{"id":13104,"date":"2017-10-20T01:00:33","date_gmt":"2017-10-20T05:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2017-10-20T09:37:11","modified_gmt":"2017-10-20T13:37:11","slug":"kids-get-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/kids-get-real\/","title":{"rendered":"Kids Get Real"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"From wildlife to game shows, there are numerous live-action factual series available for young audiences.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

With reality series, game shows and documentaries aplenty, there is no shortage of options for adults wanting to tune in to live-action factual fare. But grown-ups aren\u2019t the only tele\u00advision consumers looking for this type of programming; kids, too, crave unscripted series\u2014led by real-life talent\u2014that can both entertain and educate them. Of course, don\u2019t tell them that they might learn something from the content in their media diets. Much like proactive parents sneaking peas into their little one\u2019s mac-and-cheese, producers of children\u2019s programming are given the stealth task of discreetly incorporating educational elements into their live-action factual productions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the magic combination,\u201d says Genevieve Dexter, the founder and CEO of Serious Lunch, which sells the live-action factual-entertainment series Operation Ouch! <\/em>and Art Ninja<\/em>. \u201cHopefully you\u2019re entertaining them and they barely notice that you are giving them information in the process. As soon as it looks like you\u2019re trying to tell them something [educational], they\u2019ll be like, Well, I can read a book for that\u2014I don\u2019t need you doing that on TV!\u201d<\/p>\n

In Germany, Maus<\/em>\u2019s combination of \u201cshort documentaries and funny animated clips is the perfect means to balance out education and entertainment,\u201d reports Stefanie Fischer, the head of content at WDR mediagroup (WDRmg). \u201cThe documentary parts address topics that are relevant to kids\u2014for example, Why is the sky blue? or, How do the stripes get into toothpaste? If these educational components deliver answers to kids\u2019 most urgent questions, they automatically become entertaining for them as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

HEALTHY SNACKING
\n<\/strong>\u201cThe goal is always to stress the entertainment aspects first, and then put in the educational components secondarily,\u201d adds Joy Rosen, co-founder and CEO of Portfolio Entertainment, which boasts the live-action factual show Do You Know?<\/em> in its slate. \u201cKids really get the difference between entertainment and school, so that\u2019s why we always try to stress the entertainment\u2014great characters, interesting hosts, a lot of humor, a little bit of irreverence; everything that separates it from what they construe as being strictly educational.\u201d<\/p>\n

Live-action factual series with educational elements are the ones that resonate most with young viewers, reports Munia Kanna-Konsek, the head of sales at Beyond Distribution, which represents such titles as Backyard Science<\/em>, Kid Detectives<\/em>, History Hunters<\/em>, The Dengineers<\/em> and Absolute Genius with Dick and Dom<\/em>. \u201cBackyard Science<\/em>, Kid Detectives <\/em>and History Hunters<\/em> all have kids demonstrating easy, practical, cool, educational and scientific things to do in your home and backyard,\u201d she says. Even the game shows in Beyond\u2019s catalog, including Lab Rats Challenge<\/em> and Steam Punks<\/em>, are science-based and therefore provide an opportunity for children to expand their minds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a huge emphasis on STEM programming at the moment, so I think science subjects are really performing very well, and are probably out-performing the arts in that they seem to be something that people place a lot of value on for acquisition,\u201d notes Serious Lunch\u2019s Dexter.<\/p>\n

\u201cScience has always been interesting to kids, as long as it\u2019s delivered in a really fun and entertaining way,\u201d adds Portfolio\u2019s Rosen. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of interest from parents in getting their kids more educated, and television is still one medium that the parents control. They can\u2019t control YouTube as much as what their kids watch on TV.\u201d<\/p>\n

The wonders of the natural world are also a major draw for young viewers. Many producers are finding that kids need their own spin on wildlife content, even though they can certainly watch shows like Planet Earth II<\/em> with Mom and Dad.<\/p>\n

