Netflix’s The Dog & The Boy controversially used AI-generated art for its backgrounds
Animation has evolved enormously over the course of its history, from stop-motion to hand-drawn 2D animation to 3D CGI. Now a new, and controversial, way to produce animated content is emerging –through AI. But should we fear it, or is it just another tool to assist human creativity? By
In 1995, Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios released the first ever feature-length animated film to be made entirely with computer-generated imagery (CGI). The response to Toy Story was huge –kids loved it and adults were amazed that high-quality animation could be produced by a computer.
Nearly 30 years on and the use of CGI in animation is commonplace; no longer marvelled at, but a standard method of producing animated series and films. But technological advancements in the production of animation have not stopped there. In 2023, the industry is faced with the terrifying or incredible – depending on
“We’re robbing ourselves of someone else’s story, someone else’s experience when using AI and we’re robbing the next generation. If people are using AI to create and generate ideas, they need to take a good hard look at why they’re in this industry in the first place.
Colin Williams Sixteen Southwhich way you look at it – prospect of animated productions that are created using artificial intelligence (AI). And not just the animation part, but the scripts too.
Some of those working in animation are appalled by the notion of a machine creating content for arguably the most important audience there is –children – and fear AI will take human jobs, while others see the tech as a ground-breaking new way of making animated projects that is efficient, streamlined and a natural step in the evolution of the medium.
“I can’t think of any reason you would want to introduce AI into production. It removes art and it removes the human touch,” says Colin Williams, founder and creative director of Belfast-based animation studio Sixteen South, which is behind animated children’s series including Odo for Paramount-owned Channel 5’s Milkshake!.
so cheap and disposable it becomes instantly forgettable? Are we literally going to lose the very craft we create?
“We should be telling stories that are going to impact kids, that can mould and shape the next generation. We take so long to get stories right and we reject stories that are good but have no heart. AI does not do emotions. It doesn’t really understand comedy or humour. It doesn’t understand telling stories of hope.
Karolina Kaminskause AI to write the first draft of a st
“I was talking to a producer who mentioned they were going to try to rst draft of a story and then rework it. I think that’s the worst idea in the world. What do we have left? What are we creating that is going to have any kind of staying power? Are we creating anything iconic? Or are we making stuff that is
“We’re robbing ourselves of someone else’s story, someone else’s experience [when using AI] and we’re robbing the next generation. If people are using AI to create and generate ideas, they need to take a good hard look at why they’re in this industry in the first place.”
Animation is expensive and timeconsuming to produce, but using AI to speed up the process could save both time and money, making it an attractive proposition to some producers. Williams fears this could lead to a trend for cheap content
that would undermine the value of handmade work. “Everybody is looking for ways to make animation cheaper and to make it faster. Broadcasters are cutting licence fees and it’s getting harder to get a show financed. If there are any production savings, people take them,” he says.
“You can see in so many kids’ shows out there, the quality of acting in animation, the quality of writing and the quality of production are all dropping because people are trying to cut corners to do things cheaply. AI is a technology that will allow people to do stuff even cheaper again, so some people will use it.
“But it hurts and jeopardises a whole industry. If people get used to buying content that is cheaply made, do they stop to see the value in proper handmade work? It could start a landslide.”
Earlier this year, Netflix in Japan made a short anime film called The Dog & The Boy, which used AIgenerated art for its backgrounds. The streamer said it was an experiment in response to labour shortages in the anime industry, but the film caused outrage among anime fans, who accused Netflix of using AI to avoid paying human artists.
US-based children’s entertainment company Genius Brands International
is another firm to have started experimenting with AI in its kids’ content. It is set to launch Kidaverse Fast Facts, a series of short animated educational stories, on its YouTube and social media outlets, as well as its linear network Kartoon Channel!. Kidaverse Fast Facts was made using AI for scripts, images, voice and animation with technology such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot.
In May, Genius Brands will launch a series of animated shorts based on its series Secret Millionaires Club, which teaches children financial literacy and stars an animated version of US business magnate Warren Buffett. The shorts spin-off, called Secret Millionaires Club Minis, will be produced using AI by Genius Brands’ Genius AI Studio.
“A few of us were playing around with [ChatGPT extension] TurboGPT in the office and we realised it could be a tool to make factual content, also animation, but factual content initially,” says Paul Robinson, MD of Kartoon Channel! Worldwide. “The idea with Kidaverse Fun Facts is that we’re using the app to do some of the primary research, so thinking about ideas and concepts. For example, if you want facts for kids about history, you could ask, ‘What are the 10 essential history facts that kids must
know? som ca te un it in “It’s save time prim stimulus to Ideas often be Robinson
know?’ It will come up with some things and then you can ask, ‘How should I tell this story so kids will understand it?’ and it’ll do it in kid-centred language. “It’s very efficient. It does save time, but it also gives you richer primary research and more stimulus to think of other things. Ideas often beget other ideas.”
Despite the efficiencies of AI, Robinson insists it is not a replacement for human creativity but rather an enhancement and tool to work in collaboration with the people who make animation. He adds that Genius Brands will not reduce the size of its production teams or cut jobs as it integrates AI into the business.
