MIPJUNIOR PREVIEW 2011

SEPTEMBER 2011

mipjunior

®

www.mipjunior.com The official MIPJunior magazine

preVieW KOREAN CREATIVITY

BOOKS TO TV EXCHANGE

Leafie The Hen debuts in Cannes

Publishers and producers come together

SEE PAGE 6

SEE PAGE 8

Also inside: • Warner’s Sam Register gives keynote • Kids content for sale • The Kids’ Jury • Funding kids` programming • And more ...

COntents i nEWS

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Turner Broadcasting at the MIPJunior Networking Lunch; Korea’s KOCCA at the MIPJunior Licensing Challenge and Closing Cocktail Party

Turner’s the Amazing World Of Gumball mipjunior preVieW ®

The official MIPJunior magazine September 2011.

Director of Publications Paul Zilk

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EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Editor in Chief Julian Newby Technical Editor in Chief Herve Traisnel Deputy Technical Editor in Chief Frederic Beauseigneur Graphic Designer Carole Peres Sub Editors Max Leonard Copy Editor Debbie Lincoln Contributors Andy Fry, Juliana Koranteng, Rachel Murrell, Gary Smith Editorial Management Boutique Editions PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT Content Director Jean-Marc Andre Publications Production and Development Manager Martin Screpel Publishing Product Manager Chealsy Choquette Publishing Co-ordinators Emilie Lambert, Amrane Lamiri, David Le Chapelain Productions Assistant Veronica Pirim Production Assistant, Cannes Office Eric Laurent Printer Riccobono Imprimeurs, Le Muy (France) MANAGEMENT, MARKETING & SALES TEAM Director of the Entertainment Division Anne de Kerckhove Director of the Television Division Laurine Garaude Director of Digital Media Ted Baracos Sales Director Sabine Chemaly Marketing Director Stephane Gambetta Programme Director Tania Dugaro Managing Director (UK / Australia / New Zealand) Peter Rhodes OBE Sales Manager Elizabeth Delaney Vice President Sales and Business Development, Americas Robert Marking Vice President Business Development, North America JP Bommel Executive Sales Director, North America MJ Sorenson Sales Executive Panayiota Pagoulatos Sales Managers Paul Barbaro, Nathalie Gastone International Sales Manager Fabienne Germond Sales Executives Liliane Dacruz, Cyril Szczerbakow Sales Manager Samira Haddi Digital Media Sales Manager Nancy Denole Australia and New Zealand Representative Natalie Apostolou China Representative Anke Redl CIS Representative Alexandra Modestova English Speaking Africa Representative Arnaud de Nanteuil India Representative Anil Wanvari Israel Representative Guy Martinovsky Japan Representative Lily Ono Latin America Representative Elisa Aquino Middle-East Representative Bassil Hajjar Poland Representative Monika Bednarek South Korea Representative Sunny Kim Taiwan Representative Irene Liu Germany Representative (Digital Media Sector) Renate Radke Adam

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Kids’ content for sale at MIPJunior and onwards at MIPCOM

i features

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Taking a closer look at funding for kids In a world where kids are spoilt for choice, content providers need to take a creative approach not only to content creation, but also in content financing 23 It’s quite literally a jungle out there How do you make your character stand out in a licensing market where book properties vie with game, online and toy franchises?

28 Tween audiences go where the action is Live-action series have never been more popular with 10- to 14-year-olds – and the phenomenon is not going away any time soon 32 New ways for kids to look at the world It’s been some years since children’s broadcasters started to move into the multiplatform world. These days the buzzword is transmedia. So how much has really changed, and what does it mean for kids’ content?

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Published by Reed MIDEM, BP 572, 11 rue du Colonel Pierre Avia, 75726 Paris Cedex 15, France.

Contents © 2011, Reed MIDEM Market Publications. Publication registered 3rd quarter 2011. ISSN 2104-2187.

Printed on 100% recycled paper

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nEWs NEWS IN BRIEF

TURNER’S AMAZING WORLD OF GUMBALL TURNER Broadcasting’s latest animation series The Amazing World Of Gumball will be shown to an international audience during the MIPJunior Networking Lunch on Saturday, October 1. The series charts the adventures of a blue cat called Gumball and his best friend Darwin. “It’s a groundbreaking, innovative show that uses still images, 3D animation and 2D animation all mixed together to create this amazing new look,” said Michael Carrington, Turner’s chief content officer, kids, EMEA. “It’s going to be amazing to see it come alive in that networking event with all our colleagues and friends in the same room.”

Already seen in the UK and US — and with a second series commissioned — The Amazing World Of Gumball is launched in the fourth quarter of this year across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In the US the series is in the top five most popular programmes for boys aged six to 14 .

The series is also in high profile on other platforms with extra video material on YouTube, and a Facebook page — both in 15 languages — while Gumball’s dad Richard will be given his own Twitter account, and his sister Anais her own Flickr account, both English language only.

Turner’s Michael Carrington

LET THE KIDS DECIDE THE KIDS’ Jury is back at MIPCOM, in Cannes to tell programme makers what’s hot and what’s not, in the world of children’s programming. The jury of 20 children will decide which show they like best in three age categories — Pre-school, Kids and Tweens. Prizes for the winning shows will be awarded during the Kids’ Jury Awards Ceremony at 19.00 on Saturday October 1. The event is sponsored by Channel One Russia’s children’s channel, Carousel.

This year the Kids’ Jury will introduce MIPJunior’s first-ever Consumer Lab session on the following day. Presented by Stacey Matthias, founder and joint-CEO of Insight Kids and Insight Research Group, The Consumer Lab will present an in-depth examination of what the kids chose and why.

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KOCCA CEO Lee Jae Woong

KOCCA vice-president Chung Dong Chun

LICENSING CHALLENGE

Korean creativity on show at MIPJunior

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HE MIPJunior Licensing C h a l le n g e ret u r n s on Saturday, October 1, the event where a jury of top licensing executives from around the world identify the hottest kids’ content with the greatest licensing and merchandising potential. The event is once again sponsored by KOCCA, the Korea Creative Content Agency.

Last year’s winner was Korean animation studio ROI Visual’s CGI animation Robocar Poli. KOCCA vice-president Chung Dong Chun said: “KOCCA has been sponsoring the MIPJunior Licensing Challenge since 2009.

Winning the competition in 2010 was a major coup for us because it is a great opportunity for a Korean character to play an active part on the world media stage.”

On Sunday, October 2, a new kids animation from Korea, Leafie, A Hen Into The Wild, is

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being screened at the MIPJunior closing party. Produced by Myung Films and Odoltogi, directed by Seong-yun Oh with screenplay by Eunjeong Kim, the 90-minute animation is distributed by Seoul-based Finecut. Leafie was screened internationally in the market sidebar of the Cannes Film Festival in May while in post-production. The screening at MIPJunior closing party marks the film’s international debut since production was completed.

KOCCA CEO Lee Jae Woong said: “We’re excited about this international premiere because we believe that Leafie, A Hen Into The Wild, is a really touching story with beautifully designed characters and scenes. It also has clear potential to be a successful feature film internationally. It premiered in Korea in late July and in less than two weeks had already racked up more than a million visitors at the box office.”

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Junior meets the guardian of the world’s classic toons SAM REGISTER executive vice-president, creative affairs at Warner Bros. Animation, gives the MIPJunior keynote on Sunday, October 2. Register will speak on the challenges of producing such animation hits as Batman: The Brave And The Bold, and Transformers, as well as looking after the world’s most famous and best-loved libraries of cartoon characters.

While overseeing the creation of new animated series, direct-to-video content and theatrical shorts at Warner Bros Animation, Register also looks after classic animation properties including the Warner Bros. library, MGM, Hanna-Barbera and DC Comics. “That’s a tremendous number of characters and it’s a privilege to work with them,” he said. “But it’s a huge responsibility too. These are very important brands and we have to constantly ask ourselves ‘How do we make them fresh and relevant to today’s audience, while keeping intact the elements of what made them successful?’.” He added: “These characters have been with us for 50 years or more. We have to keep 50 years of passion intact.”

Mindful of this legacy when he arrived at Warner Bros., Register had pictures of all the great creators of the company’s library, framed and hung on the walls — names including Chuck Jones, creator of classic characters including Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, and William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, whose creations include The Flintstones, Yogi Bear and Top Cat. “It was important that we remembered who these great people were.”

But the MIPJunior first-timer is happy with these responsibilities. “I’m very fortunate — I have to pinch myself every day to make sure I’m not dreaming. I grew up loving these characters.”

BOOKS TO TV TO BOOKS

Billy McQueen MIPJUNIOR launches the inaugural Books To TV Exchange in partnership with London Book Fair, bringing together publishers and producers of kids’ properties from around world.

The Books To TV Exchange, on Sunday October 2, includes matchmaking sessions and a panel session that will present two case studies — production company Darrall McQueen’s pre-school series Baby Jake, and publisher Walker Books’ Tilly.

Baby Jake

Sam Register

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Billy McQueen of Darrall McQueen said that the relationship between publishing and television is getting closer. “People have been talking about this convergence for years, but now it’s happening — and in our case it happened fast.” Darrall McQueen’s pre-school series Baby Jake has been taken up by children’s publisher Egmont. “It’s how quickly the publishers understand the creative, and how quickly they can work to the timelines that’s important in this process. With Baby Jake we’d tied up the publishing before we’d gone on air.”

The second case study is Walker Books’ Tilly stories, which have been commissioned by Ceebeebies as a 52x11 mins animated series, produced by JAM Media. Walker Books’ managing director Helen McAleer said: “We rely on partnerships with talented industry professionals and production companies to take our content to screen. A forum like MIPJUNIOR is the ideal place to meet producers and build creative partnerships for the future.”

PrOductnEWs MIPJunior Preview highlights some of the content on sale from around the world at MIPJunior, and onwards at MIPCOM… DARRALL MACQUEEN

DHX MEDIA

THE JIM HENSON COMPANY

UK

CANADA

US

ANIMATION SERIES

ANIMATION SERIES

ANIMATION SERIES

ORIGINALLY commissioned by the BBC for the CBeebies channel in the UK, pre-school series Baby Jake (26 x 11 mins) debuts at MIPCOM, and will be screened on international feeds of the network in Africa, Poland, Asia, India, Latin America and Australia later this year. Baby Jake, the youngest of 10 children, lives in a windmill.

The narrator, his six-year-old brother, can understand Baby Jake’s giggles and gurgles as he sings, dances and talks with animal friends. BBC Worldwide holds the global channel and merchandising rights, and handles international distribution, excluding North America and Ireland.

MONSTER Math Squad (30 x 12 mins), a new pre-school CG animated series starring monsters that aim to help children develop formative math-related skills, is in production for CBC and SRC in Canada, and is brought to MIPCOM by DHX Media. The Monster Math Squad — Bob, Lily and Goo — love counting, measuring, sizing, sorting, exploring shapes, patterns and time.

THE JIM HENSON Company offers television, digital and DVD rights for its new pre-school series, Pajanimals, to the international market at MIPCOM. The company partnered with pre-school channel Sprout and Northern Ireland’s Sixteen South Television for the co-production of the series (26 x 30 mins/52 x 11 mins). Currently in production, the series is scheduled to debut in the US on Sprout. The show features four musical puppets who venture out on imaginary journeys of discovery, and is based on the original series of musical interstitials (10 x 2 mins).

