Kidscreen May/June 2022 by Brunico Communications

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engaging the global children’s entertainment industry MAY/JUNE 2022

engaging the global children’s entertainment industry

MAY/JUNE 2022

BRAVE NEW WORLDS Toy and TV companies foray into new realms to boost discoverability and build brands

Smooth move? Execs weigh in on Toy Fair New York’s new dates

Cool new shows: Producers pack their bags for Annecy’s annual fest

KIDSCREEN | May/June 2022

CONTENTS May/June 2022

14 28 41 47 51 32

See them here first! Six cool new shows set to be unveiled at this year’s Annecy Animation Festival, and their licensing aspirations.

Battat is transforming its robust toy portfolio into TV content.

The allure of NFTs and TikTok is strong, but what’s the ROI?

moves

The List—Everything on our radar this month, from pirates to power players. screen

How mediacos are breaking down barriers for neurodiverse talent and creating welcoming workplaces. consumer products

What does Toy Fair New York’s move from February to September mean for the CP business? kid insight

What do kids know about the metaverse? Do they care? KidsKnowBest finds out. tech

Racing ahead of audiences, kidcos are placing big bets on the nascent metaverse space.

Recapping the companies that fired up our latest Kidscreen Hot50.

our sold cover features an ad from pocket.watch for its new show Kaleidoscope City, while our editorial cover features an image from Igloo Animations’ fantasy-adventure series, Holt.

26 X 24’

COMING SOON TO CBBC! ©THE ANIMATION BAND – RAI RAGAZZI

146 X 26’

30 NEW EPISODES FOR 2022! © Maverick Television Ltd MMXXI

SALES@SERIOUSKIDS.COM

KIDSCREEN | May/June 2022

MAY/JUNE 2022 • VOLUME 26 • ISSUE 2 SVP & PUBLISHER Jocelyn Christie jchristie@brunico.com

EDITORIAL EDITOR & CONTENT DIRECTOR Katie Bailey kbailey@brunico.com INTERIM ASSOCIATE EDITOR Janet Lees FEATURES & SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR Jeremy Dickson jdickson@brunico.com NEWS EDITOR Ryan Tuchow rtuchow@brunico.com

Full circle ivot. It’s become a buzzword over the past couple of years as we’ve all grappled with big changes the pandemic has triggered. But pivoting isn’t always reactive. In the best situations, a pivot can move you towards something greater. And sometimes, that can mean bringing you back to where you belong. For me, that’s the business of entertainment, and I’m thrilled to make Kidscreen my new(ish) career home. I arrive here as something of a Brunico veteran, having worked for the company on and off in various editorial roles since 2009. Until 2019, I was on our Playback brand, covering the Canadian screen industry (and its robust kids sector) and leading content for the Banff World Media Festival. In between now and then, I worked at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), a family-focused institution that strives to balance its educational mandate with entertainment and engagement. Plus, I’m a mom to a really great kid. So as you can see, Kidscreen is a perfect fit. I’ve always admired the brand, so the opportunity to return to my journalism roots here as Editor and Content Director was a no-brainer. Joining me on this adventure is a mix of new and not-so-new faces. Janet Lees, Sadhana Bharanidharan and Cole Watson have all recently joined our editorial team, bringing unique backgrounds and skills to their roles. Janet has her experienced

eye on our magazine as Interim Associate Editor, while Sadhana and Cole have taken on the screen and consumer product beats respectively. They join Features and Special Projects Editor Jeremy Dickson; Kidscreen Daily News Editor and scoop-chaser Ryan Tuchow; and Art Director Taylee Buttigieg, whose design work has kept our publications fresh and stylish for many years now. I’d like to think my son is also on my team, because he’s my window into the world we cover. He’s five-and-a-half (the half is important), which is a cool age because he’s now exuberantly embracing a wide variety of content and character worlds, from PAW Patrol to Pokémon. It’s fascinating to watch what captures his attention and how he responds. Our family’s fan-intersection is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is also handy for watercooler conversation (Black Widow is my favorite character, but Falcon and the Winter Soldier are my top duo.) I look forward to working with all of you in the years to come and hope to meet you in real life this summer at Kidscreen Summit (which has moved to July for one time only after a pandemic-driven postponement). I’m excited to get back to good old-fashioned panels featuring smart people dissecting topics that matter, conversations over cocktails about new projects and trends, and seeing the nervous enthusiasm of people ready to pitch their passion projects. I’m even looking forward to conference coffee, pockets full of business cards and wearing a badge that never matches my outfit. Please reach out to me and the Kidscreen team any time with your greetings, thoughts, questions, suggestions, queries, feedback and pitches. We love hearing from you. Especially if you have a scoop.

—Katie Bailey

STAFF WRITERS Sadhana Bharanidharan sbharanidharan@brunico.com Cole Watson cwatson@brunico.com CONTRIBUTORS Christopher Byrne (New York), Peter Robinson (UK) Gary Rusak (Toronto), Maryam Siddiqi (Toronto), Zeenya Shah (Toronto)

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & ADVERTISING SALES (416) 408-2300 or 1-800-KID-4512 ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Nelson Huynh nhuynh@brunico.com ACCOUNT MANAGER Lia Minquini lminquini@brunico.com

CREATIVE ART DIRECTOR Taylee Buttigieg tbuttigieg@brunico.com

AUDIENCE SERVICES DATA INTEGRITY & CUSTOMER SUPPORT SUPERVISOR Christine McNalley cmcnalley@brunico.com

CORPORATE PRESIDENT & CEO Russell Goldstein rgoldstein@brunico.com EVP & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Mary Maddever mmaddever@brunico.com SVP & REALSCREEN PUBLISHER Claire Macdonald cmacdonald@brunico.com CUSTOMER CARE To order a subscription visit www.kidscreen.com/subscribe. To make a change to an existing subscription, please contact us by e-mail: support@kidscreen.com Fax: 416.408.0249 Tel: 416.408.2448.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES Kidscreen is published 7 times per year by Brunico Communications Ltd. In the US: One year US$89.00 Two years US$159.00. Single copy price in the US is US$7.95. Please allow four weeks for new subscriptions and address changes. POSTMASTER NOTIFICATION U.S. Postmaster, send undeliverables and address changes to: Kidscreen PO BOX 1103, Niagara Falls, NY, 14304. Canadian Postmaster, send undeliverables and address changes to: Kidscreen, 8799 Highway 89, Alliston ON, L9R 1V1 Printed in Canada. Canada Post Agreement No. 40050265. ISSN number 1205-7746. Opinion columns appearing in Kidscreen do not necessarily reflect the views of the magazine or its parent company Brunico Communications Ltd. All letters sent to Kidscreen or its editors are assumed intended for publication. Kidscreen invites editorial comment, but accepts no responsibility for its loss, damage or destruction, howsoever arising, while in its offices, in transit or elsewhere. All material to be returned must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Nothing may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher. © Brunico Communications Ltd. 2018. ® Kidscreen is a registered trademark of Brunico Communications Ltd.

Watch for the next issue

August/September 2022 • Street Date: August 29

Visit us at Licensing Expo - Booth D214 Contact consumerproducts@9story.com © 2022 Karma’s World LLC & KWBB Productions Limited. Karma’s World and logo are trademarks of Karmas World Partnership. All rights reserved.

MOVES | May/June 2022

War on copyright Russia’s court ruling allowing local companies to pirate IPs from “unfriendly” countries could have major repercussions for brand owners worldwide. The soft-power tactic came to a head with eOne’s billion-dollar Peppa Pig franchise in March, when a Russian court dismissed a case the company brought against a local entrepreneur who allegedly used the trademark without permission. The new precedent means copyright owners now lack teeth to battle against copyright infringement in the country, and some are worried about knock-on effects in surrounding regions. While copyright piracy is always a concern, it’s even more so now in the midst of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent exodus of major media brands. As content leaves Russia, the local industry could turn to infringing on international copyrights to keep toys and entertainment flowing to families. This copyright free-for-all could have lasting implications when, and if, the kids industry resumes business in the region.

Courtesy of Netflix Nippon TV

THE

LIST

Ten things on our radar this month

Merger Mania

Errand-tainment

When Nick execs recently told Kidscreen about their interest in creating a live-action Nickelodeon World of character crossovers, we got to thinking: Are IPs the next great merger frontier? Will PAW Patrol go to the Dino Ranch? Will Ridley Jones and Xavier Riddle open their own museum?

Old Enough!—the long-running Japanese reality show now available to North Americans on Netflix—tags along with toddlers running errands by themselves in public. Will the success translate into international spin-offs? Maybe. But parents’ safety concerns may end up hindering the format in some countries.

May/June 2022 | MOVES

Just call it TV

Now that Netflix and Disney+ plan to join HBO Max, Hulu, Peacock and Paramount+ in offering cheaper, ad-supported tiers, the increasingly crowded SVOD space is looking more like traditional linear television with each passing quarter. Netflix and Disney+ will likely have to schedule lighter ad loads to comply with children’s privacy regulations. Will this equate to less ad revenue long term?

Disney vs. DeSantis

After Disney CEO Bob Chapek opposed Florida’s new law restricting discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in schools, governor Ron DeSantis signed another law that would revoke Disney World’s designation as a special tax district. But Disney is now taking a stand, and recently refused to cut dialogue about lesbians from the latest Doctor Strange movie for its Saudi Arabian release.

New franchise frontiers

Kids content makers are investing in podcasting, NFTs and the metaverse as they seek to maximize IP franchise potential, revenue models and licensing opps. New tactics include pod-toscreen deals, kids metaverse experiences and fundraising for films via NFT sales. Which of these new digital streams will ultimately bear the most fruit?

Toy economics

Toycos are feeling the strain of supply chain problems, delays, increased shipping expenses and the skyrocketing cost of oil and energy. Mattel says it’s back to business-as-usual after posting its highest-ever Q1, but Hasbro is raising toy prices to counter its climbing costs. Meanwhile, consumers are feeling the pinch of generationally high inflation. When two opposing forces meet...

Getting in the game

Licensing power players

D&D’s moment

Amazon Kids+ has expanded into original video games. Its first title is mobile game Super Spy Ryan, made with pocket. watch. The move is aimed at helping the SVOD launch 360-degree franchises with partners, and reach kids in all the places they play.

From McLaren F1 to Coachella and the NFL, global brands are banging down the doors of Epic Games (Fortnite) and Roblox for licensing partnerships, looking to access the more than 50 million daily active users of the companies’ games with interactive marketing campaigns.

Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast, publisher of Dungeons & Dragons, made a splash when it revealed it had doubled its revenue to US$1 billion in its eighth year of consecutive growth. The division is now investing in a feature film and recently acquired popular fan platform D&D Beyond.

MOVES | May/June 2022

Kidscreen checks in on featured buyers from Kidscreen Summit Virtual. For more of this type of intel, check out our Global Pitch Guide at kidscreen.com.

Disney Junior Kim Berglund VP, Development Looking for: Original content ideas that align with our brand: emotional, character-driven stories with a touch of Disney magic. We’re interested in social/emotional themes and aspirational, comedic protagonists. Style: The majority of our series are animated, but we’re also open to stop motion, puppets, live action and hybrids featuring animation and live action. Demographic: Kids ages two to seven and their families. Format: Primarily 11-minute or seven-minute formats for episodic television. Buying strategy: We take pitches year-round and welcome talent with a range of experience. No extensive pitch package required—a few pages outlining main elements is fine. Artists should include designs in their pitch, but a writer pairing is not needed. We do not accept unsolicited pitches. Recently announced series: Original—Alice’s Wonderland Bakery, Pupstruction, Eureka!, Firebuds. Acquired—Dino Ranch, Kiya and the Kimoja Heroes.

WarnerMedia Kids & Family APAC Leslie Lee Head of kids content Melissa Lim Acquisitions and co-productions lead

Looking for: Preschool content (international and local), specifically gender-neutral. Slapstick comedy with minimal dialogue. Kids and family movies and localized live-action content. Style: 2D and 3D animation, live action and unscripted/reality shows (quiz, game, obstacle and talent shows, etc.).

Spotify Verdell Walker Head of kids audio content Looking for: Spoken-word audio content (with a strong sense

of sound design) in one of three pillars: entertainment; education and learning; and routine. For education/learning, we are looking for foreign-language learning, history, literature/culture, science/technology and civics/current events. We prize diversity, inclusivity and elevating historically excluded voices and talent. Style: Spoken-word audio content. Demographic: Three to fives, six to nines, and their families. Format: Original series—10 to 15 episodes, 10 to 25 minutes long. For ages three

to five, 10- to 12-minute episodes; and for ages six to nine, 15 to 25 minutes. Buying strategy: We look to develop and produce at early stages, partnering with creators in shaping ideas. Pitches are only accepted through our online portal. Email kids@spotify.com to receive updates. Recently acquired/developed series: Gardenkeeper Gus, 100 Cinderellas, CoComelon Story Time, Deep Blue Sea.

Demographic: Preschool (two to five) and six to 14s plus families. Format: For both linear and streaming, our

preferred formats are 52 x 11 minutes, 26 x 30 minutes and 78 x seven minutes. We also like six x 30-minute special series. Buying strategy: Original content—different

genres for variety and to fill gaps; collaborate with creators, artists and story-tellers from APAC. Co-productions—partner with strong IPs to co-develop and produce local shows that can travel regionally and globally. Acquisitions—acquire long-form series with deep episode volumes or seasons; broaden our reach with more localized content. Recently acquired series: Cartoon Network—

Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese, Grizzy and the Lemmings (new season), Mechamato. Cartoonito—Lucas the Spider, Dino Ranch, Brave Bunnies.

MOVES | May/June 2022

THE BIG GIG: Head of animation and scripted content at Duolingo PREVIOUSLY: Head of PBS KIDS content NEW START: Entertainment industry veteran Linda Simensky joined Duolingo last year as

head of animation and scripted content. Using the app’s established characters and scripted storytelling, she is charged with fulfilling Duolingo’s mission of helping kids and adults learn new languages.

Linda Simensky

Simensky is well known to the industry as the former head of content at US public broadcaster PBS KIDS, where she spent 18 years overseeing the development of educational children’s shows such as Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Wild Kratts and Alma’s Way. Prior to PBS, Simensky worked in the programming department at Nickelodeon, where she helped develop the pilots of classic shows including Doug, Rugrats, Ren and Stimpy and Rocco’s Modern Life, before helping to set up the Nicktoons division. GOAL-ORIENTED: Creating educational content for kids has been Simensky’s personal mission

for almost 20 years. When she noticed animation popping up in a lot of apps, including guided meditation ones, Simensky couldn’t help but see parallels to kids TV programming. Characters had personalities and specific dialogue—but more importantly, they were being used to impart knowledge. When Duolingo approached her to expand its original content development, she knew she could apply her experience in educational TV to the language-learning app. NEW GIG: Based in New York and reporting to Timothy Shey, VP of studios and content,

Simensky is responsible for developing Duolingo’s character-driven story scripts for all ages. Her goal is to create content that’s both entertaining and educational. IN THE FUTURE: Duolingo already offers interactive, character-based stories that help users contextualize the language they’re learning. The app’s scripted podcasts, for example, offer listeners a chance to hear the language used to narrate a story. Simensky says the company is currently working on a set of 90-second “culture shorts” that will rely on characters to teach users about diminutives, beginning with the Spanish language. (A diminutive is a word formed from another word by adding a suffix to indicate a smaller size; for example, booklet is the diminutive of book.)

She adds that one challenge Duolingo’s educational services are facing is how to deal with dialects, where some words in the same language have different meanings in different regions. It’s a difficult concept to work around in a language app, but the shorts could also be a useful tool to help users grasp the differences between dialects.—Zeenya Shah

One Dad, four Daughters and infinite ways to have fun!

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MEET US AT THE

KIDSCREEN SUMMIT 18TH TO 21ST JULY 2022

Begoña Esteban Head of International TV Sales & Aquisitions begona@pinkparrotmedia.ca Mobile: +34 689 244 687 www.pinkparrotmedia.ca

SCREEN | May/June 2022

Battat’s Glitter Girls dolls spring to life in actioncomedy Glitter Up

Breaking out of the toy box Mining its deep well of original IPs, toymaker Battat is making a major push into TV content. BY: ZEENYA SHAH & KATIE BAILEY

aison Battat, the Montreal-based toyco known for its robust stable of kids brands and thoughtfully designed preschool toys, is getting into the TV game. With 18 original brands to play with, Battat co-owner Joe Battat says he and his team surveyed the fast-changing toy landscape and realized they were sitting on a goldmine of established properties and brand storytelling just waiting to be expanded. “Five years ago, we didn’t even have social media; it had always just been about the toys,” he recalls. With new insight, Battat moved quickly, identifying TV as the best place to start and recruiting former Disney exec Fonda

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Synder to launch the company’s new Battat Entertainment division as EVP. Starting in September 2020, Snyder began examining the Battat portfolio and carefully selected three properties to put into development. The first two series (52 x 11 minutes each) are being prepped for presentation to buyers this summer. Glitter Up is based on Battat’s whimsical Glitter Girls range of 14-inch dolls with “signature glittery shoes and terrific accessories.” This 2D-animated action-comedy for upper preschoolers (ages four to seven) is helmed by showrunner Michael Olmo (Corn & Peg), a preschool track winner of the Nickelodeon Writing Program who “has integrated his own

SCREEN | May/June 2022

Caribbean essence through the characters, storyline and the world of Glitter Gulf,” Snyder says. The series’ characters and locations are inspired directly by the toy line, which includes the dolls and playsets that feature youthful small businesses (i.e. hair salons and vlogging studios). Main characters Xio, Yaz and Zuzu use their inner light and positivity to activate superpowers and guard their town against the villainous Miss Joy. The trio’s Lighthouse HQ, similarly, is a playset-inspired vertical structure that includes Xio’s Glitter Gadgetorium, Yaz’s Razzle Dazzle Roller Rink and Zuzu’s Le Frou Frou Grooming Spa and Aquatic Observatory. Glitter Up taps into curriculum values by encouraging an approach to life in which there are always more solutions, more resources and more choices to solve every problem. Scavenger Scouts: A Li’l Woodzeez Adventure, meanwhile, is a CG-animated series targeting kids ages two to five. It’s loosely inspired by the Bobbleez Acorn Surprise, a collectible component of the L’il Woodzeez toy range with a surprise character encased in an acorn. The series features a magical Golden Acorn that reveals delightful hints and secrets to a clever crew of Scavenger Scout characters (drawn from the toy line), whose adventures lead to lessons about appreciating differences, community-minded learning, friendship, family and the comforts of home. Showrunning is Cindy Morrow (Mama K’s Team 4), who collected Li’l Woodzeez as a child, with animation and character design handled by Bardel Entertainment.

Resourcefulness, family and community are the values underpinning Scavenger Scouts: A Li’l Woodzeez Adventure

And finally, slightly further behind in the pipeline is a still-unnamed series and book based on the 18-inch Our Generation dolls. Aimed at tweens, this series is planned as a live-actioner in the spirit of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Clueless. It has a broader, deeper narrative theme as the characters consider how they are shaped by events and people from the past, how those experiences connect to the present, and what it all means for the future. “We have created a foundation for this series that allows room for multi-layered characters who represent this generation of global-thinking, wise, savvy young

people,” explains Snyder. The book is being co-written by Rhodes scholar and environmental advocate Wanjiku Gatheru and Battat Entertainment creative executive Rebecca St. John. Battat is just at the beginning of its content journey, but Synder and her team see an almost unlimited potential in the toyco’s various catalogues, from digital content to branded channels and feature films. “Maison Battat is a huge company that also operates as almost a boutique business, empowering each division to innovate with a huge amount of autonomy,” says Snyder. “We are such a great incubator of content.”

