{"id":9321,"date":"2015-10-01T16:33:10","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T20:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/movie-magic-2\/"},"modified":"2016-01-26T17:28:55","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T22:28:55","slug":"movie-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/movie-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"Movie Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Wood explores how broadcasters are using TV movies and specials to launch new brands and create event programming for kids.<\/em><\/p>\n

The teenage offspring of some of Disney\u2019s most notorious villains were all the rage in the U.S. this summer. During a traditionally slow television season, Disney Channel drew more than 6.6 million viewers for its Descendants<\/em> TV movie, making it the biggest cable-TV movie of the year so far. The special\u2019s soundtrack then debuted at the top of the Billboard charts.<\/p>\n

Descendants<\/em> is the latest in a wave of headline-generating TV movies at Disney Channel that started back in 2006 with High School Musical<\/em>. And Disney is certainly not the only broadcaster looking to movies as a way to create event programming, spawn new series and fill prime-time, family co-viewing slots.<\/p>\n

Many producers and distributors have recently announced plans to kick-start or expand the production of kids\u2019 specials and family movies. This push is a response to a growing market demand for long-form children\u2019s or family entertainment. \u201cJust a few years ago your only options were theatrical release or DVD, with broadcasters showing little interest in long-form entertainment,\u201d observes Christopher Keenan, the VP of global content and executive producer at Mattel\u2019s HIT Entertainment. \u201cIt was not in their budget plans or their programming strategy. But now there are more buyers on digital, cable and OTT. There are so many different places to go, it has created a much more robust marketplace.\u201d<\/p>\n

OTT services such as Netflix and Hulu want specials and family movies because they drive subscriptions, adds Keenan. \u201cEpisodic series are important for them, but long-form content gives a literal and perceived value to their offering.\u201d<\/p>\n

All broadcasters, whether terrestrial, cable or OTT, use long-form content as event marketing. \u201cFilms can be big tentpole events, which really help drive viewing, with platforms often building a theme or an entire day around them,\u201d says Keenan.<\/p>\n

Pierre Bela\u00efsch, the managing director of Gaumont Animation, notes, \u201cYou can create a big splash around a film, so it\u2019s a good thing to have.Networks schedule and market movies most actively around Christmas and Halloween, among other holidays, so there is an obvious market for producers to develop TV specials specifically tailored for these occasions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actively distribute six to eight holiday specials that work for Halloween and Christmas, and they sell quite well around the world because broadcasters like to use them as a focus for their schedules,\u201d says Ed Galton, the managing director and chief commercial officer at CAKE. \u201cBut films can work as marketing tools all year round, because a good story is a good story.\u201d<\/p>\n

If family movies and specials are in demand, it\u2019s no surprise that companies from Gaumont Animation and Studio 100 Media in Europe, to Splash Entertainment in the U.S., have recently launched new film-production initiatives.<\/p>\n

Bela\u00efsch says Gaumont Animation is making a strategic effort to develop more feature-length kids\u2019 content following the success of its film franchise Santa\u2019s Apprentice<\/em>. The property started as an animated series in 2006, spinning off its first feature in 2010. Bela\u00efsch recalls how successful the first film\u2019s limited release was. \u201cIn four to five weeks we sold 600,000 tickets.\u201d Three years later, Santa\u2019s Apprentice 2: The Magic Snowflake<\/em> delivered 700,000 ticket sales. The third release in the franchise is due out in 2017. \u201cNot bad for a 52-part animated series!\u201d Bela\u00efsch says.<\/p>\n

Gaumont\u2019s second major kids\u2019 feature franchise is Belle and Sebastian<\/em>, based on C\u00e9cile Aubry\u2019s original \u201960s live-action TV classic, set in the French Alps and detailing the adventures of a 6-year-old boy and his beloved white dog. The well-received 2013 live-action release has since spawned a 52-part animated series and a second live-action feature for release in December 2015.<\/p>\n

NORTHERN EXPOSURE
\n<\/strong>Gaumont isn\u2019t the only company to have capitalized on the potential of feature-length products. Last year, Splash Entertainment created a new feature-film division and unveiled its first planned release, Norm of the North<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Splash co-CEO Nicolas Atlan, a producer on Norm of the North<\/em>, insists that creating a new division was the next logical step for the company as it continues to grow its film development and production slate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a growing market for kids\u2019 films\u2014particularly with the rise of the new generation of VOD platforms,\u201d says Atlan.<\/p>\n