Monster Math Squad (DHX Media)

LITTLE AIRPLANE PRODUCTIONS Baby Jake (Darrall Macqueen)

US ANIMATION SERIES

TOON FACTORY FRANCE ANIMATION SERIES

TOON Factory returns to MIPCOM with a slate of HD animation series. My Friend Grompf (52 x 13 mins/26 x 26 mins) is targeted at four- to 10-year-olds. Deals for the series featuring a comic Yeti have been signed with Al Jazeera, TV Quebec (Frenchspeaking Canada), RTS (Switzerland), RTBF (Belgium), B Channel (Indonesia) and Noga (Israel). Tony & Alberto (78 x 7.5 mins/26 x 26 mins), a collaboration with M6, is a gag show aimed at six- to 10-year-olds, and three episodes in English are available at MIPCOM. And, Chico Chica Boumba (52 x 3 mins 30), co-produced with Dandelooo and 2 Minutes for M6, for four- to 9-year-olds, is a show that encourages kids to get up and dance.

The producers are developing digital projects to back up the series, including online games and dance lessons, and games for the iPad, Xbox and PS3.

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BILLY Birthday Boy (52 x 11 mins) is the first project from a development deal between Little Airplane Productions and HIT Entertainment. The series is about a young boy who saves birthday parties that have gone awry. Targeted at girls and boys aged three to five, the educational curriculum for the series was written by Dr. Christine Ricci (Dora The Explorer) and centres around the development of planning skills. The aim is for the viewer to feel part of the story and attend the birthday party at the end of each episode.

Billy Birthday Boy (Little Airplane Productions)

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Pajanimals (The Jim Henson Company)

MOONSCOOP FRANCE ANIMATION SERIES

MOONSCOOP is launching Wild Grinders (52 x 11 mins) at MIPCOM 2011, aimed at kids aged six to 12. The series features thrill-seeking pre-teen Lil Rob, and his best friends Meaty, a British bulldog, and Goggles, a loyal nerdy friend.

Stories feature shrink rays that make getting through the living room an imaginative adventure, and cursed pumpkin Zombies. Wild Grinders is available for online, mobile and VOD, with new content including animated shorts and online casual games. iPad/ iPhone/smart phone apps and other digital content are also in development.

Wild Grinders (Moonscoop)

iproductneWs CONTENT TELEVISION

MONSTER ENTERTAINMENT

FUTURIKON

UK

IRELAND

FRANCE

LIVE-ACTION SERIES

ANIMATION SERIES

ANIMATION SERIES

CONTENT Television is launching a new season of CBBC’s comedy drama Young Dracula at MIPCOM. The irreverent, gothic comedy is back with a third season following the adventures of Vlad, the son of Count Dracula. Four years on, Vlad is now a fully-fledged vampire with new powers that surpass those of normal vampires, and develops an attraction to Erin, a newly bitten ‘half fang’. The 13 x 30 mins series is produced by the BBC.

MONSTER Entertainment has launched a production arm, with its first production, preschool series I’m A Monster (52 x 2 mins), ready for delivery. Monster has set up an animation studio in Dublin and is currently at pilot stage with its next production, I’m A Creepy Crawly (52 x 2 mins). The company also brings Soli And Mo’s Nature Show (26 x 7 mins); Gumball Buddies (26 x 5 mins); Abby Careful (52 x 7 mins); and Lifeboat Luke (52 x 5 mins); among other series.

I’m A Monster (Monster Entertainment)

A NEW SEASON of Minuscule is brought to MIPCOM by Futurikon, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary at the market. A mischievous ladybug, a depressed mosquito, and an inept spider are some of the tiny creatures of this grassroots-level world that combines 3D animation and live footage. Action moves from the green countryside of Normandy to the snow-capped mountains of the Alps, through Paris streets and to sandy beaches. The programme is available as a series (71 x 5 mins), a series of interstitials (26 x 2 mins), and two specials (13 mins/26 mins). Minuscule (Futurikon)

Young Dracula (Content Television)

OCTAPIXX WORLDWIDE CANADA ANIMATION & LIVE-ACTION SERIES

HIGHLIGHTS from Octapixx Worldwide’s kids’ catalogue include: Bommi & Friends (26 x 30 mins/HD), about a young girl who discovers that her pop-up book can transport her to a fantastic world; iKnow: Animals, Letters & Sounds (26 x 30 mins/HD), uses folklore and original songs to teach English, focusing on animal names and fundamentals of science and the environment; and Kid Guides (13 x 30 mins) follows the travels of two real kids, Matt and Brittney, looking at family-friendly destinations around the world.

PORTFOLIO INTERNATIONAL CANADA LIVE-ACTION SERIES

BRILHANTE Football Club (13 x 30 mins) tells the story of five adolescent girls who decide to form the first all-girl football team in a small town in Brazil. As they strive to win the cup for the Regional Girls Football Championship, the girls experience the trials, tribulations and triumphs of teenage life. The series is launched at MIPCOM by Portfolio International.

Brilhante Football Club (Portfolio International)

TELEVIX ENTERTAINMENT US ANIMATION SERIES

TWO TITLES top the MIPCOM slate for Televix Entertainment. Gogos Crazybones (52 x 11 mins/ CGI) is aimed at 7- to 11-year-olds and features tiny creatures from a parallel plane using their Bommi & Friends (Octapixx Worldwide) 12 I

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BEST BOY ENTERTAINMENT CANADA LIVE-ACTION/ANIMATION SERIES

MICKEY’s Farm (Season 1, 26 x 15 mins/Season 2, 39 x 15 mins) is an HD pre-school show blending live action, animation and music. The show features Mickey — a real sheep dog — who recently moved to the farm with his friend Megan. Together they try to figure out why ducks disappear for the winter, why brown cows don’t make chocolate milk, or why the large yellowand-black striped fly is bothering all the flowers. The series is currently in production for a third season of 26 x 15 mins.

Mickey’s Farm (Best Boy Entertainment)

amazing abilities to travel to Earth and complete exciting missions, while avoiding being discovered, captured, or accidentally crushed. Kaptors (26 x 30 mins/CGI), also for the same age group, centres on a brother-and-sister team on a mission to hunt down 80 supernatural beings that exist on earth.

Too powerful to be destroyed, the creatures must be trapped in energy disks called Kaptors.

SimsalaGrimmTM, the unique, classic fairy tale brand, reveals the complete wealth of fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Wilhelm Hauff, 1001 Arabian Nights and many more.

New Fairy Tales Seasons I + II - 52x26`

G e r m any

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NO. 1 rt T V Expo

Meet us at booth no. 09.37 – POD 06 International Sales: Greenlight Media represented by Magus Entertainment

www.ssg-b2b.com

Rick van den Heuvel / +31 6 54 76 87 97 / rick@magusent.com

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BRB INTERNACIONAL

CCI ENTERTAINMENT

AUSTRALIA

SPAIN

CANADA

ANIMATION & EDUCATIONAL SERIES

ANIMATION SERIES

FILM, EDUCATIONAL & ANIMATION SERIES

THE WOTWOTS are two aliens who explore Earth in their steam-powered spaceship. In series one (52 x 10mins/HD) they landed in a zoo, and in the new series (26 x 12 mins/HD) they land on a farm and then travel to the sea. ABC also brings: The Adventures Of Figaro Pho (13 x 24 mins/HD); Let’s Get Inventin’ (series 1-3: 62 x 22 mins/series 4: 9 x 22 mins), a high-energy science and technology series; and Stay Tuned (30 x 15 mins), a music series aimed at 10- to 14-year-olds that connects fans to bands.

KHUDA-YANA is the newest 26-part series from BRB Internacional, about a street thief with an unexpected destiny. Khuda steals the Mystic Tulip and awakens Blue Girl, a genie who tries to transform the young thief into the next king of Kosala. The series, co-produced by Screen 21 and TVE with collaborative assistance from ICAA and ICIC, will premiere worldwide in 2012.

CCI ENTERTAINMENT returns to MIPCOM with Finding Stuff Out (26 x 25 mins), a science-oriented series using in-studio demonstrations, video and animation, as well as a web component encouraging home experiments, sharing results, and an online quiz. CCI also brings animation series Joe And Jack (39 x 7 mins) and The GeoFreakZ, and liveaction film Mandie And The Forgotten Christmas (90 mins) set in a boarding school in 1900.

The Wotwots (ABC Commercial)

STRAANDLOOPER UK ANIMATION SERIES

STRAANDLOOPER is re-launching its kids property Lifeboat Luke, enhancing the series’ content and making the 52 x 5 mins episodes available at 26 x 15 mins or 13 x 30 mins.

Lifeboat Luke is airing worldwide and is also available through iTunes, and as iPhone and Android apps called Spotisodes.

YELLOW HOUSE ENGLISH UK/POLAND EDUCATIONAL SERIES

THE YELLOW House English programmes use the Baby Beetles characters to teach young children the English language. The company has partnered with Polish media giant Agora to develop a range of Yellow House English series in the Polish market, with media support, retail distribution and merchandising.

TV station Mini Mini (owned by the Canal Plus Group) will also be broadcasting the Yellow House English Baby Beetles series from September.

Baby Beetles (The Yellow House English) 14 I

Finding Stuff Out (CCI Entertainment) Khuda-Yana (BRB Internacional)

CYBER GROUP STUDIOS FRANCE ANIMATION SERIES

CYBER Group brings two new series to MIPCOM. Patch Pillows (78 x 7 mins), for very young children, is about a group of patchwork pillows and their friends. Nutri Ventures (26 x 22 mins), is set in a land where foods give super powers, an evil man tries to destroy them, while a group of kids embarks on an adventure to discover the lost foods and their powers. The company also brings the first episodes of Zou (52 x 11 mins), about a fiveyear old zebra and his extended family, and the first episodes of Nina Patalo (78 x 7 mins), about a curious girl with an overactive imagination.

Patch Pillows (Cyber Group Studios)

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M4E/TELESCREEN THE NETHERLANDS LIVE-ACTION/ANIMATION SERIES

HYBRID live-action and CGI-animation series Mia And Me is a fairy tale set between the real world, and the world of Centopia, which is populated with unicorns, elves and dragons.

Producers are Lucky Punch (a joint venture between m4e and Gerhard Hahn), Rainbow Spa, March Entertainment, ZDF Enterprises and RAI Fiction. New pre-school series Conni (26 x 11.5 mins), also distributed by m4e/Telescreen, features a four-year-old girl who learns about life in everyday adventures.

Mia And Me (m4e/Telescreen)

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CLASSIC MEDIA

PICTURE BOX DISTRIBUTION

THE NETHERLANDS

US/UK

CANADA

ANIMATION SERIES

ANIMATION SERIES

ANIMATION & LIVE-ACTION SERIES

PRE-SCHOOL series Leonorah (26 x 5 mins) is a colourful, 3D animation featuring boats Leon and Norah working in a city harbour. Each episode presents a problem for them to overcome, and the stories encourage communication, literacy, social interaction, emotional development, teamwork and basic maths.

INSPIRED by traditional folk tales from Africa and the Tingatinga art of Tanzania, pre-school series Tinga Tinga Tales — produced in Africa by local artists — debuted in the UK last year and in the US earlier this year. Classic Media also brings a new series of Voltron Force, first seen in 1984; and live-action tween series Life With Boys (26 x 30 mins) from Michael Poryes, the creator of Hannah Montana, and featuring a teenage girl negotiating life with a single dad and three brothers.

ARTIE The Ant (12 x 5 mins) features a group of animal friends and families with a passion for music. Picture Box also brings a series with a mix of animation and live action. What’s Your News? (26 x 24 mins/26 x 11.5 mins) brings fourto six-year-olds their own news. Each episode includes a major news story, a feature story, interviews with child experts, traffic updates and the weather — all presented by ant reporters.

