{"id":16794,"date":"2019-07-26T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2019-07-26T13:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2019-07-26T15:19:44","modified_gmt":"2019-07-26T19:19:44","slug":"jetpacks-comedy-heartland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/jetpacks-comedy-heartland\/","title":{"rendered":"Jetpack\u2019s Comedy Heartland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dominic Gardiner, CEO of Jetpack Distribution, talks to <\/em>TV Kids about the company’s stacked kids’ comedy roster and the possibilities for the genre in the years ahead.<\/em><\/p>\n

Oswaldo<\/em>, Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty<\/em> and The Barefoot Bandits<\/em> are among the titles that make up the backbone of Jetpack Distribution\u2019s comedy catalog, one that also includes such standouts as Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed<\/em> and Talking Tom and Friends<\/em>. \u201cEach one of those series is a slightly different thing, but I could put them all in the comedy bucket,\u201d says Gardiner. \u201cIn the comedy bucket, there are all types of nuanced buckets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"***Image***\"Oswaldo<\/em> follows the school-time misadventures of the titular penguin who was adopted by human parents. \u201cWe think of Oswaldo<\/em> as kind of like a sitcom,\u201d Gardiner says. \u201cHis face makes you laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dennis & Gnasher<\/em> centers on 10-year-old Dennis and his pup in a world full of imagination, comedy and adventure. \u201cThat\u2019s a show that\u2019s been developed to really make it more relatable. Even though the storylines are fantastical, the characters are very relatable.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty, <\/em>a series about a magical and powerful feline named Felicity. \u201cOn the surface you can think, That\u2019s kind of a mashup series with everything you can think of. You\u2019re like, Alright, that\u2019s quite a start, you\u2019ve got the kitchen sink in there. But what\u2019s really smart about that series is that they did<\/em> throw the kitchen sink in, deliberately.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"***Image***\"Older kids\u2019 comedy, aimed at those in the 6-to-11 age set, is what Gardiner sees as Jetpack’s “heartland.” At these ages, he says, kids are drawn to shows that make them laugh. This holds true across genders and across continents. The catch is that comedy is perennially difficult to get right. Not every show can have the reach and the longevity of SpongeBob SquarePants<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids love funny things. Even action-adventure series need comedy in order for it to really transcend. There\u2019s no gender specificness for boys or girls; boys and girls are pretty much equal consumers of comedy,\u201d says Gardiner, who adds, \u201cYou can create a funny show, but can you create a laugh-out-loud funny show for everywhere? It\u2019s not easy. And I think that\u2019s why there\u2019s less competition [versus preschool], less at the very top of their game.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Gardiner is quick to point out, it\u2019s always a tall order to write a comedy series in one language whose humor will hold up when translated into another. This can be an even bigger challenge when it comes to kids\u2019 titles featuring dialogue that needs to be organic to the children in whatever market they land.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticularly around 9 to 10 years old\u2014the way they speak to each other is different and [so are] the words they use and the references they use. So a lot of comedy writing has to be really carefully worded to make it translate,\u201d says Gardiner. \u201cComedy is like food. It\u2019s different around the world and we\u2019re all brought up on one kind of preference. But as we get older, our tastes change and develop. So it is with comedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Jetpack is acquiring the Oswaldo<\/em>s and Barefoot Bandits<\/em> of the kids\u2019 comedy world, it\u2019s not just the script that\u2019s being pored over and carefully considered. Oftentimes an even greater amount of weight is placed on a series\u2019 visual aspect.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re distributing series, the visual has to have a real impact,\u201d Gardiner says. \u201cAnd the design of the characters can really say a lot about the type of comedy that one might expect from the series. Very much our first consideration is, Does it pass the tough digital test?\u201d But when it does come down to the script, getting an idea for the voices of the characters is imperative. \u201cVoices are so important in comedy, comedy voice and performance. A gag is only funny if it\u2019s delivered and the timing has got to be perfect,\u201d notes Gardiner, who also indicates that Jetpack has its eye on acquiring some non-dialogue comedy.<\/p>\n