“AI absolutely does not replace humans,” the exec says. “Editorial still has to be created by great writers, great editors and great producers. AI is a tool in the same way that, 30 years ago, if you wanted to do research, you’d have to go to the library. This is just another tool that takes it to the next level and helps you do the job better.
“You can’t create AI that’s got the passion of a human being. It’s a privilege to be serving kids and you need to make sure you are presenting good role models. I don’t think using AI will produce content that’s samey or dull or lacking emotion or passion, because you still need human beings to do that. Using AI does not in any way imply we are putting our children’s futures in the hands of a piece of code that no one can see.
“What you have to be careful about is not thinking of it just as a money-saving thing. We’re seeing it as a way of making better content, not about saving money. It does make things quickeryou can get things on air more quickly so you can get to market quicker than if you were doing it the conventional way, which also means you can be more responsive [to new trends.]”
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“ I don’t think using AI will produce content that’s samey or dull or lacking emotion or passion, because you still need human beings to do that. Using AI does not in any way imply we are putting our children’s futures in the hands of a piece of code that no one can see.
Paul Robinson Kartoon Channel! WorldwideGigglebug’s The Unstoppable Yellow Yeti Cloth Cat Animation’s Jon Rennie
Cardiff-based Cloth Cat Animation, whose credits include animated series
The Rubbish World of Dave Spud for ITV’s children’s channel CITV, has also been playing around with ChatGPT, according to the studio’s MD Jon Rennie. Rennie has mixed opinions on the use of AI in animation, viewing it as a tool to automate certain tasks but not to create stories.
“I and Cloth Cat have always been very open to experimenting with technology. We do real-time rendering and use a lot of pipeline management tools that often aren’t used in animation but are used in visual effects,” he says.
“I played around with ChatGPT. I challenged it to write some outlines for a particularly well-known project that somebody else had done, just because I thought it would have more information about that project. It came
and sanity-checking your work, but it’s not a creative tool. It would be a very good streamlining tool where it can do it more intelligently than some of the algorithms you currently use to clean up audio, for example, or something like that. But I’m not going to use it for writing anything. De fi nitely not. I want to be able to talk to somebody to do that.
“I don’t think AI is going to replace animators anytime soon. Everyone thought motion capture would replace actors, but of course it didn’t. AI is just another way of automating some of the repetitive things we do. It might speed up certain things like lip sync or we could train it to look for problems and then tell us to fix them. That could be really useful because it would solve a lot of production problems and save us time and money.”
The use of AI in animation is a contentious topic, but whether you’re in support of it or not, there is, as Rennie points out, a huge legal grey area in that AI is fuelled by existing data and therefore cannot produce content that is original. Net fl ix’s The Dog & The Boy also came under fi re for that reason, with critics accusing the streamer of stealing other people’s artwork.
out of talent, culture and people. And that’s how we want to do it. But I’m eagerly listening to the conversation that’s going on [around AI]. I want to keep an open mind about any kind of technological advancements, such as with tools that can make our pipeline more efficient, so we can put our creative efforts in the right place. I would consider using AI but I haven’t found where yet,” he says.
Harlin sees a potential for AI to be used in a similar way to animation software like Toon Boom which can animate between keyframes. “You, as an artist, are making the decisions about those keyframes and the software is doing the in-betweens for you. Those have become industrywide standard tools now,” he says, adding that AI might also have a place as a tool for dubbing.
“Of course, it would need a human hand to edit to make sure it was working nicely, but it could do some of the heavy lifting at the beginning. Also, if you’ve written a script and you need a 300-word synopsis of it or a log line, you could ask for prompts. I would imagine that for certain jobs like that it could be a good assistant.”
up with some outlines and then I challenged it to write a script. It was fun, but it doesn’t make jokes – it’s very plot driven. Then I challenged it to make it more dramatic and add in something that goes wrong. And it did that, but none of it was complex. I wasn’t reading something I wanted to see on screen.
“In the end, AI is only as good as the information it’s fed. It’s not going to give you any surprises. It could be very good for error-checking
“That’s where you’re going to get issues,” Rennie says. “How much you are influenced by another piece of artwork has always been a legal grey area. The only way AI can work is by taking other artwork and consuming it. At what level now is this considered new artwork? It may result in copyright being tightened up.”
In Helsinki, Anttu Harlin, CEO and founder of Gigglebug, the animation studio behind The Unstoppable Yellow Yeti for Disney, says he is openminded about using AI as a tool to improve efficiencies in animation, but stresses the importance of human talent and creativity.
“As a studio, we’ve built everything
Clearly a lot of work, research and experimentation still needs to be done to determine the future of AI in animation. But what is certain is that a level of concern remains around how exactly it is used.
Genius Brands’ Robinson predicts AI will become a regular tool in TV and movie production, including the kids’ sector. “There are probably going to be many other tools we haven’t thought of yet that will become tools in the future,” he says.
Whether you’re in favour of using AI in animation or not, one thing seems to remain clear. In the words of Sixteen South’s Williams, when creating content with passion and meaning, particularly for children, “nothing replaces the human touch.”
