Tv kids pgs special report

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SPECIAL REPORT

5 YEARS OF PGS www.tvkids.ws

OCTOBER 2013

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TV KIDS

PGS ENTERTAINMENT

5 BLOCKBUSTER YEARS

Guillaume (left) and Philippe Soutter

By Mansha Daswani

In 2008, Philippe and Guillaume Soutter established PGS Entertainment in Paris as a dedicated distributor of high-quality kids’ content. In five years it has amassed a catalogue of represented titles that includes global hits such as The Little Prince and The Jungle Bunch. The brothers share with TV Kids their strategy for finding success in the children’s media business today.

TV KIDS: What did you want to achieve when you

established PGS? PHILIPPE: Our idea was to create a company that would

focus solely on the distribution of kids’ content. We thought that was something the market was missing. Our vision was to have the best kids’ producers partnered with the best kids’ distributor and the best kids’ broadcasters.We believed that you could achieve amazing things with the right combination of partnerships. We started with Method Animation and their properties The Little Prince and Iron Man: Armored Adventures. That was followed by Samka, with whom we did Marsupilami, and Nerd Corps for League of Super Evil.

GUILLAUME: What really helped us was the great success of The Little Prince. It was the first iconic kids’ book com-

ing back on the market as a massive kids’ brand with an incredible budget of over $20 million. In 2008, the market was and still is crowded with channels. Parents were confused as to which platforms they could trust for their kids. We brought a show to television that kids would love and parents would like them to watch. It captured everyone’s interest at a time when co-viewing and building a safe place for kids and families was starting to be a must. Icons have been a big part of our representation, especially with Method with shows like Chaplin & Co, Robin Hood, and with Samka on Marsupilami.

The next big thing will be content with a purpose for the 6 and up age group, as kids after preschool also want to be entertained and learn cool things along the way. This is what we are working on with A Squared (A2) Entertainment with shows like Secret KidVenture Club and Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab. TV KIDS: How has PGS grown over the past five years?

PHILIPPE: In terms of fresh catalogue, we’re in the top

ten providers of kids’ content in the world.We don’t have a library, we don’t own 70,000 half-hours produced in the ’80s, but in terms of our ability to provide fresh content, deliver what broadcasters want across the world, we’re quite active. We have over 400 clients around the world. We work on all five continents. We launch over $50 million worth of productions each year with nearly 150 half-hours. But it’s not about volume. It’s about quality.The more amazing shows we represent, the more interesting it is for broadcasters to work with us and the more leverage we can provide to the producers we represent.

GUILLAUME: What we’ve been developing over the past year is our move from a distribution company to a brand-management company.We want to be able to support the brand development of property owners not only through television and video, but on all platforms

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TV KIDS

from licensing, merchandising, music publishing and so on.

We created one of the largest kids’ management companies in traditional media and aim to replicate this on an all-rights basis to the best benefit of the producers we represent. Our mantra remains the same: Provide the service the leading kids’ producers deserve when it comes to international distribution.

TV KIDS: What do you look for when expanding your catalogue?

GUILLAUME: While we’ve been working on iconic brands, it has always been important to us to remain fresh. A good example of that is The Jungle Bunch. We started with a movie special. It’s not the most exciting format to have as a distributor, but we believed in the brand and its long-term potential. It was sold in 140 territories to all major broadcasters around the world. The trust that everybody had in the franchise and this crazy story of a penguin who thinks he’s a tiger led the producer to greenlight a 52x11-minute series, which is now in production with a budget of over $10 million and already picked up worldwide. We will support it on all media with a big partnership to be unveiled quite soon.

TV KIDS: For producers, what are the advantages of

working with PGS? PHILIPPE: The company does over 200 days of international travel a year.We do over 25 markets, conferences and fairs. We have the ability to support those costs because we represent several producers and we can make this profitable. Because the international market is so important in kids, some producers will choose to do international sales internally. Our pitch to them is “what is your time worth?” Your job is to always be developing the next big IP and find one or two big partners to make this dream happen. Our job, once you’re able to do that, is to support 200 more deals—or 2,000 deals if there’s merchandise across the world. The longevity of many of our partnerships is the best proof of the advantage of working with us. The market is rapidly reshaping itself and recently, even more than before, everybody gets that you can’t be number one at everything.

TV KIDS: What’s the strategy for increasing your

partner network?