GOING WILD
\n<\/strong>\u201cI realized that there was a gap in the kids\u2019 business when it came to wildlife,\u201d says Marc du Pontavice, the founder and CEO of Xilam Animation. The studio has made a foray into the live-action factual space with the wildlife documentary series If I Were an Animal\u2026<\/em>, which explores how different creatures transition from the newborn phase through to adulthood. \u201cThere are plenty of wildlife [docs] for prime time, but all of them are written and produced mostly for adults. They have a serious tone [and] a lot of the imagery is not necessarily appropriate for kids, who really love animals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Australian Children\u2019s Television Foundation (ACTF) distributes the wildlife-themed shows Bushwhacked!<\/em> and WAC<\/em> (World Animal Championships<\/em>). \u201cOur wildlife adventure series Bushwhacked!<\/em> was very successful for SUPER RTL in Germany and was picked up by Discovery Kids Asia, as well as by National Geographic Kids in the U.S. for their VOD platform,\u201d says Tim Hegarty, the company\u2019s international sales manager. \u201cIrish-language broadcaster TG4 licensed the format rights to our hosted wildlife series World Animal Championships <\/em>in 2014 and created their own version, using local hosts speaking in the Irish language. And in January of this year, U.K. kids\u2019 SVOD platform Azoomee licensed Bush<\/em>whacked!<\/em> as well as Wacky World Beaters<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

While animals are adorable and appealing to watch, it\u2019s also important for a live-action factual kids\u2019 show to feature compelling presenters who know how to keep viewers engaged. \u201cIt\u2019s not enough for them to just be a presenter,\u201d says Serious Lunch\u2019s Dexter. \u201cThey are essentially key talent, as opposed to an emcee. That lends so much to the show.\u201d She notes as an example Operation Ouch!<\/em>\u2019s twin hosts Chris and Xand van Tulleken, who are real-life doctors and are therefore able to bring real-world expertise to the table. \u201cThey\u2019ll say, Oh, we know we can go to this research lab where they\u2019re doing some amazing things with what low temperature does to the body, and then you can go on a location shoot and they can contribute so much. Plus, when they\u2019re doing the experiments in the lab, they actually know how and are qualified to perform them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dexter continues: \u201cThe more daring you are in the way that you present, and the more anarchic you are about it, the better, because [kids are] so caught up in saying, Oh, this show is completely crazy. And while they\u2019re \u2018wow\u2019-ing about, How can these guys be so crazy?, they\u2019re not noticing that at the same time, they\u2019re learning. Especially if they can really connect with the hosts; some hosts attract kids of certain ages and other kids think, This is lame. They turn off quite quickly unless they really think that the host is cool. They\u2019ve got to find the host aspirational and want to follow them as people, because if not, then you\u2019ve fallen at the first hurdle.\u201d<\/p>\n

WANTED: YOUTUBERS
\n<\/strong>Naturally, the talent pool for children\u2019s content has opened up to include online personalities. This can lead to success for a show so long as its web-based star is truly as wonderful as he or she seems in the digital space. But not all YouTube personalities with a kids\u2019 following have squeaky-clean histories. Recently, Disney Channel parted ways with social-media star Jake Paul, who appeared on Bizaardvark<\/em>, after reports surfaced that he was a nuisance to his neighbors.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that we\u2019re getting hosts from the internet, it\u2019s really important that we vet them very, very well to make sure that they actually are as great as they appear on YouTube,\u201d says Portfolio\u2019s Rosen. \u201cThey all have pasts, so we do a lot of vetting of their history to make sure that they really are as wholesome as they present. We look for big personalities, we look for a sense of humor and we look for a great way to engage people very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Portfolio\u2019s Do You Know?<\/em> is hosted by internet influencer Maddie Moate. \u201cMaddie Moate works so well with Do You Know?<\/em> because she\u2019s already achieved that success online, so she was pretty vetted by that point,\u201d says Rosen. \u201cOnce Do<\/em> You Know?<\/em> was produced, we were able to have her promote the show on her YouTube channel and on her Twitter and Facebook and all of that, so it\u2019s a really great cross-promotional opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to having interesting subject matter led by compelling and clean-cut hosts, another beneficial characteristic of a live-action factual kids\u2019 show is its ability to be co-viewed by parents who can actually feel like they\u2019re also being entertained when sitting in front of the TV set with their little ones.<\/p>\n