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I’m eagerly listening to the conversation. I want to keep an open mind about any kind of technological advancements, such as with tools that can make our pipeline more efficient, so we can put our creative efforts in the right place.
Anttu Harlin
GigglebugSixteen South animated series Odo The Rubbish World of Dave Spud
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Demand for young-adult programming is on the rise. But what is a young adult? How far does the age range for that demographic extend and what do they want to watch?
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By Karolina Kaminska
There has been a multitude of hit shows for the young-adult (YA) audience over the last 25 years or so, from 1990s drama Dawson’s Creek, 2000s shows The O.C, Skins and Gossip Girl and 2010s series Pretty Little Liars and The Vampire Diaries, to Euphoria and The Summer I Turned Pretty in this decade.
Despite the fact young adults are spending more and more of their time on social media, demand for series and films for the demographic is increasing, disproving the notion that young people don’t watch TV anymore.
However, producing YA content can be difficult and even risky since there is no clear-cut definition of what the age of a young adult actually is.
“When we say upper preschool, we know that means four- to seven-yearolds. When we say lower preschool, we know what that is. When we say adult drama, we know what that is. The YA space is the only one that is still a grey area,” says Monica Levy, co-chief of distribution at Parisbased Federation Kids & Family and Federation Studios.
“It seems like we have broken off into different groups of YA –there’s a young YA, which would be people around 13 to 18 years old or
teenagers, and then we have an older YA that would be those around 19 to 30, where you’re not really hitting the big drama demographic because they [the YA audience] want content where they can see themselves on screen.”
With YA covering such an expansive age range, which expands even further between different producers and networks, Levy highlights an issue in creating programming that is suitable for all ages in the demo, since a show with violence and sexual content that would be suitable for an 18-year-old would certainly not be suitable for a 13-year-old. This is particularly troubling since teens, and sometimes even younger children, have a tendency to want to watch content for older viewers.
“Kids who used to watch animated shows and live-action series aimed at children are migrating very quickly towards the younger YA demographic, so there’s a kind of battle between the consumers who want to watch something that’s not appropriate for them and the television stations that try to give them something that is ageappropriate for them. The YA bubble is growing and it’s like an unknown playground we’re all trying to explore and find our way through,” Levy says.
“The 12-18 age range is the hardest audience to attract. What we try to do is make high-level dramas for them like we would for adults, with the same budget, energy and writing that goes into it. You have to make it sexy for them, but age-appropriate, and that’s one of the biggest challenges as a producer.”
Content on Federation’s YA slate includes Netflix teen drama Baby, produced by Italy’s Fabula Pictures. The series, which ran for three seasons between 2018 and 2020, follows the double lives of two teenagers who are students by day and prostitutes by night.
From Norway’s Einar Film for Viaplay is Delete Me, about a highschool student whose sex tape gets leaked at school, threatening to jeopardise the future careers of herself and her synchronised swimming partner. A second season, which follows a new story and characters, is currently in the works.
At MipTV in April, Federation will showcase Shake, which was produced by Lucky Red for Italian pubcaster Rai. Inspired by Shakespeare’s Othello, the series tells the story of a group of teenagers caught up in a love triangle.
Over in Italy, Giorgio Scorza,
Channel21 International | Spring 2023
CEO of animation studio Movimenti Production, which was acquired by Banijay Kids & Family last year, recalls the confusion he experienced when trying to distinguish between the target age groups for YA content and adult animation.
Movimenti produced Netflix adult animation Tear Along the Dotted Line and is currently producing follow-up series This World Can’t Tear Me Down Despite Tear Along the Dotted Line having an age rating of 15 on Netflix in the UK, Scorza’s experience has led him to understand that YA content should be less risqué than adult animation. This would then put the YA demo at the lower end of the age range suggested by Federation’s Levy.
“When we talked to Netflix about Tear Along the Dotted Line, we called it a YA series, but Netflix said ‘No, this is adult animation, this is not YA.’ We didn’t know the difference since the show was going to be for viewers aged around 14- or 16-plus,” Scorza says.
“There is a feeling that YA is the next step after kids’ entertainment, whereas adult animation is an adult series that’s just made with animation. The crazy thing is, I couldn’t do something like what I do in animation in live action for the same target. In adult animation,
you can talk about almost everything because it’s sarcastic, exaggerated, hyperbolic and people won’t believe it’s true.
“YA is more like when a Disney teen star goes outside Disney – it’s the Miley Cyrus path. It’s your perfect friend from Disney who can now talk about sex and violence because finally they are becoming a woman.”
Also acquired by Banijay Kids & Family last year, UK prodco Kindle Entertainment produces drama for adults, young adults, kids and families, with a specialist focus on four-quad content – meaning shows aimed at the four core demographics of males, females, people over 25 and people under 25.
One example of a Kindle-produced four-quad drama is miniseries Treasure Island, adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel of the same name. With an all-star cast including Elijah Wood and Donald Sutherland, the series targets individual adults as well as families.
