). This segment of the media business is a key focus at the market, with a Junior@ATF conference strand exploring international co-productions, 360-degree experiences, funding and more.<\/p>\n

DEMANDING TIMES<\/strong>
\nOne area that is transforming the kids\u2019 business, in Asia and across the globe, is SVOD. For many distributors attending ATF this year, the tremendous growth in the on-demand space has been the biggest shift they\u2019ve seen in the sector over the last 12 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the home-entertainment business is fading out, we have finally seen SVOD businesses beginning to pick up, especially in Australia and Southeast Asia,\u201d reports Grace Chan, the commercial director for content and experiences in the Asia Pacific at Mattel Creations. \u201cYouTube is significantly growing its subscriber base and viewership in the region. Although the traditional broadcasting business is keeping its vast penetration to households, digital platforms have garnered constant viewing patterns among the younger generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emmanuel Dereau, international sales executive at Cyber Group Studios, says that the French company has boosted its Asian business via pacts with OTT platforms, aligning with pan-regional players like iflix and HOOQ and local players such as Amazon in India, tonton in Malaysia and DOONEE in Thailand.<\/p>\n

SECOND WINDOWS<\/strong>
\n\u201cThe OTT platforms have a double benefit,\u201d Dereau reports. \u201cOn one hand, they are a great opportunity to give a second life to our catalog titles after their airing on traditional broadcasters. This is possible because we have developed strong partnerships with local partners in the region over the past ten years. On the other hand, digital platforms are now ready to invest more in order to get the first run on our new productions in their country. For instance, Amazon India picked up the first run on three Cyber Group productions, including Zorro the Chronicles<\/em>, to be part of its launch in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rainbow, too, has secured placement of its shows on digital platforms in the region, including iflix and Netflix. \u201cWe are monitoring them very closely as we strongly believe that they are the future of entertainment,\u201d says Cristiana Buzzelli, senior VP of licensing and acquisitions.<\/p>\n

Federico Vargas, the director of distribution at 9 Story Media Group, notes that \u201cin addition to major global services like Netflix, the recent proliferation of regional players has presented a terrific opportunity for both our tent-pole titles and our evergreen library titles, with new services emerging every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The digital platforms have also been a boon to MarVista Entertainment\u2019s regional business, with the company housing a large slate of TV movies that include many targeted at kids and families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe OTT platforms, generally speaking, are non-exclusive and everywhere,\u201d says Robby Amar, the executive director of distribution at MarVista. \u201cThey are looking for volume. They have a set of driver titles, and then they have the titles that are secondary within the same genre. When it comes to MarVista titles, a few are actually used as drivers, [such as] our Disney and Nickelodeon co-productions. They have been acquired left and right, whether it\u2019s pan-Asian platforms or per territory platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Martin Krieger, the head of global distribution at Studio 100 Media, agrees that deals with nonlinear platforms are on the up, \u201cTV remains our main focus for the first window. It continues to be the most important medium for establishing high awareness for a property and is thus still crucial, especially for our merchandising and licensing partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

In order to drive successful licensing and merchandising campaigns, kids\u2019 content owners are finding that broadcasters are much more concerned about a property\u2019s built-in awareness among audiences.<\/p>\n

BRAND AWARE<\/strong>
\n\u201cThe striking fact is that traditional kids\u2019 buyers need more and more brands and properties that already have notoriety in the region,\u201d says Cyber Group\u2019s Dereau. \u201cZorro<\/em> is a brand of worldwide heritage on which our partners in the region are happy to capitalize.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds, \u201cIn China, we have been observing that more and more [players] choose to specialize in the kids\u2019 business to combine media distribution with a merchandising strategy in order to bring big properties such as Zorro<\/em> or Zou<\/em> to the Chinese market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mattel Creations is arriving at ATF with content based on a very well-known brand: Barbie. \u201cMattel Creations is expanding the content format for Barbie from focusing on two to three movies a year to movies plus series, including Barbie Dreamhouse<\/em> for older girls and Dreamtopia<\/em> for younger girls,\u201d Chan explains. \u201cWe will be managing the distribution of these series for a bigger market impact for the brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rainbow\u2019s ATF checklist includes consolidating the presence of kids\u2019 megabrand Winx Club<\/em> region-wide, \u201cas it proved to be a great evergreen show,\u201d Buzzelli says. Another mandate is lining up deals for Regal Academy<\/em>, \u201cas we already have a master toy deal in place in Asia, and we are also focusing on building a strong consumer-products program.\u201d The company is also exploring live-action opportunities on the heels of its launch of Maggie & Bianca Fashion Friends<\/em>.<\/p>\n