PHILIPPE: Always being the one with the next big

hit. At the end of the day, it’s all about content. It’s about having the best shows and a diverse lineup. It’s

about investing a lot of money in the development of the brands once they are delivered through the products’ concept, style guide and online marketing support. It’s about being more and more effective at our job. Being only focused on the brand-management side and not on the development of shows has allowed our business to grow faster.

GUILLAUME: A good example is PGS Hong Kong, which I am setting up. It is providing a local presence in a market that is already very important to us, and with that local presence we expect to foster an even bigger presence. It also shows our commitment to stay on top of the development of the services we provide.

TV KIDS: How have you been working with digital

platforms?

GUILLAUME: We are already working with Netflix and various local platforms across the globe and are going to announce some interesting new partnerships in this field. We will continue to work with all platforms. For us, what always matters is having the right show, as it brings interest from all platforms.

TV KIDS: What have been the key elements of PGS’s

success?

PHILIPPE: In retrospect, it was luck and timing for

sure. On top of hard work, it has been a disruptive business model that remains unique in the marketplace. We watched it and asked ourselves, What would be a cool distribution partner for a producer of animation? They want somebody who knows about kids, and they want a partner who is not their competitor (i.e., also a distributor), so let’s do it!

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MILESTONES PGS ENTERTAINMENT LAUNCHES Philippe and Guillaume Soutter knew exactly what kind of company they wanted when they created PGS Entertainment in 2008; one that would be exclusively devoted to the distribution of kids’ programming. They wanted to represent only the highest quality kids’ shows, some based on iconic brands, some based on fresh ideas. This unique business model has been central to the company’s success. “We strongly believe that it’s quality that makes a profit in this industry, not volume,” says Philippe. “We had the possibility to be in the business of acquiring libraries, acquiring catalogues, etc. We respect this strategy, but it’s not ours.”

THE LITTLE PRINCE $25M GREENLIGHT From Method Animation, The Little Prince has emerged as one of PGS’s most successful properties. Now in its third season, with sales to major free-to-air broadcasters across the globe, the series has aired across 150 markets.

“What really helped us was the great success of The Little Prince,” says Guillaume on the importance of the show, based on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s hugely successful children’s book, to PGS’s growth story. “It also helped us to continue in this new direction of working with iconic brands, which have been very strong for us the past few years.”

PGS PARTNERS WITH SAMKA, NERD CORPS, TAT & STUDIO HARI This year kicked off an expansion in PGS’s base of partner production companies. Following its early success with Method Animation, PGS’s network of alliances grew to include Nerd Corps Entertainment (League of Super Evil), Samka Productions (Marsupilami),TAT Productions (Spike, The Jungle Bunch) and Studio Hari (The Gees).

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BEST DISTRIBUTOR PRIZE PGS Entertainment received the TV France International Export Prize for the best distributor of the year in animation.

A2 REPRESENTATION A milestone this year is the deal with A Squared (A2) Entertainment, the company founded by Andy and Amy Heyward. “This deal was a milestone in our ability to represent some of the best kids’ content coming out of the U.S. and a new genre that will revolutionize content for kids 6 and up. With a focus on ‘content with a purpose,’ shows like Secret KidVenture Club teach the basics of finance to kids and Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab explores science in a fun way,” says Philippe.

1,000-PLUS HALF-HOURS Marking its fifth anniversary, PGS represents more than 1,000 half-hours of content airing on broadcasters such as ABC Australia, Cartoon Network, CTC, Discovery, Disney, DR, France 3, ITV, MTV3, Nickelodeon, Super RTL, RAI, TELETOON, Televisa, TVE, TVQ, RTBF, RTS, VRT and many more.

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NEW AT PGS Iconic Brands

PGS Entertainment is a leading international brandmanagement company dedicated to kids’ and family content and targeting the entertainment fields of broadcast, home entertainment, digital, licensing and merchandising.

PGS Entertainment specializes in high-profile programs for kids’ and family viewing and handles a catalogue of over 1,000 half-hours of programming. The catalogue includes internationally acclaimed properties from Method Animation (Ladybug, Heroes United, Robin Hood— Mischief in Sherwood, The Little Prince, Chaplin & Co, Iron Man: Armored Adventures); A Squared Entertainment (Stan Lee’s Mighty 7, Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab, Secret KidVenture Club, Martha & Friends, Gisele & the Green Team); TAT Productions (The Jungle Bunch, Spike); Nerd Corps Entertainment (League of Super Evil); Samka (Marsupilami Hoobah Hoobah Hop!); Studio Hari (Leon, The Gees); Prod Par 4 (One Minute Before); La Station Animation (Mister Otter) and others to come.