Kindle MD Melanie Stokes says she sees more opportunities for four-quad drama than family and YA content because the former has such a wide scope, although the prodco is still developing programmes specifically
“YA is like when a Disney teen star goes outside Disney – it’s the Miley Cyrus path. It’s your perfect friend from Disney who can now talk about sex and violence because finally they are becoming a woman.
Giorgio Scorza Movimenti Productionaimed at both young adults and families. Like Federation’s Levy, Stokes splits the YA demographic into two areas. The lower end is what she calls “clean teen/soft YA” and targets kids as young as eight up until the age of 14 or 15 at its broadest, with 13 being “the sweet spot.” According to Stokes, content for this demo can tackle certain “bad” subjects like crime, but can’t have things like sex, nudity, bad language or drugs.
One of Kindle’s shows that falls into this category is BBC and Netflix teen thriller The A List, about a girl who arrives at a summer camp that turns into a twisted nightmare. Stokes notes that the series attracted eight-yearolds in addition to older teens.
The upper end of the YA demo, according to Stokes, then starts at around age 14 and goes up to around age 30, with 18 being the sweet spot for this “edgier” content. Stokes puts shows like Kiss Me First, which Kindle produced for Channel 4 in the UK and Netflix, into this bracket.
Written by Bryan Elsley, who also penned Skins for Channel 4’s
youth-skewing network E4, Kiss Me First is a thriller about a lonely young woman hooked on a virtual reality game who befriends a party girl who leads her into a world of new thrills and dark secrets.
“Skins and Kiss Me First are quite transgressive and shouldn’t really be watched by younger teenagers, but it’s what they want to watch without their parents knowing. Probably the sweet spot would be 18, but you would get teens as young as 14 watching,” Stokes says, adding that older adults would also watch it for the “nostalgia factor.”
Lille in March that he couldn’t pinpoint an exact age for the YA demo but defined young adults as those who are trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives.
“I truly don’t know [what the specific age is],” he said. “It’s mostly a therapeutic journey for them –these are viewers who treat this as a journey of discovering themselves and exploring who they are and what culture they want to be part of.”
Leshem also warned against a misconception that young adults these days are only interested in shortform content and shows they can binge on-demand.
“People always tell us when we pitch a show for young adults that is one-hour in length that young adults have an attention span of eight seconds. That’s not true. If you read all the research, you’ll realise it’s not that they have an attention span of eight seconds, but that you have 10 seconds to grab their attention. And if you do grab their attention in 10 seconds, they can go for hours,” he said.
generations are evolving is incredible. It’s very difficult to see the young-adult demographic as one because when you’re 15, you’re not the same person as when you’re 17,” he said.
Advising producers on making YA content, Dhab added: “The most important part is to put yourself at the same level. For a long time, YA and teenage programming has been made and looked at from an older point of view. It doesn’t mean you have to be a young adult to write a series for that audience, but you have to put yourself on the same level and treat your characters as if they were adults. They’re just adults with some things to figure out.
“Basically, every misconception the public has about young adults is a freaking misconception. We have a few studies going around and what comes out of them is never what you expect or what you think you should expect of that generation.”
Dhab dismissed claims that young adults spend all their time on social media, blaming the misconception on execs who take things at face value and fail to realise what their teenagers are doing behind the scenes.
“YA content is essentially a coming-of-age story. We can all remember those first experiences, so there’s something very pleasing about watching it. I read a review of [HBO teen drama] Euphoria and the journalist, who was in her 40s, said it was the only thing she was watching because it was so authentic and she felt she had an insight into this new generation, but it had enough of those points we can all remember [from our youth],” the exec says.
Federation’s Levy also highlights Euphoria’s appeal to older adults. “Euphoria changed the YA space for everybody because the adults watch it too,” she says. “We try not to let our kids who are too young watch it, but teenagers watch it. It was a phenomenon worldwide and has opened the doors for other similar shows.”
Ron Leshem, who created and wrote the original Israeli version of Euphoria and exec produced the HBO adaptation, said at Series Mania in
“People also told us that linear and appointment viewing were dead. They are not dead. Young adults were coming to HBO at 21.00 on a Sunday to watch Euphoria.”
Different broadcasters also have different age ranges for the young adults they serve. Alberto Fernandez, digital content and transmedia director at Spanish pubcaster RTVE, puts his target demo at 18-45, while Karl Warner, head of youth and digital at Channel 4, says his core target demo is 16-24, with a wider target of 16-34.
Back in France, Sened Dhab, VP of streaming drama for France Télévisions, defines the broadcaster’s core YA demo as 18-25, with a broader range of 15-30. Dhab also spoke at Series Mania, alongside Leshem, where he described young adults as those who are at the age of sexual consent – which is 15 in France – up until the typical time they start to settle down and start a family, although he acknowledged that can differ from person to person.
“The speed at which these
“Executives look at their kids on TikTok and decide that’s what they need to do [to reach them],” he said. “Of course they’re spending a lot of time on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat and consuming that short type of content, but they’re also watching [HBO drama] The Last of Us and [Netflix supernatural comedyhorror] Wednesday and engaging with those stories.”
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The speed at which these generations are evolving is incredible. It’s very diff the young-adult demographic as one because when you’re 15, you’re not the same person as when you’re 17.
