here<\/a>, explored how the panelists are navigating their companies through the sector\u2019s challenges and highlighted the benefits of being boutique and independent in the current climate.<\/p>\nIncreased co-pro activity has been one successful strategy at MIAM!, said Mouchez, the company\u2019s founder and CEO. When she launched the company, her first project was Edmond and Lucy<\/em>, made at a time when \u201cit was quite feasible to gather the 20 to 25 percent missing in a financing plan. You would get that on presales. It was challenging, but it was completely doable. Now, five years later, I\u2019m financing season two, [and] it\u2019s much more challenging to get that missing 20 to 25 percent. So, we\u2019re doing a co-production. Maybe it seems more challenging, but I\u2019m finding that it\u2019s quite nourishing. We did our first co-production on The Tinies<\/em>, and I realized that welcoming Belgian and Flemish writers and storyboarders helped us achieve a show that is not completely French-centered. So, starting from something that could appear like a challenge, at the end of the journey, I\u2019m happy to do those co-productions because it\u2019s good for the IP. It\u2019s good for international sales because our shows are less French-centered.\u201d<\/p>\nDexter, founder and CEO of Serious Kids, addressed the challenges of putting up minimum guarantees against distribution rights today. \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to predict what\u2019s going to work and when. We\u2019re trying to do more hybrid deals in terms of distribution where we\u2019re working with producers to jointly raise co-production funding. When [you] know where [you] are\u2014the people that you can presell to you can count on two hands\u2014then you can regroup and say, Let\u2019s convert that presale into a part-MG and part-contribution to the budget and see where we can assume risk and where we would rather that money go directly to the production, and then we are taking an EP fee, as it were. Rather than having a straight distribution deal or a co-production deal, we try to go out together to investigate the market before we decide how to split those revenues and how they can be used best for the production.\u201d<\/p>\n
The industry needs producer creativity said \u00c1rnad\u00f3ttir, CEO and co-founder of Tulipop Studios, which was founded to scale the Tulipop<\/em> IP. The Tulipop team has been working on \u201cfinding investors that believe in our long-term strategy and are willing to invest in the company and in the IP, both angel investors and VC funds. Then it\u2019s setting up productions in other countries as well. We are in Iceland, where we have a tax rebate system. We\u2019ve also established a production company in the U.K.; we\u2019re doing part of our productions in Scotland, benefiting from the U.K. environment and tax rebates as well. It\u2019s a challenging puzzle.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cWe have to consider things on a longer term,\u201d added P\u00e9try, producer and partner at Dandelooo. \u201cSome distributors think it\u2019s a hit and run, grabbing over one year all the big fees and going to the next IP and making another big hit. We\u2019ve never done that, but even more now, it\u2019s looking under each stone and getting some revenue. Usually broadcasters have spent for this year and the next year and even the next year, so it\u2019s being patient and persevering. It\u2019s being careful about how you make things in a beautiful way and believing in your property for the generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Engaging audiences between seasons is also crucial, Mouchez said, referencing MIAM!\u2019s own work in real-time 3D animation. \u201cWe\u2019re using real time to reuse our premium assets that we\u2019ve produced and budgeted in one season and trying to produce additional content,\u201d including podcasts and video games. \u201cYou\u2019re reducing the global carbon footprint of your IP, and at the same time, you\u2019re boosting it. All this additional content, we are also able to sell internationally to make the link between season one and season two.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dexter agreed with Mouchez\u2019s point about the importance of content between seasons, highlighting Serious Kids\u2019 experience on The Unreal<\/em>, part of a growing live-action slate at the company, given the saturation of the animation market. \u201cSeason one is just finished but a second season is going to be commissioned, so we\u2019re going to wait and sell season one and season two at the same time. With live action, it\u2019s much faster, so that\u2019s much easier to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n\u00c1rnad\u00f3ttir pointed to the benefits of \u201cbeing boutique\u2014we can be more agile in this rapidly changing, challenging industry. Being independent and being able to adapt to what\u2019s going on can help. Being small makes it possible for you to be a bit more patient. You don\u2019t have a huge army of animators that you need to keep working. That\u2019s a benefit to the boutique model in the industry as it stands.\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked the panelists about how they are staying ahead of all the rapid changes in the business.<\/p>\n
