{"id":17437,"date":"2019-10-13T05:08:47","date_gmt":"2019-10-13T09:08:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/leading-kids-execs-talk-distribution-shifts-funding-challenges\/"},"modified":"2019-10-13T10:02:57","modified_gmt":"2019-10-13T14:02:57","slug":"leading-kids-execs-talk-distribution-shifts-funding-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/leading-kids-execs-talk-distribution-shifts-funding-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading Kids\u2019 Execs Talk Distribution Shifts, Funding Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

The MIPJunior keynote superpanel featured Genius Brands International\u2019s Andy Heyward, WildBrain\u2019s Josh Scherba and Serious Lunch and Eye Present\u2019s Genevieve Dexter weighing in on how their companies are navigating a fast-changing kids\u2019 market, in conversation with World Screen<\/em>\u2019s Anna Carugati.<\/p>\n

Carugati, group editorial director at World Screen<\/em>, opened the session in the JW Marriott\u2019s Grand Theatre by asking the panelists how streaming platforms have changed the kids\u2019 business.<\/p>\n

Heyward, chairman and CEO of Genius Brands International, noted, \u201cAll the new and emerging technologies coming forth, like streaming, are increasingly important. Every kid is an early adopter of these new technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scherba, president of WildBrain (the recently rebranded DHX Media), added, \u201cStreaming services taking kids seriously has been a really important factor in the industry. They\u2019re putting more resources into kids than we\u2019ve ever seen in the history of kids\u2019 content. It\u2019s more opportunities to make great content. There are challenges that go along with that, but [nevertheless] the industry is healthier than it\u2019s ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dexter, founder and CEO of the distribution outfit Serious Lunch and production company Eye Present, noted that whenever new players arrive in the business, \u201cit\u2019s a period of bonanza. As those services settle in, then the business does become more and more difficult to work with\u2014certainly as a distributor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carugati asked the execs if the needs of streamers are different from those of linear broadcasters. \u201cThere are differences,\u201d Scherba said. \u201cIt all starts from a great story and characters, but streaming services have been taking more chances around serialization, knowing that their viewers tend to binge. Linear networks are trying to hold onto ratings, so they want to be as broad as they possibly can. So they tend to want to see more gender-neutral, not too boy- or girl-skewed\u2014those are chances that are easier for the streamers to take.\u201d<\/p>\n

Serious Lunch\u2019s Dexter pointed out that on streaming platforms like Netflix, a show\u2019s promo image \u201cneeds to immediately arrest you. That little square travels across the screen and you\u2019ve got to want to grab it. That\u2019s quite different from some of the national broadcasters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heyward added that more and more kids are watching content on their handheld devices. \u201cThat\u2019s a very important area that we need to be mindful of today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKids don\u2019t decipher between platforms,\u201d Scherba added. \u201cThey can go between platforms seamlessly. That\u2019s why we\u2019re big believers that when you\u2019re looking to establish a brand, you have to be on all these platforms. It\u2019s great that you\u2019re making premium content for a streaming service, but if a kid is watching Netflix and is then going to go to YouTube, if you don\u2019t have something there that has a connection to that brand, you\u2019re missing an opportunity, and they move on to something else.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conversation then moved to how distribution companies make the decision to take a global streaming deal or opt to roll a show out market by market. Dexter used as an example Best & Bester<\/em>, where \u201cthe licensing and merchandising potential and particularly the gaming potential were paramount. We wouldn\u2019t necessarily achieve that on a streamer. So we\u2019ve targeted a global pay-TV network, and we can do the streaming deals and free TV after that. The terms being demanded by Netflix now and the incompatibility with the other networks means that if you\u2019ve got L&M, it\u2019s going to be hard if you\u2019re just on a streamer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heyward agreed, adding, \u201cIf you have a need for the licensing and merchandising to make the property viable today, it\u2019s much harder to do so on a streaming service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scherba said, \u201cI think there will continue to be innovative ways to work with streaming services in terms of building brands, but it\u2019s situational. The opportunity that Apple TV+ presented to us with Peanuts content is we knew it was going to be a major service launch, we\u2019d be part of the global marketing, so that made perfect sense. Each situation has its own merits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dexter added that digital platforms often don\u2019t want to commission third, fourth or fifth seasons of shows, \u201cthey want new stuff which will drive subscriptions. That is also a challenge. It\u2019s yet to be seen if, for kids, they\u2019ll commit to a brand over the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n