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By Karolina Kaminska
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UK prodco Kindle Entertainment is behind a string of family and young-adult (YA) dramas including film trilogy Ivy & Bean for Netflix, teen mystery series The A List for the BBC and thriller series Kiss Me First for Channel 4 and Netflix.
The company became part of Banijay Kids & Family last year, a move that MD Melanie Stokes says has opened doors to new relationships.
“Banijay has a very entrepreneurial ethos, and what I really like about it [the acquisition] is you get the best of both worlds. You retain your independent editorial passion and strategy, but you get support for all sorts of things. With indies, you can get very lost in the business deals and the finance, for example,” she says.
Stokes co-founded Kindle in 2007 with joint MD Anne Brogan, who moved on to pastures new late last year. The prodco is entirely female-led, with other members of the team including creative director Emma Stuart, exec producer Pia Ashberry and director of production Sacha Whitmarsh.
“The people I have editorially bonded with have been women and then we’ve ended up working together and creating a partnership. It’s about the passion and the love of sharing those ideas and ambitions together,” Stokes says, noting that “massive improvements” have been made to get more women into the industry.
“The appointment of Lindsay Salt to run BBC Drama, which has essentially been quite a male space for quite some time, is really exciting, particularly as she’s a young mother.
The combination of her being a mother and her commercial experience working at Sky and Netflix is good news for the industry,” she adds.
Like many of her peers in the sector, Stokes identifies a trend in the market for feel-good content, but points out that this can still be achieved with darker or bleaker programming if there is an element of positivity to it. HBO Max’s adaptation of video game The Last of Us is one example of this, she notes, and has been a huge success for the streamer.
“There is a desire for things where the audience feel they can escape from the anxiety of the world we live in. Although The Last of Us is set in a really bleak dystopian world, there’s
actually something really wish-fulfilling about it because what you have is two people who are bonded together and will do anything for each other. So although there’s a lot of violence, they save each other’s lives and, dare I say it, it’s actually quite a feel-good piece,” Stokes says.
The demand for feel-good content comes at a time of global turmoil, during which the world has been struck by a pandemic, wars and an economic crisis. Regarding the latter, Stokes sees it as part of a cycle that could actually have some advantages for producers.
“We have been here before and we have survived it before,” she says, referring to the recession of 2008.
“There are cycles of a boom and a bust. We’ve been through a boom with the birth of all the streamers and now they’ve hit a plateau and there’s kind of a retreat.
“What you have to do, as an entrepreneurial producer, is find new ways of funding your show. But in a way, it’s always been like that. There was this brief moment when it seemed the industry was awash with money when the streamers first launched, but that was never going to last. And maybe it’s good for producers because maybe we can hold on to more of our rights through copro negotiations.”
Meanwhile, Stokes sees an opportunity in the influx of adsupported streaming services that have hit the market, such as Amazon Freevee. “It’s interesting that ads were in, then ads were out and now ads are in again. We’re definitely trying to work out how to make friends with places like Freevee and Freeform because they serve that younger, softer YA audience. You just have to know what each of those platforms is distinctly looking for. It’s not one size fits all,” she says.
Melanie Stokes Kindle EntertainmentFor its upcoming slate, Stokes says Kindle is “chasing really big IP” that is relevant to both the UK and global audiences. She adds: “We would also like to be making the next The A List – our next returning softer YA show that becomes the young people’s show, that they take to their hearts and defines their early teen years. I’d like to have a couple of family movies as well. So we’re looking at two to three things a year – that’s the target.”
Melanie Stokes, MD of UK-based Kindle Entertainment, talks about joining Banijay Kids & Family, surviving a financial crisis and how feel-good content can come from unexpected sources.
“ It’s interesting that ads were in, then ads were out and now ads are in again. We’re definitely trying to work out how to make friends with places like Freevee and Freeform because they serve that younger, softer YA audience.f co
Digital platform ITVX is poised to become the new children’s destination for the commercial broadcaster, opening up a swathe of new content partnership opportunities.
By Gün AkyuzAbroad range of opportunities is opening up for kids producers at ITV’s digital player ITVX as it prepares to take over as the primary destination for children’s content after the summer holidays, according to ITV’s manager for kids acquisitions and coproductions Darren Nartey.
The impending closure of ITV’s linear kids’ channel CITV, announced in March, sparked concerns about the future of original commissions in particular. But Nartey, whose remit also extends to commissions as the initial ITV contact point for new projects, says these fears are unfounded.
From this fall, AVoD-driven ITVX will become the primary destination for kids’ programming, with the aim to double ITV’s current output to 100 titles and over 1,000 hours by the end of 2023.
With this boost, the platform is significantly expanding its remit as a general entertainment service for kids of all ages, across animated and live-action scripted, unscripted entertainment, gameshows and sports.
The commercial pubcaster currently offers boyskewing linear channel CITV for 6-12s and preschool block LittleBe on secondary digital channel ITVBe, as well as on ITVX.
All children’s content is due to become available in a kids’ walled garden and kids’ page launching this summer on ITVX. A transitional period over the summer holidays will allow kids to watch shows on both.