Dexter said Serious Kids is investing in dubs, \u201cbecause increasingly the barrier to getting sales is not having enough language dubs and the broadcasters are increasingly unwilling to pay for that. In some cases, we\u2019ve been working with the dubbing companies to assist us in cash flowing those dubs, because otherwise, if you don\u2019t have something ready, it\u2019s not going to sell to quite a lot of the platforms. It\u2019s only the public broadcasters who are prepared to fund the dubs and then give you access for 50 percent. And I think that model is changing, and that\u2019s going to be key.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00c1rnad\u00f3ttir said Tulipop Studios is building an L&M plan for the brand. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of risk aversion. An interesting angle is that we are seeing production companies bring their own products to markets. That\u2019s something we have done. It\u2019s an example of how producers can prove the concept of their IPs in some way and even find financing at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mouchez agreed, discussing MIAM!\u2019s production of video games for some of its shows. \u201cIt\u2019s a way to seek a new audience and at the same time create a link between audiences and give tools to our broadcasting partners to engage even more with the audience.\u201d It\u2019s been a similar experience with podcasts, she said. \u201cOur broadcasting partners are trying to try to keep the audience. That\u2019s a way to face the situation. Being proactive is super important today and to have that agility in terms of creativity, but also in terms financing.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for determining how many of those extensions you can pull off, it\u2019s also a question of resources, \u00c1rnad\u00f3ttir noted. \u201cYou can do everything from the beginning, but very few companies have the resources to do that. We have tried to figure out for our IP what is the most important thing at each point in time, where is our audience and where do we want to connect with them, and take it from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dexter is looking outside of the kids\u2019 industry \u201cin order to fire new ideas and meet new people. We\u2019ve got to be looking for equity finance. When you\u2019re building a budget for a show, you\u2019ve got to have a marketing budget because you can\u2019t rely on the fragmented audience of your commissioning broadcaster to market your show. Then, you\u2019ve got to have the budget for all of these other elements that we\u2019re talking about. Private equity has got to be the way forward to allow you to build a business in an SPV around a property.\u201d<\/p>\n
P\u00e9try at Dandelooo highlighted the importance of staying upbeat about the business, despite the onslaught of troubling headlines. \u201cI want to be excited and enthusiastic about life in general and meeting people. Enthusiasm brings enthusiasm. I\u2019m trying to not listen to the sad stories, the catastrophes, companies going under\u2014that\u2019s also contagious, and I don\u2019t want that to happen, so I\u2019m trying to keep the bad news away and just keep this little fire inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the crisis set in, Mouchez said she was worried MIAM! wouldn\u2019t survive, given the company\u2019s youth and size. \u201cI came to realize it\u2019s a strength. I don\u2019t know everything. I don\u2019t know all the risks. I\u2019m not seeing everything that could happen from a bad point of view. We\u2019re just doing things; nothing is forbidden. Have open eyes and never forbid yourself from something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00c1rnad\u00f3ttir added, \u201cThere\u2019s an increased discussion that it matters that people are creating quality content for kids. We want kids to be watching quality content with positive messages. There\u2019s an opportunity to get more people investing in this industry and in quality kids\u2019 entertainment because people want to invest in things that have a positive impact on the world and future generations. There is an opportunity to create, hopefully, a bigger investment space around kids\u2019 entertainment with equity investment.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for making decisions to invest in a property, it is a mix of both gut instinct and hard facts. \u201cYou know when you\u2019ve seen a good property when you look at it and think, I can\u2019t believe nobody else has done this before,\u201d Dexter said. \u201cWhen it\u2019s so simple and so clear; it\u2019s a concept that\u2019s easy to understand and fulfills an emotional need for a child or a family. All of the successful shows fulfill a very key basic emotional need, if they\u2019re not based on a famous book or stage show. That\u2019s what I\u2019m always looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cData is always important, but if you want to create something that can stand out, it needs to be authentic,\u201d \u00c1rnad\u00f3ttir added. \u201cData is helpful and is readily accessible through YouTube and Instagram and all those measurement tools, but that describes the past. In this ever-changing industry, the gut is what really matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Data is key from a sales perspective, Dexter noted. \u201cIf I\u2019m selling to Amazon or Netflix, they want the data pack, which they\u2019ll read before they read the creative pack. How many territories is it in? What are the ratings? How many books has it sold? They\u2019re looking for things that are world famous that they can then put on their platform, and they will be recognizable in multiple territories.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone wants some proof that IP is performing in one way or another, be it books or be it YouTube or broadcaster sales, it\u2019s especially important to be able to show data like that,\u201d agreed \u00c1rnad\u00f3ttir.