The BBC\u2019s Kate Morton and Sarah Muller held a session at Annecy today to share the keys to making a good program for CBeebies and CBBC and what they are looking for to complement their current slates.<\/p>\n
Morton, senior head of children\u2019s commissioning for 0 to 6, noted that a CBeebies show is \u201call about warmth, curiosity and fun. We are here to help our children learn through play. It\u2019s strong, authentic storytelling that inspires, educates and entertains.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additionally, \u201cwe are so proud of the fact that diversity and inclusion is absolutely at the center, both on- and off-screen. We\u2019ve got fantastic shows like Maddie + Triggs<\/em>, which has really gone above and beyond in terms of bringing in learned and known experience from a diverse perspective. It helps us tell really engaging stories that reflect the real lives of our preschool audience across the U.K. wherever they are.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the latest titles on the CBeebies slate are BeddyByes<\/em>, a bedtime routine show; Squirrel Club<\/em>, \u201ca wonderful new magazine show full of madness and educative content but in a truly Hey Duggee<\/em> way\u201d; Big Lizard<\/em>, with \u201creally beautiful and wonderful character-driven storytelling\u201d; SuperTato<\/em>; Zog<\/em>; and Piggy Builders<\/em>, a new construction show that features \u201ca really interesting environmental approach to construction.\u201d These are in addition to Puffin Rock<\/em>, Rafi the Wishing Wizard<\/em> and so much more.<\/p>\n As for what she is looking to add to the CBeebies slate, \u201cwe\u2019re looking for content for 4 to 6 in particular and also 5 to 8, that bridge audience,\u201d Morton says. \u201cCBeebies is so strong. We want to keep hold of this audience and hand them over to CBBC. We want to stop them perhaps falling off a cliff into YouTube and looking at content that\u2019s maybe not appropriate for them. So, we are really keen on ideas with fast-paced, character-driven comedy, perhaps wry family observational comedy and a real sense of place and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe share the bridge territory,\u201d Muller, senior head of children\u2019s commissioning for 7-plus, added. \u201cWe decide in a friendly and organic way whether a show is upper bridge or lower bridge. Upper bridge tends to mean a bit more jeopardy. It\u2019s probably got more comedy in it.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the 7-plus set and what she is looking to add to the CBBC slate, Muller says, \u201cwe\u2019re always looking for something that\u2019s cool, funny and full of attitude. Cool is obviously quite difficult to define, but we all know when we see it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs there is a lot of choice and the audience has a lot of choice, we\u2019re looking for things that are unique and exciting and that come with a built-in discovery, so we can work with you to bring the audience to it,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n The CBBC programming offer features Super Happy Magic Forest<\/em>, Duck and Frog<\/em>, Captain Onion\u2019s Buoyant Academy for Wayward Youth<\/em> and Gangsta Granny<\/em>, as well as Pok\u00e9mon Horizons<\/em>, Grizzy and the Lemmings<\/em> and Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking for fast-paced comedy for 6 to 9 that makes your audience laugh out loud,\u201d Muller says. \u201cWe\u2019re looking for premises that offer a rich seam of story, so that\u2019s comedy or jeopardy or a combination.\u201d<\/p>\n She and her team are also looking to serve the 10-to-12 audience with comic book adaptations and anime. \u201cOn the acquisition and prebuy front, we\u2019re working now with our colleagues at BBC Three, and we\u2019ve been helping them source content for acquisitions,\u201d she said. \u201cFor instance, our colleague who does acquisitions has just bought 1,800 episodes of One Piece<\/em>. That\u2019s not something that we could have bought for the children\u2019s platforms because it would never be compliant because it\u2019s just not suitable, but our audience is interested. So, we brought it in to BBC Three, and that means an older audience can enjoy it, and where appropriate, if younger fans want to access it, they can.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Morton and Muller stressed the fact that they are looking for projects with international appeal but with a British twist, which is \u201cabout making certain it\u2019s content that feels relevant and resonates to our U.K. audience,\u201d Morton explained. \u201cWe want characters that you can sit there as a child or family in the U.K. and go, \u2018Oh, I want to be them. That could be me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere has always been, in my time in this business, a tendency to make everything look really American,\u201d Muller noted. \u201cJust by default, the backgrounds are typical American high streets and cities and buildings [and] how the characters dress [is American]. That was because you wanted your American sale. It was something that as producers, distributors, that\u2019s what you were looking for. But now, I think European children potentially deserve to see Italian streets, German streets, all different streets because you\u2019re not necessarily going to sell it to America in the current climate anyway. So, let\u2019s use this opportunity to really sell European-centric, culturally relevant stories.\u201d<\/p>\n One scheme that ensures a British twist in programming for CBeebies and CBBC is Ignite, a program for U.K. content makers and creators. The first edition saw 1,000 submissions, which were turned in completely blind, \u201cwhich is an extraordinary, very freeing process,\u201d Muller said. The submissions come with no names or studios. \u201cYou have no idea whether it\u2019s an individual student or a massive studio like Aardman or BBC Studios that submitted these ideas. So, you make your decisions based purely on [the idea] and not [the name].\u201d<\/p>\n The submissions were narrowed down to 18 ideas, and after 18 months of development\u2014fully funded by BBC Children\u2019s\u2014three have been successfully commissioned: Duck and Frog<\/em>, Captain Onion\u2019s Buoyant Academy for Wayward Youth<\/em> and The Underglow<\/em>.<\/p>\n A second Ignite program is in the process now. Over 1,600 ideas were submitted and 12 have been selected for further development.<\/p>\n Even if you\u2019re not a U.K. creative, there is still the chance to be involved. \u201cIf you\u2019re not a U.K. creator, the way in is to reach out to us if you\u2019re a studio or a designer,\u201d Muller said. \u201cWe can slot you in now in the process or later on.\u201d They are currently working with character designers in Scandinavia, France, Germany and Italy on Ignite.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s so much European co-producing, co-commissioning, partnership, co-funding [and] friendly relationships,\u201d Muller noted. \u201cI think that\u2019s a very encouraging story in quite a negative landscape. There\u2019s definitely opportunities for us all to work together.\u201d And studios and producers can do so in numerous ways\u2014BBC Children\u2019s will work on commissions, prebuys or straightforward acquisitions.<\/p>\n Although the titles Muller and Morton want for CBeebies and CBBC should have a U.K. appeal, they are still open to working outside of the European or American markets. \u201cThere is absolutely an opportunity to bring stories in\u201d from elsewhere, Muller encouraged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The BBC\u2019s Kate Morton and Sarah Muller held a session at Annecy today to share the keys to making a good program for CBeebies and CBBC and what they are looking for to complement their current slates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1412,"featured_media":29878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[1351,433,494,8162,1842],"class_list":["post-29877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-bbc-childrens","tag-cbbc","tag-cbeebies","tag-kate-morton","tag-sarah-muller","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n