World Screen September 2020 by World Screen

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SEPTEMBER 2020

WWW.WORLDSCREEN.COM

THE MAGAZINE OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Drama Distribution Trends / Banijay’s Lucas Green / Red Arrow Studios International’s Joel Denton Barkskins’ Elwood Reid / TV4 Media’s Cathrine Wiernik In-Demand Reports: Wildlife, Science Docs, Dating Formats, Korean Content

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CONTENTS

SEPTEMBER 2020/PRE-MIPCOM EDITION DEPARTMENTS 8

Publisher Ricardo Seguin Guise

UPFRONTS New content on the market.

Group Editorial Director Anna Carugati

BEHIND THE SCENES Barkskins’ Elwood Reid.

Editor Mansha Daswani

WORLD VIEW By Anna Carugati.

SPOTLIGHT 64 TV4 Media’s Cathrine Wiernik. IN-DEMAND 66 Reports on wildlife and science docs, dating formats and Korean content.

SPECIAL REPORT

WORLD’S END In the stars.

Leading distributors weigh in on what COVID-19 shutdowns and a proliferating streaming landscape mean for the global drama business.

12 WHERE’S THE DRAMA?

ONE-ON-ONE

Executive Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Associate Editor Chelsea Regan Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari Associate Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Rafael Blanco Contributing Editor Elizabeth Guider

53 BANIJAY’S LUCAS GREEN

Production & Design Director David Diehl

The head of content at the enlarged group discusses trends in entertainment programming and getting shows back into production.

Online Director Simon Weaver Art Director Phyllis Q. Busell

MARKET TRENDS

58 RED ARROW’S JOEL DENTON The new head of Red Arrow Studios International talks trends in distribution strategies.

Senior Sales & Marketing Manager Dana Mattison Sales & Marketing Coordinator Genovick Acevedo Business Affairs Manager Andrea Moreno

TV Kids appears both inside World Screen and as a separate publication.

SPECIAL REPORTS

28 TOONED IN

Contributing Writers Steve Clarke Andy Fry Joanna Stephens Jay Stuart David Wood

Ahead of Cartoon Forum, distributors reveal how they work with producers to bring great IP to kids across the globe.

34 BETTER TOGETHER

A look at how the kids’ business is embracing diversity in storytelling.

48 IN-DEMAND: KNOWN IP

Anna Carugati Executive VP

INTERVIEWS

Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development

Spotlighting three kids’ shows that are based on existing brands.

40 PHINEAS AND FERB’S DAN POVENMIRE & JEFF “SWAMPY” MARSH The creative duo on what went into making the new movie for Disney+ that brings back the beloved characters of the hit Disney Channel series. WORLD SCREEN is published nine times per year: January, March, April, May, June/July, September, October, November and December. Annual subscription price: Inside the U.S.: $90.00 Outside the U.S.: $160.00 Send checks, company information and address corrections to: WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, Suite 1207 New York, NY 10010, U.S.A. For a free subscription to our newsletters, please visit www.subscriptions.ws.

Ricardo Seguin Guise President

44 LION FORGE’S DAVID STEWARD II

The founder of the outfit behind the Oscar-winning Hair Love talks about the importance of showcasing diversity in content.

46 KIDOODLE.TV’S BRENDA BISNER The chief content officer at the streaming platform on entering the originals space and capitalizing on strong usage gains over the past few months. 6 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

WORLD SCREEN is a registered trademark of WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, Suite 1207 New York, NY 10010, U.S.A. Phone: (212) 924-7620 Fax: (212) 924-6940 Website: www.worldscreen.com ©2020 WSN INC. Printed by Fry Communications No part of this publication can be used, reprinted, copied or stored in any medium without the publisher’s authorization.

