Kids lobby group’s voice gets louder

The UK Children’s Media Conference closed with the news that lobby group Save Kids’ TV (SKTV) has merged with a film and TV development fund to launch a broader media campaign.

SKTV has joined forces with the Children’s Film and Television Foundation (CFTF) to create the Children’s Media Foundation (CMF), a new group that will focus on not only lobbying for the UK TV industry but also for the animation and film sectors too. 

The initial CMF board will comprise former BBC Childrens’ boss Anna Home as chair, CMC editorial director Greg Childs, CFTF chairman Linda James and Zodiak Family and Kids boss Nigel Pickard. Further board members will be announced in coming months.

SKTV launched at the 2006 CMC in Sheffield under Home in response to ITV’s decision to pull out of kids’ commissioning. “It was created as a one-issue organisation in 2006 but we’re now expanding because there are other ongoing crises in British media,” Home told C21 today. “We are bringing our voices together to make them louder.”

The news comes after Lord Puttnam told CMC delegates earlier this week that the crises in UK media, such as the News International phone hacking scandal, meant it was the perfect time to lobby the UK government for change. 

CMF will attempt to influence a new communications bill currently being planned by culture secretary Jeremy Hunt.

In further news out of Sheffield, the CMC welcomed 777 delegates this week, including delegations from China and Argentina, compared with just fewer than 550 last year. 

“We don’t plan to become a big international event but it’s great to have people coming from around the world,” said Home. “We’ve had people from as far as Jordan attending this time round.”

Jesse Whittock 
8 Jul 2011 
© C21 Media 2011 

Moving North will change the face of BBC’s kids programming, boss says 
08/07/11 

UK public broadcaster the BBC moving its children’s TV output out of London will impact the way that it commissions and buys content and change the entire outlook of the kids division, its boss Joe Godwin said yesterday.

“There are a lot of indies in the north west and reach and proximity to commissioners is a help and is important,” BBC Children’s director Joe Godwin told The Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield, UK. “The balance of what we commission will shift.”

The kids broadcaster, which operates two dedicated channels, CBeebies and CBBC and spends more on original kids programming than any other broadcaster in the UK, is keen to do more factual and drama, Godwin said. It is looking to have shorter runs in both cases, with a view to unearthing the next big hit.

Godwin sought to assure producers concerned over the BBC’s investment in kids shows and said it will continue to fully fund some projects, but would also look to a coproduction model in order to be involved with a larger number of projects.

“We will still fully fund a lot of things - things that only we would do will be fully funded,” he said. “Splatalot was a copro with ABC (Australia) and YTV (Canada) and looked very much like a CBBC programme - by not fully funding it we freed up money to spend on things that other people don’t want to coproduce.”

In a wide-ranging interview, Godwin also said he didn’t think the ongoing campaign to have tax credits introduced for UK-originated kids content would be successful. “I agree

Talking specifically about Children’s BBC move from Television Centre in west London to Salford in the North of England, Godwin said: “It’s not easy, it’s a major wrench in people’s lives. Once we get there and people get their heads around it, it will be a better place for children’s BBC.”

A C21 Viewpoint by Estelle Hughes

3Line Media will be taking part in the Arab Awakenings session at Sheffield’s Children’s Media Conference next week. Here the UK indie’s MD Estelle Hughes (below) discusses the Middle East connection.

Let’s start with the FAQs: No, I don’t have to wear an abaya when we’re in Abu Dhabi, and yes, it is tricky to work a production schedule through Ramadan. But it’s tricky to work a production schedule through Easter, May bank holiday and a royal wedding too, so fair’s fair.

To be honest, when we did a deal in early 2009 with the Abu Dhabi Media Zone’s newly set-up Twofour54, we weren’t even sure of those answers ourselves. 

Two-and-a-half years on and the learning curve and experience have been immense, and we’re now well into production with the second season of the BBC/Al Jazeera Children’s Channel preschool hit Driver Dan’s Story Train. We’re also about to open a production office, 3Line Arabia, in Abu Dhabi as a partner company of Twofour54, to co-develop and produce Arab-created content for an international audience. It’s not just the Grand Prix that moves at speed in this region.