Tinga Tinga Tales (Classic Media)

Leonorah (Chappell Televison] Artie The Ant (Picture Box Distribution)

MARBLEMEDIA CANADA ANIMATION SERIES

MARBLEMEDIA is in development with Seven24 Films on pre-school show Little Wombat (39 x 7 mins), starring the mischievous marsupial and his friends, Mouse and Koala. The series is supported online through interactive digital books, bonus content, age-appropriate games, puzzles and singalongs. The company is also working on Skatoony (39 x 30 mins English/ French, Canada/39 x 30 mins English, UK/13 x 30 mins, German — and online), an animated and live-action comedy series that pits tweens and cartoon characters against each other in triviabased rounds. Chugga Chugga Wow (26 x 11 mins), developed with Whole Hog Creations, is an educational show where real kids board an animated train and embark on a journey through a cartoon world.

Little Wombat (marblemedia)

TRICON FILMS & TELEVISION TV PINGUIM

CANADA

BRAZIL

REALITY FORMAT

ANIMATION SERIES

CURRENTLY in pre-production, Earth To Luna!

(52 x 11 mins) is a pre-school series in which five-year-old science-obsessed Luna treats the earth like a giant laboratory. Gemini 8 (52 x 11 mins) is an action-adventure sci-fi series for sixto 10-year-olds in which the alien Polo creates a portal that transports a young human, Marco, into his world. TV PinGuim also brings the second series of Fishtronaut (52 x 11 mins), with a target age range of threeto 6-year-olds, which follows a fishy secret agent working for the Secret Environmental Earth To Luna!

Agency, above and (TV PinGuim) below the water.

ATLANTYCA ENTERTAINMENT ITALY ANIMATION SERIES

THE SECOND season of Geronimo Stilton (26 x 23 mins), brought to MIPCOM by Atlantyca Entertainment, brings the available number of episodes to 52. Geronimo is head of a media 16 I

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ENTERTAINMENT format The Next Star (50 x 60 mins) is a cross-country search for talented kids who can be mentored for stardom. Kids aged 15 and under are auditioned and the field is then narrowed to six finalists who participate in a 13-week boot camp. It ends with a live finale concert, and the top six singles are released. The prize is a music video and record contract with Universal Music.

The Next Star (Tricon Films & Television)

empire — an erudite mouse and complete klutz. The series is a co-production between Atlantyca and Moonscoop, with the participation of RAI Fiction, France Televisions and M6. Recent sales include Channel One Russia Worldwide, LRT (Lithuania), Canal Panda (Portugal), okto TV (Singapore), MTV3 (Finland) and TVB (Hong Kong).

iproductneWs FORMA ANIMADA

DELPHIS FILMS

GURU STUDIO

SPAIN

CANADA

CANADA

ANIMATION SERIES

FILMS

ANIMATION SERIES

THE FIRST series of Abby Careful (52 x 7 mins), aimed at five- to seven-year-olds, is brought to MIPCOM by Spain’s Forma Animada. The CGI series is about a young girl who uses her imagination to transform people around her into comic characters.

Andalusian public broadcaster Canal Sur TV is co-producing the show, which will also be seen on RTP Portugal, VRT Belgium and VPRO Holland.

Abby Careful (Forma Animada)

DELPHIS Films has recently created the brand Club D to cover family and children’s content from its catalogue of over 100 family movies (including animation), and 500 half hours of animation or live action children’s series and formats.

Included in the slate for MIPCOM is Fuchsia, The Mini Witch (85 mins), about a wizard who finds an egg out of which — to his surprise — hatches a mini witch.

JUSTIN Time (26 x 11 mins) launched earlier this year on Disney Junior in Australia and New Zealand, and will soon be seen on Disney Italy and Germany.

Season two of the series is in production and will bring the total number of episodes up to 52 by 2012.

Justin and his friends start each history-based episode faced with a simple challenge, whether building a giant stone monolith or a ballooning adventure in Paris. Other broadcasters airing the series next year are Discovery Kids Latin America, Discovery Familia in the US and YLE Finland.

Fuchsia, The Mini Witch (Delphis Films)

SKYWRITER MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT GROUP CANADA FILM

BETTY Armstrong, the schoolgirl who secretly transforms into Galactic Guardian Atomic Betty in the animated series Atomic Betty, is about star in a new live-action/CGI animated feature film now in development. At MIPCOM Skywriter is seeking distributors for the film which is expected to go into production in Canada in the first half of 2012. In Atomic Betty – The Movie, the action moves forward several years to reveal 15-year-old Betty living in two galaxies: live action on earth, and CGI in space. Currently airing in the US on The Hub, Atomic Betty has aired in 160 countries worldwide.

Justin Time (Guru Studio)

VISION FILMS EVEREST INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION

VIPO LAND

US

GERMANY

FILM

US

ANIMATION SERIES

ANIMATION SERIES

EVEREST has added two new 3D animations to its catalogue for MIPCOM. DoDo’s World, is a series which combines teaching with fun; and Come On, Baby! is a series with stories that take place in a small, mysterious village named Rococo which is located in the quiet Song Forest.

SURVIVING Time Island With Vipo & Friends (26 x 11 mins/HD) is the follow-up series to Vipo – Adventures Of The Flying Dog. In this series Vipo finds himself in an unknown world with a group of friends. They meet the Time Master who has had his magic stolen by the Four Seasons Rulers.

VIPO and friends then set out on four quests to retrieve the magic stones that will then help them home. The series is aimed at children four to 10.

DoDo’s World (Everest International Distribution) 18 I

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Surviving Time Island With Vipo & Friends (VIPO Land)

THE ADVENTURES Of Mark Twain is a featurelength film from the well-known Claymation pioneer Will Vinton. The film combines claymation animation with the humour of celebrated US author Mark Twain. Although it was released in 1986, the film was only seen in the US, UK, and Australia. It has now been restored from 35 mm to HD and is brought to MIPCOM for the international market by Vision Films.

The Adventures Of Mark Twain (Vision Films)

iproductneWs PGS ENTERTAINMENT

LUCKY DREAMS

HGAGNON DISTRIBUTION

FRANCE

ITALY

CANADA

ANIMATION SERIES

ANIMATION SERIES

ANIMATION & LIVE-ACTION SERIES

BRAND management company PGS Entertainment brings new CGI show, Chaplin & Co (104 x 6 mins) to MIPCOM. The non-dialogue series is a coproduction between MK2 TV, Method Animation, DQ Entertainment (International) and Fabrique d’Images, with the participation of France Televisions. The show features daily life through the eyes of Charlie Chaplin, with his trademark mix of clumsiness and naivety. The series, faithful to the spirit of Chaplin movies, is available as 11-minute or half-hour formats, or as interstitials.

SPIKE Team, a series based on an original idea by volleyball champion Andrea Lucchetta, and produced by Lucky Dreams with RAI Fiction, is launched at MIPCOM by Teamworks. Coached by Lucky, a volleyball champion, six girls discover that they each have a special quality, represented by six gem stones which when taken together, are able to re-ignite the sacred flame of Olympia.

A second season is in production.

Spike Team (Lucky Dreams)

HGAGNON Distribution brings two new titles to MIPCOM and two further projects looking for pre-sales. Wapos Bay (34 x 24 mins/HD) is a stop-motion animation, featuring a Cree community. Juliette En Direct (10 x 4 mins) is a web series about two sisters who share a room, and their experiences. Series looking for pre-sales include Epicurious Kids (26 x 24 mins/HD), a cooking show with chef Susie French, her granddaughter Savannah and the animated Monsieur Baked, and Kidz On Safari (26 x 26 mins/HD), shot in Mauritius, Tanzania and Kenya.

MEDIATOON FRANCE

WIN SING CO CHINA ANIMATION SERIES

Chaplin & Co (PGS Entertainment)

WIN SING returns to MIPCOM with 3D animated series GG Bond Season V: Fairy Tales Of The Brick Kingdom (52 x 15 mins). The company is also launching two HD projects, Doby & Disy (52 x 26 mins) a new English/Chinese learning series for pre-school children and GG Bond — Hatching, the first GG Bond feature film.

ANIMATION SERIES

CHICKEN Town (39 x 7 mins), aimed at 6-yearolds and over, is a co-production between Ellipsanime and 1st Day, and is brought to MIPCOM

by Mediatoon. Set in an urban hen house the series stars a rooster and his team of simple-minded chickens, who he encourages to lay eggs every day, because “an egg every day keeps the butcher away”. The first four episodes are ready to view.

BLUE BUG ENTERTAINMENT (BBE) 9 STORY ENTERTAINMENT

CANADA

CANADA

ANIMATION SERIES

ANIMATION SERIES

ALMOST Naked Animals (40 x 22 mins) is an irreverent comedy series, featuring animals — in their underwear — that run a beachfront hotel. 9 Story Entertainment, producer and distributor, has already sold the series to Disney Channel Italy, Disney Channel India, Disney Channel Latin America, Luk International for Spain and Portugal and NPO’s children’s channel Z@pp/Zeppelin in the Netherlands. The series launched on YTV Canada in January, on CiTV in the UK in April, ABC Australia in May and had its US premiere on Cartoon Network in June. Almost Naked Animals will be seen on Canal+ France and Super RTL Germany this fall.

NAPPY the neurotic circus owner, his mischievous nephew Roger, and their crew, travel together in the series The Big Top. Other characters include Simba the egotistical lion, Jag the simple minded tiger, and Missy the elephant who thinks she’s a dog, Tiny the muscleman and Dr. Freudenstein, the dysfunctional shrink. The series is brought to MIPCOM by Montreal’s BBE.

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Chicken Town (Mediatoon)

FOOTHILL ENTERTAINMENT US/UK ANIMATION SERIES

THROUGH its newly formed UK affiliate Foothill UK, Foothill Entertainment is in development on the series based on the Gunk Aliens books.

In the pilot Jack has to save his best friend Oscar from the clutches of the disgusting Gunk Aliens who have kidnapped him in order to get the smell from Oscar’s stinky socks. The series is aimed at 6- to 11-year-olds.

IMIRA ENTERTAINMENT

AB INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION

BETA FILM

SPAIN

FRANCE

GERMANY

ANIMATION SERIES

ANIMATION SERIES

ANIMATION FILMS & SERIES

NEW to MIPCOM is Lucky Fred (52 x 11 mins), an Imira co-production with Spain’s Televisio de Catalunya, RAI Fiction in Italy and Top Draw Animation in The Philippines. Fred is a 13-yearold who accidentally becomes the owner of a robot that can turn into any object. Before he veered off course, the robot was intended for Fred’s next-door neighbour, a girl who is Agent Brains, a member of a secret, intergalactic security force. Lucky Fred, aimed at six to12year-olds, is pre-sold in over 150 territories including TF1 for France; Disney Channel in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, India and Australia; and Nickelodeon in Benelux, Scandinavia, Latin America, Asia and South Korea.

AB INTERNATIONAL brings Lil’ Astronaut to MIPCOM for the first time. Based on absurd situations and visual gags, the series is aimed at six- to 10-year-olds. Lil’ Astronaut, a badtempered earthling, crash-lands on the unknown planet Minos where he meets two crazy aliens, Lako and Bulga, who think he’s wonderful and follow him everywhere he goes.

BETA FILM’s children’s label Wunderbox brings new stories of its fairy princess Lillifee to MIPCOM. Princess Lillifee And The Little Unicorn is available as a feature film (70 mins) and as a 26 x 11 mins series, in which Lillifee and her unicorn friends must free the neighbouring country Bluetopia that has been covered in ice and snow. Trenk, The Little Knight” (13 x 22 mins) is about a young boy determined to become a hero. And The Tigerduck Gang (feature film and 26 x 13 mins series), follows the adventures of inseparable friends.

