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NEWS TOP PITCH THINKS INSIDE THE BOX BOXWARS, an unscripted comedy game show from Australia’s Bogan Entertainment, emerged victorious at the MIPJunior International Pitch this week after a presentation delivered in a full-size Roman legionnaire’s costume made of cardboard. Boxwars sees teams compete to build large scale structures out of cardboard, fight with them and then recycle them. Juror Jackie Edwards, head of BBC Children’s acquisition and independent animation, called it “innovative and with lots of potential”. The four other finalists were stop-motion series Big Five from Tak Toon Enterprises (South Korea), pre-school animation Catcha! from Untref Media (Argentina), app adaptation Dr Panda from Dr Panda Productions (US) and animated buddy series Stinky Dog from Dandaloo (France). Edwards’ fellow jurors were Alexi Wheeler, senior director international production and development, Nickelodeon, Tiphaine de Raguenel of France 4, Janine Weigold of Super RTL Disney, and Annalisa Liberi of RAI Ragazzi Acquisitions.
Bogan Entertainment’s Bruce Kane and Judy Whittle
Disney chiefs reveal strategies for making dreams come true
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SALE to Disney can seem like an impossible dream, but when a troika of senior company executives set out their content strategy, it makes anything appear within reach. “Our brand pillars are community, storytelling, fun, innovation, optimism, decency and quality,” said Karen Miller, vice-president worldwide programming strategy, acquisitions and co-productions, Disney Channels Worldwide. “That plays out differently around the world, but the pillars themselves are constant.” Disney Junior targets two- to seven-year-olds with feeling and character. Disney Channel is for six- to 14-year-olds, and skews female. Disney XD is boy-skewing and targets six- to 14-year-olds. But demos can change, and
Disney Channels’ Karen Miller
Disney Channel’s sweet spot is getting closer to six- to nineyear-olds, Miller said. “Kids are growing up faster, and they move
on to other channels younger.” Sensibilities change too. “This generation has more of a social conscience, and what we call ‘diversity’ comes naturally to them,” said David Levine, vicepresident programming, production and strategic development Disney Channels, EMEA. Leslie Lee is executive director multiplatform content for South East Asia. “Some cultures are more paternalistic than others, so shows with strong female role models are really important for us,” he said. “And non-dialogue comedy travels, so Animasia’s Harry And Bunny has done very well.” Miller acknowledged that the group’s size and complexity makes for a long acquisition process. “But we do pick up shows that we see at markets, and we do look at all the flyers.”
Home-grown kids content is the key “THE TIME is coming when streaming services will have to do more than just offer shelves and shelves of videos,” said Patricia Hidalgo, chief content and creative officer at Turner UK. “They will have to evolve a relationship with their viewers.” Children’s channels have been doing just that for years, according to panelists at the View From The Top session. Michael Carrington, head of children’s and education at ABC TV, puts his channel’s success down to local content, made from a child’s perspective. “Kids want to see themselves on TV,” he said. And that means all children. “We are working with national and state bodies to promote indigenous and immigrant stories on screen,” he said. “And we’re setting up craft and talent internships too.” Gloob’s head of content and programming Paula Taborda dos
Turner’s Patricia Hidalgo (left) receives her World Screen Trendsetter Award from Reed MIDEM’s Lucy Smith
Guaranys says close to 50% of the channel’s output is locally produced. But that doesn’t mean it can’t sell. “Our aim is to produce content that resonates with kids everywhere.” And Gloob is branching out: “We turned five this year, and we are launching our new pre-school channel, Gloobinho,” she said. Janine Weigold, head of chil-
dren’s content at Super RTL in Germany, talked of the need to be everywhere that kids are. “Our linear channel is still crucial,” she said. “But once our viewers engage with a character, they go looking for it on other platforms.” All four panelists received World Screen Kids’ Trendsetter Awards for their services to children’s programming.
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