Driver Dan’s Story Train, or Captain Karim as he is known in Arabic, is produced in a unique way between the UK and Abu Dhabi, with animators, writers and illustrators working on the show from all over the Middle East. Twofour54’s mission has been to enable the transference of our skills by attaching an Abu Dhabi production partner (Blink Studios), which has recruited and trained staff to work on the series.

Driver Dan (below) is in CGI but also incorporates live-action kids in green screen and a specially commissioned storybook with illustrations in each show. In season one (episodes 1-52), Blink did a complete adaptation of the series into Arabic, which included locally filmed green screen kids and smaller sections of new animation (such as the pages of a book turning the opposite way). 

For season two (episodes 53-104), the split of work has increased under 3Line’s creative control and Blink is producing some animation for the international version as well as being in full control of the Arabic one. This means that significant amounts of animation, storybook writing and illustration, and now script writing, is being done in the Middle East. 

So, in the short time since the series first went into production in Bristol, it is now a fully fledged Arab shared production venture, with animators, writers and producers in Abu Dhabi now working on a successful series that airs in the UK, the Middle East, Australia and the US. 

There is currently a lot of activity in the UK animation industry as a result of international partners offering funding and facilities in return for employment, IP transfer and/or training in their own (usually government-incentivised) regions. So, like most UK animation producers, the three of us at 3Line (myself, Mark Taylor and Teresa Reed) have produced international projects for years. In our experience, the country you work with is irrelevant when it comes to the cultural and business issues affecting preschool content (although there are much greater differences when catering for older audiences).

The critical factors in a successful international venture are not rocket science but they are still a challenge to manage - even if you know what they will be from day one. 

As in all productions, the schedule rules - falling behind a tiny bit can very quickly snowball, so the strong hand and spreadsheet skills of a tough and fair producer and production co-ordinator have been crucial in this production. Across all productions, there will always be teething problems and unexpected issues, and different ways to address them. But to deal with them successfully inevitably involves the magic word: communication. And that means both the spoken word and in person (3Line stock includes a lot of Etihad air miles); respectful conversations, albeit often with dramatic passion; and an enormous respect for everyone’s pride, personal as well as professional - all done with great humour and mutual hospitality. 

Young Arab audiences, like all young viewers, deserve the best content from their own culture as well as from around the world. The growth of production at studios such as 3Line Arabia, Blink and Cartoon Network Arabia’s Animation Academy (listed here in no particular order, of course) in Abu Dhabi alone are ensuring that content gets made in the region. However, that’s just one Emirate, one of seven within the UAE, and just as the UAE is only one of the many countries that make up the Arab world, so the UK is only one country in which global series are based. 

Perhaps the important lesson in nascent UK/Arab production partnerships is the same for both parties: work with and consult from as wide an area as the budget and schedule can support - broadcasters, distributors, funders, creatives, parents, educationalists, producers and, of course, children. With that comes the best opportunity to produce exciting and meaningful global content for local audiences, wherever they might be - Inshallah.

Estelle Hughes 
28 Jun 2011 
© C21 Media 2011 

Triona Campbell, Managing Director, beActive

Triona Campbell will be participating in the New Frontiers in Storytelling session at the Children’s Media Conference, which takes place in Sheffield between 6-8 July.   

The myth of the Transmedia commissioners 

So you have the most amazing transmedia project and a meeting with a potential financier – how do you pitch it?

The truth is you don’t.  There are no transmedia commissioners (in my opinion, yet). 

Even public service broadcasters who have print, radio, online and TV platforms are not ideally placed to be transmedia commissioners.  The reality is each department is only focused on its own needs so as a result it is almost impossible to sell and develop a project that involves all the in-house media and departments.

The reality is you will find that instead there are either broadcasters who will give you the same budget as before but in addition ask you for transmedia content (at no additional cost to themselves) or there are broadcasters with online departments who commission small web only projects independently in a bid to reach the generation of Millennials who aren’t loyal to the TV platform. Then there are brands that sponsor online series, mainly for internet distribution and integrated into their marketing mix.

So how to get your transmedia project onto a platform?

Pitch what you know the other side can buy and only what they can buy (make it as easy as possible for them to say yes without having to have a second meeting and bring in someone from online/ mobile or another department).