The discussion then moved to windowing. Dexter spoke about her experience introducing the Netflix original The Legend of Monkey King<\/em> to linear broadcasters. \u201cI had a meeting with a German broadcaster who said, if it\u2019s European content quota, then we put up with just having catch-up on a rolling five basis\u2014five episodes up at any one time. But if it\u2019s not European, we won\u2019t put up with it. Other broadcasters say, \u2018SVOD is fine but not Netflix! We see them as our biggest competitor. When HBO Max, Apple TV+ and others launch, we\u2019ll be more relaxed because the situation won\u2019t be so polarized.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Heyward added, \u201cThe sequencing and chronology are in part dependent on how much a particular buyer wants that show. If they want it, they\u2019ll let the rules go away. In the past, it was very clear: over the air broadcast, cable and satellite, syndication, whatever it was. That was a very strict way of rolling out shows. Today there are no rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could argue,\u201d Scherba added, \u201cthat in kids\u2019 television, always-on is actually the best approach. Platforms that are more willing to experiment with always-on strategies are going to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the U.S., Serious Lunch is licensing Operation Ouch<\/em> to all of the AVOD platforms \u201cin order to drive the brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The slew of new platforms launching in the on-demand space present \u201cmore opportunities for great original content,\u201d Scherba said. \u201cIt continues to speak to fragmentation in the market. And how you get around that is by having known IP, taking creative risks and then working with more than one platform, finding innovative ways to support your show on YouTube and not just put it up on an SVOD service and hope it gets discovered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pie is divided into so many slivers,\u201d Heyward added. \u201cThe ability of one service to really get a big audience is so hard today. You have to be on multiple platforms. You have to be advertising your brand, promoting it in all kinds of ways, you have to have a YouTube presence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dexter added that she\u2019s heard from linear broadcasters that they are concentrating on \u201cexperiential connections with their programming\u2014they can be on the ground with roadshows. Experiential is also a real driver behind sales of publishing and toys. That is something the streamers can\u2019t do. They can\u2019t be on the ground in the kids\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scherba noted that kids don\u2019t have great memory skills. \u201cLinear television always did an amazing job of reminding kids what they love. And as linear gets more fragmented, that\u2019s harder to do. SVOD hasn\u2019t figured out a way to do that yet, because they drop ten episodes and then wait a year to get more episodes. Our job as producers and distributors is to find innovative ways to remind kids and bring them back to the shows they\u2019ve fallen in love with.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conversation then moved to talent relationships. \u201cThe most important A-list talent you can have is the writer,\u201d Heyward said. \u201cThose words, when spoken, have to be better than words that are on the other channels. I always look for the writers\u2014I look at what they read, what their history is. At the end of the day, the technologies evolve, but we\u2019re still telling stories. It goes back forever. We have to have better stories, better words, better characters, complex, crisis, jeopardy, stakes, all of those tools.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Dexter, a big concern is Brexit, as many of those employed at her production studio are from outside of the U.K.<\/p>\n

In North America, meanwhile, Scherba said that Disney and Netflix \u201chave done more overall deals with creatives than the kids\u2019 industry has ever seen. But if you present the right opportunity and give the right amount of freedom and great IP to work on, that\u2019s a big calling card.\u201d<\/p>\n

On financing, the panelists noted that partnerships remain paramount. Heyward said, \u201cIt\u2019s almost impossible to find one broadcaster or party that will pay for the entire cost of production. You need to find multiple sources. It might not be a co-production, it might be a combination of a licensing partner in some form, a publisher, but you have to. Otherwise, you absorb too much risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, if it\u2019s not a co-pro, I\u2019m not happy,\u201d Dexter quipped. \u201cI\u2019m launching a show here which is a co-pro between Netflix and ABC originally. On the second season, ABC couldn\u2019t come in. Now on the third season, we\u2019re looking for new partners to marry the streamer and linear rights requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scherba added, \u201cCo-production is important, but there is this other model where streaming services are paying full freight and taking global rights. That comes with pros and cons because you\u2019re left with fewer rights on the distribution side and less control.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The MIPJunior keynote superpanel featured Genius Brands International\u2019s Andy Heyward, WildBrain\u2019s Josh Scherba and Serious Lunch and Eye Present\u2019s Genevieve Dexter weighing in on how their companies are navigating a fast-changing kids\u2019 market, in conversation with World Screen\u2019s Anna Carugati.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":17438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[1810,1581,323],"class_list":["post-17437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-andy-heyward","tag-genevieve-dexter","tag-josh-scherba","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nLeading Kids\u2019 Execs Talk Distribution Shifts, Funding Challenges - 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\/leading-kids-execs-talk-distribution-shifts-funding-challenges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leading Kids\u2019 Execs Talk Distribution Shifts, Funding Challenges - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The MIPJunior keynote superpanel featured Genius Brands International\u2019s Andy Heyward, WildBrain\u2019s Josh Scherba and Serious Lunch and Eye Present\u2019s Genevieve Dexter weighing in on how their companies are navigating a fast-changing kids\u2019 market, in conversation with World Screen\u2019s Anna Carugati.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/leading-kids-execs-talk-distribution-shifts-funding-challenges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-13T09:08:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-13T14:02:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/10\/MIPJunior-superpanel-1019.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/leading-kids-execs-talk-distribution-shifts-funding-challenges\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/leading-kids-execs-talk-distribution-shifts-funding-challenges\/\",\"name\":\"Leading Kids\u2019 Execs Talk Distribution Shifts, Funding Challenges - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-13T09:08:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-13T14:02:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/leading-kids-execs-talk-distribution-shifts-funding-challenges\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/leading-kids-execs-talk-distribution-shifts-funding-challenges\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/leading-kids-execs-talk-distribution-shifts-funding-challenges\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Leading Kids\u2019 Execs Talk Distribution Shifts, Funding Challenges\"}]},{\"@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\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. 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