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SCREEN | May/June 2022

With TV series, movies, books, merch and other extensions planned, Wonkybot’s Tara Tremendous is transforming into a 360-degree franchise

What’s next for kids podcasting? As more companies mine the audio entertainment space for brand expansions, is it primed to be the industry’s next great franchise well? BY: JEREMY DICKSON emand for screen-free, family-friendly podcasts exploded during the pandemic, and the market continues to grow. Podcasts in the kids and family category have seen a 20% increase in audience size since 2019, according to a 2021 Spoken Word Audio Report from NPR and Edison Research. And the podcast industry as a whole is forecast

to eclipse US$2 billion in advertising revenue by 2023, as per the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s latest US Podcast Advertising Revenue Study from May 2021. But the faster the kids market grows, so too do the challenges. Discoverability is a huge concern both for creators and platforms, as is revenue generation since ads in kids media

are limited. To meet these challenges, and future-proof their businesses, more kids podcast companies are beginning to build out select audio-first IPs into 360-degree brands encompassing TV, movies, publishing, gaming, consumer products and more. A number of new partnerships demonstrate how kids podcasting is evolving in the post-pandemic landscape. Warner Bros. Television recently optioned the TV rights to a 2023 middle-grade musical podcast from producer Gen Z Media called 20 Million Views. And in a podcast-to-publishing deal, kids audio streaming service Pinna linked up with Macmillan Children’s imprint Farrar, Straus and Giroux to adapt its original preschool show Quentin and Alfie’s ABC Adventures as a series of kids books. On the platform side of things, Amazon podcast studio Wondery has launched subscription service Wondery+ Kids, and Spotify US is looking to build out its pipeline with a first-ever focus on kids and family content in a new Sound Up training program for underrepresented creators. Servicing these new opportunities are a select field of kids podcast production companies with brand strategies fully baked and ready for consumers. A handful of companies are leading the pack, including LA-based podcast producer Wonkybot, which recently revealed plans to expand its popular Tara Tremendous podcast into animated and live-action series and a book. Two spinoff podcasts have also been greenlit, and a live-action musical movie is in

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May/June 2022 | SCREEN

Kids podcasts Wow in the World, Cummerbund and Flip & Mozi’s all have brand extensions built into their DNA

development under the watchful eye of Katie McNicol, head of development at Marc Platt Productions (La La Land, Wicked). “We want to continue building the audio universe, but we do see the company expanding into TV and movies,” says Wonkybot co-founder and Tara Tremendous creator Stewart St. John. After delving into monetization models to fuel its ambitions, the company decided to launch subscription channel Wonkybot+ on Apple Podcasts in early 2021, offering all of its new Tara content and several other IPs from its portfolio. It is also exploring Tara Tremendous video games and merchandising. A team is currently using sound bites and audio scenes from the podcasts to develop game content, and early discussions are underway with a major retailer for Tara t-shirts. “We are crossing our fingers that the merch deal materializes because that would be enormous for us,” says St. John. Another well-established kids podcast producer, Tinkercast, has also been exploring franchises, thanks to the massive success of its Wow in the World podcast. Since launching in 2017—the dawn of kids podcasting—the educational series has been downloaded 150 million times. The brand now includes books, live theater events and merchandising. Tinkercast also struck a key distribution deal with Wondery last year, giving it exclusive distribution, merchandising and ad sales rights to Tinkercast’s new podcasts Who, When, Wow! and Flip and Mozi’s Guide to How to be an Earthling until 2023. “We’ve figured out a lot of different extensions for Wow, and we are taking it further this year with video, consumer products and edtech development, as well as international growth planning,” says Tinkercast co-founder

and chief executive Meredith Halpern-Ranzer. To support further brand expansion, Tinkercast launched a new division in January called Tinkerlab. “It’s our place to throw spaghetti at the wall and have day-long design sprints around different growth areas such as video and consumer products,” says Halpern-Ranzer. If TV adaptations become a reality, her long run at Sesame Workshop and PBS KIDS Sprout, coupled with COO Jody Nussbaum’s Sesame TV experience, should give Tinkercast an edge. “We know how long TV development takes, so we are looking to partner with production companies that could handle the larger lift,” she says. “We would executive produce and oversee the creative to make sure it matches our brand values.” Tinkercast is also exploring video opps on YouTube and TikTok to market its podcasts. According to Halpern-Ranzer, YouTube has become the biggest platform for discovering podcasts. “To not have a presence or strategy there is a missed opportunity,” she says. During the pandemic, the company launched a special YouTube livestream to reveal the cover of its new podcast-based book, How and Wow: The Human Body, leading up to its presale. Similar to Tinkerlab, Chicago-based Soundsington Media is also starting to build brand expansion into the DNA of its kids podcasts from the outset, according to founder Nate DuFort. The company’s hit middle-grade podcast, REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids, is currently being developed for print and screen, with on-camera segment tests underway. Literary agent Alex Slater is shopping the company’s first show, Unspookable, as a book, and Soundsington is entertaining a screen rights option. The company is also in talks to launch a subscription channel.

“We are only releasing episodes weekly at this point,” says DuFort. “The second we do more, that’s when having a channel would make the most sense for us. We are a small company with two shows and another three to four on the way. We are happy with our initial investment in these shows, but we have to look at sustainability.” Boston-based company FableVision, on the other hand, is at the start of its audio-first content journey, recruiting kids industry vet Anne Richards in January 2022 to head up its new audiyo-yo podcast division. Richards says she took the VP job in part because FableVision has a unique suite of assets for the space. Chiefly, as an animation/ interactive service provider now operating an audio studio, it can adapt its own podcast IPs into TV series or video games and produce them in-house. “Being an audio studio within a production studio that can do so many other things, brand extensions are at the foundation of how we think about the work,” she says. “We have a lot of capabilities here to get pretty far down the [expansion] road.” Audiyo-yo is currently focused on its first kids podcast, Cummerbund, working to turn out a great audio show before taking it into animation, a cast album, publishing and other extensions. “We feel it has the legs to travel to other mediums, but we want to be respectful to the podcast medium first,” says Richards. She adds that the company is content to let others test out the subscription waters before jumping in. “The good news is that by the time we are ready to do that, there will be a lot more information on the market about how those channels are working,” she says. “For us, reaching audiences through all the different podcast platforms is the first step.”

SCREEN | May/June 2022

Sesame Workshop has worked with the autistic community since 2015, employing autistic talent and introducing the character Julia, an autistic Muppet (below center)

Zach Hyman, Courtesy of Sesame Workshop

Creating a neurodiverse workforce Entertainment industry professionals are embracing neurodiverse-friendly practices and finding a multitude of benefits. BY: MARYAM SIDDIQI he past two years have seen companies take meaningful strides towards workplaces that are diverse, equitable and inclusive, but barriers continue to exist for neurodiverse job candidates. A recent report by Deloitte Canada and IT consultancy auticon Canada found that the autistic community faces barriers in all aspects of the employment process, beginning with interviews that focus on social competency and continuing in the workplace with a lack of support systems or flexible work policies. In the US, studies estimate that between 50% and 75% of adults with autism are unemployed or under-employed. In Canada, that number is 67%. In the UK, 78%. Among those neurodiverse employees who responded to the Deloitte survey, 47% said they weren’t comfortable sharing their autism with their employer, and 42% said they’ve experienced discrimination at work

because of their autism. Beyond simply hiring from this talent pool, companies need to adapt workplaces and processes to be more welcoming and share their wins with the industry, so that inclusivity becomes the norm. Research has shown a positive relationship between autism and creativity: those who are neurodiverse are adept at divergent thinking. In other words, they think outside the box—a coveted skill in the entertainment industry. Companies looking to embrace this talent as DEI initiatives evolve have several resources to turn to, from independent studios staffed with neurodiverse talent, to courses that provide frameworks for building a hospitable workplace. Sesame Workshop has been working with the autistic community since 2015, both producing content for the community—most directly with the introduction of Julia, an autistic Muppet—and employing autistic talent

for story development and animation. For the initial launch of content, the company met with Exceptional Minds, an LA-based training center and studio that works with teens and young adults with autism who want to work in animation, visual effects, 3D gaming and other facets of the entertainment industry. “We felt it was really important that we not just be creating materials for autistic people, but that we gave autistic people a voice in creating the materials we put out into the world,” says Tina Moglia, supervising producer of digital content at Sesame Workshop. The company has been collaborating with Exceptional Minds studio staff for brainstorming, writing and animation. Moglia admits she wasn’t sure what to expect when Sesame started working with this talent pool. She advocated for more time during production so that there was some flexibility with deadlines on that first

SCREEN | May/June 2022

project, but it’s been a non-issue. “If anything, sometimes it’s Sesame Workshop that needs the time for us to get our notes together and figure out what we want to say,” she says. Exceptional Minds’ full-time program is a three-year course for students who’ve graduated from high school (the school also runs part-time programs, weekend courses and summer programming for kids as young as 14). The curriculum covers animation and visual effects, from 2D animation to Unreal Engine experience. That’s complemented by workplace readiness training, which includes interview skills, portfolio creation and career path development. David Siegel, executive director and CEO, says class size for the full-time program is currently capped at 15. But the organization, which earlier this year won two Marvels of Media Awards at the Museum of the Moving Image’s inaugural ceremony, is planning to double that within the next five years. “There are a lot of jobs out there, and the talent is incredible that we’re graduating,” he says. Exceptional Minds graduates have found placements, jobs or contracts with Marvel, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network; alumni have credits on projects like Black Panther, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and SpiderMan: Homecoming. “We’ve seen an uptick of applications—almost 60% more of them—for Exceptional Minds over the last two years,” Siegel says. “It’s really important that we look at responsible and reasonable growth and do it in a way that is measured, while also serving as many of these young adults as we can.” This cartoon of Julia was created as part of the latest Exceptional Minds collaboration in October 2021

Last fall, Exceptional Minds partnered with Netflix for the launch of the streaming service’s Animation Foundations Mentorship Program. “The program is an opportunity for mentees to create their own work for their professional portfolios, so they’re better able to compete for early creative programs at Netflix and in the animation industry,” says Erica Sewell, director of outreach and engagement at Netflix. Participants were paired with mentors from Netflix Animation to work on resumés, portfolio development and writing samples, and they also had access to seminars about the animation pipeline. While she’s not surprised that the mentees thrived—several have already been hired at companies like Marvel and Diamond Game—she didn’t anticipate the impact the program would have on the mentors. Ford Riley, a writer who was a mentor for the first cohort, told Sewell working with his mentee gave him perspective on his work. “It’s always interesting to learn that aspects of the work that I take as routine don’t come naturally— they have to be learned,” he said. Moglia has experienced similar results at Sesame Workshop. “I feel like it’s changed me as a producer to be a little bit more thoughtful about feedback, to be a little bit more detailed, to always provide the ‘why’ when I’m giving notes,” she says. Setting existing staff and new talent up for success is one element covered in Screen Skills Ireland’s recent Neurodiversity in the Screen Sector course. Gilly Fogg, head creative at Kilkenny, Ireland-based Lighthouse Studios, was one of the course’s attendees. “I’ve been surprised by the strength of the neurodiverse artists I’ve worked with, their strong sense of self, and their ability to keep moving themselves forward in a world that doesn’t always work in their favor,” she says. Along with an overview of the medical, social and practical aspects of neurodiversity, the course covered strategies for employment, integration and supporting this talent. “Taking the course has been eye-opening for me in terms of the many autistic, dyslexic and dyspraxic screen professionals who have hidden and masked who they really are for fear of a negative reaction,” says Fogg. “With a better educated and informed industry, this should—and must—change.” She adds that priority number one is educating managers and directors about the challenges that neurodiverse artists face. And

when it comes to attracting this talent, a company’s inclusive policy should be apparent at the application stage. “Companies should make sure that candidates know there is support available, and that they can request any reasonable accommodation in the process of their employment that will help them perform their very best,” she says. “Ideally, sharing one’s neurodiversity should be as normalized as sharing one’s pronoun preference.”