In partnership with Lionsgate, Splash is producing three new 45-minute TV specials of Alpha and Omega<\/em>. The latest animated film based on the wolf cub franchise is set to be released early next year. Splash also made four Dive Olly Dive!<\/em> specials, based on the hit series of the same name. Long-form kids\u2019 content will be used on Splash\u2019s free VOD network, Kabillion, which is now ranked among the top ten free on-demand kids\u2019 networks in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Studio 100 Media has also launched its own film division, kicking off with an animated feature based on Maya the Bee<\/em>. \u201cThe production and distribution of animated feature films is a new business venture for Studio 100,\u201d says Patrick Elmendorff, the CEO of Studio 100 Media. \u201cOur first theatrical release, Maya the Bee: Movie<\/em> was introduced for worldwide cinematic distribution under the new film division, Studio 100 Film. Its huge success meant feature films would become a key element of our 360-degree approach and an important part of our strategy, and [the model] will be extended to other main brands in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStudio 100 is producing TV movies and specials specifically to support our brands, in close cooperation with broadcasters,\u201d adds Maarten Stevens, the director of content distribution and business development at Studio 100 Benelux. \u201cIn the majority of cases, a TV movie or special allows us to bring in new content at a lower cost than producing a new series.\u201d<\/p>\n

Studio 100 recently experienced success with a film based on its live-action brand Prinsessia<\/em>. \u201cWe produced a movie that was intended for an initial TV run, but we decided to organize a limited theatrical release, with great success,\u201d Stevens says.<\/p>\n

If the move into features is a new initiative for some, others have long appreciated the importance of kids\u2019 films. What\u2019s new at MarVista Entertainment, as CEO Fernando Szew explains, is that the company is stepping up its activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hiring more people, getting involved in more projects and putting more resources to work,\u201d declares Szew, who also notes that the move is in response to the greater importance of long-form content on OTT platforms.<\/p>\n

THE NETFLIX EFFECT
\n<\/strong>\u201cThe impact of OTT platforms is pretty clear,\u201d Szew observes. \u201cThe kids\u2019 section on Netflix is now an important destination. Netflix is becoming very oriented toward longer-form family entertainment\u2014it devotes a lot of marketing to [original] family movies, and of course it needs the content to support that. Then there\u2019s YouTube, which has launched its phenomenal family and kids\u2019 apps. There\u2019s a whole range of new ways for kids and families to access this kind of content.\u201d<\/p>\n

Audiences are switching on to long-form content more as well, adds Szew, thanks in part to improved streaming technology that offers a higher quality end-user experience. \u201cI have kids and see them all the time watching long-form content on tablets. They can certainly sit through a movie. The early days of YouTube may have been very much about short-form content, shareability and virability, but now the viewability has improved.\u201d<\/p>\n

MarVista has a huge slate of live-action TV movies and specials with another dozen projects in the pipeline over the next year. Titles include comedy creature feature Kids vs Monsters<\/em>; Pants on Fire<\/em>, a Disney XD movie premiere; and Zapped<\/em>, a Disney Channel original.<\/p>\n

Although MarVista is best known as a distributor and producer of live action, Szew reveals that it is considering another move. \u201cThe internal debate here is at what point we get back into animated features. The cons are that animation is a highly competitive market dictated very much by technology, capital investment and production incentives\u2014an area where, as a distributor, we are not that well positioned. We are considering it, but we have put a lot of resources into live action, so that\u2019s where the releases will be for the foreseeable future.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the typical target market for family movies and specials is a wide demo of 4- to 10-year-olds, there is a growing interest from broadcasters, distributors and producers in properties with co-viewing potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt MarVista we have been very passionate about films for the whole family, and the platforms also want to encourage families to sit and watch entertainment together,\u201d Szew says.<\/p>\n

First, it makes sense from an altruistic point of view, Szew continues; this type of watching encourages a conversation between generations. But it also widens the audience\u2014\u201cappealing to more eyeballs, which the broadcasters and their advertisers like.\u201d<\/p>\n

