{"id":22352,"date":"2022-02-02T12:33:27","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T17:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/"},"modified":"2022-02-02T12:33:27","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T17:33:27","slug":"fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Fred Soulie Talks Mattel\u2019s Content Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fred Soulie, senior VP and general manager of Mattel Television, participated in a keynote conversation with TV Kids<\/em>\u2019 Anna Carugati at the TV Kids Festival today, discussing how the toy giant is expanding its content slate.<\/p>\n

\u201c2021 was the biggest year on record for Mattel and Mattel Television on the content side,\u201d Soulie said in the session, which you can view in its entirety here<\/a>.<\/strong> \u201cWe debuted more than nine series and specials based on our iconic IPs.\u201d This included the relaunch of the Masters of the Universe franchise with two series, two Barbie animated movies and the relaunch of Thomas & Friends with an all-new look in Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we saw in 2021 were the results of the seeds we planted a couple of years prior,\u201d Soulie said. \u201cWe have one of the largest libraries of IP at Mattel. Creating compelling content takes time. But we\u2019ve been very busy the last few years, focused on becoming a high-performing, IP-driven toy company. 2022 will be even bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mattel library \u201cis a living, breathing thing,\u201d Soulie noted. \u201cAt Mattel Television, we feel it\u2019s part of our responsibility to nurture it and make it grow, whether it\u2019s creating new IP internally or sometimes optioning or acquiring from other studios. One great example of that is Deepa & Anoop<\/em>, which will stream later this year on Netflix. It\u2019s a great illustration of Mattel going beyond what we already own in our library. This is a growing slice of our development slate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deepa & Anoop<\/em> also reflects Mattel Television\u2019s commitment to \u201ctelling authentic stories from diverse voices in all areas of production. The goal is to represent the world kids see around them. This is our first Mattel Television original project, and there are more coming. And a call to action to the industry: we\u2019re always looking for more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mattel Television is also at work on reimagining the Monster High franchise. \u201cWe\u2019ve partnered with Nickelodeon. It\u2019s a terrific IP, truly evergreen. We\u2019re doing an animated series, a complete reboot. It\u2019s the first time Nickelodeon and Mattel are partnering on the production side\u2014everything from scripting to design to music. At its core, the animated series will embrace inclusion and diversity. And then, for the first time ever, we\u2019re bringing Monster High in live action, through a movie musical, again in partnership with Nickelodeon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diversity and inclusion are also at the heart of new Barbie content, Soulie said. Mattel Television is working on an episodic series based on the special Barbie Big City, Big Dreams<\/em>, plus more animated movies.<\/p>\n

Soulie then talked about the enduring appeal of Thomas & Friends. \u201cIn the DNA of Thomas, the value of friendship resonates with kids, but also with parents and caregivers. These are important messages. We now have 25 seasons. All have stayed true to the core of the DNA. What we did a couple of years ago, though, was try to rethink Thomas. Where do we want to take Thomas next? Historically, it\u2019s always been CG. We thought, what would it look like if we went more cartoony in a 2D animated way? We loved what we could do with it. A lot more physical comedy, the expressions on the faces of Thomas and the other engines, we could take them to a different place. So there was a lot more we could do with the content while keeping it very simple. The 2D aspect lets us do crazy things. Thomas doesn\u2019t have to stay on the rails all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show incorporates 26 life lessons, Soulie said. \u201cWe took these life lessons from The Railway Series<\/em> books first introduced in 1945. We went back and looked at the DNA, focusing on three pillars of early childhood development: social-emotional, cognitive and physical skills. And we wanted to broaden the reach of Thomas. We expanded the distribution. We are airing Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go<\/em> in 150 countries and adding more every day.\u201d In the U.S., the show is on both Cartoon Network and Netflix.<\/p>\n

Outside of the Monster High musical, there is more live action in the works at Mattel Television, Soulie said. \u201cWe see live action as a big growth driver for Mattel Television. We\u2019ve grown our team with a new hire. There are a lot of opportunities, in scripted and unscripted.\u201d Projects include a Pictionary game show, and other games in the Mattel slate could serve as inspiration for further shows.<\/p>\n

Amid shifts caused by the pandemic, Soulie noted that \u201cphysical play is here to stay\u2014we saw that as families spent more time together at home. On the content side, there was a captive audience, and co-viewing went up. We saw the value of trusted brands. We take a franchise approach. We couldn\u2019t reach as many kids through live events, but we did other things, whether on YouTube or Netflix, sometimes accelerated releases of content.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mattel Television has 20 shows and specials currently in production, Soulie said, with another 25 in development. \u201cIt\u2019s a big pipeline, including animation and live action, short-form, scripted and unscripted. We have a large library and lots of opportunities to create great television. As an IP owner, it\u2019s a great time to be in the industry when you have strong, well-known brands and franchises.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fred Soulie, senior VP and general manager of Mattel Television, participated in a keynote conversation with TV Kids\u2019 Anna Carugati at the TV Kids Festival today, discussing how the toy giant is expanding its content slate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":22353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[6362,4266],"class_list":["post-22352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-fred-soulie","tag-mattel-television","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nFred Soulie Talks Mattel\u2019s Content Strategy - 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\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fred Soulie Talks Mattel\u2019s Content Strategy - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fred Soulie, senior VP and general manager of Mattel Television, participated in a keynote conversation with TV Kids\u2019 Anna Carugati at the TV Kids Festival today, discussing how the toy giant is expanding its content slate.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-02T17:33:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/2022-02-02-Soulie.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"319\" \/>\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=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/\",\"name\":\"Fred Soulie Talks Mattel\u2019s Content Strategy - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-02T17:33:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-02T17:33:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fred Soulie Talks Mattel\u2019s Content Strategy\"}]},{\"@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. She can be reached on mdaswani@worldscreen.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/author\/mdaswaniworldscreen-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fred Soulie Talks Mattel\u2019s Content Strategy - TVKIDS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fred Soulie Talks Mattel\u2019s Content Strategy - TVKIDS","og_description":"Fred Soulie, senior VP and general manager of Mattel Television, participated in a keynote conversation with TV Kids\u2019 Anna Carugati at the TV Kids Festival today, discussing how the toy giant is expanding its content slate.","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/","og_site_name":"TVKIDS","article_published_time":"2022-02-02T17:33:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":319,"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/2022-02-02-Soulie.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mansha Daswani","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mansha Daswani","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/","name":"Fred Soulie Talks Mattel\u2019s Content Strategy - TVKIDS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-02-02T17:33:27+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-02T17:33:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-soulie-talks-mattels-content-strategy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fred Soulie Talks Mattel\u2019s Content Strategy"}]},{"@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. She can be reached on mdaswani@worldscreen.com.","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/author\/mdaswaniworldscreen-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}