“The key word is that we are looking to ‘super-size’ our kids’ offering on ITVX,” says Nartey, highlighting the
platform’s doubling in volume by the end of this year. “That is a monumental task, given the kids’ content we currently have.”
The ITV Kids team has been expanded to deal with that challenge, but Nartey says securing 1,000 hours by the end of this year won’t be the end of it.
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“The fact we want to double what we were offering on the platform is a message that I feel has been lost a bit amongst the chatter around the CITV channel closure,” says the exec, pointing out that a linear presence will continue with a daily morning kids’ block on ITV2 from 06.00 to 09.00, as well as preschool block LittleBe.
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ITVX will cater for both preschoolers and kids aged six-plus. “The key difference is in terms of the genres. There are very, very specifi genres for CITV and on LittleBe we have a strong preference for UKvoiced content. With ITVX, it’s about the most popular IPs mixed in with original content that would appeal to UK kids,” says Nartey.
Expanding on ITVX’s new kids strategy, Nartey says more girl-skewing and gender-neutral content is a priority. Upcoming animated reboot Princess Sam Productions, is one example of this new direction. On the gender-neutral front it has also picked up North American unscripted sports-based series Champion and animated action-comedy
s strategy, Nartey says neutral content is a oot Tara Duncan, from e ont it up-based series All-Round medy FriendZspace
“CITV has always been slightly boy-skewed when it comes to animation specifically, and we’ve always relied heavily on comedies,” he says, citing classics such as animated shows Mr Bean, Inspector Gadget, Scooby-Doo and the rebooted Mr Magoo
Other classics lined up include high-profile British brands such as Teletubbies Let’s Go,Sooty, Bob the Builder and Mumfie. Moreover, Netflix’s preschool animated series Gabby’s Dollhouse is a show Nartey says he’d also have liked for ITVX.
Now that ITVX is the priority platform, the goal is “to create a real destination for kids, and a lot of thought and research is going into the user experience,” says Nartey.
“We want to deliver a world-class streaming platform for UK kids to enjoy specifically because we only cater for UK kids; we don’t have international channels. Our audience and everything about ITV is UK[-related] and that’s what we’re trying to do and protect.”
While the company doesn’t release performance data, Nartey points to the steady overall decline of linear audiences, including at loss-making CITV, and challenge of competing against SVoD and streaming platforms, behind the decision to ramp up its kids presence on the platform.
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we’re to invest in it. W clear evidence between t and ho performing,” he says.
“We see a lot of value in streaming for kids, and that’s why we’re looking to invest in it. We have seen clear evidence between the way the channel performs and how ITVX is ITVX is currently mulling the launch of children’s’ FAST channels, although this is yet to
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The biggest challenge in bringing ITVX’s new kids’ service to market is competing in a space where “a lot of the biggest franchises already have streaming homes,” says Nartey, but he continues: “We’re discovering some good opportunities for IP without a home. And we’re also finding that producers are still talking to us because they do want to work with us, based on previous work that we’ve shing expedition
to Kidscreen, Nartey says the ITV Kids team went on a mission to “move quickly to try to secure titles delivering this year, as well as adding existing titles to what’s missing in our catalogue.”
And unlike other platforms and streamers present at the event, ITV Kids had a positive message “because we were looking for more content to try to fulfil a brief,” he says.
On the back of that trip alone, ITV Kids expects to have secured a sizeable number of new titles by the end of this year. “We’re currently in active negotiations for some projects but going into MipTV there are still gaps that need to be filled,” says Nartey.
As well as girl-skewing content, ITV Kids wants more preschool shows and projects that reflect accessibility and diversity. “We want a wide breadth of shows that showcase how diverse the UK audience is,” says Nartey, singling out The Sound Collector from local prodco Eagle Vs Bat,
“ We want to deliver a world-class streaming platform for UK kids to enjoy specifically because we only cater for UK kids; we don’t have international channels. Our audience and everything about ITV is UK[-related] and that’s what we’re trying to do and protect.
Darren Nartey ITV
funded as part of the highly successful but now shuttered BFI Young Audiences Content Fund (YACF).
“It showed how such a brilliant idea about a young boy who requires a hearing aid can be made for such a commercial streaming platform, and we’ve had huge success with it,” says the exec.
“Accessibility is at the forefront of our new content strategy. We are also going to have sign ‘rails’ [sections] on the platform and we are investing in more signed content for the platform.” This includes content from ITV-owned subsidiary Signpost Productions on a number of projects including British Sign Language original programming Mission Employable and Daremaster
Another need is for serialised live-action drama in any genre. “It can be action, it can be comedy. The restrictions are no longer there and we are targeting as broad an audience as we possibly can,” says Nartey.
ITV Kids’ new strategy on ITVX gives room for more genres and formats. Nartey says shows can now be more serialised rather than self-contained, with the ITVX kids’ service looking to build a deep catalogue of series with multiple seasons.
Opportunities for coproductions and enhanced pre-buys continue, always on a case-by-case basis and depending on the idea of the show, says Nartey. “In the future, it very much will be coproductions rather than fully funded shows. I don’t think there are any broadcasters fully doing that, apart from the streamers,” says Nartey.