Lil’Astronaut (AB International)

Lucky Fred (Imira Entertainment)

Lillifee And The Little Unicorn (Beta Film)

ZDF ENTERPRISES (ZDFE) CAKE ENTERTAINMENT

GERMANY

NELVANA ENTERPRISES

UK

LIVE ACTION FILM & SERIES

CANADA

ANIMATION SERIES

THE THIRD series of Let’s Go Pocoyo (52 x 7 mins) is launched at MIPCOM by Cake (51%-owned by the series’ producer Zinkia Entertainment). Each episode begins with a themed adventure introducing vocabulary, followed by lessons in various concepts, including numbers, colours, shapes, animals and words, ending with a musical section featuring different styles of original music that recaps the lessons learned in the episode. Cake also brings Plankton Invasion (78 x 7 mins); Total Drama: Revenge Of The Island (13 x 22 mins); Tom & Slice Of Bread With Strawberry Jam & Honey; and The Sparticle Mystery (13 x 30 mins).

LIGHTNING Point (26 x 26 mins/90 mins/HD] features Zoey and Kiki, surf-crazy teen aliens who land on Earth in the quiet Australian surfing town of Lightning Point. As their space ship explodes, the girls have to befriend local surfer Amber and let her in on their secret. But while they learn about Earth — and falling in love — the girls realise that they aren’t the first extraterrestrial visitors to Lightning Point.

ANIMATION SERIES

TOPPING Nelvana’s MIPCOM slate is Detentionaire (26 x 30 mins), a combination of comedy, adventure and intrigue. Lee Ping is falsely accused of pulling off the biggest prank in high school history and is sentenced to a whole year of detention. Now, every day, Lee must escape the detention room to try and find out what really happened. The series, aimed at six- to 11-year-olds is produced in association with Teletoon and the Canadian Television Fund.

Let’s Go Pocoyo (Cake Entertainment) Lightning Point (ZDFE)

Detentionaire (Nelvana Enterprises) www.mipjunior.com I magazine I September 2011 I 21

Feature CONTENTS 28 IT’S QUITE LITERALLY A JUNGLE OUT THERE How do you make your character stand out in a licensing market where book properties vie with game, online and toy franchises?

32 TWEEN AUDIENCES GO WHERE THE ACTION IS Live-action series have never been more popular with 10- to 14-year-olds – and the phenomenon is not going away any time soon 36 NEW WAYS FOR KIDS TO LOOK AT THE WORLD It’s been some years since children’s broadcasters started to want their content cross-platform.

These days the buzzword is transmedia. So how much has really changed, and what does it mean for kids’ content?

Nina And The Neurons (BBC Worldwide)

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CONTENT FINANCE

Taking a closer look at funding for kids In a world where kids are spoilt for choice and content providers need to find ever-creative means by which to attract young audiences, Juliana Koranteng discovers creativity not only in content creation, but also in content financing

I

N JULY this year, John Jakobsen, Merlin Entertainments’ managing director, Legoland Parks, told the media: “Meet my new boss”, pointing to a large onscreen photograph of a toddler looking deliriously happy.

Legoland Parks, a subsidiary of Merlin Entertainments Group, the world’s second biggest attractions conglomerate after The Walt Disney Company, was unveiling details of its new Legoland Florida theme park, which opens October 15 next year, and is “Merlin’s biggest project to date”.

Financed by its shareholders, private equity firms Blackstone Group, CVC Capital Partners, and KIRKBI (the investment arm of the toy-bricks pioneer The Lego Group), Legoland Florida is costing more than $100m to keep the targeted two- to 12-year-old tourists and their families deliriously happy.

Among the park’s attractions will be a multi-sensory 4D film theatre — where 3D movies meld with the viewers’ physical environment — illustrating the amount entertainment producers will pay for a share of the crowded kids market. The industries of kids TV and related audio-visual content in our digital age are discovering new funding strategies that do not only rely on broadcasters.

To fulfil the global ambitions for its popular pre-school animated character Pocoyo, Madrid-based Zinkia Entertainment made history in 2009 by listing on Spain’s then-new secondary stock exchange Mercado Alternativo Bursatil (MAB). “In our business, you’re more likely to be successful if you’re first,” says Maria Doolan, Zinkia’s managing director of brand and business development.

“The move has raised our profile in Spain. It has placed us in a position of strength and we’re able to have conversations with potential commercial partners at the highest level.”

Zinkia conceives of projects as multiplatform content, including console games, and focuses on building brands as opposed to merely producing kids programmes. The strategy has worked for Pocoyo, which is already licensed to broadcasters in more than 150 territories. Its YouTube channel receives more than 50 million hits a month, its Facebook page boasts 500,000plus friends, and it lays claim to more than 5,000 Twitter followers. Additional to the five million unique visitors to the Pocoyo blog, the brand had 10 million v iews i n the six months to June on Sohu, the leading video-sharing site i n C h i na , where Zinkia has a commercial office in Beijing. It operates an online virtual world (Pocoyoworld.com) and Pocoyo-branded iPhone app.

The MAB flotation made a significant difference. “This isn’t a get-rich-quick industry,” Zinkia’s Pocoyo, licensed to Doolan says. “The whole panobroadcasters in more than rama has changed. The sources 150 territories www.mipjunior.com I magazine I September 2011 I 23

i feature Taking a closer look at funding for kids of finance are drying up, so you need to be extremely creative in your funding strategy.”

Last year, Los Angeles-based independent producer DHX Media’s animation studio subsidiary Wildbrain Entertainment received $32.5m from the US government. The US Department of Education awarded the five-year Ready To Learn grant to Wildbrain and Chicago public broadcaster WTTW for the development of UMIGO (You Make It Go), an interactive transmedia multiplatform show for two- to eight-year-olds. A TV series and a range of branded merchandise will follow.

“We’ll be providing content for wherever children spend their time, whether they’re playing with apps, games, are online or reading books,” says Michael Polis, DHX’s executive vice-president of branded entertainment and consumer products.”

The money will fund in-depth research with The Michael Cohen Group to ensure UMIGO “gets as many kids as possible, starting with the US and seeing if it will also work globally”, Polis says.

DHX Media’s most recent international acquisition is SheZow!, a 52 x 11 mins animated comedy jointly created

by Australia-based Moody Street Kids, Los Angeles’ Kickstart Productions, and writer/director Obie Scott Wade, with finance from Australia’s Film Victoria agency. “Even with traditional [content] models, we look for multiple business partners,” Polis explains.

Steve Grieder, executive vice-president of Nickelodeon International and international programme sales, Viacom International Media Networks, agrees. Australia, the US and the UK are among the key English-speaking international co-production countries for Nickelodeon programming, he states, and sharing the co-production costs with overseas talent is essential for shows that are “glocal” — kicking off as hits in one country, before being reproduced to local tastes in other markets. Such were the origins of House Of Anubis, Nickelodeon’s mystery soap series. Created by Belgian producer Studio 100, a local version, Het Huis Anubis, was produced for Nickelodeon Holland in 2006 before being picked up by Nick Germany for its own version. The English-language show was shot in the UK by Liverpool’s Lime Pictures after being developed, produced and financed by US Nickelodeon executives on the west and east coasts of the US. “We’ve developed key strategic relationships with creative partners worldwide and are opening up the content pipeline so that it flows in both directions. Kids programmes made in one country can be given a wider audience by Nickelodeon in the US and across the world,” Grieder says. Nickelodeon has also carefully exploited its music-industry connections, via sister network MTV, and worked with Sony Music on Big Time Rush, an international tween series starring a real-life boy band. The 24 I

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resulting album (BTR) has been a top-selling hit in several countries, including the US, Canada, Germany, Singapore, and Malaysia.

The growing number of co-production treaties signed between Australia and neighbouring Asian markets, such as Singapore and China, offers alternative financing in the region. Tim Brooke-Hunt, controller of children’s at Australia’s ABC Television, states that Asian governments’ support agencies, such as South Korea’s KOCCA (Korea Creative Content Agency), Singapore’s Media Development Authority, and Malaysia-based MDeC (Multimedia Development Corporation), are very accommodating.

“Although Asian broadcasters don’t pay enormous fees, there is significant private investment and government support,” “Brooke-Hunt says. “Some Asian production companies have difficulty crafting concepts and scripts for the international market; Australian producers can be of great assistance to them in this regard.”

ABC Television is currently producing Quest Friends, a culture-exchange reality show, with China’s CCTV. It is aimed at eight- to 12-year-olds and casts a spotlight on today’s youth in China and Australia. ABC pays for the elements shot in Australia, while CCTV finances the parts shot in China. It is scheduled to air on Australia’s ABC3 in December.

Doing business in Asia also appeals to Zinkia. In addition to a licensing deal with Japanese toy-making giant Bandai, made through its Beijing office, Zinkia’s Pocoyo made its India debut on the Sun TV Network last year and five Pocoyo DVD titles were released there this summer.

It is in part the benefits of licensing and merchandising that make deals with companies such as Bandai attractive, Doolan notes. In June, Zinkia also unveiled a host of new Latin American consumer-product partnerships with IMC International Merchandising Consultants, BLG Brand and Licensing Group (Brazil), and Andelo (Peru), among others. Meanwhile, DHX Media’s worldwide licensing and merchandising of kids TV titles such

ZingZillas — headed for the global market

i feature Taking a closer look at funding for kids as Rastamouse and live shows for Yo Gabba Gabba!, (coproduced by Wildbrain) also yield revenues.

And Asian companies, such as China-based Fantawild Holdings, see international licensing for toys and other merchandise as a major source of finance for kids entertainment. Through licensing deals it plans to sell kids bicycles branded after its popular animation Chicken Stew in the Middle East. Other Fantawild brands generate income at Fantawild theme parks in China, the Ukraine, Iran and South Africa.

“Many attractions in the parks are based on our programmes, and these attractions have also successfully promoted our programmes,” says Daisy Shang, Fantawild’s vice-president, says. “Most kids-programmes producers have relied on the licensing revenues for their continuous development.”

Fantawild’s Chicken Stew mugs

licensing and merchandising, magazines, and book publishing will come in from the very beginning”, adds Hurford-Jones.

Hurford-Jones’ role also includes working closely with BBC Worldwide’s content sales team to develop new ways of expanding the programmes’ reach. In June, such a collaboration led to the Nordic region’s Canal+ Family At the BBC’s children’s division, channels including network launching a BBC-branded block of programmes CBeebies — the BBC channel for kids younger than six in the original English language and dubbed into local years old — there is no complacency about programming, Scandinavian languages. despite the more than £3.5bn annual public licence fees, It seems there is a consensus that the role of the broadplus the profits from its commercial arm BBC Worldwide caster should never be underestimated in today’s frag(BBCWW). “Previously, (the individual) channels were mented media landscape. Zinkia is focusing its markenot the investors in products. Channels now take the lead ting strategy on North America, where Pocoyo has been in investing in products since my role was created last given its own weekend time slot on Nick Jr, Nickelodeon’s year. The channels are growing and each one has a big- pre-school sister network.

And Fantawild’s Shang says: “Fantawild is looking ger appetite for content,” says Henrietta Hurford-Jones, director of CBeebies Investment at BBCWW. She was for partners with great distribution and broadcasting appointed by the public broadcaster’s commercial sales channels.” arm in July 2010 to develop a new stream of original Maia Tubiana, senior vice-president at Paris-based childcontent internationally, and has worked with CBeebies ren’s animation house Moonscoop, says the vast majosister network CBBC (for older kids) and others, to com- rity of financing internationally still originates from esmission shows such as Nina And The Neurons and Mr tablished sources, including SOFICA, France’s group of investment funds, which still gives qualifying TV proBloom’s Nursery.

Simultaneously, they will co-commission titles such as ducers access to much-needed cash. Moonscoop’s Ava ZingZillas with a global market in mind, “which is where Riko Teo series, co-produced with France5/France Televisions, Korea’s EBS, and Characterplan, has benefited from SOFICA’s largesse.

But Tubiana admits the industry needs to be open to new ideas.

Moonscoop’s new half-hour animation kids series Wild Grinders, co-produced with Home Plate Entertainment and a professional skateboarder, established itself as a series of shorts and other multiplatform formats while the brand was being established.