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to attract private equity if you\u2019re just saying, This is a new preschool show, I believe that it satisfies a deep emotional need in people to be happy. That\u2019s not enough for private equity. You\u2019ve got to say, Well, i\u2019ve made some shorts, which are really knocking [it[ out [of] the park on YouTube, we\u2019ve published a couple of books, we\u2019ve done some research and the kids want hats that look like the characters so we made these two brands and these have sold more than those sold, so we\u2019re going to make more of those. In that case, people either have some money to put in themselves to start off with and then the private equity [holders] say, If you\u2019ve mortgaged your house for \u00a3100,000, you must believe in this property. They want shared risk. That\u2019s a different model that I think we\u2019ll have to get into much more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Day three of the TV Kids Summer Festival kicked off with a superpanel on boutique providers of kids\u2019 and family fare, delivering insights from Dandelooo\u2019s Emmanu\u00e8le P\u00e9try, Serious Kids\u2019 Genevieve Dexter, MIAM! animation\u2019s Hanna Mouchez and Tulipop Studios\u2019 Helga \u00c1rnad\u00f3ttir.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":29818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[4636,8805,6532,9026,6211,11043,9030],"class_list":["post-29817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-dandelooo","tag-emmanuele-petry","tag-hanna-mouchez","tag-helga-arnadottir","tag-miam-animation","tag-serious-kids-genevieve-dexter","tag-tulipop-studios","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n
TV Kids Summer Festival Spotlights Boutique Distributor Strategies - 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\/tv-kids-summer-festival-spotlights-boutique-distributor-strategies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TV Kids Summer Festival Spotlights Boutique Distributor Strategies - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Day three of the TV Kids Summer Festival kicked off with a superpanel on boutique providers of kids\u2019 and family fare, delivering insights from Dandelooo\u2019s Emmanu\u00e8le P\u00e9try, Serious Kids\u2019 Genevieve Dexter, MIAM! animation\u2019s Hanna Mouchez and Tulipop Studios\u2019 Helga \u00c1rnad\u00f3ttir.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/tv-kids-summer-festival-spotlights-boutique-distributor-strategies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-05T17:46:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-05T18:05:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/IndieGains-0625.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"394\" \/>\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=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/tv-kids-summer-festival-spotlights-boutique-distributor-strategies\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/tv-kids-summer-festival-spotlights-boutique-distributor-strategies\/\",\"name\":\"TV Kids Summer Festival Spotlights Boutique Distributor Strategies - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-05T17:46:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-05T18:05:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/tv-kids-summer-festival-spotlights-boutique-distributor-strategies\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/tv-kids-summer-festival-spotlights-boutique-distributor-strategies\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/tv-kids-summer-festival-spotlights-boutique-distributor-strategies\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TV Kids Summer Festival Spotlights Boutique Distributor Strategies\"}]},{\"@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":"TV Kids Summer Festival Spotlights Boutique Distributor Strategies - 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\/tv-kids-summer-festival-spotlights-boutique-distributor-strategies\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TV Kids Summer Festival Spotlights Boutique Distributor Strategies - TVKIDS","og_description":"Day three of the TV Kids Summer Festival kicked off with a superpanel on boutique providers of kids\u2019 and family fare, delivering insights from Dandelooo\u2019s Emmanu\u00e8le P\u00e9try, Serious Kids\u2019 Genevieve Dexter, MIAM! animation\u2019s Hanna Mouchez and Tulipop Studios\u2019 Helga \u00c1rnad\u00f3ttir.","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/tv-kids-summer-festival-spotlights-boutique-distributor-strategies\/","og_site_name":"TVKIDS","article_published_time":"2025-06-05T17:46:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-05T18:05:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":394,"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/IndieGains-0625.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mansha Daswani","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mansha Daswani","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/tv-kids-summer-festival-spotlights-boutique-distributor-strategies\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/tv-kids-summer-festival-spotlights-boutique-distributor-strategies\/","name":"TV Kids Summer Festival Spotlights Boutique Distributor Strategies - TVKIDS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-05T17:46:23+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-05T18:05:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/tv-kids-summer-festival-spotlights-boutique-distributor-strategies\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/tv-kids-summer-festival-spotlights-boutique-distributor-strategies\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/tv-kids-summer-festival-spotlights-boutique-distributor-strategies\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TV Kids Summer Festival Spotlights Boutique Distributor Strategies"}]},{"@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\/29817","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=29817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}