Interview: Jianbo Wei, WildBrain

Total Licensing China caught up with Jianbo Wei, the newly appointed Managing Director China for entertainment group WildBrain

Interview: Jianbo Wei, Managing Director China, WildBrain

What does the new position involve?

JianboWei: As WildBrain’s Managing Director for China, my most important job is to develop, maintain and implement the company’s strategy for China in response to market trends and consumer needs. We want to make sure our business is handled in the appropriate way for the job, when many creative ideas are brought forward.

JianboWei: I joined WildBrain in December 2019 as Managing Director for the company’s China business. I’m extremely excited to be part of WildBrain. The company just brought on a new CEO, Eric Ellenbogen, who launched re-branding, and now we are gearing up for new growth, including expanding activities in the market of China. I am confident our industryleading properties and brands for kids and families have virtually unlimited potential in the market. Our goal in China is to connect our properties and brands more closely with Chinese partners and local consumers, and to turn the potential into real business and consumer value in a sustainable way. this large and fast-evolving market. And we need to build out a strong team in China to work closely with all local partners and jointly bring our properties and brands to Chinese children and families. Engagement with local partners is always the most interesting part of

Can you tell us about your new role with WildBrain?

Meanwhile, the new position is also a bridge of communication between local markets and our business teams in Toronto, New York, London and other offices all over the world, so that WildBrain not only fully understands the China market, but

also incorporates the needs of local consumers and partners into its global strategy and plan. That is just as critical as building local connections in China.

How do you see WildBrain’s business in China expanding and growing?

JianboWei: I think this comes down to two key factors: branding and licensing. WildBrain has one of the biggest libraries of kids and family content in the industry, with over 13,000 half-hours of programs in our library. While many of our classic properties are very well known, such as Teletubbies, In the Night Garden, Strawberry Shortcake and Inspector Gadget, the length of our property list goes much deeper. Our new animation series Chip & Potato has been very popular on Netflix. Johnny Test, Caillou and Slugterra are a

few other popular legacy names at the top of our property list. Equally important, we continue investing in and developing new properties for the global market.

We are working hard to bring these properties closer to the Chinese audience, to build stronger connections between brands and consumers and grow WildBrain’s business by maximizing licensing collaborations with local partners. Our programs are incredibly healthy and educational for Chinese children, supporting their growth from an early age all the way to teenagers. As consumers become more familiar with and connected to the properties, I believe they will fall in love with the characters and stories. This will allow our local partners and us to jointly benefit from stronger licensing collaborations.

Perhaps you could tell us about some of your previous experience in the entertainment industry in China?

business substantially by working closely with each and every local partner in the market.

JianboWei: I started my career in the Chinese entertainment industry with Warner Bros. 15 years ago, when I managed distribution of entertainment programs to TV channels, and later to digital video platforms. Before joining WildBrain, I was head of NBCUniversal’s content distribution business for China, where I built and led a team to grow the for the TV ratings services. Those experiences together have led me to where I am today.

Managing distribution of programs not only deepened my knowledge on properties and programs, but also allowed me to gain a thorough understanding on the entire content and licensing ecosystem, because most properties and brands originate from programs.

I was also involved in the Shanghai Disney Resort project as their director for government affairs. The project had such a large scale with many stakeholders, ranging from government agencies and academic institutions to NGOs and local investment partners. I helped manage the communication and partnerships with all such stakeholders. In the early years, I also worked for AGB Nielsen Media Research on their expansion into Mainland China

What short term, and long term, strategies are you looking at to expand WildBrain’s activities in China?

JianboWei: In the short term, our strategy would focus on branding and promotion for our properties. We look forward to working more closely with all local partners to increase exposure of our properties, which would benefit them as well. I believe the connection between audience and properties is the core of our business and foundation of WildBrain’s growth in China. To that end, we would continuously invest in the branding and promotion of our properties with every possible effort.