“TV remains the strongest (release) window, but we have to be prepared for anything,” Tubiana says. “If we Fantawild brands generate income at Fantawild theme parks in the Ukraine, Iran, South Africa, and here rely on only the old way, we shall slow down or die.” in China 26 I

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APPS AND GAMES IN KIDS TV LAND

Games/Apps: Peleda Content producer: First online multi-player game developed by Australia’s ABC Television with game developers Nathan and Luke Jurevicius Source of finance: ABC Television; Screen Australia; possible private funding Launch: ABC3 website in 2012 Games/Apps: Bananas In Pyjamas apps for the iPhone and iPad with free and paid options Content producer: Australia’s ABC Commercial Source of finance: ABC Commercial Launch: November 2011May 2012 Games/Apps: Free app for Play School’s 45th anniversary Content producer: Australia’s ABC Innovation Source of finance: ABC Television Launch: October 2011 Games/Apps: Monkey Quest, free-to-play massively multi-player online fantasy game Content producer: Nickelodeon Virtual Worlds Group, creator of Neopets and Petpet Park Source of finance: Viacom Launch: April 2011 Games/Apps: Pocoyo Gamebox (iPad mini games) Content producer: Zinkia Entertainment Source of finance: Zinkia Launch: July 2011

2011: CONFERENCES & EVENTS Keeping your business young Books Meet TV Exchange Publishers and producers meet at MIPJunior to build partnerships. This initiative investigates opportunities for cross-media opportunity as the worlds of publishing and production join to turn written content into entertainment content.

Sam Register to Keynote Sa Executive Vice President, Creative Affairs, Warner Bros. Animation - will discuss the Studio’s current and upcoming projects in this keynote presentation that highlights how WBA is reinvigorating iconic and beloved characters from the Warner Bros.

Entertainment collection for a worldwide audience.

1 - 2 OCTOBER 2011

KIDS’ JURY CONSUMER LAB The first-ever Consumer Lab takes you inside the action of the Kids’ Jury Awards selection process. Join research experts in child behavior for an in-depth look at the selections made for a new understanding of what kids want.

MIPJunior 2011 Speakers include • Donna Andrews, CEO & Partner, Sticky Pictures Pty Ltd • Emma Cairns-Smith, Licence Acquisition Director, Egmont • Lana Castleman, Editor, Kidscreen • Paola Chincoli, Content Acquisition, Switchover Media srl • Rick Clodfelter, Content Acquisitions and Co-Productions, Cartoon Network / Boomerang

• Christophe Erbes, Author and Consultant, MEDIA (C)NSULTING • Donna Friedman Meir, President, LEMONADE Creative Consulting • Darran Garnham, Head of Licensing, Mind Candy • Rachele Geraci, Licensing and Agents Manager, Atlantyca SPA • Olivier Gers, CEO, Endemol Worldwide Brands • Kevin Gillis, Executive Producer & CEO, Skywriter Media & Entertainment Group

• Patrick Hambraeus, Coach, Misterpitch.com • Hilly Horev-Cassouto, Head of the Children Channel and Logi Channel, Noga Communications

• Eric Huang, Publishing Director Media and Entertainment, Penguin Group

• Billy Macqueen, Managing Director, Darrall Macqueen Ltd • Stacey Matthias, Co-CEO, Insight Research Group • Claudia Mazzucco, CEO, Atlantyca • Helen McAleer, UK Managing Director, Walker Books Ltd & Walker Productions Ltd

• Karen K. Miller, Director, Acquisitions & Co-Productions, Disney Channels Worldwide

• Natalie Osborne, EVP of Business Development, 9 Story Entertainment

• Gregory Payne, Chairman, Foothill Entertainment Inc. • Adina Pitt, VP Acquisitions, Cartoon Network US & Boomerang US • Pat Quinn, Consultant, Quinn Media Management • Maria Romanelli, Vice President, Teamworks srl • Holly Stein, Vice President, Licensing Acquisitions & Business Development, Mattel Inc.

• Barbara Uecker, Head Programming & Acquisitions Children’s TV, Australian Broadcasting Corporation

What’s New in Korea sponsored by Kocca

Licensing Lounge Over the two-day show, MIPJunior and KOCCA, the official super-commission for Korean content providers, bring the best that Korea has to offer to Cannes. Meet leading Korean animation and character companies to discover new partnerships, co-productions and licensing opportunities from one of Asia’s most advanced markets.

Partners:

Sponsors:

i fEature LICENSING

It’s quite literally a jungle out there As the London Book Fair joins with MIPJunior to launch the first Books To TV Exchange, Sunday October 2, bringing book, e-book publishers and TV producers together, Andy Fry finds out how books and TV are getting on with each other

T

HERE’s a rich tradition of book and comic characters being adapted for the screen. Winnie The Pooh, Babar, Thomas The Tank Engine, Spider-Man and Harry Potter are just a few of the muchloved characters which started life on the printed page before switching successfully to film or television.

No surprise then that MIPCOM is a happy hunting ground for publishers and their partners. Over the last few years, book properties such as Geronimo Stilton, Rastamouse, Richard Scarry, Horrid Henry, Mr. Men and Charlie & Lola have been brought to Cannes and secured financing or distribution deals. This has then provided the platform to make licensing and merchandising (L&M) possible.

The aggressive entry into the kids market by India’s DQ Entertainment is a case in point. “Our first major piece of global IP was Jungle Book, a 26-part animation series based on the classic work by Rudyard Kipling,” says DQE CEO Tapaas Chakravarti. “That was followed by more book-based properties, Peter Pan and Five Children And It. For us, a totally new property would be a risk because the TV and licensing markets are so competitive.

But Jungle Book gave us a strong story and high levels of brand awareness.”

According to Chakravarti, DQE’s Jungle Book series has been well-received by buyers, which in turn has opened the door to licensing: “Once you have TV presence with broadcasters like the BBC and ZDF then the discussion with master toy partners and retailers gets easier. Right now, we have around 40 strong licensing partners ready to roll-out Jungle Book merchandise.”

“A totally new property would be a risk because the TV and licensing markets are so competitive” Tapaas Chakravarti, DQ Entertainment

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DQ is not just restricting its book search to AngloAmerican classics. Also in production is an animated version of The Little Prince, the classic work by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. With 140 million books sold worldwide, the 52-part Little Prince series has pre-sold to broadcasters including France 3, WDR Germany, Rai Italy and ABC (Australia). With worldwide home entertainment rights (excluding North America) picked up by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, he says the property is perfectly primed for L&M. Kids content owners say this book-toscreen journey has two advantages.

“First, it means you have in-built brand awareness to show to broadcasters,” Michael Dee, director of

Jungle Book (DQ Entertainment)

content at UK-based kids studio Coolabi, explains. “Secondly, it means you have hard evidence that it can work at retail.”

Coolabi has a pre-school property called Poppy Cat, which it has produced as a 52 x 11 mins TV series for Nickelodeon UK — with Sprout signed up as the US TV partner. “As a publishing property Poppy Cat consists of 30 books which have sold 2.5 million copies in 13 countries,” Dee says. “Combined with TV, that’s a great message when you are out presenting your project to the licensing and merchandising business.”

This philosophy is no less effective for older kids. Dee adds: “We are co-developing a book-based project called Scream Street with Walker Productions, the TV arm of Walker Books. The titles have already sold to markets such as China, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, which is clearly an advantage. After making an animation series for seven- to 10-year-olds, we’re looking at the potential to roll out ancillary product in areas like gaming.”

While publishing provenance is valuable, it’s not a substitute for originality or distinctiveness. “For us, a big part of Poppy Cat’s appeal was the unique sense of style. The illustrations have a kind of stitched-blanket look which we’ve attempted to capture in the show,” Dee says. This kind of distinctiveness can make all the difference when trying to move from TV into L&M, adds Jennifer Lawlor, senior vice-president of strategy and planning at Zodiak Kids: “One book-based property we’re licensing with a new style guide is The Little Princess, a show that used

to be in the TV-Loonland portfolio. The central character has an anti-princess feel which we think will work well as an apparel design at the higher end of retail, where you also find book-based properties like The Gruffalo.”

The importance of a dynamic creative look is echoed by Fumitaka Torio, senior vice-president of worldwide sales at Sony Creative Products, who has pre-school series Mofy at MIPCOM. Produced with Italy’s Studio Misseri, Mofy is “the world’s first animation series made from cotton,” Torio explains. “By using cotton puffs, we got the soft and cuddly feel we wanted. It is a completely new design that proved popular with buyers who saw the initial pilot. At MIPCOM, they will see a full episode for the first time.” He continues: “For Japan and parts of Asia, it’s valuable to us that Mofy is already known as a book by a well-known author called Aki Kondo.”

Another factor that may help Mofy in Europe is that consumer products are already being sold at Kiddyland stores in Japan, despite the fact that the show hasn’t aired yet. “Japanese properties usually go on air before the licensing is rolled out,” says Torio. “But there are exceptions like Hello Kitty and now Mofy. For us, this is an opportunity to show partners how Mofy can be extended outside publishing and television.”

There are, of course, potential downsides in going the publishing route. For a start, book-based properties can come with steep licence fees or tangled rights histories.

And it’s not uncommon for authors and producers to develop creative differences during a project. Furthermore,

Mofy (Sony Creative Products)

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i feature It’s quite literally a jungle out there there are many examples of L&M hits which don’t come from a book background. Trawl the last 20 years and you can pick out Power Rangers, Pokemon, Teletubbies, Sesame Street and Bob The Builder as high-profile examples. Come right up to date and properties like Peppa Pig and Ben 10 are proof that publishing is not a prerequisite of L&M success. One interesting example is Ludorum’s Chuggington, a TV-based pre-school property designed specifically to take on book-based Thomas The Tank Engine. Introduced in 2009/2010, Chuggington recently secured a worldwide agreement with Mega Brands to produce Chuggington construction toys. The show has 160 licensees while the series has sold to 175 countries.

Zodiak’s Lawlor reaffirms the point: “Our major property at the moment is Waybuloo, which started as a pre- Mattel doll range Monster High school TV property on the BBC.” Despite not having a pre-TX publishing provenance, “we have 38 licensing partners including Fisher Price for plush and Egmont for engage in the brand elsewhere.”

As Higgins’s initial comments imply, engagement via TV our publishing programme.”

Another angle comes from New Zealand-based Pukeko is a crucial part of turning the wheel of value. But that Pictures (a sister company to world-renowned Weta doesn’t mean a property has to begin as a book. “FME Workshop). Pukeko was co-founded by Martin Baynton, looks for IP from everywhere. Currently we are involved a children’s author who wrote a book called Jane And with IP that has been generated from books, graphics, online and TV. Our tween live-action series My Babysitter’s The Dragon and then converted it into a TV series with Weta. Jane was well received but didn’t break out as an A Vampire has great ancillary potential, especially in the L&M hit. So Baynton and his creative team developed a apparel and accessories market. And we’re very excited concept which is first and foremost a TV property. Called about our animated action-adventure series Monsuno. It The WotWots, it stars two enquiring aliens. “We were ca- was originally developed by toy company JAKKS Pacific, reful to make sure that there’s nothing in the show that and there is a huge amount of merchandising potential can act as a cultural barrier, a reason for gatekeepers built into the brand. The toy line features action figures to say it wouldn’t work in their market,” Baynton says. and gadgets, collectables and role play.”

With TVNZ, ABC Australia, Treehouse Canada, The Monsuno demonstrates that book properties that want Hub and various Asian broadcasters on board, Pukeko to make the leap to TV are now competing with toy, gahas managed to sign up American Greetings as licensing ming, online and brand licensing franchises. Toy compartner. “There’s no question licensing is a tough mar- pany Hasbro’s TV network The Hub is a classic case in ket,” says Baynton, “but we are in this for the long-term.” point. So is the reinvention of online destination Moshi One interesting new entrant to the kids market is Monsters as a talking plush range by Vivid (tipped by toy FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME). With proven retailer Hamleys to be a top performer this Christmas).

