here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cThere are so many offshoots to producing that content in terms of supporting it and bringing it to market in a way that has to align and be congruent with the content you\u2019re making. Any slip up can undermine that entire effort,\u201d Commisso continued. That means being \u201ctransparent with your broadcaster or platform partner on what your plans are. For those plans in terms of building the equity of the show outside of the platform, you elicit their help whenever you can. It\u2019s an all-hands-on-deck endeavor, from promotion to merchandising and licensing to distribution efforts to relationship management.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commisso continued, \u201cWe live in a very dynamic time around content, especially around kids\u2019 content, so you have to make sure your partners are aware of that dynamism and they lean into it in a way that makes the brand-building endeavor more feasible, more likely. We feel like we have partners on board now that are of that ilk.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the marketplace gets more crowded, strategies for finding the right home for a show \u201care evolving,\u201d Commisso noted. On-demand services \u201care trying to offer all things to all people now\u2014it\u2019s the old broadcast model being delivered in an OTT, unlimited shelf space, VOD model. That was spearheaded by Netflix, but many others have followed. I think you\u2019ll see more that will follow. It\u2019s up to us to keep watching what they do and see what their points of differentiation are, and that will inform our strategy. Ultimately, you get to a place where you want the best home for your show, and there are some early indications of what that means, but mostly it\u2019s going to evolve when you see a settling of the landscape. We\u2019ve seen a lot of SVOD players, but now we\u2019re seeing AVOD players, large ones, come into the marketplace. They are taking a strategy now that we\u2019re sure will be different a year from now. We have to remind ourselves that five years ago, it wouldn\u2019t have even been possible to do the shows we\u2019re doing today. I think that will be true five years from now relative to now.\u201d<\/p>\n
On building awareness for shows, especially on streamers, Commisso noted, \u201cWe work with them, and outside agencies, to promote the show\u2014its launch, its drop strategy\u2014and we lean into other platforms to heighten the awareness. YouTube helps with that endeavor. TikTok is emerging as one of those endeavors. Of course, we\u2019ll use other social media platforms. It is about figuring out how to find what you believe the audience for the show to be in advance of the show dropping. There are myriad strategies you can follow to solve for awareness, which is what the endeavor is going in. But it is unique to every show. You have to marry what the show is to who you believe is going to watch it. You have to rely on data coming back to you on your spend so you can continue down the path you\u2019re on or redirect based on the feedback you get. It is a strategy that really can be efficient and very effective. Or if you don\u2019t adjust quickly, it can be a complete waste of money!\u201d<\/p>\n
While the quest for educational content from the marketplace has diminished somewhat since the start of the pandemic, Covid-19 \u201cunearthed for parents, and in many cases for kids, that there\u2019s great entertainment value in educational content. I think there was in some people\u2019s minds a line between the two. That\u2019s not the case. We have a terrific partnership with PBS KIDS, and every one of our shows has to have high entertainment value and every one has a curriculum. Those shows will have terrific, long-lasting value because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
On diversity and inclusion, Commisso noted, \u201cAuthenticity is a must. You can\u2019t make content that has long-term value if the characters aren\u2019t represented by actors who are of the culture the characters represent. That is something that most of the kids\u2019 industry has been good about in most cases. Now, the entire industry has to present authentic content in all cases. So it was good, it\u2019s getting better, it will ultimately be a non-issue, and it must be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commisso added, \u201cWhat we offer, for our viewers, is both a mirror and a window. But there\u2019s no window into another world without a mirror that reflects the world they\u2019re in, and they\u2019ll know if that mirror isn\u2019t an authentic one. If what you\u2019re presenting as a form of entertainment isn\u2019t something they can relate to in regards to their own lives, you\u2019re going to fail. I think that\u2019s the way it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commisso then talked more about Karma\u2019s World<\/em>, created by Bridges and inspired by his daughter Karma. \u201cChris did some work on it for six years with various creative and financial partners. And then he saw Doc McStuffins<\/em>, which was produced by Brown Bag Films in Dublin. Chris called them in 2014. In 2015, 9 Story partnered with Brown Bag Films and Chris kept going on with the effort. In 2018, we acquired Out of the Blue, led by Angela Santomero\u2019s team in New York, which developed the show with Brown Bag in Dublin. We created a great demo, and then Netflix came on board as a partner. Even with us and Chris on board, it took four years before the series would find its legs, which is not uncommon in development. Chris has been a terrific partner. Everyone stuck with it, and the reason we feel it\u2019s going to work and make a big statement is there is value in the authenticity. That is going to be expressed in ways that we have not seen it be expressed in the past.\u201d<\/p>\nOn the path forward for 9 Story, Commisso noted, \u201cThe belief inside the company is that all we have to do today versus what we did yesterday is be just a teensy bit better in our jobs. If we are, then over time, it will be tremendous progress. That curve is significant and is accelerated by making sure that our great talent is supported by technology and by processes that will create outcomes that are far superior a year from now than they are today. The challenge is, no matter what, you\u2019re still limited as to how many shows you can do. That\u2019s our growth challenge. The opportunity is many new players are coming on stream, and because there\u2019s so much demand for kids\u2019 content in general, it allows us to turn inwards and say, OK, exactly what kind of dent do we want to make in the universe? How do we want to be positioned as a company in terms of the shows we make that we\u2019ll be remembered for? We think that\u2019s an important part of defining who we are. We do believe that will lead to more commercial opportunities. It\u2019s not something you can predict, but it\u2019s something that we feel is necessary. We\u2019re at an inflection point in our business, but that mostly has to do with the culture of our company, what we want to do, the why of 9 Story and Brown Bag Films as we move forward. Without being able to tell you why, we\u2019re all confident that being able to wrap our arms around that firmly will result in growth.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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