Exceptional Minds graduates have found placements, jobs or contracts with Cartoon Network, Marvel and Nickelodeon

During recruitment, Lighthouse asks candidates to share if they require any accommodations, and provides information about who they’ll meet with and the types of questions that will be asked. Once hired, they accommodate the learning styles of all crew members, sharing information via video tutorials, voice notes and written instructions. Other accommodations include communicating changes to routines or systems well in advance, and monitoring the environment for things like sound levels to make sure everyone is comfortable. Siegel is extremely bullish about what this talent pool can bring to the entertainment industry. “Every time one of these artists gets a job, every time one of these graduates is able to recruit another graduate, it demonstrates that it’s working,” he says. “We need all the help we can get from our partners [to create] inclusive workplaces that allow for these kinds of unique voices to shine. It’s good for them, and it’s good for business.” Moglia agrees. “Once you start working with people who think this way, it opens up your brain for everything you do and how you talk to people,” she says. “We all grow as creators and content developers.”

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SCREEN | May/June 2022

COOL NEW SHOWS

Annecy edition BY: RYAN TUCHOW

very June, France’s Annecy Animation Festival spotlights what’s next in animation. While evergreen themes like superheroes, diversity and science remain timeless, more modern trends like social media influencers are being mined for laughs, too. This year, we also asked producers to tell us about their licensing aspirations, and they had plenty to say.

Instant Famous Demo: Seven to nine Producer: Omens Studios (UK) Style: 3D animation Format: 52 x seven minutes Budget: US$4 million Status: Seeking co-producers and broadcasters Delivery: 18 months after greenlight Licensing opps: Limited toy collectibles and a mobile game.

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In the hidden world of animals, a young frog named Tony decides to turn his boring life around by becoming an influencer. With the help of his snail best friend and trouble-making nephews, Tony makes absurd videos in his quest to become viral. Cartoon Network veteran Silas Hickey (Lamput) is a consultant on the series, which was created by art director Jing Hua Tan (Counting with Paula).

SCREEN | May/June 2022

Tales of the Underwear Dragon Demo: Six to 11 Producer: Mercury Filmworks (Canada) Style: 2D animation Format: 52 x 11 minutes Budget: US$9 million Status: In development, with a bible and script ready. Looking for broadcast presales and global distribution. Delivery: Fall 2024 Licensing opps: The company sees potential in apparel (obviously underwear), along with branded back-to-school products, costumes, housewares, toys and games.

In this adaptation of Scott Rothman’s kids book, Attack of the Underwear Dragon, a young assistant knight learns the ropes of being a hero during his frequent battles with the fearsome Underwear Dragon. Sesame Street music director Bill Sherman is creating original songs for each episode of this comedy-adventure series.

Diversity Kids Demo: Seven to 12 Producers: 4Mat Factory (Holland), Media.Monks (the Netherlands) Style: 2D cut-out animation Format: 23 x 11 minutes Budget: US$250,000 to US$350,000 per episode Status: Scripts, character art and backgrounds are ready. Media.Monks is seeking broadcasters. Delivery: Fall 2024 Licensing opps: The companies are looking to expand the brand into action figures, plush, apparel, educational books, bedding, games and NFTs.

At a boarding school focused on arts education, a new crop of students come together and learn to celebrate the cultural and racial differences that make everyone special. In each episode, the kids confront problems such as racism, bullying, poverty and loneliness. They also learn about the languages, music, food and traditions of different countries, including Brazil, China and Morocco.

zdf-studios.com

SCREEN | May/June 2022

It’s Your Body Demo: Four to seven Producer: Dandelooo (France) Style: 2D animation Format: 39 x seven minutes Budget: US$8.1 million Status: A teaser, bible, script and storylines are completed. Delivery: Fall 2024 Licensing opps: Back-to-school supplies, games and figures.

Monstrous! Demo: Seven to nine Producer: Gutsy Animations (Finland) Style: 2D animation Format: 52 x 11 minutes Budget: US$15 million Status: A bible and script are prepared. Looking for co-producers, distributors and broadcasters. Delivery: 2025 Licensing opps: Apparel, tech accessories and social media tools, with a focus on promoting diversity and acceptance.

When their owners are away, a group of animals come together to learn about the science behind the things happening in people’s bodies. They’ll explore topics such as why humans blush when they’re embarrassed, what having “a stomach in knots” means, and why people cry when they’re hurt. The critters will hazard their own comedic guesses before the helpful chameleon Rosa steps in to provide the real scientific answers.

In a world where monsters and humans live side by side, quirky tween Nelly takes a job as a babysitter for little creatures. The comedy-driven series centers around the (mis)adventures of babysitting tiny monsters, but also tackles identity and what it means to belong when you’re different. Hannah George (The Adventures of Paddington) is writing the scripts, aiming for a balance between humor, heart and plenty of slime.

Holt Demo: Six to 11 Producer: Igloo Animations (Ireland) Style: 2D animation Format: 26 x 11 minutes Budget: US$119,000 per episode Status: A one-minute teaser trailer is available, along with an animatic and script for episode one, a bible and 10 episode outlines. Igloo is seeking co-production partners, distribution, broadcasters and financing. Delivery: December 2024 Licensing opps: Toys and action figures to match the action-adventure show’s monster-fighting vibe.

This fantasy-adventure series stars three mismatched teens who are shipwrecked on a dangerous planet full of evil forces. The kids meet a magical guide who gives them the power to combine into the superhuman being named Holt. Together they have to get past their differences to fight monsters, gain allies and find a way home.

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May/June 2022 | CONSUMER PRODUCTS

A busy, pre-pandemic Toy Fair New York welcomes delegates in 2019

Toying with change Toy Fair New York is making a major move from February to fall next year. What does it mean for the CP business? BY: SADHANA BHARANIDHARAN

its membership navigates a new manufacturing and retail landscape, The Toy Association is changing the date of Toy Fair New York for the first time in the show’s 118-year history. Following back-to-back cancellations in 2021 and 2022, Toy Fair has been moved to the fall, with the next event scheduled to run from September 30 to October 3, 2023 at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan. This year, The Toy Association will run a Preview & Holiday Market in Dallas, Texas from September 20 to 22. Calls for a date change had been mounting for years, says Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of The Toy Association. But the repeated global shutdowns caused by the pandemic proved both a catalyst and an opportunity to pause and reassess the business. The association undertook an exhaustive “reimagining” process with San Diego-based mdg, an agency that specializes in strategy

for trade shows. Following research, focus groups, interviews and member surveys, the organization finally reached broad consensus in favor of a new fall date. From retailers’ purchasing cycles to production and supply chain sourcing, Pasierb says the change aligns with the industry’s new longer lead times. “Late September through mid-October is the most viable window between summer vacation season and the vital year-end holiday selling season for most companies.” The timing of the show should help boost media coverage of holiday trends and toy stories, while also allowing entertainment companies to promote content ahead of the final quarter of the year, he adds. Toyco executives have only had a month or two to process the news and assess the impact for their businesses. For Funko SVP of sales Jaime Beckley, the date change came as a surprise. “We expected the show to

CONSUMER PRODUCTS | May/June 2022

An Angry Bird keeps watch at Toy Fair New York 2019

The LEGO Movie star Emmet is ready for selfies

Times and dates may change, but there’s nothing like the hustle and bustle of a live trade show

continue to fall in February as it aligned well with final presentations for holiday programs,” he says. Bill Graham, chief marketing officer at LA-based toyco PhatMojo, says he is largely optimistic about the new date. He describes the shift to September as “a great move,” adding that he found February to be “less impactful to key buying seasons and on the tail end of a very busy season of other international shows.” Carol Spieckerman, president of Arkansasbased consulting firm Spieckerman Retail, says Toy Fair’s new date will be a plus for major retailers. “Ongoing supply chain snags call for longer lead times, and the new timing integrates

more seamlessly with the overall toy event calendar to include Nuremberg and London,” she says, noting that November and December are prime selling months. Sarah Jordan, CEO of Canadian retail chain Mastermind Toys, says she sensed a general desire in the industry to hold Toy Fair in September. She sees the date change as a much-needed measure to adapt to modern retail needs and timelines, adding that consumers are aware of the trends driving the industry. “Our Canadian customers are becoming savvy to supply chain challenges across all industries,” she explains. “They are consistently shopping earlier for the holidays, so this shift in date also addresses the challenges

that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, like longer lead times and changes in our purchasing cycles, as we plan for our seasons earlier out.” The return of Toy Fair is more than a year away, but Toy Association members will need that time to adjust their strategies and assess what challenges the new date will bring. Manufacturers could face the greatest risks. “Revealing new innovations early can be seen as increasing the potential for knock-offs,” says Spieckerman. Beckley echoes that concern, adding the fall show “could limit some of the product we’re able to present to the full retailer landscape,” as February was a better fit for these big reveals. “It will be a shame to see the Dallas show go away,” says Graham. “But many companies have migrated to their LA showrooms for preview meetings over the years, and the sales season has become somewhat decentralized.” While everyone being in the same place at the same time could create a stronger “live show” element, it could also make timing tight, he adds. “Creating quality time with retail buyers might be a challenge. So toy companies will need to be creative with sales presentations.” Spieckerman says the shift is largely retailfriendly, but adds that opinions are mixed on the lower end of the retail hierarchy. “Major retailers drive the ship, and their decisions have a cascading effect on everyone else,” she says. “The timing is more controversial among small retailers who are used to buying closer to need.” While viewpoints may run the gamut—from those who embrace Toy Fair’s reimagining, to others who are uneasy about the change, and many who will take a wait-and-see approach— Pasierb sees a silver lining for the play industry. “None of us has a crystal ball, but what we have learned about timing is that what used to be is no longer true. The need to evolve and grow is here, and while it may be scary, the best innovations come from massive shifts in the status quo.”