360-degree brand-building enterprise, how is FME ap- Other eye-catching examples include Angry Birds, which started as a digital property, and Monster High, a Mattel plying what it already knows to the kids market? “FME properties are put through a strategic analysis based on doll range which has now worked its way on to kids’ our ‘wheel of value’, a multiplatform brand management screens via webisodes and a Nick US special.

At Hamleys, you can also buy programme, to identify key offa Justin Bieber singing doll — air areas in which a property which is a reminder that kids could generate revenues,” says “There’s nothing in the L&M has also had to make Bob Higgins, senior vice-presishow that can act as a space for glamour and cedent of programming for childcultural barrier, a reason lebrity spin-offs. America’s ren’s and family entertainment.

Next Top Model, Glee, even “Areas can range from merfor gatekeepers to say MasterChef, are brands which chandise and home entertainit wouldn’t work in their have the power to work off- as ment to mobile and live expemarket” well as on-screen. And don’t riences. Ultimately, if fans are Martin Baynton, Pukeko Pictures rule out revivals: TV has now engaged in the programme on reached a level of maturity that TV, the chances are they will 30 I

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FROM PAGE TO SCREEN

MAGIC Light Pictures’ The Gruffalo’s Child is a half hour animated special based on the best-selling book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Translated into over 40 languages the books have sold over five million copies worldwide.

The Gruffalo’s Child has over 40 licencees in the UK with over 200 separate product lines.

The programme has also launched in Germany, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway.

MARTINE, a character from 60 books selling more than 80 million copies in over 50 countries, is now to star in a series (52 x 13 mins), launched at MIPCOM

by SND (Groupe M6).

The HD series has been produced by French studio Les Armateurs, with Expand Drama, Blue Spirit Studio, BE Films, Éditions Casterman Production, and with the participation of M6 and Playhouse Disney France.

the revival of a dormant TV franchise can be as compelling a business proposition as adapting a book. BBC Worldwide’s Doctor Who and Nick’s multi-million dollar purchase of classic TV property Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles underline this point.

Saban Brands is also making a renewed effort with the classic Power Rangers brand — which recently saw the launch of its 19th series Power Rangers Samurai: “We bought Power Rangers back from Disney 18 months ago because we saw an opportunity to introduce it to a new audience,” says Saban president Elie Dekel. “We assembled a lot of the original team to make sure we captured the elements that made it such a phenomenon — then focused on how to make the TV series relevant to kids today, both in terms of the stories and by raising the quality of the SFX and stunts.”

In TV terms, Saban has found a lot of goodwill from broadcasters, says Dekel: “Nick is our global partner and has had great success with the new Power Rangers Samurai series in the US. Internationally, our distribution partner MarVista has connected with a lot of the broadcasters who knew the show when it was at its peak and saw potential to re-energise the brand.” Not to be overlooked either is the 700-episode back catalogue which Saban can use to sustain interest in the Power Rangers brands all year round.

Crucially, this inherent goodwill towards Power Rangers has extended to toy and gaming partner Namco Bandai.

“Bandai was always a great partner for Power Rangers,” says Dekel. “But what’s changed since Power Rangers launched is the rise of gaming. So now there’s a big opportunity for us to work with Namco Bandai to develop digital content.”

Though Power Rangers is a big job, Saban is also building other brands: “The other priority is Paul Frank which we will be talking about at MIPCOM. It’s an iconic design brand, which has gone global across a range of merchandising categories. We believe the time is now right to develop entertainment properties which appeal to a range of audiences, stretching from family-oriented comedy right through to the infant/pre-school end.”

If there’s another general point worth making before signing off, it’s that successful L&M properties often have box office releases as part of their profile. Titles tipped for L&M success include Transformers, Cars, Spider-Man and Star Wars. In parallel, a number of book-to-TV adaptations use films as a way to freshen their franchise. A current example is Horrid Henry which followed book and TV success with a 3D movie release. That had an immediate impact on the property’s appeal to retailers with new lines in the toy, nightwear and toiletries categories.

Power Rangers Samurai (MarVista Entertainment) 19th series Power Rangers Samurai

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i feature GOING LIVE

Tween audiences go where the action is Live-action series have never been more popular with 10- to 14-year-olds — and the phenomenon is not going away any time soon. Gary Smith reports

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HE GLOBAL success of female-skewed series like iCarly and Hannah Montana, suggests that it is the girls who are the driving force behind the growth of live-action shows for the 10 to 14 — tweens — demographic. And it is natural that young girls would graduate to live-action shows earlier than boys, as girls strive for role models while boys remain obsessed with characters with super-human powers. But according to Christophe Goldberger, head of distribution and marketing at Spain’s Imira Entertainment: “We now see broadcasters interested in repeating this trend with boys. They are looking for live-action shows which skew to the boys’ demographic, using themes such as sports, and games and music. And Imira is running with this trend: “We’re introducing a new series called eBand (26 x 26 mins), a show about a group of boys who experience international success as a music group. The series addresses themes important to teenagers, such as music and new technologies.”

And a live-action version of Imira’s internationally successful Lola & Virginia is currently in the works. “The animated show has been sold in more than 120 territories and we’ve recaptured the essence of the rivalry between the two girls, and added strong male characters,” Goldberger says. “We are definitely seeing a global phenomenon, which has triggered a lot of regional productions, such as the Latin American hit Karku which we are distributing in Europe and was recently placed on Rai. Content which is culturally closer to each “Broadcasters... are region’s identity definitely has a role to play. Asian productions looking for live-action are the ones doing best in the reshows which skew to gion, and the same goes for Latin the boys’ American production in their demographic, using territory. Both Lola & Virginia and eBand have a European flathemes such as sports, vour which appeals to kids here.” and games and music” According to Ed Galton, chief Christophe Goldberger, creative officer and managing Imira Entertainment director of London-based distribution company Cake, live action’s popularity is being 32 I

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New Disney live-action series Kickin’ It

Imira’s internationally successful Lola & Virginia

www.onlinescreenings.com The world’s largest online library of new children’s, youth, documentary and factual programmes

i feature Tween audiences go where the action is children’s and family enterdriven by a combination of fac“It is a natural tainment at FremantleMedia tors. “Companies like Disney progression for kids to Enterprises points to the deand Nickelodeon are producing turn to live action as mographic’s growing sophistigreat content. And great content cation. “Once children hit their always draws an audience. From they get older — and tween years they are increasinHannah Montana and Drake the popularity of gly selective about what they & Josh to iCarly and House Of recent series shows watch. They are looking for Anubis, tweens really engage how well certain viewing choices that reflect their with the shows. Also, it is a naown real-life topics and situatural progression for kids to turn producers have tions, characters that they can to live action as they get older — tapped into this” relate to, and exciting stories,” and the popularity of recent series Ed Galton, he says. “Live action can offer shows how well certain producers Cake Entertainment that. The trick is to then take this have tapped into this,” he says. relatable concept and heighten Cake’s slate includes T he the fantasy elements, providing Sparticle Mystery, a sci-fi series that takes tween programming into new areas. “We can’t the audience with escapist, aspirational entertainment.” emulate Disney or Nickelodeon,” Galton says. “Instead we At MIPTV 2011 FremantleMedia announced a distriwork with producers who can offer something different.” bution deal with Disney which will see Toronto-based Cake series including the supernatural Dead Gorgeous production company Fresh TV’s My Babysitter’s A and Aifric, about a young girl struggling inside a quirky Vampire air on Disney Channels and Disney XD chanfamily, are examples of this expansion of the genre. nels, in the US and international territories. “The show Bob Higgins, senior vice-president of programming for premiered on Disney Channel US in June 2011 and in its first week attracted an average of 3.3 million viewers.

One of Disney’s most successful series launches ever, it won its time slot across all cable channels and was the 14th-most-watched cable show of the week,” Higgins says. “Another great show that we have is Really Me, also from Fresh TV. The series has been one of Family Channel’s highest-rated original series and we’ve just commenced production on 13 additional episodes.”

Steve Grieder, executive vice-president, Nickelodeon International and programme sales, Viacom International Media Networks, is part of a company acknowledged as highly influential in tweens’ live action. “As far back as 1991, when Clarissa Explains It All launched, followed by hit programmes such as Drake & Josh, Zoey 101 and Unfabulous, Nickelodeon recognised that the tween demo was being under-served,” he says. “Our focus on qualities such as drama, comedy and music — and the integration and juxtaposition of these qualities — helps drive the popularity of the genre, continually evolving it.”

Recently, The Hard Times Of RJ Berger has seen international success on MTV and both Victorious and Big Time Rush are global success stories. “Victorious and Big Time Rush follow the lives of aspiring young musicians who live their dreams, with the audience following their every step along the way,” Grieder says. “The stars of the show have even gone on to make their dreams in the show a reality — Big Time Rush have just released their album internationally.”

Lucinda Whiteley, joint managing director of Oxford UK-based Novel Entertainment, also singles out quality and relevance as major factors: “It’s down to excellent Fresh TV’s My Babysitter’s A Vampire

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TWEENS TV GETS INTERACTIVE

Jonathan Boseley JONATHAN Boseley, vicepresident, programming and production, Disney Channels UK & Ireland: “We know that TV’s a truly interactive experience for tweens, and 2011 has seen more audience interaction and appreciation than ever before. Our mission is to put choice in our kids’ hands so they can engage with Disney Channels via as many platforms as possible. A great example is our Wizards Of Waverly Place online and programming event. To launch series four of Wizards Of Waverly Place on Disney Channel, kids were invited to go online at disneychannel.co.uk to take part in our first ‘social TV’ event. Fans came together to share the experience and to chat around the hugely successful show. On air, the channel premiered the new season, while online, fans were able to watch sneak peeks of Wizards’ content, take part in polls, and chat with the show’s British star, Gregg Sulkin, who joined the event live online from Los Angeles.” Two new Disney live action series, ANT Farm and Kickin’ It, will be launching in the UK & Ireland after the summer.

comic writing and good production values, plus dealing with issues which are entirely relevant to their lives. Plus an unlimited appetite among tweens for their own heroes and heroines, [who are] just like them but also with something special about them too,” she says. “And it’s very global in the sense that tweens are by and large all concerned with the same things; growing up but still feeling like a child, stepping out into the big wide world but also wanting and needing the security of their own little world, and getting to know each other, for better or for worse. It can sometimes be confusing, but there is no doubt that the potential is powerful! It’s all about appointment-to-view and eye-level television which works for its audience, whichever platform you are operating from. So we would always use a multiplatform strategy but at the same time we focus on the core values of good writing, good storytelling and good production values, to suit the medium and the audience.”

Novel is currently producing a third TV series of Horrid Henry plus a live-action 3D Horrid Henry movie.

Matt Cooperstein, newly appointed head of the UKbased distributor Content Television’s kids and teens division, echoes Whiteley’s point: “The ongoing popularity of live-action series for tweens is always driven by the ability to create realistic environments, or compelling

The BAFTA-nominated CBBC hit Young Dracula

fantasies in live-action series that teenagers can easily relate to. Silly or edgier humour appeals to both the younger and older teenagers as well as storylines infused with pop culture references, social commentary, mystery solving and surrealism. All these elements add to the variety within the genre and ensure that content can always remain fresh and up-to-date for its current audience.”

At MIPCOM, Content Television will be launching the third season of BA FTA-nominated CBBC hit Young Dracula. Cooperstein says: “It’s an irreverent, gothic comedy drama following the unpredictable advent ures of V lad, the son of C ount D rac u la , a s he t r ie s to f it i n a m id st E ng l i sh suburbia. We are also actively seeking top-class properties to offer for the fall 2012 schedules.”