PGS Entertainment Hong Kong

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Guillaume runs the new office in Hong Kong, which “will work specifically on the Asian market.”

This region “has been growing and growing for us,” he says. “There’s still money and exciting things happening in Europe, but Asia is very dynamic right now and has been a key part of PGS’s development over the past five years. By establishing a permanent presence and dedicated staff in Hong Kong, we are able to provide producers we work with the kind of representation they need in the region while being closer to our growing Asian client base.”

Brand Management PGS is evolving from being a content distributor to a broader brand-management company. PGS is currently developing with TAT Productions a full licensing rollout for The Jungle Bunch, which will also include in-house co-development of key categories, such as publishing, toy concepts and games.

The brand-management team will also work on larger family brands while remaining focused on icons.

Recently, PGS began working with the Village People brand. Village People is the biggest branded disco group of all time and a billion-dollar franchise throughout the years.

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT US...

Aton Soumache, Method Animation I’m happy to say I’ve seen the birth of PGS. It’s amazing how fast the time went by and the maturity this company acquired in such a short period of time. Together, we brought exciting animated TV series to the market such as The Little Prince, Chaplin, Robin Hood and many more. We’re proud to be part of the PGS adventure and we all believe the best years are yet to come.

Andy Heyward, A Squared Entertainment On behalf of ourselves and our own partners, Stan Lee, Warren Buffett, and the special personalities with whom we work, we are proud to partner with Philippe and Guillaume Soutter and their organization, the next new stars in the world of global distribution.

Jean-François Tosti, TAT Productions It has been and still is a real pleasure to work with Philippe and the PGS team. They have made incredible deals with our properties and took us to a top level all around the world. I really think PGS is the best distributor for our present and forthcoming projects, so Happy 5th and keep up the great work.

Samuel Kaminka, Samka Productions They’re young, smart, funny—and they work hard! We have worked together since the beginning of PGS and I am impressed by what they achieved in only five years.

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S An animated film trilogy created by and starring comic book legend Stan Lee. Fantasy meets reality and comedy meets adventure in this new reality comic adventure. A crew of aliens crash lands on Earth and become superheroes.While Lee wants them to save the world, they have other plans! Voice cast includes Christian Slater, Teri Hatcher, Armie Hammer, Mayim Bialik and Jim Belushi, among others. From A2 Entertainment, POW! Entertainment and Archie Comics. Partners include The Hub.

The TAT Productions show started as a TV movie; it now has a 52x11-minute CGI series. Maurice is a penguin who sees himself as a tiger. His adopted son Junior is a tiger fish.The remaining cast of characters includes an affectionate gorilla, a singing warthog and more. Commissioned by France TĂŠlĂŠvisions and SUPER RTL with other key broadcasters that include Rai 2, Cartoon Network, RTVE, ABC Australia and Nickelodeon.

A new 26x30-minute HD CGI series for kids 6 to 10 produced by Zagtoon, Method Animation and Toei, with TF1 as the commissioning broadcaster. Evil creatures called Akumas are attacking Paris and transforming people into supervillains. Two students, Marinette and Adrien, however, become the superheroes Ladybug and Black Cat.This is the first European co-pro for Toei, featuring Parisian settings, American-style heroes and French elegance.

A mix of fantasy, offbeat humor and iconic characters, including a ranger, an elf, a dwarf, an enchantress and a goblin.This brand-new TV series produced by Nomad and So Mad studio has been commissioned by Canal+. The 52x7minute animation, produced in HD CGI, focuses on Zangdar, who uses his inherited fortune to acquire a castle that he must protect from those seeking to acquire its treasures. It is based on a series of popular French audiobooks.

This action-adventure series produced in CGI native 3D is targeted at kids aged 4 to 8. It features Alex the Knight, Ruby Red the Pirate, Agent Gene, Twinkle Dust the Fairy and their friends facing a range of foes in the world of Playmobil, which has a 92percent brand awareness among children in Europe.

The Method Animation and Morgen Studios production encompasses 104 11-minute episodes and marks the first time the 40-year-old Playmobil brand has come to television.

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