What this means – if it’s a meeting with a portal, just pitch the online elements. The second you mention TV the portal will start to think “Hmm…maybe I should wait till the series has a TV date before I come on board” or worse “Hmm… if it crosses to TV should I get part of that revenue?”

When pitching to TV – just pitch the TV elements.  The broadcaster’s first priority is still to broadcast programming on TV.  The second the broadcaster thinks that the online department should be in the meeting it becomes “Should online commission this or should I?” and when you talk about the roll out strategy all the TV broadcaster will hear is “More money, more time, more hassle to get internal sign off, more resources that I don’t have.” 

Upshot – pitch what the funder, broadcaster or possible distribution partner knows how to buy and in the language they understand.  Once the contract is signed you can mention the rest of the great strategy you have in place.

Pitch at a budget level you know the other side can fund.  Do your research; what did they spent on the last few commissions – that’s the budget level you pitch to.  There is no magic budget for transmedia.  I started in the industry working for Roger Corman – if you only had the budget to shoot for 5 days you figured out how to tell the best possible story in those 5 days and shot it.

Avoid the checklist – Just because everyone else has a Facebook fan page, Twitter account, mobile app, podcasts and webisodes it doesn’t mean that your story needs that.  The transmedia needs to be organic to the story you want to tell.  The audiences you’re dealing with are smart.  They can identify what is organic to the story, what doesn’t make sense and what disrupts their experience.

As a transmedia producer it’s your job to devise the roll out strategy of how you tell your story across the multiple platforms and to make sure your team knows how this will come together.  It’s also your job to pitch and bring on board the individual partners (online, print, radio, TV etc.).

At beActive, we have created and launched transmedia series from the UK to Ireland, Brazil and China working mainly with brands and advertisers, starting online and then crossing to other platforms including TV and radio.  In that time I have come across only one transmedia commissioner - the Brazilian Oi Telecom, for whom we created the thriller “Final Punishment”.  Oi was one of the rare cases where the client truly wanted content that could work across all the platforms they own (mobile, online, TV, radio).  It was our only transmedia commission since we started in this market in 2003. I honestly think transmedia commissioners are a myth, it hasn’t happened (yet). 

What has happened is we now have clever transmedia producers who know how to work the existing system to tell stories across multiple platforms and they are leading this revolution.  Content needs to be commissioned by the platforms where the audience is consuming it (and not just as TV series or feature films) because possibly more than one third of the audience for those platforms is not there any more. 

Joe Godwin will be will be participating in The Salford Key session at the Children’s Media Conference, which takes place this week in Sheffield between 6-8 July.   

 BBC Children’s has been based at MediaCityUK in Salford for just over a month now and all the signs are that we’ve not just moved offices, but have embarked on a very different way of creative life.

 The journey here has been a long one: in the planning for many years, the move has been a huge logistical and technical feat for the project team and the moving departments. For Children’s, the move won’t be over until Newsround starts broadcasting from here in the Autumn. 

 But even when the moving is done, the story of building a new BBC in the North of England has only just started.  This isn’t just about new buildings and a state of the art studio on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal - amazing though they are. For me we have some once in a lifetime opportunities: to get physically closer to a much broader range of children in our content and through our outreach; to create a world class centre of excellence for children’s media in Salford - and one that is accessible and visible to license-fee payers; and to fundamentally alter attitudes to the BBC and our content in the North.

 Visibility and accessibility are improved just by the act of moving here - take the tram to MediaCityUK and come and see. Visit The Lowry and the Imperial War Museum or hear the BBC Philharmonic perform in our amazing new studio block. 

Already we’re producing content across the north of England, and when Blue Peter and Newsround are broadcasting from here in the Autumn, visitors to MediaCityUK won’t be able to escape the fact that this is the home of BBC Children’s. CBeebies favourites like Mr Maker Comes to Town, Zingzillas, and Justin Fletcher’s new show Justin’s House are all being filmed in or around Salford. 

We have CBBC shows filming in Bolton, Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester. Great projects from existing and new indie partners are already coming on stream, and smaller indies in the north of England who’ve not worked with us before are already enjoying the benefits of closer proximity to commissioners and their money!

