here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\nOn funding assistance in Canada, Bishop, executive producer and co-CEO at marblemedia, noted, \u201cWe are very fortunate to have tax credits and funds like the Shaw Rocket Fund that invest in kids\u2019 content. But the reality is the domestic commissioning market in Canada has changed in the last couple of years. There was flexibility granted by the CRTC for domestic broadcasters, and the unfortunate side effect was a direct reduction in the amount of commissioning happening. That, in turn, has put more pressure on some public broadcasters, like CBC, TVO, Knowledge Network, to step up and partner on shows. It has forced all of us to look elsewhere and find other partners to come on board for our content. Long gone are the days of being able to finance something out of Canada directly, but there is still an awareness that Canada is a great place to produce content. With any of our projects, we do have to find international broadcast or streaming partners first and then come back to Canada to help leverage and unlock funds. Or be resourceful and creative. A number of us have YouTube channels that we\u2019ve had certified by the Canadian government to be able to offer tax credits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rosen, CEO and co-founder at Portfolio Entertainment, added, \u201cWe\u2019ve always needed to do co-productions or find sources of funding outside Canada. It has been a real change where we\u2019re not getting as much financing. Years ago, when we started our business, there was enough on the table for each of us to get what we needed. Now it\u2019s much more Darwinian. That being said, the whole marketplace has changed. Commissioners are global.\u201d<\/p>\n
Falcone, president and executive creative director at Guru Studio, observed that \u201cwhile it\u2019s sad to see that level of support fall away, it\u2019s come back in different ways.\u201d He referenced CBC\u2019s support of True and the Rainbow Kingdom<\/em>, a Netflix original, and noted a recent deal with Corus Entertainment on Pikwik Pack<\/em>, which recently launched on Disney Junior in the U.S. \u201cThey\u2019ve come in more as an investment partner than a broadcast partner\u2014obviously Treehouse is the channel in Canada. We\u2019re looking at different ways of partnering, more as businesses than as huddled masses protecting our market and using CanCon [Canadian content] as the shield. We have to be brave and get into the world with our content because that\u2019s the only way we\u2019re going to be legitimate businesses. Chalking up a success in Canada is great, but it\u2019s much more important to be competitive and be out there in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cI wish Canada had the system that France does,\u201d said Goldsmith, who recently joined Thunderbird Entertainment and Atomic Cartoons as president of global distribution and consumer products after several years at the U.S. office of Cyber Group Studios. \u201cThat said, the tax credits and subsidies make a huge difference in financing our shows and give the producers in Canada a great leg up on other producers around the world. We rely on big anchor sales outside of Canada to fund, but we couldn\u2019t do what we\u2019re doing without the current system in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scherba, as president of WildBrain, was able to speak from both a production\/distribution and broadcaster perspective, given the company\u2019s portfolio of channels in Canada. Family Channel \u201chas been consistent with our Canadian content investment; we\u2019ve been oversubscribing in terms of our requirements. There have been a lot of interesting opportunities that have emerged from others in the market not spending as much on kids. But there\u2019s no question it doesn\u2019t sustain the industry. We need third-party, external partners to finance projects. And I would argue from a creativity and quality standpoint, that\u2019s been a great thing. Canadian companies have improved in their storytelling and production values. And that\u2019s been in part a result of the opportunities that have arisen from global streamers.\u201d<\/p>\n
On building a brand in an on-demand environment, Falcone noted, \u201cit is important to look at the multiplatform strategy and be very attentive to how you create that strategy. I don\u2019t know if you can rush to the market with everything everywhere at once. You want to be ubiquitous, but it\u2019s important to be selective about where you put your show and build those relationships and ensure that it\u2019s not a buckshot approach to shooting your content everywhere you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plus, he added, \u201cWe have to be patient. We haven\u2019t seen a show break out the way PAW Patrol<\/em> did in 2012 because of the fragmentation of powerful players. We\u2019ll see in the years to come who can take that new role in leading the launch of kids\u2019 content and creating that big opening weekend splash that TV sometimes had. We\u2019re all waiting to see if anyone can re-create that, but I\u2019m not counting on it.\u201d<\/p>\nFor retailers, Goldsmith said, a broadcast presence is still crucial. \u201cThat\u2019s the game we have to play to build a global brand.