In the long run, we will think more about localization. The best properties and brands for the Chinese market are most likely coming from within the market. The cultural fit would drive up the value of a program substantially. At WildBrain we are proud of our ability to develop programs and properties of high quality. We hope to combine our production capabilities with the local market to create and grow properties that really fit into Chinese culture. That would drive our success for the longer-term future.

让英国与中国相连

CMC China Connect为英国作家、内容 开发者、制作人、分销商和品牌经理提供 了与中国市场的直接联系 即使是在封 锁时期也是如此。

Children’s Media Conference对新冠疫 情封锁采取的快速果断的反应，加上英国 Department for International Trade提供 的快速反应资金，尽管在封锁的情况下要 会面困难重重，但仍诞生出了针对英国少 儿内容领域的新品牌服务，以及中英之间 的数十个新的联系。

在得知iABC动画大会和市场 与杭州的 大型CICAF授权产品节相联系 被推迟 后，CMC意识到，如果没有一年一度的英 国代表团杭州之行，两国的关系就将面临 冻结的危险，而非发展。结果催生出面向 中英关系的新方法：CMC China Connect 项目。

CMC China Connect是一个三方面的计 划，即使英国仍处于封锁状态，该计划仍 能奏效。

1.2020年4月21日的网络研讨会上充满了 来自八家中国主要企业的最新情报，讲述 了中国动画产业如何看待未来，以及建立 新关系的顶级技巧。您可以在此查阅全部 内容，因为CMC予以免费提供。 2.这是在为4月22日上午的市场活动做准 备，来自中国超过25家的广播公司、平 台和制作人与来自英国的一系列公司和自 由职业者齐聚一堂，其中许多公司和自由 职业者都是首次进入中国市场。中国的买 家包括CMC活动的常客和对与英国合作表 示出浓厚的兴趣的中国公司，这些公司都 是通过之前的CMC市场活动和Dept. for International Trade的现场情报发现的。 在仅仅几个小时内就举行了150多场会议。 3.当CMC发现iABC Hangzhou也在4月 底安排虚拟会议以取代其实体活动时，制 定了计划的第三阶段。英国企业注册了在 线会议系统，并帮助建立了与中国企业的 会议。与每年参加iABC的英国代表团相 比，CMC发现有更多的公司和自由职业者 热衷于参与其中，这也许并不奇怪。

CMC的编辑主任Greg Childs表示，与 会者的反馈非常积极。“很明显，双方 都有建立联系的欲望。这 需要一些组织工作来快速实 现此目标，但我们利用在 中国已经建立起来的良好 商誉，在Department for International Trade的直接 支持下，我们能够向中国展 示英国动画产业的业务开放 性和合作意愿。对于大多数 这样的关系来说现在还为时 尚早，但传来的消息是，授 权是开发能够将孩子和家长相联系的国际 项目的核心。在许多对 话中，也都非常强调教 育和传承。” Jetpack Distribution全 球销售主管Marie-Laure Roche聆听了此次网络 研讨会，并参加了CMC China Connect会议。 她表示：“…在线研讨 会的质量给自己留下了 非常深刻的印象 - 与会 者、技术和CMC的运作 方式都是如此。这对我 们参与在线市场也非常 有价值，我每20分钟 就能参加一次背靠背会 议，至少得到6个值得认 真考虑的导引机会。” 那么，虚拟是否可能会是后封锁时代下市 场的未来？ “我认为，我们肯定会看到在线会议的进 一步发展，以作为世界传媒市场上的附属 活动。”Greg Childs说。“虽然在这个终 究是“与人打交道”的行业中，要建立牢 固的关系，没有什么可以取代亲自会面， 但效率、成本效益、潜在的新环境意识以 及在封锁期间使用的系统的稳健性很可能 会让一些人思考未来的业务开展方式。”

CMC China Connect概念将于7月初回 归，作为CMC International Exchange 在线市场会议的一部分。而CMC正在调查 今年晚些时候举办的动画活动，这将再次 为中国企业提供与英国潜在合作伙伴会面 的机会。