PLAY TIME<\/strong>
\nMarVista\u2019s Amar says that he\u2019s been hearing more and more requests for \u201cbranded content, particularly with animation [series]. You need to have a toy attached to it in order to be given all the attention you need from the broadcasters. Particularly when it\u2019s time to program the shows, they need that ad revenue to help them promote the series.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding movies, meanwhile, Amar says that broadcasters have responded well to MarVista\u2019s Nickelodeon and Disney originals, as well as titles like Jessica\u2019s Darling\u2019s It List<\/em>, Mark & Russell\u2019s Wild Ride<\/em>, Raising the Bar<\/em> and Annabelle Hooper and the Ghosts of Nantucket<\/em>. \u201cThere\u2019s a continued hunger for this kind of content in Asia because it is safe and it is for [mass] audiences. [They are] really good for co-viewing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The driver for Studio 100\u2019s Asian business has been animation, Krieger notes. \u201cThis genre travels easily internationally. Live-action shows are often subject to trends like fashion, music and stars\u2014they always answer strongly to the zeitgeist, which might not be a global one but a local one. For preschoolers, on the other hand, there has been and still is a high international demand for curriculum-based content in combination with fun and comedy elements. Buyers are looking for shows that have a central character and friends, portray positive role models and are filled with humor. For preschool and preteens alike it is also always good to offer elements such as enchantment, adventure and action, which appeal to both girls and boys at the same time. In addition and most definitely, any story has to contain positive values such as friendship, loyalty and honesty.\u201d<\/p>\n

9 Story\u2019s Vargas says he\u2019s seen a range of kids\u2019 genres resonating across the region. \u201cOur PBS KIDS-branded shows like Peg + Cat<\/em>, Daniel Tiger\u2019s Neighbourhood<\/em>, Wild Kratts<\/em> and Nature Cat<\/em> are experiencing a lot of traction\u2014series with an educational curriculum tend to perform well within the territory. Live-action educational series are also performing well. Animated comedies with an element of slapstick humor have also been working well across the territory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of the target demo, buyers are looking for \u201centertaining kids\u2019 productions that also transmit good values to children,\u201d Cyber Group\u2019s Dereau says, highlighting new shows from the company like Mirette Investigates<\/em> and Leo the Wildlife Ranger<\/em>. \u201cAll our productions have in common the transmission to future citizens of important values such as solidarity, respect for wildlife or curiosity about other cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mattel\u2019s Chan agrees that \u201call kids\u2019 genres remain strong,\u201d but adds that educational fare, in particular, is a sweet spot. \u201cEducation values like life lessons from Thomas & Friends<\/em> are most wanted in China,\u201d Chan says.<\/p>\n

MARKET SAVVY<\/strong>
\nChina is one of Mattel\u2019s leading AsiaPac markets, Chan says, alongside Australia and Japan. \u201cWe continue to expand aggressively on content development and distribution in China, and we would like to do more in the longer run in Southeast Asia and India,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

China and Australia, plus Southeast Asia, have been the biggest drivers for 9 Story. Vargas says that for additional growth, \u201cwe are looking to work with emerging territories and partner with the growing base of new OTT players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cyber Group has built \u201cstrong and diversified partnerships\u201d in China and India, Dereau notes, and has seen its business grow in markets such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.<\/p>\n

\u201cSouth Korea and Japan are two major countries where we would like to develop more in the coming years,\u201d Dereau continues. \u201cSince they have strong local animation production [businesses], there is little space for foreign acquisitions.\u201d Nevertheless, Dereau says that the Cyber Group titles Mirette Investigates<\/em> and Menino and the Children of the World<\/em> \u201chave received excellent feedback among these two markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still want Japan to be what it needs to be in terms of a major player on OTT,\u201d says MarVista\u2019s Amar on where he\u2019d like to be doing more business in 2017. \u201cIt\u2019s getting there, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s quite there yet. Vietnam has emerged as a would-be small market becoming an important one. Also Taiwan and the Philippines, particularly for OTT platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Studio 100\u2019s Krieger says he is particularly focused on China, as well as building on already strong relationships in India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.<\/p>\n

ASIAN TOONS<\/strong>
\nIn addition to driving geographic expansion, a number of distributors are exploring co-production opportunities across the region, or aligning with producers from Asia to take their shows globally.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to our own productions, we distribute third-party productions, and Asia Pacific is our main source region,\u201d Cyber Group\u2019s Dereau says. \u201cIndeed, we are distributing eight series that were originally produced in very different Asian countries, such as South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and India. We are eager to go further in terms of partnerships and we are exploring co-pro opportunities within the region. We have met several producers from the region over the last year to this end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur two own animation studios, Flying Bark Productions, based in Sydney, and Studio 100 Animation, based in Paris, have been active and co-producing in the region for years,\u201d Krieger says. \u201cA large portion of our hit shows are born out of co-productions with partners across the Asia Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chan is excited about the slate Mattel will be rolling out next year, including \u201cthe number one boys\u2019 animation brand from Korea, Turning Mecard<\/em>. We are bringing this boys\u2019 action animation not just to AsiaPac, but worldwide too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to 2017, Krieger is focused on growing the company\u2019s existing business, keeping a close eye on how digital is reshaping the sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying out different ways of placing our content with nonlinear platforms and are always taking specific market needs into consideration. Of course when selling a new show we are more careful, especially with regards to free VOD content. However, depending on the territory, even AVOD can co-exist with TV at the beginning of the life cycle without jeopardizing each other at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rainbow is boosting its regional efforts now that it has a subsidiary in Kuala Lumpur alongside a base in Hong Kong, \u201cand plans for China,\u201d Buzzelli says. \u201cWe have a local team in place and we would like to make the most of the potential of the market, which is now much more open to Western content.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pictured: Studio 100’s <\/em>Nils Holgersson.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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