On the subject of money, the BBC is going through a complex and challenging process to find the savings needed in light of the new license fee settlement. This process is the implementation phase of last year’s strategy review, Putting Quality First. I’m confident that Children’s will still be well funded and highly valued through this process - both because the move to Salford gives us a real chance to be more efficient and because Putting Quality First placed quality children’s content at the heart of the BBC’s mission, as one of its five editorial priorities. 

Salford provides some new ways to make the license fee work harder, by making it easier for us to collaborate with other bits of the BBC. We’ve already co-commissioned content with new Salford neighbours BBC Learning - The Lingo Show will be making its television debut on CBeebies soon and Deadly Days Out returns this Autumn for CBBC’s wild animal addicts. 

We’ve launched a BBC North Apprenticeship scheme to help local people get their feet over the threshold of the BBC. Part of our mission here is to invest more of the license fee in the North West economy, and to create a different workforce, better reflecting the whole of the UK. A more diverse workforce should eventually change the flavour of our content and give BBC Children’s a new tone of voice, rooted here in the physical heart of Britain.

Finally, I want Salford to become synonymous with world-class children’s content – production, debate and training - in the way Bristol is for natural history programming. We’re working with Salford University, also on the MediaCityUK site, on their new MA in digital children’s production and, from next month, the public space here will be the regular home of public events for children and their families. Before I hang up my chain of office, I’d like to see a major children’s conference make its home here.

So our ambition for BBC Children’s at MediaCityUK doesn’t end with unpacking the crates. That’s just the end of the beginning. 

Article in Licensing.biz

by Samantha Loveday

Full line-up revealed for next week’s Sheffield-based event.

The Children’s Media Conference takes place next week in Sheffield, aimed at everyone involved in developing, producing and distributing kids’ content across all platforms.

Running from July 6th-8th, the gathering will this year welcome a delegation of media companies from China and Argentina for the first time. Organised by the UKTI, the delegations will take part in one to one meetings with UK businesses, as well as taking parting in the conference.

“The Chinese and Argentinian delegations are a first for us and it’s also a major first for the children’s content community in the UK,” explained Greg Childs, editorial director. “It’s a unique opportunity for UK companies to get a head start in building new business relationships in key developing markets.”

Headline speakers at the event include Lord Puttnam, Mind Candy’s Michael Acton Smith and Rory Sutherland, who is executive creative director at OgilvyOne and president of the IPA.

The director of BBC Children’s, Joe Godwin, will be discussing the move to Salford, while delegates will also get to explore the Horrible Histories brand in From Manuscript to Multiplatform.

Other speakers will include Richard Hollis, head of UK licensing at BBC Worldwide, who will sit on the panel Do You Need a Licence for That?; Chorion’s global VP brand management and marketing, Esra Cafer who will participate in Programme Development - Creative or Marketing Driven?; Beth Gardiner, VP of development and programming at Disney Junior; and Kiaran Saunders, VP, commercial director at Nickelodeon UK and Ireland who will take part in the Meet the Commissioners session for the broadcasting sector.

On top of this, the co-creators of Rastamouse - Michael De Souza and Genevieve Webster - will be on opposing teams in Our Survey Said, the conference’s opening quiz.

For further details on the Children’s Media Conference - and for the full session breakdown - click here.

The Children’s Media Conference has unveiled its programme for 2011, which takes place from the 6 - 8 July in Sheffield.

A delegation of media companies from China and Argentina will be coming to the event for the first time.

Greg Childs, Editorial Director said: “The Chinese and Argentinian delegations are a first for us and it’s also a major first for the children’s content community in the UK. It’s a unique opportunity for UK companies to get a head start in building new business relationships in key developing markets.”

Headline speakers include Lord Puttnam, who will deliver this year’s keynote speech, Michael Acton Smith, MD of Mind Candy and creator of the Moshi Monsters phenomenon, and Rory Sutherland, executive creative director of OgilvyOne and president of the IPA.

Joe Godwin, Director of BBC Children’s, will be discussing the BBC’s move to Salford, in the session Salford Key.

Delegates will also explore the history of award-winning brand Horrible Histories, in the session Horrible Histories – From manuscript to multiplatforrm.