Fully funded animated series The Rubbish World of Dave Spud has been renewed and premieres on ITVX next year, but other programmes, such as gameshow Don’t Unleash the Beast and arts and crafts series Makeaway Takeaway, came to life through the YACF’s funding.
Thanks to the three-year financing initiative, ITV’s originals slate grew substantially through coproductions, from the two or three it previously engaged with, alongside a handful of enhanced pre-buys, says Nartey. Among them are hits like Aardman Animation’s Lloyd of the Flies and preschool animated series Happy the Hoglet from Paper Owl Films, a copro with RTÉ Jr. A second season of the latter show was greenlit in February.
Emphasising that commissions remain very much under consideration, although a final decision has yet to be made, Nartey adds: “Coming out of the YACF we saw the value because we really embraced it and worked with it in a really productive way, and commissions will always be a part of the CITV DNA.”
With girl-skewing, accessible and diverse content front of mind, Nartey says he’s looking for the next pitches to be pre-buys and coproductions. “If the economics work and the opportunity arises, we would definitely be interested. If it falls under commissions, I can’t give an answer yet, but if disability is at the heart of it, we need a lot more content that serves that audience,” he says.
“We will look at the data and see where shows are working or not and where we need gas, but also in terms of the audience we serve and what types of content we need to add to the catalogue to make it a much broader experience. We’ll factor all of these things in when we’re looking to either pre-buy a show or just acquire a piece of content,” he explains.
Pitching to ITV is best via email, says Nartey, alongside meetings at industry markets. Pitches should include at least a pitch bible and some scripts, as applicable. “At the moment, we do need a commissioning broadcaster at least attached to projects for us to really consider them, just based on the timelines that we work to,” says Nartey.
“We are open to all genres of kids’
UK audience, because the BBC already has that as part of its remit, so we need to be providing UK kids with an alternative.”
ITVX requires AVoD-only rights, even though it is also available as a premium adfree option. “We’re not classing it as SVoD because you’re paying for functionality, i.e. the ability not to have advertising and to be able to download the content on to your device, but it’s the same content,” Nartey explains.
The streamer also wants rights for a minimum of three years. “That’s how long it will take for us to really market a show and get it going to make it as popular as possible,” says Nartey.
We are open to all genres of kids content, both preschool and six-plus. The only slight area where we do not want to do too much of is curriculum-based educational content. But a light touch of educational content is fine. It’s partly to do with how, as a PSB, we need to serve our ience, because the BBC has ng an X even ption. “We’re not classing it as SVoD e your but me content,” s for a minimum of “That’s how will take for us to market a show and
ular as possible,” rtey.
“ We see a lot of value in streaming for kids, and that’s why we’re looking to invest in it. We have seen clear evidence between the way the channel performs and how ITVX is performing.
Darren Nartey ITVDarren Nartey
Since his appointment as director of content and distribution for DeAPlaneta Entertainment’s kids and family division last year, Carlos Biern has been working to establish the Spain-based company as a studio rather than just a distributor.
His role is to grow the DeAPlaneta Kids & Family portfolio of animated series through original productions, coproductions and acquisitions, with the aim of creating global brands, in addition to establishing these brands on digital platforms such as free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels.
One of DeAPlaneta’s biggest properties is animated series Milo, which is a coproduction with UK prodco Fourth Wall for Paramount-owned Channel 5’s preschool strand Milkshake!. Since its debut in 2021, Milo has been picked up by broadcasters in Europe, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and China. It will launch in North America soon, while a toy range is also in the works.
At MipJunior last year, DeAPlaneta pitched Magic Lilly based on German book series Hexe Lilli, which was initially adapted into animated series Lilly the Witch 2004. The new semiserialised version is a contemporary adaptation of the original and has been picked up by Cataloniabased TVC, with pre-sales struck with broadcasters including VRT in Belgium.
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Earlier this year, DeAPlaneta acquired the catalogue of Madrid-based children’s content company BRB Internacional, whose shows include classic animated series Dogtanian & the Three Muskehounds World with Willy Fog David the Gnome, as well as more recent shows like Bernard Bear plans to transform the brands into massmarket global IPs with new developments and digital content.
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“These IPs from BRB DeAPlaneta’s content,” Biern says. “The idea is to link the people who were raised watching the classic shows, and who are now parents, with the new generation. We want to expand them so they can be watched and enjoyed by both generations
Biern adds that DeAPlaneta is looking at acquiring other well-known libraries and potential reboots, while also
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exploring video game IP that can be expanded into bigger brands. On the subject of video games, the company is also working on content for online game platform Roblox, as well as popular video games like Fortnite.
A key part of DeAPlaneta’s strategy is coproduction and Biern notes that, during the economic crisis, it is becoming a big trend industry-wide.
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“Everyone in the kids’ content space is being cautious right now and the independent kids and family producers around the world are more than ever trying to work together in order to strengthen the skills they have in their local territories,” he
“I have had more conversations about coproductions with countries including France, Canada, China and the UK in the last year [than in previous years]. Companies are looking at working together to establish brands and reduce the risk when working on global brands. Right now, nobody can fully fund a show from the UK, China, Canada or France. We all need to be aligned and work together for a global approach.”
