10 minute read
Kidscreen Summit Virtual - a preview
Total Licensing is a media partner of the upcoming Kidscreen Summit. Here, we bring you some insights and highlights of the summit, as well as an interview with Jocelyn Christie, VP & Publisher, Kidscreen and Maggie Wilkins Events Sales Manager, as well as a snapshot of the agenda and some of the releases you can expect to see.
Ongoing COVID-19 uncertainty meant that the organisers of Kidscreen Summit quickly shifted gears to build a robust virtual event experience that will take place from February 8 to March 5, 2021. At the heart of the reimagined Kidscreen Summit Virtual experience is a vibrant delegate lounge environment with various options for exhibitors, and also communal space where individual attendees can connect with one another for scheduled meetings and serendipitous networking. To facilitate meetings, each delegate will have a customized private video conferencing room with integrated messaging and scheduling tools to make the virtual pitching experience much smoother and more personal than other software solutions. Kidscreen Summit Virtual will kick off with a market week that’s focused on bringing the industry together to connect and do business.
We caught up with the Jocelyn Christie and Maggie Wilkins, to see how they have adapted to the challenges of taking everything online.
How have you adapted during this year of very uncertain times, and when did it become clear that you would be running a virtual event?
We held out as long as logistically possible on making the decision to move forward with a virtual event because we were initially hopeful about the pandemic situation improving in time to host a live event in February. But by August/September, it had become clear that a second wave was playing out, and that is when we changed direction. Luckily, some of our company’s other brands had been pioneering virtual events since May, so there was a lot of learning that we could take advantage of around producing webinars and running virtual networking sessions successfully. And we fortunately had time to talk to our industry about their new business needs, and what they liked and didn’t like about some virtual events they had already experienced.
It must take an enormous amount of planning and redirection – how have the team coped with the changes?
Brunico has always been a streamlined and nimble company that’s able to adapt quickly to new opportunities that develop in the markets we operate in. But we’ve reached a whole new level of doing that this past year. Each and every person on the Kidscreen team - and everyone on the other teams they work with internally - has risen to the challenge and come up with really creative solutions that allowed us to do things differently this year. I’m so proud of them, and happy to be a part of such an innovative and hard-working group of people.
And tell us a little about the platform you have built, and how you have made it user-friendly?
Our revamped kidscreenXchange platform houses the full Kidscreen Summit experience. Our goal was to provide our attendees with an event environment where they could easily connect and meet with each other, share their projects, attend conference sessions and meet new people through business networking - all in one place. All delegate meetings take place within kidscreenXchange, eliminating the need to share account info to access external video conferencing software, and the platform has been designed to be really straight-forward and user-friendly. We know not everyone is comfortable with new tech, though, so we will have an info desk in the delegate lounge where people can come and get help anytime during Market Week. And there will also be a help chat feature on kidscreenXchange and a Customer Support team that attendees can email if they have questions about navigating the platform and the event.
How many attendees do you anticipate?
We are on track to welcome approximately 1,500 delegates to Kidscreen Summit Virtual.
How easy will it be for visitors to attend screenings?
All of our conference sessions (keynotes, fireside chats, research presentations, panel discussions, master classes, buyer briefings) will be easy to access through links on the agenda in kidscreenXchange. And they’ll also be recorded and posted online for ondemand catch-up viewing until April 2. Attendees are also able to check out videos for projects that have been uploaded into the Kidscreen Summit Virtual screening library. These projects can be filtered by genre and by the phase the project is in (i.e. development, production, completed), and reaching out to start a chat with the teams behind them is an easy, oneclick process.
A sample of what’s on the packed agenda…
MASTER CLASS - Perfecting your virtual pitch
Business Pass Exclusive! Pitching is an art form. But what works in real life doesn’t always work online. Take your virtual pitch to the next level with practical, hands-on tips from producers who’ve successfully sold shows in lockdown, and hear what works best when it comes to getting on a buyer’s radar from your home office.
Brainpick—All Things Digital
Top experts across the world of YouTube, podcasting, VR and more, will answer questions you may have about moving your content to the virtual world. YouTube - Jon Gisby OTT - Vikrant Mathur Podcasting - Maggie McGuire Online Safety - Shai Samet VR/AR - Loretta Todd
Brainpick—Leaning into Licensing
Looking for advice on how to take your product to the world of consumer products, and beyond? A panel of experts is available to answer your questions about all things licensing. Live Experiences - Donna FriedmanMier Retail Strategies - Bill Graham Publishing - Caitlin Friedman Toyetic Character Development - Yurie Rocha
KEYNOTE—Dr. Jane Goodall on finding hope in dark days
Famed environmentalist Dr. Jane Goodall has worked with millions of young people around the world, inspiring them to take action in their communities through the Jane Goodall Institute and Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots. Recognized for her tireless and vital conservation efforts, she spreads her message through optimism—a visionary idea in today’s unsteady world. At Kidscreen Summit, Dr. Goodall will share her unique experience, and explore the role the kids entertainment industry can play in helping children develop a lifelong love of the natural world. Featuring: Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE UN Messenger of Peace & Founder The Jane Goodall Institute
Pitch Doctoring - Stephanie Betts, Sidney Clifton, Heath Kenny
Get primed to pitch your project more effectively! In these 15-minute consults, some of the industry’s most talented pitchers will take a look at your materials and give you advice on how to deliver them with more punch.