As for themes in the kids\u2019 comedy genre, it seems to Gardiner as though everything has already been done before. He believes that now is the era of mashup brands for older children. \u201cIt\u2019s like, you can\u2019t just have aliens in space you have to have like a fish in space. Or aliens in the water. Or pigeons in space,\u201d quips Gardiner, who also sees a genre emerging that takes a more serious theme and turns it on its head, like Teen Titans Go!<\/em>, a follow-up to the less comedic Teen Titans<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a fairly straight setup of superhero characters from which you can create this completely goofy thing from the same characters,\u201d Gardiner says, referencing the Cartoon Network series. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to do much but talk to each other in a room. It\u2019s just one of those comedies that really works well because you know the characters so well; you know what they\u2019re all going to do, you can predict what they\u2019re going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking a broader view, Gardiner reflects on what that could mean for series made in a similar vein. \u201cI think we can define or develop character-driven comedies, where the characters are so well-rounded. If you know how a character is going to react in a given situation, that\u2019s the killer. If you can do that in a kids\u2019 show with some quirky characters, you can put them in any location; you can stick them on a farm, on the water, back in time. It\u2019s about those characters and how they hit, how they react.\u201d<\/p>\n

No matter how many truly new ideas might be circulating in the kids\u2019 content marketplace, Gardiner believes that nine times out of ten, broadcasters are going to play it safe, perhaps giving one slot in the lineup to a \u201cwildcard.\u201d Traditional broadcasters in particular, with their limited slots, are more likely to be after programming that\u2019s going to guarantee them a win. Despite creativity\u2019s current limited likelihood of reward, though, Gardiner is optimistic that once certain unsettled waters calm, this might change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state of mind of the market is that there are so many players, so many distribution platforms changing that the creative risk is not really that high on anybody\u2019s agenda,\u201d says Gardiner. \u201cThey\u2019re also changing their entire business structures. It\u2019s too great to do that and to start doing some risky things at the same time. I think once they\u2019ve gotten settled and they know what\u2019s happening, the SVODs can be like, OK, let\u2019s do some stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gardiner recalls a conversation a few years back in which someone theorized that there was a race underway between Netflix and Disney to become the other. With Netflix now owning even more of its own content and Disney building its own SVOD platform, the theory has borne out. And it\u2019s changing the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lion King<\/em>, in a year\u2019s time, can I watch it on iTunes? Can I watch in on Netflix? No, I can only get it on Disney+. That\u2019s the way it\u2019s going to be. It\u2019s just going to change, and I think it\u2019s all good for the consumer because they\u2019re going to have many ways to get all kinds of content.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to being a possible boon for the consumer, it\u2019s indicative of what could be an outsized role that kids\u2019 content\u2014kids\u2019 comedy content, the kind of content in the heartland of Jetpack Distribution\u2019s catalog\u2014will play in the streaming battles ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids have a great way of demanding things\u2014pocket money, all those kinds of things. Certainly kids will be an important component of SVOD in the future,\u201d says Gardiner. \u201cKids\u2019 [content] is going to be a big piece of which subscriptions people have.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dominic Gardiner, CEO of Jetpack Distribution, talks to World Screen Newsflash about the company’s stacked kids’ comedy roster and the possibilities for the genre in the years ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1033,"featured_media":16795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,21],"tags":[3386,958],"class_list":["post-16794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-dominic-gardiner","tag-jetpack-distribution","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nJetpack\u2019s Comedy Heartland - TVKIDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/jetpacks-comedy-heartland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jetpack\u2019s Comedy Heartland - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dominic Gardiner, CEO of Jetpack Distribution, talks to World Screen Newsflash about the company's stacked kids' comedy roster and the possibilities for the genre in the years ahead.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/jetpacks-comedy-heartland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-26T13:00:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-26T19:19:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/2019-07-25-Rainbow-Butterfly-Unicorn-Kitty.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"340\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chelsea Regan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chelsea Regan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/jetpacks-comedy-heartland\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/jetpacks-comedy-heartland\/\",\"name\":\"Jetpack\u2019s Comedy Heartland - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-26T13:00:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-26T19:19:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/2a2c6d8fb3c7c8b4220b8877ecffb79a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/jetpacks-comedy-heartland\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/jetpacks-comedy-heartland\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/jetpacks-comedy-heartland\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jetpack\u2019s Comedy Heartland\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\",\"name\":\"TVKIDS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/2a2c6d8fb3c7c8b4220b8877ecffb79a\",\"name\":\"Chelsea Regan\",\"description\":\"Chelsea Regan is the managing editor of World Screen. 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