HIT\u2019s Keenan is also a fan of the rising trend toward co-viewing, even though the company\u2019s flagship properties, including Fireman Sam<\/em> and Thomas & Friends<\/em>, are aimed primarily at preschoolers. \u201cThere was a period when producers shied away from entertaining multi-generational audiences, but our current thinking is that as long as we are serving our primary audience to the best of our ability, there\u2019s nothing wrong with entertaining families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keenan adds, \u201cOther studios, such as Disney-owned Pixar, have done a phenomenal job of creating content that the whole family wants to watch…for different reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s important to remember that blockbuster films such as Frozen<\/em>, with its $150 million budget, are very different entities than a typical TV movie or special for kids. As Gaumont\u2019s Bela\u00efsch points out, although Santa\u2019s Apprentice<\/em> had a theatrical release, it was done on a limited budget of around \u20ac5 million ($5.6 million). A typical Pixar or DreamWorks Animation budget would be more like $150 million to $170 million. It\u2019s a completely different business model.<\/p>\n

HOME ENTERTAINMENT
\n<\/strong>Whereas big-budget Hollywood 3D kids\u2019 films are all about the box office, with Frozen<\/em> quickly becoming one of the biggest grossing animated features in history, lower-budget kids\u2019 films are not necessarily relying on theatrical revenues. The thinking is that the kudos of a theatrical release can help a film\u2019s performance in SVOD and DVD markets.<\/p>\n

HIT\u2019s latest Thomas & Friends<\/em> film, Sodor\u2019s Legend of the Lost Treasure<\/em>, had a limited theatrical release in the U.K. and Ireland. \u201cIt\u2019s the icing on the cake really, with the DVD and SVOD markets being the places where we recoup our production costs,\u201d Keenan says.<\/p>\n

With falling DVD sales of most films, it seems that the fast-growing SVOD market is taking over as the main source of revenue for kids\u2019 films.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe DVD market is certainly in decline,\u201d says CAKE\u2019s Galton. \u201cThere are still opportunities to make money, but not nearly the same as there were ten years ago. The only exception would be the holiday specials, for which DVDs go up front in terms of the points of sale in stores.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keenan adds, \u201cFor the time being at least, SVOD and DVD seem to be coexisting. It\u2019s not unlike the situation in the record industry, in which there was a fear that record sales would disappear altogether as digital grew, although it didn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

For long-form entertainment to succeed, it has to offer something unique, particularly if it\u2019s a spin-off of an existing TV series. \u201cThere has to be a reason for turning it into a theatrical film or feature-length TV episode that offers content that the series doesn\u2019t; otherwise why bother?\u201d says Keenan. \u201cOne of the questions I ask writers, directors and producers all the time is, \u2018Why does it warrant a long-form treatment?\u2019 We want stories that require a larger scope and scale, that go to places that require more time and explanation. We look at upping the ante in terms of overall production value, introducing new characters; we take on much more complex stories with an epic quality and incorporate more subplots and musical numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The danger with kids\u2019 films, particularly when they are being consumed on digital devices, is that audiences can switch off the moment they are bored. The key, insists Keenan, is to employ all the techniques in making the films that a seasoned Hollywood screenwriter would use.<\/p>\n

TUNED IN
\n<\/strong>\u201cMaintaining attention is really about engagement,\u201d explains the HIT executive. \u201cThe longer films in particular have to be sculpted in a way that there is a mix of physical, visual and verbal humor. You have to offer peaks and valleys in terms of the humor and action. We want to keep the excitement level up without keeping the adrenaline going too much. We try to create a story landscape that allows kids to inhale with excitement and exhale with relief or laughter. It\u2019s all about building a rhythm so that when they are coming down and relaxing, we are poised to take them back up again on a little bit more of a roller-coaster ride.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe approach our long-form content as if we are making the biggest, best Hollywood film,\u201d Keenan adds. \u201cThen we look at it through the eyes of our preschool audience, asking ourselves if they can track the story and understand the peaks and valleys. Then we might add in more visual humor where it\u2019s needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The number one rule? Don\u2019t talk down to your viewers. \u201cThe best thing you can do is overestimate the intelligence of your audience,\u201d Keenan says\u2014an adage that seemingly applies to any form of kids\u2019 content, whether it runs for 11 or 120 minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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