SHARED EXPERIENCES
\n<\/strong>\u201cBroadcasters across the board are always on the lookout for good-quality, live-action factual content, particularly those shows that kids and adults can enjoy watching together,\u201d says ACTF\u2019s Hegarty.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think [broadcasters\u2019] main aim is promoting co-viewing, but if it happens with a program then that is great luck,\u201d notes Beyond\u2019s Kanna-Konsek. \u201cEdutainment programs are generally co-viewing opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCo-viewing is something that can happen on weekend slots, especially in the morning or in the afternoon,\u201d says Xilam\u2019s du Pontavice. \u201cThat\u2019s typically when mom, dad and kids can watch together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fischer at WDRmg adds, \u201cEven though [Maus<\/em>] primarily addresses children aged 5 to 9, watching it together every Sunday morning has become a tradition for many families [in Germany since the 1970s].\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Fischer, kids\u2019 factual shows are generally geared more toward an older-skewing demographic, due to their educational nature. \u201cFactual programs may take up topics that are too complex for very young viewers to understand,\u201d she says. \u201cThat is why most of them resonate best with slightly older children or young teenagers. However, our catalog includes a Maus<\/em> spin-off called Elefan<\/em>tastic <\/em>that is specifically designed for preschoolers. Its documentary components focus on everyday phenomena, such as watching a fly\u2019s wing in super slow-motion or seeing ice melt in high-speed time-lapse, which is fascinating\u2014even for a very young audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Serious Lunch\u2019s Dexter sees the bulk of live-action factual properties falling into the \u201cbridge\u201d category, \u201cbut I think that where kids play kind of gets less important. As thematic channels give way to [online] players and catch-up, you find that children\u2019s viewing is really changing, in that the 5-year-olds are watching Danger Mouse<\/em>\u2014which is on CBBC\u2014and the 14-year-olds are watching Teletubbies<\/em> because they think it\u2019s funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe produce or acquire properties for traditional age groups\u2014preschool, 6 to 12, etc.\u2014but there will be times when one group seeps into the other,\u201d adds Beyond\u2019s Kanna-Konsek. \u201cWe need to be careful not to dumb things down, as kids are always much more clever than some may think!\u201d<\/p>\n

While they may not be watching the evening news, kids are smart and have a sense of what is going on around them, so many distributors are looking to take on shows that tackle pressing current issues. \u201cWe look out for programs that are relevant for kids all over the world,\u201d says WDRmg\u2019s Fischer. \u201cThere is an increasing number of shows that aim to raise awareness about environmental issues or political situations that influence the world on a greater scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

The downside to such shows, however, is that they age quickly. \u201cWe tend to stick with programs that will have a long shelf life, and try not to address areas where it will date a program,\u201d notes Beyond\u2019s Kanna-Konsek.<\/p>\n

As is the case with other types of children\u2019s programming, nonlinear extensions, including interactive apps and websites, help satiate kids\u2019 appetites for live-action factual content beyond the small screen, and can also go deeper into the educational aspect of a show.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everybody expects to have them,\u201d says Serious Lunch\u2019s Dexter. \u201cThe mobile game Snot Apocalypse has been very successful on Operation Ouch!<\/em>, and then there are also interactive episodes\u2014one\u2019s called \u2018Poo\u2019 and the other one \u2018Wee.\u2019 Despite having silly names, they are great and if you\u2019re into the show, it\u2019s another way of testing your knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

BEYOND LINEAR<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>\u201cGenerally, interactivity is a great way to raise kids\u2019 involvement and help them build an emotional connection to a program,\u201d notes Fischer. \u201cIt may be a vital factor in a program\u2019s success. However, not every program is designed in a way that an app or a website can contribute something valuable to it. Online extensions need to be authentic and feel natural to the concept of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to linear television, or even video-on-demand exploitation of those programs\u2026you can only have a very limited educational aspect,\u201d adds Xilam\u2019s du Pontavice. \u201c[Nonlinear extensions] give kids who loved a certain episode the opportunity to go to the app and learn more about it. So it\u2019s very complementary. You have the show itself, which is mostly entertaining and somewhat educational, and then with the apps, you can explore the educational parts more.\u201d<\/p>\n

If all goes according to plan, live-action factual fare and corresponding nonlinear extensions will continue to help parents sneak healthy \u201cpeas\u201d of knowledge into their kids\u2019 media diets, which will hopefully result in an even more educated generation of adults.<\/p>\n

Pictured: \u00a0Australian Children’s Television Foundation’s<\/em> Wacky World Beaters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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