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CONSUMER PRODUCTS | May/June 2022

Product trends on the road to retail

Niche is the new mass The speed at which individual fandom can now escalate into large-scale consumer movements is revolutionizing toy marketing. BY: CHRISTOPHER BYRNE took nearly two years for Pogs (cardboard bottle caps reimagined as collectible game pieces) to become a nationwide fad in the ‘90s. Three decades later, fads can happen almost overnight. The barriers of geography and information have not merely fallen; they’ve been obliterated—giving rise to what we call “mass niche.” Products or properties that might have built a small audience (niche) and grown over time can now achieve global exposure (mass) in a matter of days. What were once small, disparate populations have coalesced into powerful segments linked by shared affinities in extensive online communities. There may be some overlap between these communities, but usually not. Collectors chasing ZURU’s Rainbocorns may not know— or care—about the Demon Slayer manga craze and Netflix series, and vice versa. They exist in distinct worlds—alternate realities, you might say. For marketers, that means rethinking strategies and using niche tactics, emphasizing engagement and speaking directly to consumers’ individual interests, all delivered on a mass basis. Digital platforms make that

possible, particularly when effectively targeted. And it has never been more important to understand your consumers, what motivates them, and what keeps them engaged with your brand. The challenge for marketers is building authentic relationships, which can be powerful when they work. For example, Seattle-based toyco Zing launched its Stikbot poseable robots in 2015, designed for users to make stop-motion animation via a dedicated app. That same year, the company created Stikbot Central, a branded YouTube channel where users could showcase their videos. Serious and casual fans flocked to it, and Zing dedicated the majority of its promotional budget to building that community. Stikbot Central has since become huge, with almost a million subscribers to date. But ask someone on the street if they’ve heard of it, and you’re likely to get a blank stare. When PlayMonster launched its Break In board game in 2020—the opposite of an escape room where players work together to break into Alcatraz—it concentrated marketing on known gamers, and remarketing based on levels of response to campaigns.

The company pursued a niche-only strategy, not even trying to reach people outside of its game-playing target audience. In October 2021, toymaker WowWee introduced original characters to the established Twilight Daycare game on Roblox, instantly reaching an established audience. The characters were a hit, demand soared, and toys based on them (pictured) are coming out later this year. Data and community feedback generated by play on Roblox helped WowWee guide its hard goods development and launch strategy. Niches are communities, and current media platforms are ideal for building them—not to mention being fluid and scalable, allowing for almost real-time adjustment. TikTok, Roblox and Zigazoo all facilitate sharing among members and IP owners. Today’s consumers expect to interact directly with companies, and smart marketers are using this two-way communication to field play-centric research, refine product concepts, execute launches, and build communities. There’s a treasure trove of data out there. Use it.

CHRISTOPHER BYRNE (a.k.a. The Toy Guy) is a toy expert, consultant, author and co-host of The Playground Podcast.

May/June 2022 | KID INSIGHT

Nikeland on Roblox is a bespoke 3D space with the backdrop of the company’s world headquarters

Into the metaverse

KidsKnowBest surveys kids on what they actually know about the metaverse…and discovers it’s all about shoes.

BY: PETER ROBINSON lthough we’ve been talking about transmedia for over a decade now, the form it takes keeps changing. Right now, it’s being reshaped—and resold—as the metaverse, an amorphous form billed by techcos and pundits as the future of how we will interact with media and brands. But does the term metaverse have resonance outside of entrepreneurs, media conglomerates and venture capitalists? KidsKnowBest wanted to listen less to the grown-ups pitching the metaverse and more to the young people engaging in it. We asked more than 600 kids in the UK and US what they know about the metaverse (qualitatively) and polled thousands more. Their answers provide interesting, and often unexpected, insights about kids’ expectations on the ground, and also about the intersections where companies can meet them.

What they know “I think it’s sort of like a central hub leading off into other places.” (boy, 16)

“Yes, I’ve heard of the metaverse. What the metaverse is, like, it’s kind of like a separate universe where it’s completely digital instead. A few games have already tried to dabble into the metaverse, like Roblox is a really good example. Well, what I like about the metaverse is that anyone can create something. You don’t need to pay in order to create something; you just create it.” (boy, 11) “Metaverse is what Facebook is now doing, is it? With the VR headset.” (boy, 13) Interestingly, this was the only mention of VR. While a lot of industry commentary focuses on VR and wearables as entrance points, kids are not making the same association.

think you’re going to be respected more in a lobby.” (boy, 16) Another 16-year-old boy went further, saying the metaverse allowed you to be in “a place where everything can exist as one. Your avatar can exist in different places.”

Top video games UK kids ages six to 16

65% 56%

50% 32%

What they think of it Respondents who identified as gamers focused heavily on their avatars when defining the metaverse, which is hardly surprising given the top games kids play (see graph). “First impressions, I think, are quite a big thing. So if you’ve got a high-quality avatar, I

Minecraft

Roblox

Fortnite

Mario Kart

Source: Nougat YakYak polls (February 2022)

KID INSIGHT | May/June 2022

and avoid content that did not improve the experience.

What’s next

More than half (58%) of respondents in the KidsKnowBest survey claimed they buy clothes for their avatar, perhaps shopping in Nike’s virtual Roblox space, as seen here

Which brand would you most like your avatar to wear? UK kids ages six to 10

44%

Source: Nougat YakYak polls (March 2022)

22%

Much of what kids are focused on does not fit current adult interpretations of the metaverse—a virtual space in which animated figures interact. Instead, they are interested in the social, creative and competitive behaviors common to gaming communities. For example, the tone and narrative of responses shifted when it came to digital assets. Avatars remained constant, with kids of different ages discussing the expectations of assets and their desire for these assets to exist in multiple spaces. The assets discussed included things that are attainable in real life (i.e. soccer shoes), as well as items that are largely inaccessible to kids IRL (i.e. luxury handbags). And while there was some recognition of cryptocurrencies and NFTs, these are still nascent concepts amongst younger audiences, and they’re not yet playing a large part in the purchase and

20%

14%

collection of assets. Over half (58%) of six- to 16-year-olds claim they have an avatar that they buy clothes for. “I wish I could play FIFA 22 and change my career character’s boots. I’d go for Adidas, like Messi.” (boy, 13) “I really love kitting out my avatar with Gucci handbags.” (girl, 12) Young people are already engaging with some brands in the metaverse, including fashion brands like Nike on Roblox, Gucci on Animal Crossing and Balenciaga on Fortnite. Respondents expected brands to be in the metaverse, and are interested in purchasing assets. “You could scan in your Converse, and then your avatar would be wearing them,” said one 11-year-old girl. However, their comments also indicated they value authenticity and would identify

The evolution of the metaverse will rely on a mix of a digital personality and crossovers with the physical world. Perhaps one of the more interesting conversations was around Pinterest, a social media platform many might think of as older-skewing. But our research revealed Pinterest is being used as an inspiration and mood board for Minecraft creations. We have seen increasing engagement with Pinterest, which as a curation and inspiration platform, may be well suited to the expansion of the metaverse in creators’ lives (for examples of this, search “Minecraft builds” on Pinterest). “I think that’s what got me into interior design on Minecraft. Mainly on Pinterest and YouTube, I type in Minecraft survival houses, because I guess it’s OK in creative, but my favorite is survival. I just built a house yesterday, but it had a farm next to it, crops, and an upstairs balcony. It was very cool.” (girl, 10) “I built Naruto’s house from [Japanese manga series] Naruto. Took me forever. I sent a photo of it to my friend because she plays Minecraft as well, and she has this amazing creative world.” (girl, 13) The future of the metaverse was perhaps seen best during the height of the pandemic. In our FriendsKnowBest research in 2021, we segmented six- to 16-year-olds by their personality and the personality of their best friend, uncovering the surprising revelation that 25% of respondents had a friend online who they’d never met. With millions of young people separated from their IRL friends, games like Minecraft, Roblox, Fortnite, Animal Crossing, Among Us and Call of Duty became their playgrounds. But it also went beyond games, with typically shared experiences such as movies being discussed online. Finally, parental concerns about issues such as safety, commercialization, screen time and data ownership in the metaverse seem limited at this time. Other studies have raised these concerns, sourcing school communications and parental peers as influences, but so far, these seem limited to more immediate media such as gaming or social platforms.

PETER ROBINSON is chief strategy officer at UK-based research, strategy and ad agency KidsKnowBest. The company will be presenting a session with LEGO at Kidscreen Summit 2022 on how to involve children meaningfully in research.

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May/June 2022 | TECH

Metaverse moves

In the nascent Web 3.0 space, kidcos are placing big bets on what’s next in kids content. Here’s how Genius Brands International, Dark Slope and Star Stable are using their digital expertise to build foundations in the burgeoning meta world and shape the future as it unfolds. BY: RYAN TUCHOW more than just a buzzy idea but far from a concrete space. Still, kidcos (and real estate entrepreneurs) are starting to place big bets on the metaverse, with business strategies rooted in the real world and eyes on the pixelated sky. What is the metaverse? Currently, it’s being realized in kids entertainment via social gaming experiences like Roblox, where kids use personalized avatars to play, chat and buy digital stuff. Elsewhere, the metaverse is being activated in virtual real-estate ventures or virtual experiences like Fortnite’s Travis Scott concert, which combined a social event with a virtual immersive environment. This still-undefined form presents both a challenge and an opportunity. On the biggest scale, Meta (formerly Facebook) has pledged US$10 billion to build its own (presumably massive) metaverse. More modestly, Nike’s recent partnership with Roblox features an in-game environment where kids can play games and outfit avatars with Nike athletic gear. From a venture-capitalist perspective, the metaverse is appealing because there are lots of avenues for companies to engage kids in completely new ways. But vague or grandiose plans won’t cut it. Metaventures chairman and co-founder Jean-Charles Capelli says his investment firm needs to see three fundamental elements: immediate content plans, a long-term strategy incorporating metaverse-friendly elements like VR or NFTs into existing content, and the legwork to ensure a product will be unique in the marketplace. Metaventures is focused on expanding its parentco—kids research firm and video game maker Dubit—into the metaverse with new initiatives. It started by raising US$8 million to grow Dubit’s Metaverse Gaming League eSports program that lets kids compete

