Vince Commisso

The Canadian production-and-distribution studio 9 Story Entertainment this week announced a full production slate for the year, led by its brand-new live-action YTV commission, Survive This. The company is also delivering new episodes of its TELETOON and Cartoon Network EMEA comedy, Best Ed, plus the new preschool show Wibbly Pig and returning seasons of Peep and the Big Wide World and Max and Ruby.

For Vince Commisso, 9 Story’s CEO, the well-stocked production slate reflects the growth of the company since its founding seven years ago. It also, he notes, illustrates a challenge faced by mid-sized firms looking for growth. "Our production capacity is probably about five shows. We’ve always said, if we get beyond five shows, we’re going to have to grow the business in ways. The market has room for small producers and distributors, and the very large ones…in between is a very tough place to live, unless you have ways to take the core competencies you’ve created and build businesses around them. It becomes [about] changing your activity. Now you have to say, What do I do before I develop and what do I do after I distribute? How do we extend the value chain?"

High up on Commisso’s agenda is ensuring that every 9 Story property has its own web strategy. "You have to use the web as a tool to help support [the TV series]. What can we do on the Internet that will help support the series? Sometimes that’s a website, sometimes that’s short content, sometimes it’s a viral e-card. Sometimes it’s putting things up on YouTube. We’re always mindful of having to do things like that."

Producing for traditional TV, however, is still 9 Story’s primary business, and in addition to its portfolio of shows under way, the company has a number of titles in development. Securing broadcasters on Almost Naked Animals is one of Commisso’s primary aims as he heads into MIPTV. He is also looking for broadcast partners on the live-action series The Invisible Rules of the Zoë Lama, based on the acclaimed tween novel by Canadian author Tish Cohen. Other shows in advanced development are Ertlings and Bash Boys.

Commisso explains that his aim is to have anywhere between five and ten shows in development, at varying stages, at any one time. "In this market, it’s especially tough to bring things forward in development, so we have to be judicious in what we develop and in the timelines. You have to be careful with development, in that what the market doesn’t want today may be exactly what’s in demand by the time you’re done developing it!"

As the company seeks out partners for its shows, Commisso is mindful that the key to a successful co-production lies in the health of the relationship with your partners. "It’s two years, three years of work together. If you’re not enjoying your relationship with your partner, it will definitely impact the show."

A good show, he adds, will only be achieved when the co-production partners share responsibilities based on their respective abilities. "A co-production is a partnership among producers for financing and services, and the key really is services. If you take each studio’s or each country’s expertise in one area and say you’re going to bring this to the property, then you have a better property. If you say, You do 13 boards and I’m going to do 13 boards, there’s an unevenness to the product. You have to make sure you divide the services according to each company’s strengths."