\u201d The streamers, he added, \u201chave not been as successful yet in the consumer-products business. But I would not bet against them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rosen noted Portfolio\u2019s relationship with PBS KIDS: \u201cThey seem to be the only place left that puts so much emphasis on having a whole basket of ancillary add-ons that you must provide to get your broadcast with them: apps, educational materials, games. They are in every home that has a signal, and they have tons of eyeballs, and they put a lot of effort into exploiting themselves on all kinds of platforms. It\u2019s quite heartening to see that, even in this changing landscape, PBS has not only stepped up and is doing more than they used to, but they are still reaching very large audiences. I still think they are probably the best place to launch an L&M campaign because they are reaching more homes than any other American platform right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bishop added, \u201cPart of the opportunity we have as producers is to help work and build our brand through audience engagement. That\u2019s social media, traditional PR, earned media, social paid media, events. It\u2019s listening to the audience, getting feedback, responding on social and building that community. That community and fan engagement helps to drive eyeballs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carugati then asked the panelists about the importance of scale and how they are looking to grow their businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowth for growth\u2019s sake is the philosophy of a cancer cell,\u201d said Falcone. \u201cIt\u2019s important to grow, not necessarily just in size but in scope and strength. It\u2019s about approaching different shows in different ways. We\u2019re in late-stage development on an animated sitcom with a major VOD. It\u2019s a new area for us, being a preschool-focused studio. To be able to do something family-oriented is interesting for us creatively; that\u2019s growth. It\u2019s important to grow and diversify what you do as a producer and a studio. For the artists we have, the culture we have, it\u2019s important to keep things fresh. There\u2019s nothing worse than copying yourself. We\u2019re trying to speak to as many people as possible in as meaningful a way as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Thunderbird, Goldsmith said the goal \u201cis to become a major global studio for scripted, factual, reality and animation. Our organic growth has been tremendous. I joined the company to continue the organic growth by putting us in the distribution and consumer-products businesses so that across the company, we can own our IP more and control it more. That said, we absolutely have to have an external plan as well. We have an M&A strategy\u2014we want to align with other extraordinary production companies. We want to have partners in strategic parts of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
At WildBrain, Scherba said, \u201cWe\u2019re producing fewer series than we were five years ago, which is giving us the ability to focus more on creative execution. For us, it\u2019s not about the volume of projects; it\u2019s about the quality. We\u2019re fortunate to have a stable of really well-known IP. What\u2019s the continuation or reinvention of IP that is beloved by fans around the world? And where can we go with it next? We continue to produce brand-new concepts and ideas from the creative community, but the lifeblood of our company is how we reinvent our IP from our library. If you get that right, the growth will follow.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Rosen at Portfolio, growth is coming from diversification. \u201cWe don\u2019t like to have all our eggs in one basket. We started in production and distribution in live action. Then we went to animation. Now we\u2019ve moved into prime-time animation. We\u2019ve gotten back into live-action tween content. To us, growth is not in terms of expanding our people or real estate as much as expanding the kinds of shows we are developing and hopefully producing and distributing, which will give us some longevity. There are bigger companies with a lot more strengths than we do, so we\u2019re just trying to insulate ourselves. Our growth is being able to be successful and profitable. But we\u2019ll never be a big company. It isn\u2019t in our DNA. But [we\u2019re seeing] growth in our value; our company is worth more now that we\u2019ve diversified.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bishop echoed Rosen\u2019s point. \u201cWe had a record-breaking year last year, and this year it looks like we\u2019re on track to do the same because of diversification. Having different business models, owning real estate, having different ways to grow and build value in our companies is clear. Ultimately, it still comes down to making and telling great stories and having the opportunity to find great authentic stories that are going to connect with audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WildBrain\u2019s Josh Scherba, Guru Studio\u2019s Frank Falcone, marblemedia\u2019s Mark Bishop, Portfolio\u2019s Joy Rosen and Atomic Cartoons\u2019 Richard Goldsmith weighed in on financing models, expansion and more in a TV Kids Summer Festival panel focused on the Canadian kids\u2019 production and distribution landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":20828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[458,3880,1945,323,2142,460,5996,141,1691,4750,5973,1156],"class_list":["post-20827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-atomic-cartoons","tag-frank-falcone","tag-guru-studio","tag-josh-scherba","tag-joy-rosen","tag-marblemedia","tag-mark-bishop","tag-portfolio-entertainment","tag-richard-goldsmith","tag-thunderbird-entertainment-group","tag-tv-kids-summer-festival","tag-wildbrain","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n
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