TECH | May/June 2022

in different games on Roblox for prizes. The dual promise of being able to give kids social experiences online—and provide brands with new ways to reach them—attracted investment in the program, explains Capelli. The pandemic shifted kids’ social interactions into the virtual world, accelerating consumer interest in emerging technologies and creating opportunities for companies that focus on creating safe online spaces or are adept at integrating new tech like VR into content, he says. In the “venture” space, being early can often be the same as being wrong, says Jon Ollwerther, EVP of business development at Genius Brands International and president of its Kartoon Channel! AVOD. Ollwerther, who has worked with venture-backed startups such as drone company Measure, thinks about this often when it comes to the metaverse. There are still questions around whether the metaverse will be widely accessible to a wide variety of children in the same way a mobile game is, for example, or if families will embrace complex virtual tech like NFTs. But in a way, the metaverse is a combination—or culmination—of all these things, so entry points already exist. LA-based Genius Brands is carving out a strategy based on this insight, building its own metaverse by layering NFTs, games, VR and AR onto its brands with the end goal of creating social experiences driven by its content, says Ollwerther. The company is creating its own branded VR goggles to overcome the barrier of pricey, bulky headsets that aren’t approved for kids. And it’s creating short two- to three-minute VR videos kids can passively watch, based on brands in its portfolio like Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten and Shaq’s Garage. Genius Brands is also exploring kid-safe messaging tools, podcasts and custom emojis to position its new Kartoon Channel! Kidaverse SVOD at the forefront of the first kids metaverse as it emerges, says Ollwerther. “We won’t have any open environments or strangers messaging kids, but there will be digital collectibles and a safe space to give families an easy ‘yes’ when adopting,” says Ollwerther. “This is the next evolution of storytelling, and even after the metaverse fad dies down, these new technologies will become part of the fabric of children’s lives.” Johan Sjöberg, CEO of Swedish video game maker Star Stable Entertainment, sees the company’s flagship online title, Star

Games that offer safe spaces and capture children’s niche interests are the future of the metaverse, says Star Stable Entertainment’s Johan Sjöberg

Stable Online, as a proto-metaverse. It’s an example of what the metaverse could be: a social gaming experience where its eight-to 18-year-old players “horse” around while messaging their friends. When you have a space like this, which is similar to a Roblox or Minecraft in its open gameplay and ability to interact with others, the core components for success are safety and producing new titles that capture kids’ different interests, says Sjöberg. To become its own metaverse, Star Stable is prioritizing “safe” features—such as AI moderation, in which the system encourages kids to pause before sending negative messages and offers tips for being nice—in order to create a positive experience that keeps users coming back. Long term, the company plans to make its games available on all mobile devices and even TVs, because a key element of the metaverse is that kids can enter it anytime and anywhere, says Sjöberg. Star Stable is also developing new titles that blend social experiences with niche interests. That approach has worked well for Star Stable Online, which has around 650,000 horse-crazy users living their dreams in the virtual space. “We will see lots of metaverses launch around special interests,” he says. “Companies need to understand that VR and AR, for example, are not a requirement for the metaverse. What you need are games that take kids’ interests seriously and create connected online communities.” Toronto-based studio Dark Slope is taking a different approach, shifting its production focus from VR to the metaverse. The

metaverse is still five to 10 years away, predicts president Dan Fill. So Dark Slope is starting out by taking what it learned building VR titles such as Slugterra VR and Bogey Ogres to bring currently accessible metaverse elements, like haptic gloves, to kids. VR-based games with fresh and multi-sensory content offer kids the chance to play in virtual spaces before whole worlds are constructed, says Fill. First up on its slate, Dark Slope is testing an unscripted kids competition series where players navigate an obstacle course wearing VR headsets and gloves. By incorporating animation and VR, Dark Slope can make it look—to both the kids competing in the studio and the audience at home—like the kids are running through fantastical settings like jungles. The animation and VR help the studio capture fresh reactions from the cast that are harder to elicit in typical live-action TV shows, says Fill. Details about the project are still under wraps, but Fill says Dark Slope sees this blend of gaming, animation, VR and TV production as a way to revitalize traditional unscripted competition formats. The company is also making new VR games, including a multiplayer title, to meet kids’ demand for interactive content. Children crave agency in their content, and that’s something the metaverse can deliver, he says. “‘Lean-back TV’ is a thing of the past. The promise of the metaverse is that it will give kids control over the entertainment they consume, and because we’re working to offer that, buyer and audience reaction to what’s coming from us has been very exciting.”

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FEATURE | May/June 2022

Digital gets real BY: GARY RUSAK

Will NFTs change how kids collect? Can a toy be birthed by TikTok? The only constant in the world of consumer products is change, and Kidscreen looks at two forces radically altering the landscape for creators, consumers, and everyone in between. During the pandemic, short-form video platform TikTok has developed an unrivaled resonance in the kids space, while the effect of “digital collectibles” known as NFTs is nascent but potentially revolutionary in bridging virtual worlds and their toy counterparts. But what exactly will this new digital world look like? Let’s take a closer look…

May/June 2022 | FEATURE

TikTok’s time ROI in this erratic, wildly popular space isn’t just about sell-through— audience insights, fan engagement and product development are the hot metrics to track. hen Sydney Wiseman walked out of New York’s Javits Center for a short break during Toy Fair 2020, only weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world forever, she checked her phone and was shocked. “I had 267,000 notifications on TikTok,” WowWee’s VP of brand development and creative strategy recalls. “I thought, ‘What is happening?’” The notifications were reactions to a TikTok featuring WowWee’s new Power Treads line, which was debuting at the show. Through the magic of video and social media, the robotic racing brand had gone viral. In that moment, Wiseman realized a powerful new force for all toy companies had been unleashed—one that touches multiple areas, including research and development, marketing and retail. Launched in 2016 by China-based DanceByte, the short-form video app TikTok now boasts approximately 700 million daily users in 155 countries, and more than a billion videos are viewed there every single day. It’s the world’s most downloaded app, and is currently said to be worth somewhere north of US$60 billion. These are gaudy numbers, but perhaps the platform’s biggest impact lies beyond them. The key to TikTok’s success is the deep connection the app’s algorithm nurtures with its predominately young audience (50% are in the 18-34 demo), facilitating an unprecedented real-time conversation between creators and their audiences.

creating new touchpoints for consumers and retailers alike. Of course, WowWee is not alone. Another toyco that has enjoyed tremendous growth over the last couple years, at least partly attributed to TikTok, is ZURU. The company was an early adopter of the platform. In 2019, ZURU created dedicated channels for its Mini Brands (1.1 million followers) and has since followed suit with X-Shot (155,200 followers) and Bunch O Balloons (98,300 followers). “None of our competitors were on it yet,” says Henry Gordon, ZURU’s global marketing director. “So it was a huge opportunity for us.” ZURU’s Mini Brands channel currently boasts three billion views on TikTok, but directly quantifying the platform’s power is difficult. “It’s impossible to say exactly how TikTok has

WOWWEE AND ZURU “Our biggest buzz is now our TikTok,” says Wiseman about the impact the platform has had on WowWee in the two years since her phone exploded on that fateful February day. WowWee quickly set up unique TikTok channels for each of its brands, including Squishy Little Dumplings (28,000 followers) and Got2Glow Fairies (35,700 followers). As well, Wiseman has her own personal channel with approximately 67,000 followers. All the channels have been successful in cultivating the WowWee brands and

helped some of these bigger growth brands because every brand has TikTok now,” says Juli Lennett, VP and industry advisor for US Toys at The NPD Group. “But it’s pretty clear that a company like ZURU has been really successful on the platform.”

SCRAPPY CONTENT Over the past two years, toycos have invested a lot of research and imagination into creating and maintaining relevant TikTok channels. Wiseman describes a steep learning curve as WowWee’s marketing team first learned how to effectively navigate TikTok’s enigmatic digital contours. “Understanding your audience is maybe the biggest trick,” she says. “The algorithm can be finicky. Sometimes a video you posted a week ago will suddenly get a million views, and you just wonder why.’” Despite extraordinary success on the platform, Gordon says it took some time to understand the ins and outs of TikTok. “It was a lot of trial and error,” he says. “We did a lot of research into the trends and watched a lot of videos.” The company now earmarks about 30% of its marketing spend for TikTok and has a dedicated team developing content and monitoring trends. While TikTok recently expanded its platform to allow for video uploads of up to 10 minutes in duration, toy companies are generally looking to upload videos that top out at around 30 seconds. “You have one to two seconds and then [the viewers] are gone,” says Gordon. “The hook is so critical—it has to grab the audience because before you blink, they are moving on.” Lately, a popular trend is an auto-tuned voiceover that greets the viewer as a video starts. Other keys to success include what Gordon calls the “scrappy look,” a DIY aesthetic that differentiates ZURU’s content from slick advertising campaigns that are often unsuccessfully grafted onto the platform by bigger brands. “It has to be shot on a phone,” he says. “Consumers don’t want to see something polished with great production values. If they think it looks like an ad, they won’t engage with it at all.”

ENGAGEMENT DIVIDENDS ZURU has both paid and earned media on TikTok, with influencer placements and organic fan videos

It’s important for new users to understand the criteria for a successful TikTok and exactly how to leverage it. NPD’s Lennett

FEATURE | May/June 2022

says breakthrough videos can be seen as a contributing factor to a toyco’s bump in market share. However, sometimes a runaway success can backfire. “Once a video hits a million views, I find it expands beyond the audience of who is going to purchase [the product],” says Wiseman. “Then the comments start to have less relevance.” She described a recent Twilight Daycare video that garnered a relatively modest 50,000 views but also elicited 1,200 comments. “That’s not up there in terms of views, but the engagement was amazing,” she says, adding some of the 1,200 comments were used to assist her team in refining aspects of the product’s design before release. ZURU employs the same engagement calculus when it evaluates its popular X-Shot channel. The channel currently has only about 20% of the subscribers of NERF’s channel—its chief competitor in the category—but that raw number only tells part of the story. “Our brand has a million more likes,” Gordon says. “So the engagement on X-Shot is amazing. It’s the most-engaged-with toy property on the platform.”

TOO VIRAL Both ZURU and WowWee have learned that sometimes an exuberant response to a video comes with unintended consequences. “Once we had Amazon call us and ask, ‘What

ZURU’s X-shot toys are a TikTok hit with more than a million likes

is happening?’” says Wiseman, describing the “horse-before-the-cart” problem that arises when products teased on TikTok are not yet ready for retail. It’s a tricky balance between at least having a landing page for people who want to find out more information, and firing up demand too soon. “Sometimes I have jumped the gun and promoted a product that isn’t really available yet,” says Wiseman. “You have to be mindful of that.” Besides perfecting the timing of video releases and product availability, leveraging the power of TikTok also takes time and dedication. It’s a hungry platform with a voracious appetite for new content. “I’m good for a video a day, but you have to upload more than that to maintain popularity,” says Wiseman. “So our marketing department is dedicating more and more time to it.” ZURU is meeting this appetite for content with a dedicated TikTok staff, feeding the platform 20 to 30 unique TikToks every week across all of its channels.