Masterclasses with Jamie Rix (Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids) and Horrid Henry movie producer Lucinda Whiteley offer great insights into making productions work.

The full line-up is as follows:

Thinking Differently - Lord Puttnam of Queensgate CBE, will deliver the keynote speech for the 2011 conference, challenging the various sectors of the industry gathered there to Think Differently…

Creative Keynote: Building Moshi Monsters to 50 Million Registered Users – Michael Acton Smith shares the ups and downs of growing a simple website into a global transmedia brand.

Our Survey Said… - CBBC’s Ed Petrie quizzes two dysfunctional families of kids’ industry people for their view of the year past, the year ahead, what kids want and what they’re up to.

The Connected Living Room - 2012 is predicted to be the year of the connected living room - but what’s in it for kids? Paul Johnson, Co-founder of Agora Media Innovation; Hamish McPharlin, Director of Research at Decipher Consultancy Ltd; and Jamie Rea, Executive Producer of CBBC discuss.

Boo Who? – European TV series My Friend Boo offers a brand new financing model for producing positive content for children. Speakers include Director of Tomorrow’s Child Jacqueline Harding and MD of Business Solutions Europa Luigi Petito.

Children as Content Creators – Children know what they like in media, this session lets content created by children inspire delegates on how to create relevant content that appeals to them.

Sell Out! – This session explores whether television brands can be effectively exported to the live space and if the worlds of commercial and artistic theatre will ever collaborate.

Facebook Stole My Childhood - Kids live through social networks and want to interact with content, during this session a series of leading professionals, including writer and director Henry Becket and CEO of Dubit Ian Douthwaite, discuss how to reach out to children safely and responsibly online.

Do You Need a Licence for That? - A licensing strategy is now part of almost every children’s media project, this session aims to uncover how licensing really works, and how you can maximise your chances of success.

New Frontiers in Storytelling - This session will explore some exciting, innovative, inspirational and commercially successful projects from the world of transmedia.

The Co’s and Pro’s of Co-Pro - UK producers from Collingwood O’Hare Entertainment, Darrall Macqueen, Dinamo Productions and Impossible Films reveal the secrets of working internationally with a range of funding models.

The other conference sessions include: Legal and Business Clinic; The AR Impact, Programme Development - Creative or Marketing Driven?; How to Train your Writer; The Age of Innocence? Taste, Decency and Self-Censorship; Innovation Showcase: A Tale of Three Apps; Innovation showcase: Teen stories – mobile & social; Arab Awakenings: New Production Partnerships and Market Opportunities in the Middle East; Invented Here; A Date with Cbeebies; and Thinking the Unthinkable? – The Future of Funding for Kids’ Media in the UK.

The CMC also features a collection of Meet the Commissioner sessions, where delegates will learn from leading commissioners and gain a better understanding of the needs of commercial and public broadcasting, publishing and arts. Key participants include Kay Benbow, Controller of CBeebies; Fiona Macmillan, Publisher Colour & Licensing, Random House Children’s Books & Random House Screen Entertainment; Michael Carrington, Chief Content Officer, EMEA, Turner Broadcasting; and Sharna Jackson, Editor of Tate Kids.

In addition, the event also provides a series of Research Presentations, Workshops and Masterclasses offering insight into a diverse range of topics. Screenings to stretch delegates’ creative consciousness are also on the bill.

The Research Presentations are: Seven myths about young children and technology; Unlikely visionaries – how kids are predicting and designing the future; Mind the gap – meeting the media needs of 10-14’s; Blurring media boundaries – what brings kids and adults together?; and From B.O. to bras - what do tweens want to Ask Lara.

The range of workshops running include: The co-pro clinic; Thinking differently… with Crossover Labs; Shape it – pitch it; and So you think you need an app?.

The Screenings will be: Thinking differently – worldwide and Yesterday’s couch potatoes are today’s YouTubers.

Article from: WORLDSCREEN.Com

By Kristin Brzoznowski

Published: June 27, 2011

LONDON: Taking place July 6 to 8 in Sheffield, this year’s Children’s Media Conference, which features the theme of “Thinking Differently,” is set to host a delegation of media companies from China and Argentina as first-time representatives.

