mipcom
NEWS
Rainbow Ruby helps UNESCO spread the word on education
Picture Box’s Marilyn Kynaston
EDUTAINMENT’S GROWING ROLE “EDUTAINMENT has always been a big part of pre-school but it’s now growing in the six- to-nineyear-old demographic too,” said Marilyn Kynaston of Canada’s Picture Box Distribution in the Science Edutainment For Little Geeks session. She noted four key trends in edutainment programming: “More digital streaming in schools and libraries, more respect for STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) programming, a blurring of the lines between public and commercial broadcasters — both are picking up edutainment shows — and a growing interest in edutainment for older age groups.” She said the changes were partly driven by technical developments that made possible new and divergent methods of animation and distribution. But there was also “something in the zeitgeist” that explained parents’ increasing interest in learning-based programming. Kynaston’s company distributes edutainment shows such as Prime Radicals and Annedroids. Also on the panel were Jonathan Finkelstein of Apartment 11 Productions, presenting Look Kool/C’est Wow, and Carlos Soldevila of Trio Orange, presenting L’Academie Secrete. The session was presented by the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada.
C
J E&M and DHX Media have announced a new preschool animated series at MIPJunior. Rainbow Ruby will be the first animation series to support girls’ and women’s education in partnership with UNESCO. Speaking at the MIPJunior lunch to launch the series, Ken Faier, senior vice-president and general manager, DHX Media content – kids and family, said the collaboration had been exciting. “It was phenomenal,” he said. “We had boarding done in LA, voices in Canada, so it was a bit of a co-production and it’s very exciting. The animation is fantastic and CJ E&M has been great to work with.” This was a sentiment echoed by Sehoon Chong, CJ E&M head of animation global business. “DHX is a major global player in the kids industry and CJ is a strong leader in Asia. We also have a growing foothold in the Latin America market, so this will be the gate-
opener for us to truly be in the global market. We are also very excited to have this global partnership with UNESCO,” he said. The collaboration will present a significant opportunity for the UN body to educate girls and women, a factor highlighted by UNESCO section chief, Maki Hayashikawa. “It’s a really attractive collaboration because we can get messages really far out to the audiences
we normally wouldn’t be able to reach,” she said. “We work in education but we don’t work directly with children or young mothers or fathers. We work with government people to try to influence people’s mindsets, But of course there’s a huge gap between the government and the ordinary people. So having the opportunity to send our messages through their animation is going to be a great achievement for us.”
Sehoon Chong of CJ E&M (left), Ken Faier of DHX Media, Maki Hayashikawa and Elvira Gotz of UNESCO, Ha Narae, executive producer, CJ E&M, and UNESCO’s Shantha Retnasingam
Accolades for market Trendsetters THE VIEW From The Top: What Do Buyers Want? panel at MIPJunior closed with WorldScreen’s Anna Carugati presenting each participant with the WorldScreen Kids’ Content Trendsetter Award. “We owe you a debt of gratitude,” she said, “for making shows that contribute so much to our children’s lives and development, opening them up to things that we as parents may not always be able to. Please continue the fantastic job you’re doing and help us not to have too many more Donald Trumps in the world!” she said. The recipients were: Jules Borkent, senior vice-president global programming and international
acquisitions, Nickelodeon; Adina Pitt, vice-president content acquisitions and co-productions, Cartoon Network and Boomerang; Karen K Miller, vice-president, worldwide programming strategy, acquisitions and coproductions, Disney Channels Worldwide; Sebastian Debertin, head of fiction, acquisition and co-production, KiKA, and Caroline Cochaux, programmes and broadcast director executive, France and international, Lagardere Active TV Channels. Earlier in the session they had shared their insights on what they were looking for in the market. Cross-platform ideas were top of everyone’s list. “Disney’s brand defines its con-
12
tent and how we tell stories. Our mission is to find new ways to engage with our audiences, and that’s not just linear, it’s across all the platforms,” Miller said. “Give us something where we can have a dialogue about franchises, because we live in a world of IP,” Pitt added.
Jules Borkent (left), Karen K Miller, Caroline Cochaux, Adina Pitt, Anna Carugati and Sebastian Debertin