RETAIL UPTAKE Despite a reputation for reticence towards new marketing ideas and product proof points, retailers have also become entranced by the dominant video platform over the past two years. “I had a retailer meeting recently, and they said, ‘Oh, we all follow you [on TikTok],’” says Wiseman. “It’s now the talk of toy retailers.” Gordon concurs, adding that US retailers have been faster to adopt TikTok than their European counterparts, but global retailers in general are now getting on board. “We’re seeing uptakes of two to three in terms of

WowWee’s Got2Glow Fairy Finder has its own TikTok with 35,700 followers

rate of sales for our products on the platform,” he says. “For us, that’s a proof point we can take to retailers.” One retailer that has realized the power of TikTok is Massachusetts-based Learning Express Toys and its 90 franchises. Each location now has its own TikTok channel, and the results have been overwhelming. “We have doubled sales since the pandemic with half the marketing spend,” says Meghan Thompson, Learning Express’s marketing manager, adding that while it’s impossible to draw a direct connection to TikTok, the platform is obviously a contributing factor. “Our franchise in Birmingham, Alabama has 2.6 million subscribers,” she says. “It’s now a major part of our marketing.”

KEEP TIKTOKING Where this is all going is hard to predict. However, ZURU has started to look at TikTok as more than just a one-way street; what moves the needle on the platform is now informing the development of new toy concepts and designs. Gordon says ZURU is actively harvesting trend data and using it to develop new products. “We have 10 products we are developing now that are specifically derived from TikTok trends,” he says, adding it’s too early in the process to share details. “It has been a huge opportunity and it just keeps growing.”

2022

CLAIM YOUR SPOT! Kidscreen will once again rank and profile the world’s top 50 kids entertainment companies at the end of the year. If you want to be in the Hot50 mix, now is the time to put your hat in the ring. We’re accepting submissions until Friday, July 29—and it’s totally FREE! All you have to do is fill out an easy online form and tell us about your company’s three biggest achievements from the last 12 months.

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DIGITAL MEDIA

FEATURE | May/June 2022

Invisible Universe is serving up a squad of NFTs, led by Serena Williams’ QaiQai doll brand (pictured second from right)

The new kids: NFTs hree letters that elicit an almost immediate reaction today are N-F-T. NFTs are unique pieces of virtual content— like artwork or music—with ownership details stored in a digital ledger (blockchain). They can’t be copied, substituted or subdivided— thus collectible by nature—and are inextricably linked to the emergence of Web 3.0. Some estimates have valued the NFT market at US$1.7 trillion, and the most recent activity on NFT marketplace OpenSea tracked trading at around US$4 billion this past January alone. If your head is spinning, you’re not alone. There’s a tidal wave of information and tech talk that has clouded the market and obscured potential opportunities for creators and consumers who wouldn’t know a Dogecoin from a Dodge Ram. However, proponents in the kids space are starting to embrace NFTs, which they see as much more than just a new licensing category. They insist it has the potential to reshape the kids and family marketplace by giving creators and IP owners a new way to forge an ongoing relationship directly with consumers. While big names like Mattel have already jumped on the bandwagon, the true power of NFT emergence still remains to be seen.

EARLY DAYS YET One reason for the hesitation and skepticism around NFTs right now is simply a function of how early it is.

“We are at day one of week one of month one of year one for NFTs right now,” says Darran Garnham, founder and CEO of Toikido, a UK-based toyco. The company is just starting to test the digital waters and recently inked a partnership deal with VeeFriends, tech entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk’s NFT project. Steven Wolfe Pereira, CEO and co-founder of the app-maker Encantos, is an early champion of the technology and agrees with Garnham’s sentiment. “We are at the GeoCities phase of Web 3.0,” he says. “It’s so early now that there are going to be lots of different permutations still to come.” One of the obvious and most significant barriers to entry for consumers is that NFTs are traded in cryptocurrencies, which to the uninitiated are confusing and intimidating. While new user-friendly crypto platforms are emerging, at this point, no one could reasonably expect kids—or their parents—to be able to use crypto to purchase NFTs. Wolfe Pereira says the entire NFT landscape needs to go through an “Applefication” where the technical inner workings begin to recede and a more consumerfriendly, frictionless interface emerges. With the deluge of investment in Web 3.0 and crypto, he believes this is imminent and sees no reason to throw the digital baby out with the binary code bathwater. “When the World Wide Web first emerged, everyone was putting up websites,”

he says. “Some of them were just a brochure on the web, and you might have thought, ‘What is the point of that?’ But we didn’t just dismiss the idea of the internet. We are now at that point with NFTs.”

MONETARY MAYHEM Because of headline-grabbing prices for some NFT products (like artwork) and skyhigh valuations for some blockchain-based companies, it’s easy to view NFTs as just another vehicle of speculation: primarily designed for money-making and susceptible to pump-and-dump schemes. However, enthusiasts in the kids space insist that NFTs are not a get-rich-quick scheme, arguing that the adrenaline-fuelled day-trading aspect should not obscure the potentially revolutionary nature of the technology. “When I realized that the next wave of the internet is going to be about the ownership economy and how everything will be organized through a token, I started to really appreciate the power of the technology,” says Wolfe Pereira. When the dust settles, Wolfe Pereira adds, NFTs will have to offer consumers true value, not inflated monetary returns, or they will not survive.

OFFERING UTILITY LA-based Invisible Universe is entering NFTs through a partnership with athlete Serena Williams and her IP Qai Qai (inspired by her

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Join us IRL in July! We’re just two months away from hosting our first live Kidscreen Summit event in two years, and we could not be more excited to see you in person and help you reconnect with the industry. We’re on track to have more than 1,600 delegates take part in our Kidscreen Summit live and virtual events this year, and you’ll have access to them all in Miami or online until August 26.

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FEATURE | May/June 2022

IT’S GOING TO CHANGE THE BALANCE OF POWER. For creators, it’s going to be REVOLUTIONARY. —Steven Wolfe Pereira, Encantos

three-year-old daughter’s doll of the same name). The company is developing long-term plans for the brand with a web series and gaming, and it’s also planning a Qai Qia NFT drop later this year. Invisible Universe CEO Tricia Biggio says it’s imperative that NFTs offer “utility,” the ability to be used in a concrete, real-life way. “You need to feel like you are giving the audience something to do with it,” Biggio elaborates. For example, first-run Qai Qai NFT owners will have a chance to participate and contribute story ideas and character arcs to a planned animated series, not unlike a reward for crowd-sourced content funders. “It will be the first metaverse animated series inspired by NFTs,” Biggio says. The 50-ep show will be launched on social media platforms including TikTok, Instagram and Discord. “There is a participation premium,” says Zoran Kovacevic, CEO of Vancouver-based Toymint, the company that developed the NFT Minted Teddy. “It’s a known principle that people will pay more for something they have actually helped develop.” Kovacevic echoes Biggio’s idea that NFTs should offer users a variety of utility. A new release or “drop” of 10,000 Minted Teddys is expected in April and they’ll straddle the real world (each purchase will include a plush toy) and the metaverse (a digital avatar is also included). These 10,000 new NFTs will join 1,111 Minted Teddys currently in circulation. “That is just the beginning,” says Kovacevic. “We are constantly talking about developing more and more utilities, including ongoing discussions with gaming companies.”

VALUE COMMUNITY

Canada’s Toy Mint has developed Minted Teddy, a new NFT built around the ideals of compassion and sustainability

Tied in with the idea of utility is the community-building capability of NFTs. This core concept is absent from most narratives that frame the NFT as a purely speculative commodity. Yet it could be the key to the technology’s future—especially when it comes to kids. For example, the Qai Qai NFT was developed to leverage the community of fans gathered around the emerging IP (and its famous founder), and there are myriad examples of rallying points around movements such as climate change (Beeple). In April, LA-based Bureau of Magic set out to create an NFT-based franchise

for Amazon’s Lost in Oz animated kids series. Launching in June, it’s a membership-based experience in which an NFT purchase unlocks access to a short film and a 3D-printable toy line. Critically, it will be accessible by credit card, not just crypto, in order to appeal to families. The community for Minted Teddy is being built on shared values such as sustainability, harmony and thoughtfulness—ideals that will be interwoven through all aspects of the program. The plush bear version of Minted Teddy, for example, is being manufactured with sustainable materials and equitable work practices. “We want Teddy to represent the kind of world we would love to live in, to inspire the next generation,” says Kovacevic, “rather than just playing Fortnite and shooting each other.” Both Qai Qai and Minted Teddy will leverage social media platforms like Twitter and Discord to give their communities a way to gather and communicate. “These communities are like old-fashioned fan clubs,” says Garnham. “Personally, I have gotten to know some great people in totally different sectors through [an NFT community]; it’s really fascinating.”

FUTURE SHOCK The underlying concept driving excitement in the creator community around NFTs is the potential for creators to reassert their ownership. The minting and purchase of NFTs will create a direct and unique link between creators and consumers, no longer mitigated by networks, studios, licensees, venue owners and the like. “It’s going to change the balance of power,” says Wolfe Pereira. “For creators, it’s going to be revolutionary.” The theory is that the new landscape will put creators back in the driver’s seat and simultaneously offer consumers a tighter relationship with the IPs they love, cultivating an ongoing and fruitful two-way conversation, as opposed to the traditional top-down communication. Facilitated by cryptocurrency and through Web 3.0 innovations, a brand-new, direct bond between creators and their audiences is what the most ardent fans of NFTs are prophesying. Getting there, of course, will rely on two of the ultimate non-fungible commodities: time and luck.

SAVE THE DATE www.mipjunior.com

FEATURE | May/June 2022

See who’s blazing trails in kids entertainment

hether you’re launching something new or maintaining and building excitement for what’s already out there, competition for kids’ attention has never been fiercer. In this red-hot landscape, the Kidscreen Hot50 celebrates companies that are breaking through the clutter in a big way. Traditionally, our Hot50 trophies are presented at a high-profile Kidscreen Awards show that takes place during Kidscreen Summit in February. But with this year’s live event delayed due to the pandemic, the award ceremony will take place in July instead. Ahead of this much-anticipated event, here’s a recap of the top-ranked companies from 2021, all of which impressed kids and the industry alike with their achievements and innovations.