Finn Arnesen, senior vice-president of international distribution and development at LA-based Hasbro Studios believes the idea that tweens do not care about TV is not true. “I don’t think teens are indifferent to TV, they just watch the shows on different platforms and in different places,” he observes.

“It’s all about “I think they are indifferent appointments to view to the deliver y system and see TV shows as content that and eye-level television they can access anywhere which works for its and any time they want. audience, whichever O u r m i n i- ser ies C lue platform you are is on all the platforms where the t weens are, operating from” but we always approach Lucinda Whitely, distribution of our Novel Entertainment content appropriately.”

Dig ita l plat for m s a re important, but content must be tailored accordingly. “Multiplatform is hugely important, but it has be the right offering. We are sometimes guilty in TV of a one-size-fits-all approach,” says Steven Andrew, creative director of The Foundation, part of the Zodiak Media Group.

“It’s better to ask, ‘What are we trying to say, who are we trying to say it to?’ It might be games, it might be mobile, it be social, it might be through personalisation… but it can still be TV. According to A ndrew it is also about the jokes: “As my son often reminds me, people like to laugh. Shared laughter is one of those great universal joys, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that the recent growth spurt of live-action tween shows is predominantly comedy.

Indeed, three years ago we all recognised that the there was a great opportunity for tween live-action comedy and I suspect that this is a trend that will continue for some time.” www.mipjunior.com I magazine I September 2011 I 35

i feature TRANSMEDIA STORYTELLING

New ways for kids to look at the world It’s been some years since children’s broadcasters started to move into the multiplatform world. These days the buzzword is transmedia. So how much has really changed, and what does it mean for kids’ content? Rachel Murrell finds out

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ODAY every kids’ show has its own website and downloadable episodes on every conceivable platform. Many can boast at least one app as well. But how far has this genuinely transformed storytelling on television? Is anyone making money out of it? And is it going BRB’s Zoobaboo — to change the way we do business at MIPCOM? from TV to app It depends who you ask. NHK is exploring interactivity with Bitworld, a cross-platform entertainment project for kids that combines a dramatic quest narrative with studio games. Four times a year NHK runs special editions in which viewers play an online game in real time to rescue the character on the television. “Players at home can genuinely influence the story,” says NHK head of international programme development Kazumasa Iida.

“Two endings of the drama are prepared and even the producers don’t know what the outcome will be.”

Each special edition sees over 100,000 kids participate in Schwartz says that with FME’s next two kids’ shows — boys’ Japan. “We are learning how to motivate children to want action adventure series Monsuno and pre-school adventure to do the online game to save the character, we’re creating animation Tree Fu Tom — the focus is firmly on getting the new games, and we’re ensuring the capacity of our servers story right for television before developing the digital eleso that we don’t let the viewers down.” ments. And it’s an approach he’d commend to others.

NHK is now working on Phi Brain, an animated series “People pitch me transmedia shows all the time,” says about a high school boy with exceptional ability to solve Schwartz. “But so often they miss out the critical element: stopuzzles. Phi Brain will be part of Anime Mileage, NHK’s ry. If there isn’t a great story at the heart of it, it won’t work.” rewards scheme that rewards viewer loyalty with excluArne Lohmann, director of cosive behind-the-scenes movies, production and development, cast interviews, and additional children and youth at ZDF animation.

Enterprises, is equally sceptical “We now work with Sander Schwartz, head of about the revenue-making potenbrands, publishing children and family entertial of online games. “The online tainment at FremantleMedia companies and toy elements help to build and extend Enterprises (FME), sees transthe brand,” he says. “But our main companies directly on media as primarily a markerevenue drivers are television games without any TV” ting tool. “There’s been a great shows. We see games as mainly Carlos Biern, BRB Internacional deal of hype around the signifimarketing, and most are free. cance of transmedia,” Schwartz “The games have to fit the brand,” says. “But for me, transmedia Lohmann says. “The website for enables producers and creators to take their brand to new The Elephant Princess, for example, allows the user to mix places to reach audiences. Until there’s a viable business their own songs and is designed for sharing. It doesn’t make model, it’s an additional element, not a core one.” money, but it’s great marketing.” Similarly, with the Dance

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Academy website, you can choreograph dances and share them with your friends. Apps, however, could be the turning point. “Apps offer a new business model because this is the first time we’re able to charge for additional content.”

Carlos Biern, EVP coproductions & worldwide distribution, BRB Internacional, is developing apps for a number of shows including Canimals and Zoobaboo. It’s not the same as television, he says. “We are learning how to write and produce in a creative and natural way.”

And it’s changing the way Biern does business. “We now work with brands, publishing companies and toy companies directly on games without any TV. It never happened before. And we’ve learnt that success isn’t just about making something unique and imaginative, but finding the easiest way for it to be found in stores that will have millions of goods to download.”

Hitching a ride on the World Cup is one way to do that, as Zinkia, maker of Pocoyo discovered. “We modded Pocoyize Yourself — which allows users to make their own Pocoyostyle avatar — for the iPhone at the time of the World Cup,” said managing director Maria Doolan. “So we made lots of football shirts to get us noticed. And it worked.”

Capitalising on educational values is paying dividends for Scrawl Studios in Singapore. Scrawl began evolving a transmedia strategy for its animated micro superhero Nanoboy in 2009, says CEO Seng Choon Meng. Building on its existing website, Scrawl created e-learning modules (short clips, informative gaming, and an interactive quiz) and books – both the physical kind, and e-books.

“The e-learning is designed for use in classrooms and is being distributed in Singapore through the Learning Management System adopted by the Ministry of Education here,” Seng says. “We are paid an annual license fee per student by the school.”

Scrawl is also launching five graphic novels based on the same theme of health “At this stage, we are education, and is developing these into efocusing on free apps books for the iPad. — not many apps can The strategy is clear: “By taking on anrecoup production cillary media spin-offs ourselves, from the production to distribution of content, costs” we broaden our revenue model and diverMikyeong Jung, Iconix sify the sales channels, thereby increasing our chances of recovering our development costs and generating meaningful profit. A concerted launch of the property across multiple platforms will also heighten the brand’s visibility.”

Mikyeong Jung, executive director of business at Korean animation house Iconix, says the company has more than 10 apps in development/production for pre-school properties Pororo and Tayo The Little Bus. “From research, we know that animation is the most popular category in Korea, with downloads of full episodes being very popular,” says Jung. “We are developing educational games and VOD apps for iPhone and Android. At this stage, we are focusing on free apps — not many apps can recoup production costs. So even though Iconix’ first Pororo app got 200,000 downloads in its first 10 days, we are still figuring out how to monetise this.”

For Henry Gagnon of HGagnon Distribution there’s a different challenge. How to bring a web project to television. Juliette En Directe is a web series from Passez Go about a feisty tween tackling life in a new town. Each week there’s a four-minute weekly live-action episode, short online quizzes, games and artwork challenges ostensibly posted by Juliette from her bedroom cupboard.

“This project started as a pilot funded by TeleQuebec and the Independent Production Fund in Canada,” Gagnon says. “The broadcaster wanted to grow its audience indirectly by targeting a younger crowd that does not watch television but does consume the web. The idea is that fans of the web series will become fans of the television show.”

The web series — currently only available in French — is available both as a finished programme and as a format.

Season one attracted 750,000 views and the producers are developing a second web series to air in January 2012, with plans to create apps later.

Another web property that may head for television is Art Of Crime’s Crimeville, an MMO (Massively Multi-player Online

Crimeville, an MMO from Art Of Crime www.mipjunior.com I magazine I September 2011 I 37

i feature New ways for kids to look at the world game) for players aged 8 to 12. Players access the fictional town of Crimeville online, by mobile or with trading cards, to help two zany characters — canine Detective Diggs and his skunky sidekick Chasey — solve comedy crimes. The business model is freemium, which means it’s free to play but you can buy additional assets with giggles, the game’s virtual currency, or Euros. The game notched up 25,000 users in its native Denmark in its first few months, and is now rolling out in Sweden and Norway and has passed 46,000 users in the first three weeks.

“We’re reaching 3.4% of our target audience — tweens aged 8 to 12 years — within 14 days of launching in Sweden and Norway,” CEO Ida Brinck-Lund says. “And we’re signing up more than one new user every two minutes.”

She describes the consumer experience as ‘triangular gaming’. “Transmedia is rather vague and is often confused with cross-media,” Brinck-Lund says. “‘Triangular gaming’ specifically refers to companies creating content for the same universe on a minimum of three platforms. In our case, that’s our MMO, our trading cards, and a mobile AR game that we’re ready to go into production with.”

Brinck-Lund would like to see Crimeville on television, and it is presold to DR TV. But it will take more than one broadcast partner to go into production. “It’s not easy to communicate how an interactive story could work to broadcasters.”

And it’s not just their thinking about narrative structure that needs to be shaken up, she says. In Brinck-Lund’s view, television is no longer central to children’s IP. “Broadcasters tend to see transmedia producers as just wanting to be on television to drive up numbers,” she says. “But we can do that for ourselves. The reason we want to be on television is because it’s one of the best ways to create character engagement and it’s a great storytelling platform.”

As the distributor of Dinosaur Train, The Jim Henson Company is using a freemium model to extend the brand online, according to president and COO Peter Schube. “Our transmedia strategy has been to balance compelling free content that builds our viewership and our fan community (like AR and

in-video gaming as well as an ongoing partnership with geocaching.com), with for-pay content (such as downloadable TV episodes, games and apps) that benefits from wide distribution and can provide a richer experience for our audience.”

But Schube has some concerns about funding. “In the coming years, buyers will expect kids’ television series that reach their audiences from multiple platforms and touch points. The big question is whether or not these TV networks will participate in, and fund, content that is not core to television, or if they will merely expect producers and licensors to bear the expense and execution.”

Juliette En Directe (HGagnon Distribution)

Scrawl Studios’ animated micro superhero Nanoboy

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Dinosaur Train: The Jim Henson Company is using a freemium model to extend the brand online POCOYO: A DIGITAL HIT AN EARLY entrant to the digital world, preschool brand Pocoyo has notched up 50 million unique visits per month on Youtube, five million unique visitors to its blog, and five million Twitter followers. And while it doesn’t all make money, it’s invaluable brand marketing.

Pocoyo Apps are also successful. Kids can download episodes, and there’s Pocoyo Game Box for iPad and iPhone, which offers five different minigames for kids aged three to six. Points scored in the games are redeemable on the Pococyo website.

Zinkia’s Maria Doolan has some simple advice: “Concentrate on quality to get those all-important five-star reviews. And be creative in order to get good positioning in the app store.”

tips &tools Dear Participant,

The information is divided into eight sections:

The entire MIPJunior Team is committed to ensuring your event experience goes as smoothly and efficiently as possible so you can focus on achieving your objectives.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

This document is intended to assist you in your preparation for MIPJunior. The following information will provide you with the necessary tools to arrive with a full meeting schedule in place and an in-depth understanding of the market.

PREPARING FOR MY MARKET TRANSPORTATION DON’T FORGET TO PACK...

ACCESSING MIPJUNIOR HOW DOES MIPJUNIOR WORK? MIPJUNIOR SERVICES KEEPING IN CONTACT DURING THE MARKET MIPJUNIOR ONLINE SCREENINGS

1 PREPARING FOR MY MARKET

2 TRANSPORTATION

MAKE CONTACTS AND APPOINTMENTS BEFORE ARRIVAL To get the most out of your experience, we encourage you to identify potential business partners and schedule meetings in advance using the MIPJunior database.