Speed Pitching - Amazon Kids, DeAKids, CBC Kids
Connect with top broadcasters and investors who have the power to greenlight your project. This highly effective format features eight-minute meetings—plenty of time to deliver the perfect pitch.
Kidscreen Awards
Emma Hunter is back by popular demand to host our 12th-annual Kidscreen Awards ceremony, where we’ll celebrate the year’s best work in kids programming, broadcasting and digital media. She’ll be joined by favorite furry red Muppet, Sesame Street’s Elmo, who’ll be on hand to give Emma tips on hosting the special event.
Chat Rooms—Tackling Inclusion
Business Pass Exclusive! Join our hosts for small group conversations about important topics facing today’s industry.
Tackling racism head on
Modelling good behavior is a start, but kids shows also need to tackle racism directly. Let’s talk about how.
Diverse creative teams
Building a diverse writers room seems daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Host: Karissa Valencia
LGBTQ characters now
Why you don’t need a hit on your hands before you can introduce an LGBTQ character.
Race perception and kids
How do kids and their families perceive their own culture and identities, how is that reflected back to them in media, and what can we do better to change the narrative?
KEYNOTE—Reframing the story: How to deconstruct racism through the tales we tell
From TV shows to headlines, all stories have a structure. You know what else has a structure? Racism— that’s what makes it systemic. Watch along as Emmy-winning comedy writer, author and Obama White House advisor Baratunde Thurston explores how we can reframe the actions we (and our characters) take to be more inclusive, and the role content producers play in shaping how kids see race on screen. Featuring: Baratunde Thurston Writer/Activist/Comedian
Confronting your biases
Unconscious or implicit biases exist in everything we do, and they can often be a big barrier to achieving meaningful diversity on the teams we recruit and the shows we put on screen. These experts in implicit bias training help people better understand their daily discriminatory behavior and will offer tips and tricks to conquer the prejudices you didn’t even know you had.
A snapshot of some of the properties
coming to Kidscreen this year
TeamTo will introduce Winter Is Here - three animated holiday specials. In Fox Garden, a fox finds refuge from a cold and snowy evening in a greenhouse. Shy little Sacha overcomes his fears and comes to the rescue with Chickpea, a pet chicken. He is amazed to find that the Fox had babies and learns that friendship is about reaching out. In Something’s Fishy, Penguin is ice fishing, and the fish aren’t biting. But why? A comedic cast of polar characters gather, chatter, wager guesses and generally, aggravate Penguin, until they hear something below the ice. Snowy stars Neige, a young snowgirl living in Snowland with her elf parents. Today is her first hockey practice, but also the day her dream of flying like superhero Snowman comes true as she rescues a little rabbit from a mighty Yeti. TeamTo will also debut Tiny island, and Ninn - based on a series of original graphic novels by JeanMichel Darlot and Johan Pilet, Ninn is an ambitious animated limited series for the 7+ audience.
Monica Levy, Head of Sales, Federation Kids & Family, spoke with Total Licensing about her plans for the Summit.
Can you outline your main aims at Kidscreen? How do you plan to adapt to the fact this will be a virtual show?
Kidscreen has always been a gathering of the greatest professionals in the children’s business in a warm, hospitable environment – one to look forward to especially as it takes place in vibrant Miami! Now that the whole world has gone ‘virtual’ and we must get used to seeing each other in a little box on our screen – I think most would agree it is not the same as catching up face to face. The lunches and dinners are no longer, and we have to have meaningful contact in 30 minutes as well as pitch our shows … Challenging, needless to say! But we will still do our best within this virtual world with the hope that down the line we can get back to some form of normality.
On that subject, how has your business weathered the past year’s crisis and have you noted any positives in particular? Do you think that the current time has merely accelerated a move toward digital?
All that notwithstanding, we can all agree that many positive aspects have comme to see the light during this Pandemic. We have gained at least 10 years in practice and know-how; the way we can work so independently, need less office space and be so efficient (even if still in pyjamas). Time will tell if we travel less in the future or not. Although the television business seems to be thriving, there have been many layoffs and re-structuring amongst the larger corporations.
Who in particular are you looking to connect with at the show?
During this Kidscreen, our goal is to better understand the (perhaps) changed programming needs and to meet the new people responsible for kids entertainment.
And you are up for an award for FMIP! Good luck for the ceremony. What makes your property so unique, would you say?
Yes, we are delighted to be up for a Kidscreen award for our hit drama, Find Me in Paris. This world renowned drama is a premium hit tween series that combines world-class ballet, hip hop, drama and comedy. Kids in 130 countries (literally) love the series and the success continues with the rollout of Season 3.