We’ve just opened the submissions window for this year’s Hot50 ranking, so now’s the time to put your company in the mix for consideration at hot50.kidscreen.com. It’s totally free to enter! After the submissions deadline closes on July 29, Kidscreen will launch a month-long public voting round to determine the top 10 companies in five categories. The final ranking will be announced on December 12 in our Kidscreen Daily newsletter, followed by a press release to other relevant industry publications. All 50 companies will also be profiled in a special digital issue and print insert featured in copies of our February/March 2023 magazine edition that will be distributed at Kidscreen Summit 2023.

May/June 2022 | FEATURE

Disney+ leaned into localized African content last year with original anthology series Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire

Sony’s The Mitchells vs. The Machines was Netflix’s most-watched animated film by the end of 2021

B ROA D CA ST ING

Streamers share the spotlight On the strength of stellar subscriber growth and local investment, Disney+ joined Netflix—which also saw huge gains—at the top of the Hot50 broadcasting list. fter seven consecutive solo wins, Netflix shared the glory in 2021, tying with 2020 runner-up Disney+ for the number-one ranking. Rapid growth was the key last year for Disney’s streamer, which by the end of 2021 had amassed 118 million subscriptions worldwide, with new users up 60% year over year. The three-year-old service is expected to reach between 230 million and 260 million total paid subscribers by September 2024, according to a Q4 earnings call. By comparison, Netflix was sitting at 213 million global subscribers at the end of last year. Disney also plans to spend a projected US$9 billion on local and regional content by 2024, said CEO Bob Chapek. The company currently has more than 340 local originals in various stages of development and production across its D2C platforms. Last year, Disney+ got a jump on commissioning local content through a partnership with creators from across Africa for a 10-part original film anthology called Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire. It also acquired exclusive streaming rights in Latin America to Somos Productions’ musical series @GinaYei (24 x 60 minutes), and ran a second round of Launchpad, its shorts incubator for underrepresented directors.

In other accomplishments, Disney+ won 14 Creative Arts Emmys, including three for Marvel’s WandaVision and seven for Lucasfilm’s Star Wars series, The Mandalorian. For its part, Netflix had another record-breaking year in kids and family content in 2021, receiving 56 Daytime Emmy nominations in kids programming, and walking away with 12 awards—the most won by any broadcaster or platform in the kids space. Among its wins, animated series Go! Go! Cory Carson took home three trophies, with two more for Hilda. Animated features have also been performing well for the streamer. Sony’s The Mitchells vs. The Machines became the platform’s most-watched animated film by the end of the year, with 53 million household views in the month it launched. As Netflix looks to stay ahead of the House of Mouse in the streaming wars (and in the battle for the Hot50’s top broadcasting spot), its recent decision to be more transparent with data and measure viewership statistics by total hours watched rather than number of households could go a long way towards making it happen.

FEATURE | May/June 2022

9 Story’s Netflix series Karma’s World was one of a record 18 greenlights for the producer last year

D I ST R I B U TION

Jetpack Distribution shoots to the top A bigger catalogue, more development and a new YouTube channel drove the company’s success in 2021. ondon-based Jetpack Distribution rose above the rest last year, taking the top spot in distribution for the first time ever. CEO Dominic Gardiner says this recognition gives his team a sense of confidence and satisfaction because industry feedback isn’t always instantly received. “We can always measure company performance financially, in terms of revenue and profit,” he explains. “But the [peer] recognition gives us one of the best measures of how well we are doing. It lets us know what people think of us and our work.” In terms of financial performance over 2021, Jetpack saw an uptick in sales for its content library (more than

1,400 half hours and counting), which contributed to 16% year-over-year revenue growth and an 18% profit increase. As for the company’s catalogue—which includes YouTube hit Spookiz, Welcome to Cardboard City and Claymotions, in addition to development projects like Florida, Stella & The Starlets and Flora—it has grown by 12% since 2020. In other accomplishments, Jetpack launched new YouTube channel Jetpack Kids; revamped its website with a dedicated buyers screening zone; and expanded its team with two new hires for Central Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa—regions that will be a focus moving forward.

May/June 2022 | FEATURE

PRODU CT ION

9 Story/Brown Bag Films find a common purpose The media company and its production arm return to the top of the Hot50 production list. espite spending months on end working from bedrooms and kitchen tables during the pandemic, 9 Story Media Group—and its production arm, Brown Bag Films—secured a record 18 greenlights in 2021, including series pickups for CG-animated Karma’s World (Netflix) and hybrid preschool show Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show (Apple TV+). “Even during the lockdowns, we delivered the best work we’ve ever produced as a company,” says Cathal Gaffney, 9 Story COO and Brown Bag managing director. “Across our studios in Dublin, Toronto, New York and Bali, we went to great lengths to ensure everybody felt connected and had a common purpose.” 9 Story also upped its commitment to inclusive storytelling last year, with Brown Bag’s animation of Chris Nee’s

Ridley Jones (featuring the first-ever non-binary character in a Netflix preschool show); the debut of autistic character Max on PBS KIDS’ Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood; its work on Nee’s Ada Twist, Scientist and the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions; and long-running series Doc McStuffins winning a pair of NAACP Image Awards. In other accomplishments, Brown Bag launched a 3D pipeline at its Toronto studio and implemented a return-to-work model that allows its animators to work partly from home. Last year’s Hot50 win marked a return to the top of the list for 9 Story, which last landed in the number-one spot in 2018. “To be voted into this shortlist by our respected industry peers is an epic endorsement of all the hard work that everyone’s put in,” Gaffney says.

With more than four billion views on YouTube, slapstick series Spookiz got Jetpack’s attention last year, resulting in a deal with Korean prodco Keyring for the IPs full catalogue

FEATURE | May/June 2022

At nearly 4,000 pieces, LEGO’s Spider-Man Daily Bugle playset is the toyco’s largest Marvel set to date

LI C ENS I N G

Franchises win for LEGO

Familiar brands with a fresh twist helped the brickmaker keep its top spot on the Hot50 list. hile many lockdown measures eased, a host of new obstacles—including ongoing supply chain disruptions—rose up to challenge toy companies in 2021. But thanks to expanded product ranges for evergreen brands, LEGO overcame these hurdles to take top spot on the Hot50 licensing list for the second year in a row. “[Industry recognition] is always a big honor,” says Jill Wilfert, VP of global licensing and entertainment. “It’s important to us to create partnerships that build value for all—licensors, retail partners and, most of all, fans and consumers.”

Emphasis in 2021 was on expanding existing IPs. LEGO Super Mario, for example, took advantage of the gaming property’s continued popularity, while combining physical play with Nintendo gaming. And LEGO’s Marvel-inspired range used collectibility to spotlight a multitude of fan-favorite characters in products like the Daily Bugle playset (with 25 mini-figures, the toyco’s largest Marvel set to date). “The team has done a great job developing products and marketing that are true to our brand, while at the same time being totally authentic to the IPs we’re bringing to life,” Wilfert says.

DIGITAL M E DIA

PBS KIDS spotlights disability PBS KIDS explored a “game first” production model for its digital series Team Hamster, baking interactivity into all aspects of the property

fter working hard to make it easier for kids to access content last year, PBS KIDS achieved its third consecutive number-one ranking in the Hot50 digital media category. The pubcaster rolled out downloadable videos through its PBS KIDS Video app so audiences could watch content offline; expanded its adaptive and accessible online lineup; and launched digital-first series Team Hamster and a second season of Scribbles and Ink. “Our aim throughout another challenging year was to listen to what families needed, and provide a safe place for kids to access free, high-quality content,” says SVP and GM Sara DeWitt. “We’re so proud

Free at-home learning resources, more adaptive online content and digital-first stories helped the pubcaster retain its crown.

that we were ready to deliver, and that we could be accessible to so many—even to kids who don’t have great broadband access or the latest technology.” The kidcaster also provided free at-home learning resources, which drove a 22% increase in streaming and a 24% lift in gaming, compared to the previous year. And PBS KIDS racked up 750,000 more monthly downloads for its PBS KIDS Games and Video apps last year than it did in 2020. “The connection to our audience has always been critical to success,” says DeWitt. “Our hope is to continue building on this mission in new and exciting ways in the months ahead.”

May/June 2022 | KIDSCREEN

WHO KNEW?

Skybound Entertainment’s Marge Dean takes a break from running the show in…

HER GARDEN! hen Marge Dean was a child, her mother sent her out to plant some seeds in the garden “just to get [her] out of the house.” Mere weeks later, she harvested a handful of radishes she had grown herself. “It was miraculous to me, and I still think about that,” she says wistfully. “When I finally picked them and served them for dinner, I had a real sense of accomplishment.” And so began a lifelong love of growing her own food that continues today. An Emmy-winning animation industry veteran who took on a new role as head of Skybound Entertainment’s animation studio last August, Dean has always found time to garden. But after buying her current home in South Pasadena, California, she really ramped up her efforts. “I was doing some landscaping in the back and realized that this was a chance to get into it deeply,” she says. She had the landscapers build some raised beds, and was soon growing everything from cabbage to corn. She also planted fruit trees that provide apples, peaches, nectarines, avocados, apricots, oranges, lemons and limes. “I learned as I went along, and I went to the university of YouTube and Google,” says Dean of her self-taught green

thumb. “One thing I love about gardening is that if you make a mistake, you can try again.” Gardening has been shown to reduce stress—in fact, it has been called “the new Prozak” because soil contains microbes that increase serotonin and decrease anxiety. This proved especially helpful for Dean over the last two years. “The pandemic has been awful for so many reasons, but I was able to weather it because I got to tend my garden.” The pandemic also opened the door to food preservation: canning, making jams and jellies, pickling, fermenting, and even producing apple cider. “I learned how to make the most out of what I was growing.” An amateur photographer, Dean loves taking pictures of the food she grows and prepares, sharing her photos on social media to encourage others to join the grow-your-own food movement. “I do feel like it’s a kind of revolutionary act to take a little bit of control back about what you’re eating and where your food comes from,” she says. “I’m not a super-spiritual person, but there’s something really grounding—sorry for the pun—about digging in the dirt, creating life, watching it grow, and benefiting from it. That’s still miraculous to me.”—Janet Lees