BOOK YOUR FLIGHT TO NICE Travel agencies MIPJunior has two official travel agency partners who can help find the best air fares:

RESERVE YOUR ACCOMMODATION The Hotel Reservations Service is available to help you address your booking and accommodation requirements. For further information, please contact: Tel: +33 (0)1 41 90 49 22 E-mail: hotel.mipcom@reedmidem.com DON’T MISS MIPJUNIOR CONFERENCES & EVENTS Consult the MIPJunior conference programme details in this Preview magazine. MIPJunior conferences are open to all participants free of charge on presentation of their badge, depending on venue capacity. Consult our website, www.mipjunior.com, for further details.

ORGANISING AN EVENT If you wish to organise an event during MIPJunior, such as a cocktail party, screening or press conference, our Events Department is available to offer advice and assistance: Tel: +33 (0)1 41 90 44 96 E-mail: info.events@reedmidem.com NEED HELP? Reed MIDEM staff members are available to answer questions and provide one-on-one assistance before and after the market. Please do not hesitate to ask their advice or assistance: Tel: +33 (0)1 41 90 44 41/42 E-mail: customerhelpdesk@reedmidem.com

ë Silver Voyages (France and Southern Europe): Tel: +33 (0)1 45 61 90 59 E-mail: silvervoyages@wanadoo.fr ë Dovetail Foks (UK and Northern Europe) Tel: +44 (0)20 7025 1515 E-mail: exhibition@dovetailfoks.com Airline and travel discounts Find the lowest airfares with Air France and KLM Global Meetings. Take advantage of discounts of up to 47% on flights within France, and up to 10% on international flights (conditions apply).

To benefit from these special offers, access www.airfranceklm-globalmeetings.com and use event ID code: 13185AF. These rates are valid from 26/09/2011 to 11/10/2011.

For more information about the terms and conditions of these special fares, check online at www.mipcom.com.

AIRPORT The Nice Cote d’Azur International Airport (NCE) offers direct flights to many cities around the world. It is situated 24km (15 miles) southeast of Cannes, 3045 minutes by car or 50 minutes by bus from the city centre.

Tel: +33 (0)820 423 333 Website: www.nice.aeroport.fr

AIRPORT TRANSFERS Car rental Rent a car through MIPJunior partner Sixt for special rates reserved for MIPJunior participants. To take advantage of this deal, use promotion code: 9963828. For more information, consult the transport section under “Prepare” on www.mipcom.com, visit www.sixt.com or dial +33(0)8 20 00 74 98. Sixt has agency locations at Nice airport and in Cannes.

The motorway toll from Nice to Cannes is €2.70.

Payment must be made by cash, cheque or credit card. Please call +33 (0)8 92 70 70 30 for further information.

Helicopter Azur Helicoptere makes sixminute flights regularly between Nice Airport and Cannes.

A one-way ticket costs €125, per person, including tax (10% off regular rates). A free shuttle service is available in Cannes for transfers between the heliport and your final destination downtown. A minimum of three people is required for each flight.

Tel: +33 (0)4 93 90 40 70 E-mail: info@azurhelico.com Member benefits available here.

Limousine MC Limousine specialises in every aspect of limousine services, including airport transfers and the provision of cars for all occasions. One-way service from Nice Airport for one to three people costs approximately €100.

Tel: +33(0)4 92 18 80 80 E-mail: reedmidem@mclimousine.com

www.mipjunior.com I magazine I September 2011 I 39

itips&tools Bus Bus 210 (Xpress Cannes) is an express line from Nice Airport to Cannes’ town hall. Buses run every half hour, with trips taking about 50 minutes. The Nice Airport ticket desk is located in Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. One-way/return tickets cost €15.60/ €25.50. A one-way ticket for four people costs €41.

Visit www.rca.tm.fr for further information.

Taxi Taxis are available at Nice Airport, from Terminal 1 (Gate A1) and Terminal 2 (Gate A3).

The average taxi fare between Cannes and Nice airport is €70, with trips taking about 30 minutes.

A night rate applies between 19.00-7.00.

To reserve a taxi, call the Allo Taxi Cannes 24/7 hotline at +33 (0)8 90 71 22 27, or their daytime number at +33 (0)6 20 26 65 94 (available 9.0018.00). Visit www.taxicannes.fr for further information.

Train For information about rail travel between Nice and Cannes or for additional destinations, please call 3635 (France only) or +33 (0)8 92 35 35 35 (international number). A one-way ticket between Nice and Cannes costs between €4.50 and €8.00.

IN CANNES Free MIPJunior shuttle bus service The free MIPJunior shuttle bus service is available to all delegates, running between hotels located outside Cannes and the Palais des Festivals throughout the exhibition period. Schedules are available in hotels and at the Registration Desk.

Cannes local buses A local bus network services Cannes and the surrounding areas (€1 for a oneway ticket).

Car parks Numerous covered public car parks are located within walking distance of the Carlton Hotel.

These can be paid for with a magnetic card available at the Tourism Office at the Palais des Festivals.

MIPJunior strongly advises you to book well ahead of the market.

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ë Equiptech: Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie, Gare Maritime Fax: +33 (0)4 92 98 70 01 E-mail: equiptech@cote-azur.cci.fr

COLLECTING YOUR BADGE To access MIPJunior, you will need to collect your official badge and bag at the Registration Desk.

ë Uniparc Cannes SNC Tel: +33 (0)4 93 68 79 02 / 13 E-mail: mgaufillet@interparking.com jjolly@interparking.com

ë Registration opening hours Pre-registration: save time by registering before the market Friday, September 30 14.00-19.30

Tourist information The Cannes Tourism Office is located at the Palais des Festivals on La Croisette.

Tel: +33 (0)4 93 39 24 53 E-mail: tourisme@semec.com Website: www.cannes-on-line.com 3 DON’T FORGET TO PACK...

YOUR INVOICE Foreign participants are eligible for a refund on French Value Added Tax (VAT) under certain conditions. TEVEA International, the fiscal advisor located at MIPCOM in Palais des Festivals, can organise and process your VAT refund request.

Remember to bring the original copies of your invoices with you to the market and to visit TEVEA before you leave Cannes.

YOUR E-TICKET If you have registered in advance, you will receive an e-ticket. Please print your e-ticket and bring it with you to Cannes. The bar code will facilitate identification and make collecting your badge faster and easier.

4 ACCESSING MIPJUNIOR

HOTEL MARTINEZ The Hotel Martinez is situated on the famous La Croisette and is clearly signposted throughout Cannes. The hotel’s address is: 73 La Croisette 06400 Cannes – France For more information, call +33 (0)4 92 98 73 00, or visit www.hotel-martinez.com OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION Country code: +33 Time zone: GMT +1 Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50 Hz, round two-pin plug Measuring system: metric Currency: euro

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ë Registration during the event Saturday, October 1 8.00-19.00 Sunday, October 2 8.30-19.00 ë If you received an e-ticket, please bring it with you. The bar code will facilitate identification and speed up the printing of your badge. ë If you are a journalist, reporter or photographer, please go directly to the Registration Desk to collect your badge. Please note that you must register as a member of the press before you arrive in Cannes. ë If you are conference speaker, please go directly to the Registration Desk to collect your badge. ë Badge types: badges indicate if the wearer is a participant, buyer, press or official. Please note that only buyers have access to the digital video library. ë Please remember to wear your MIPJunior badge at all times.

Your MIPCOM Badge could also be delivered at the MIPJunior Registration Desk.

FIRST-TIMER ORIENTATION AND DISCOVERY TOUR If you have never attended MIPJunior before or would like to meet our team, please join us for our First-Timer Orientation and Discovery Tour, taking place Saturday, October 1, 2011 (8.45), in the Licensing Lounge at the Hotel Martinez.

The events will include a welcome drink, orientation session and guided tour of the show.

Take advantage of this opportunity to receive oneon-one assistance and advice on how to achieve your goals during the market.

5 HOW DOES MIPJUNIOR WORK?

FIND OUT WHO IS AT MIPJUNIOR, 2011 When you check in at the Registration Desk, you will receive a MIPJunior delegate’s bag and catalogue/guide. This publication lists all the companies and delegates present at the market, as well as the programmes available in the digital video library.

VIEWING PROGRAMMES Buyers can watch a wide range of cutting-edge programmes in individual screening booths. This simple and effective system exposes programmes to the largest possible buying audience.

When buyers pick up their badges, they will receive a smartcard to access the digital video library. Once connected to a PC in one of the screening booths, they will be able to start screening. An interface will help them select programmes or carry out advanced searches, according to the criteria and products listed in the programme catalogue.

Screening hours ë Saturday, October 1 18.30-19.00 ë Sunday, October 2 8.30-19.00 The screening booths areas will be available exclusively for buyers.

Depending on availability, producers and distributors can also accompany buyers who wish to screen their registered programmes.

Simply ask the registration staff on site.

LISTS OF BUYERS WHO HAVE SCREENED PROGRAMMES & CONTENT LISTS FOR BUYERS ë Production and distribution companies with programmes listed in the catalogue and digital video library can view the names and contact information of the buyers who have screened their programmes. ë Each buyer can review a list of the content they have screened during the event.

These lists are available at four stations located in the Networking Lounge.

Important: Final lists of buyers who have screened your programmes during MIPJunior and content lists for buyers will be available by request only, beginning Monday, October 3. ë If you are a MIPCOM exhibitor or participant, lists will be available Monday, October 3 (14.00) Thursday, October 6 (18.00), at the Palais des Festivals (location to be confirmed). ë If you are not a MIPCOM participant, lists will be available as from Monday, October 3 on MIPJunior Online Screenings.

Please note that we no longer return screening materials sent to the digital video library.

6 MIPJUNIOR SERVICES

We offer an extensive range of services to make your stay in Cannes as pleasant as possible.

BUSINESS CENTRE Phone, fax, photocopying, typing and printing services are available in the hotel’s Business Centre.

CLOAKROOM Take advantage of the hotel’s free cloakroom to avoid carrying your coat or bag around all day.

THE NEWS Don’t hesitate to contact our News Team with details of your breaking news and deals.

HOTEL HOTLINE The MIPJunior Hotel Reservation Service offers a 24-hour hotline to help you with issues regarding hotel check-in and check-out. The hotline can also respond to any accommodation queries.

Tel: +33 (0)6 85 54 30 53 MOBILE PHONES & 3G DATA CARDS RENTAL CellHire, MIPJunior’s mobile telephone partner, can equip you with an international cell phone during the market. You will receive free incoming calls while in France and enjoy competitive international rates. 3G data cards are also available should you need unlimited wireless internet access throughout the event.

Reserve your mobile phone, Blackberry, SIM card or 3G data card well ahead of the market at www.cellhire.fr/reedmidem or +33 (0)6 83 58 44 22 E-mail Cellhire for further information: France: paris@cellhire.com UK: york@cellhire.com US: newyork@cellhire.com 7 KEEPING IN CONTACT DURING

THE MARKET

NETWORKING LOUNGE This comfortable and functional meeting place for MIPJunior participants is the ideal place to make new contacts and conduct business.

Assistants will be available to give you the information you need and help arrange your appointments.

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itips&tools COMMUNICATING WITH PARTICIPANTS BY E-MAIL Use e-mail to schedule your meetings efficiently before the show and receive messages from other participants before arriving in Cannes. All participants’ e-mail addresses are posted on the MIPJunior online database, unless they have chosen not to publish this information.

Use our e-mail stations to send and check e-mail during the market, free of charge. Kiosks are located in the Networking Lounge.

8 MIPJUNIOR ONLINE SCREENINGS

MIPJunior Online Screenings will go live October 3, 2011. The service will allow buyers to continue watching MIPJunior programmes after the market closes, and will be free of charge until 31st July 2012.

Discover this service during MIPJunior by visiting the demonstration booth in the Networking Lounge.

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