Organized by UKTI, the delegations will take part in one-on-one meetings along with taking part in the conferences. Greg Childs, the editorial director at The Children’s Media Conference, said: “The Chinese and Argentinian delegations are a first for us and it’s also a major first for the children’s content community in the U.K. It’s a unique opportunity for U.K. companies to get a head start in building new business relationships in key developing markets.”

Also slated to speak at this year’s event are Michael Acton Smith, the managing director of Mind Candy and creator of the hit web-based Moshi Monsters property, and Rory Sutherland, the executive creative director of OgilvyOne and president of the IPA. Joe Godwin, director of BBC Children’s, is to take part in the session Salford Key, discussing the BBC’s move to Salford. Michael De Souza and Genevieve Webster, co-creators of Rastamouse, will take part of Our Survey Said.., an opening quiz that will feature team leaders Damian Kavanagh (CBBC) and Jonathan Boseley (Disney). Jamie Rix (Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids) and Horrid Henry movie producer Lucinda Whiteley will host masterclasses on making productions work.

Other highlights include Richard Hollis, the head of U.K. licensing at BBC Worldwide, taking part in the session Do You Need a Licence for That?; Beth Gardiner, the VP, of development and programming at Disney Junior, participating in Invented Here, a session that will explore how European broadcasters are sourcing, selling-in, producing and adapting content to serve a global audience; Kiaran Saunders, the VP and commercial director of Nickelodeon UK & Ireland, as part of the Meet the Commissioners session.

From Broadcast - 8th July 2010 - by Will Strauss

Turner Broadcasting’s new chief content officer, Michael Carrington, is making the inclusion of live-action programming a priority for his predominantly animation based channels Boomerang and Cartoon Network.

The former CBeebies controller told delegates at the Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield that Turner had “evolved to a point where the viewers expect live action”.

“We’re just entering this world. Gameshows sound a bit dull to us, but boy-skewed live-action comedy we’re desperate for, especially things we can fast track.”

Carrington said he was “talking 26 x 30-minute shows” and highlighted classic Australian children’s comedy Round The Twist as the type of series he would like to emulate. He also pinpointed Total Wipeout and Prank Patrol as live-action shows that would suit his channels.

Carrington acknowledged that comedy shows would need to fit the broadcaster’s pan-European remit. “We have to connect to European kids and one way is comedy,” he said.

“Benny Hill, Mr Bean, Charlie Chaplin. That sense of humour works across all territories. That’s the challenge.”

In general, Boomerang is looking for “fun, entertaining and exciting” programming, including classic cartoons and new content for its Safe Zone.

Cartoon Network is after shows that are “funny, energetic, adventurous and clever”.

From Broadcast - 8th July 2010 - by Will Strauss

BBC Children’s plans to use some of its recently approved extra budget to try to attract more teenage viewers to its CBBC channel.

Joe Godwin, director of BBC Children’s, told delegates at the Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield last week that if the BBC Trust approves current proposals to extend the broadcasting hours to 9pm, the channel will look beyond its regular six to 12 year-old remit and commission content that appeals to young teenagers.

The move comes as the BBC Trust backs plans to close teen strand BBC Switch.

“Extended hours and extra money will allow us to better serve the top end of our audience,” Godwin said. “We won’t change our target audience but a lot of what we do already attracts older children. [The content] we’ll look to develop will satisfy their media needs, although it won’t be badged ‘teens’ because they would run a mile.”

In May, the BBC Trust issued revised service licences for the BBC that included an £8.5m increase in the BBC Children’s budget.

During the same conference session, CBBC controller Damian Kavanagh said: “I want bigger ideas and content that kids want to talk to their friends about.”

He is looking to inspire and empower children and provide positive role models. Seriousfactual and “citizenship” drama, and an emphasis on diversity, are high on his agenda.

Kavanagh also revealed that he would start commissioning directly “into slots”. Money is set to be “pumped” into 8am - a slot that will be put out to tender - and at 5.45pm he wants “event” content.

Kavanagh urged indies to adopt a more conversational pitching style. “I want to be in a situation where I can tell [producers] yes or no quite quickly,” he said.

The Children’s Media Conference (formerly Showcomotion) ran from 30 June to 2 July in Sheffield