DeAPlaneta is particularly interested in partnering UK companies and plans to open
an office there, following on from its partnership with Fourth Wall. “We are very actively looking into potentially co-financing projects that could be attractive for the global audience, outside of the UK rights, so we can help great artists, designers and studios from the UK to deliver content worldwide. We believe the UK has strong potential,” Biern says. With Fourth Wall, DeAPlaneta is also working on animated series Superpigs. Based on Claire L Evans’ book series The Three Little Superpigs, the action-adventure-comedy show follows three crimefighting superhero pigs as they battle to outwit the Big Bad Wolf. In addition to the series, DeAPlaneta will create a feature-length lm and Roblox game based on the property.
According to Biern, DeAPlaneta is also looking at content for teens and young adults, which are audiences the company hasn’t really addressed before.
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Looking ahead, the company will continue with its goal of becoming a fully edged studio. “Outside of investing money, we are getting much more time with producers from all over the world in order to create brands. In the next three years, we want to be considered a studio that can make properties even better,” Biern says.
Children’s producer and distributor Studio 100 Media is launching a new international strategy, through which it is expanding its content slate by adding IP not traditionally associated with the company.
As part of this, Studio 100, which has offices and production labels in the US, Australia, Belgium, Germany and France, has hired former WildBrain exec Richard Rowe and Manuela Lumb, founder of Berlin-based family entertainment prodco CherieFilms, as exec producers.
The pair will scout and develop new projects and IP for kids’ series in addition to identifying partners for co-development and coproduction. Rowe will focus on English-speaking territories while Lumb will concentrate on German-speaking areas.
“Studio 100 has mostly been associated with CGI rejuvenations of animated classics such as Maya the Bee, Heidi and Vic the Viking,” says Studio 100 CEO Martin Krieger.
“These heritage IPs will always play an important role for our company, but we are opening a new chapter for our international business. We have been working hard to expand our portfolio by adding new content to our line-up which might not have been associated with Studio 100 before. We will continue to do so and will soon announce new IP for older target groups – kids aged six-plus – and more shows in 2D, in addition to the CGI series in our catalogue.”
Studio 100’s current slate includes CGI series Vegesaurs, which follows the adventures of a group of vegetable- and fruit-shaped dinosaurs and is produced by Studio 100 and Cheeky Little for Australia’s ABC and France Télévisions. A second season will be coming this summer.
Other highlights are space comedy show FriendZSpace, from T&B Media Global and Studio 100’s Australian label Flying Bark Productions, and 100% Wolf, which is based on the children’s books of the same name. 100% Wolf also comes from Flying Bark and was commissioned by the ABC and Germany’s Super RTL. A second season is in production, with delivery expected in the third quarter of this year.
“Our mission is to bring brands to life that are content-driven and entertain kids and families with the best content possible, on every platform and wherever they are. We share this goal among our different lines of business – our studios in Belgium produce live-action shows and our animation studios based in Europe, the US and Australia create both
over in securing the broadest awareness possible globally, to expand the brand into L&M, through to live entertainment and to create experiences in our theme parks in Europe.”
Krieger sees space in the children’s sector for topics like gaming and coding, as well as different styles of animation, like anime. Demand for content for older kids and young adults has increased, according to the exec, who notes a gap in content for school kids over the age of six.
CGI and 2D animation movies and series,” Krieger says. “In everything we create, we are aiming at building brands that resonate with the whole family and eventually become classics.”
L&M is an important part of Studio 100’s brand-building strategy, which also includes live entertainment and numerous theme parks in Europe.
“Starting with the scouting and development process of our IPs, we make sure the content has the potential to unfold into licensing and merchandising at a later stage,” Krieger says. “Once a movie or series is produced, our distribution teams take
“There is still a high demand for programmes catering to preschoolers, also because this target group is so important when it comes to the L&M business,” he says. “To succeed in this very competitive field, a clear, unique selling point and fresh take on a topic have become more crucial than ever.
“But we are now also seeing a growing demand for content for kids aged six-plus, teens and young adults. Light serialisations and longer episodes have become quite popular, which allows more exciting storytelling for children.”
Studio 100’s goal is to create content for large audiences, according to Krieger, who adds that the company is seeking international partnerships to boost its slate.
“We are eager to find inspiring and fresh concepts, not only within our group but also with partners internationally. It does not have to be a specific theme, but it certainly is beneficial if a concept comes with trend topics such as coding, for example, and with a perspective aimed towards empowering kids to be their best selves,” he says.
“We have ambitious plans to boost our European slate with productions steered by our Munich team. This also includes more movies and series being handled by our Munich-based Studio Isar Animation in collaboration with other international partners.”
“We are opening a new chapter for our international business. We have been working hard to expand our portfolio by adding new content to our lineup which might not have been associated with Studio 100 before.
Martin KriegerVegesaurs
Martin Krieger, CEO of Studio 100 Media, underlines the company’s new international strategy, through which it has expanded its production team as it looks for new partnerships and branches out into different areas of content.