MAIN TRENDS IN KIDS' TV ( by Ann-Marie Corvin Broadcast Now)

Live-action for tweens, non-dialogue animation and gender-neutral programming will be among the key themes at Kidscreen. 

For the past few years, risk-averse broadcasters have been dusting off children’s classics for a new generation. But are some of these mothballed formats struggling to find their way?

“Expectations are high,” says Paul Robinson, managing director of Creative Media Partners (CMP). “The number of broadcasters taking on these heritage shows is lower than predicted. Parents love them, but kids don’t really know what they are, and it’s yet to be proven that any of these shows is a slam dunk.”

The former Disney and KidsCo chief argues that new content that kids can call their own is still much sought- after – something that CMP hopes to achieve with its own 26 x 11-minute CG-animated adventure series Sindbad & The 7 Galaxies, which it will be showcasing at the annual Kidscreen event in Miami next week.

By taking a well-known character and transforming him into a 14-year-old space-travelling high-school student, the producer/distributor is hoping this original series will need less brand-building, and will tap into market appetite for animated comedies aimed at the six-plus demographic.

Pre-sales for Sindbad have been strong; deals are already in place with free-to-air Middle Eastern broadcaster MBC3, India’s Sun TV and Nigeria’s free-to-air Be.Televison.

Union Media founder Adam Selly believes the market needs to ask whether heritage brands have been consistently successful or “languishing in the vaults for some years”.

The kids’ TV distributor is only interested in taking on perennial favourites, having recently added Channel 4’s Christmas 2016 half-hour animated special, We’re Going On A Bear Hunt, to its slate. Based on the best-selling children’s book by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, it’s being made by award- winning Lupus Films (The Snowman And The Snowdog) in the UK using traditional hand-drawn animation.

DHX Media senior vice-president of distribution Josh Scherba states with confidence that if you can make a six- year-old laugh with an animated comedy featuring great characters, “you’ll be able to sell it”.

In this space, the Canadian production/distribution behemoth has movie spin-off Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, which is a co-pro with Sony and has been snapped up by Boomerang, and Fangbone, based on the tales of a nine-year-old barbarian warrior from Skullbania, which has been pre-sold to Disney.

Quirky comedies
Boutique Paris-based distributor and financier About Premium Content (APC) is also taking comedy to Kidscreen. The insanely quirky Zoli & Pokey, aimed at six to 10 year-olds, Pokey tells the story of a pre-teen boy with popularity issues who finds out that his estranged scientist father has been turned into a dog. The Picasso-esque 52 x 11-minute animation has already run on French kids’ channel Gulli in a prime-time 5.30pm slot.

While animation is often viewed as a more transportable kids’ format, there are several tween live-action series set to debut this year. Nickelodeon is investing heavily in the genre, following parent Viacom’s investment in the Miami-based International Production, which boasts two 15,000 sq ft stages. According to JC Acosta, chief operating officer at Viacom International Media Networks, the hub was inspired by Nickelodeon’s telenovela success in Latin America, which has spawned US series Every Witch Way and Talia In The Kitchen.

The first show to be greenlit out of this new facility is 20 x 30-minute teen android drama I Am Frankie, which goes into production later this year and will be distributed across Nickelodeon’s 160 territories via its 80 channels and branded blocks.

Nina Hahn, senior vice-president of development for Nickelodeon Inter- national, says the broadcaster’s Europe-focused tween formats tend to contain fewer cliffhangers and more overarching story arcs than their Latin American counterparts. Hahn points to the in-house mystery series The Ludwigs, currently in development in the Netherlands, as an example.

Canada’s pre-teen live-action offering, Backstage, comes from producer Fresh. Dubbed ‘Fame for tweens’, it was made for the DHX Media-owned Family and will air in the spring. “We’ve noticed that live-action for tweens is growing in demand once again – not globally, but territories such as the UK and the US are more active in pre-buying and acquiring,” says Scherba.

APC is also taking tween live-action to the Miami event. Made by Danish producer Cosmo, 24 x 26-minute series The Wish commanded a 45% share in a 7pm slot on its native Danish station TV2. The It’s A Wonderful Life-inspired show, which focuses on a 12-year-old called July and an aspiring young angel, lends itself to a December/winter broadcast.

Flying high

More winged creatures pop up in Flying Animals, a 26-part short-form animated series for kids aged six to 12. The show, from Saint Petersburg- based Da Animation, is unique in that all the distribution profits go to a children’s cancer charity.

Distributed by UK-based boutique outfit Media IM – which is carving out a niche in bringing high-performing, underexploited properties to the market – the show is set in a country of winged musical animals that can only fly when they are truly happy.

Airing on Russian channels Carousel and Mult, Flying Animals came out of a kids’ therapy session and was subsequently developed into a series, says the distributor’s joint managing director, Maria Ufland. Musicians and celebrities have lent their names to the show, which features a different song in each episode.

Media IM is also distributing Sunny Bunnies at Kidscreen. The CG-created show from Belarus’ Digital Light Studio is the distributor’s first non-dialogue animated series. At 26 x 3.5 minutes, the short-form show is “perfect for digital”, says co-managing director Irina Nazarenko. The series already comes with broadcaster backing, having launched on Russia’s free-to-air Disney Channel in December.

According to Selly, short-form properties that rely purely on visual storytelling are increasingly popular in the international market because they remove the need for dubbing. “Access fees can be quite high and revenue from secondary platforms, which are often new or niche, can be limited,” he adds.

Mindful of this, Union Media has picked up 26 x 4-minute Animanimals for the four-plus market, following a successful presentation of the pilot, Zebra, at last September’s Cartoon Forum. “The series is highly original and delightfully absurd, with a charming sense of humour,” says Selly.

Five episodes have been completed so far, with delivery expected in 2016/2017. A second non-dialogue show on Union’s slate, German series Mister Rabbit, is a 24 x 2.5-minute pre-school animation based on a series of graphic books published in France.

Another trend on which several distributors have picked up is a new ‘gender-neutral’ positioning among broadcasters that have traditionally been more boy-skewed.

APC sales director of animation and kids Lionel Marty says a slew of successful film franchises are having an impact on kids’ slots. “The continued success of The Hunger Games and the latest Star Wars movie show that you can have a strong female lead and appeal to a broad audience,” he says.

Cartoon Network is rebooting The Powerpuff Girls this April. However, rather than a conscious drive to offer more female leads, Cecilia Persson, vice-president, acquisitions and co-productions for Turner EMEA, says all-inclusive characters in shows such as Cartoon Network’s The Amazing World Of Gumball and We Bare Bears helped female viewership spike by 15% last year.

“Humour and comedy that older girls can share with boys at school and their siblings is working well for us,” she says, adding that at Kidscreen, she’ll be looking for more “girl-inclusive comedy or comedy action with strong girl characters”.