KIDS_1017_RENEWALS_EUR_1006_ELLENDER 9/28/17 9:31 AM Page 1
76 TV KIDS
9 Story’s Nature Cat.
WE’RE BACK! David Wood hears from leading producers and distributors about how to keep kids’ shows fresh—season after season. roadcasters and platforms want volume, perhaps even more so in the kids’ content space than anywhere else. And fulfilling that desire is no easy feat, given the costs and long timelines involved in producing animation. Not to mention that fickle young ones are quick to move on to the next thing if they aren’t kept engaged. “It’s very important to be in a position to offer broadcasters volume on kids’ series, because they need enough episodes to build their schedules,” says Hans Ulrich Stoef, the CEO of m4e and Studio 100 Media. “And 13 episodes, which was considered to be a respectable first season 15 years ago, is not enough for most broadcasters now,” Stoef adds. “If you have just made 13 and it’s a success, that’s great, but you can’t suddenly pull another 13 out of the hat. In my view, the best case for broadcasters is 52 episodes, and producers should be thinking in terms of 26 to 52 episodes from the start. For half-hour formats, we don’t do less than 26 episodes. And for shorter preschool episodes, we are looking to do 52 straightaway.” Micheline Azoury, the head of acquisitions and TV sales at Mondo TV Group, reveals that most of the company’s shows are developed as 52 11-minute episodes. “There is an exception—for Invention Story we are committed, along with our partner York
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Animation, to 104 11-minute episodes for five consecutive seasons. This idea of securing five seasons of one brand for the next five years seems to appeal to quite a few broadcasters.” And it’s not just the broadcasters who benefit. “A 26-part series takes the same effort to sell as a one-hour special,” explains Jérôme Alby, the managing director of Mediatoon Distribution, which distributes long-running TV brands such as Minimighty Kids, Yakari, The Garfield Show and Bobby and Bill. “And the production cost of the second season of 26 episodes will cost just 30 percent of the first season, so the economies of scale make a lot of sense. Another way of looking at it is that at the start, a show will cost €10,000 ($11,900) to €14,000 ($16,600) per minute to produce, whereas the 39th episode will cost €8,000 ($9,500).”
MANAGING TIME So when do producers start planning for those additional seasons? “Very early on,” says Claus Tømming, the managing partner at INK Group. “Thanks to the story-driven approach of our brands, we’ll have at least two (and sometimes three) seasons mapped out even before we even start presales.” Obviously, it would be a mistake to do too much detailed development before season one has started and broadcasters have been able to gauge its success. For Jetpack Distribution CEO Dominic Gardiner, the end of production on season
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