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WORLD VIEW

BY ANNA CARUGATI

Accepting and Adapting When I was a child, every year, on the first day of school, my classmates and I would have to either tell or write about what we had done on our summer vacation. Focusing on fun activities, travel and spending time with family and friends felt like a reassuring safety blanket as we faced new teachers, new subjects and the many unknowns connected to starting a new grade. Interestingly, during lockdown and, for me, a continued sequestered lifestyle, my mind has wandered to the past. I’ve been searching the halls of my memory for moments that may help me adapt and accept these unprecedented and challenging times. As we move towards autumn, I keep thinking of that school assignment: What did you do on your summer vacation? Well, in 2020, I haven’t gone anywhere because of COVID-19. I’m too scared to consider airports or planes that don’t allow for social distancing. Besides, Americans aren’t allowed into most countries. I’ve only “seen” my family through Zoom, FaceTime or WhatsApp. My outings consist of runs to the grocery store and pharmacy, or walks into town. My husband and I left Manhattan in March and moved into a little farmhouse in eastern Connecticut. It’s safer from COVID, but more at risk from storms. In fact, high winds broke off the branch of a sizeable tree, which pulled down the power lines, and we were without electricity, internet, phone or water for almost ﬁve days. That was an unexpected, unwelcome, camping trip! As a shy child, I learned to adapt to new teachers, classmates and even several new schools. During these past months, I’ve reached inside myself for that begrudging ability to adjust and accept a new reality. I’ve had to learn how to cook—better late than never. I’ve taken up yoga to help ease stress. Initially, out here, in the middle of nowhere—the city girl is alive and well—I was annoyed by the continuous sounds of screaming birds and screeching insects. I missed the familiar din of busses and cars rolling by outside my window. I longed for my favorite haunts: bookstores, cafés, food stores, walking around the reservoir in Central Park. Who knows when I will be able to return to my routines or see my beloved 95-year-old mother and sisters who live in Italy. Like the child at the beginning of the school year, I must deal with the unknown. Despite all the activities I miss, I’m grateful for having a job, a roof over my head, food in my fridge, and exceedingly thankful that my family is well and safe. During a summer scarred by COVID—which has shined a shameful spotlight on socio-economic inequality—and incidents of police brutality, I’ve been reminded of my privilege

and how I have no reason whatsoever to complain. Whatever “hardships” I may experience, I am infinitely better off than millions of others. So I’m focusing on the positive outcomes of these past months. I’ve learned how to use Zoom, conducting interviews and moderating panels virtually. I’ve become far more agile at navigating the robust viewing options of different streaming services and discovered excellent foreign shows I wouldn’t have searched for previously. While my physical world has shrunk, my horizons have extended tenfold thanks to the digital world. From speaking to several producers and executives, that sequence of assessing, accepting and adapting, followed by finding creative ways to solve problems, is standard across the media industry. The coronavirus pandemic forced hundreds of productions to stop shooting in March. With completion and delivery of shows delayed, platforms and channels found themselves with gaps in their schedules. As we examine in the feature in this issue, distributors with deep and varied catalogs have been rethinking their strategies as they help broadcasters fill those openings. Production has slowly restarted and the first shows to get up and running were the unscripted ones, as those shoots are less complicated. Lucas Green, the head of content at Banijay, which now includes the Endemol Shine Group production companies and library, talks about several shows that have resumed production. Likewise, Red Arrow Studios International’s Joel Denton discusses the demand for fast-turnaround formats and other easy slot-fillers. We are all in need of finding escape in compelling stories. Novelist and scriptwriter Elwood Reid talks about adapting Annie Proulx’s acclaimed 2016 novel Barkskins into a series for National Geographic. We also interview Cathrine Wiernik at TV4 Media about how she has adapted her buying strategies as new shows have rolled out more slowly. What I see everywhere across the industry are people meeting the moment, accepting the challenge, adapting, finding creative solutions in production and business models, and dealing with the unknown.

Assessing, accepting and adapting...is standard across the media industry.

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UPFRONTS

Survivor

Banijay Rights Michael Palin’s Travels / The Hunt for a Killer / Survivor The Banijay Rights series Michael Palin’s Travels sees the presenter take viewers back in time to encounter places he has visited—featuring some of the countries and moments from Around the World in 80 Days, Pole to Pole, Full Circle and Sahara. In the way of drama highlights, The Hunt for a Killer follows the journey of a pair of police officers who led an investigation team that solved numerous homicides in southern Sweden and who would eventually, against all odds, find the killer in the cold-case murder of a 10-year-old girl. The series “is very stylized, with a tone that is not the typical Scandi noir we’ve become accustomed to,” says Tim Mutimer, executive VP of sales and acquisitions for EMEA. The catalog also features the hit format Survivor.

“We’re delighted to be bringing exciting new content to the market alongside a deep catalog featuring some of the world’s best-loved brands.” —Tim Mutimer

Global Agency Good Singers / Mr. Wrong / Aleph In the Global Agency format Good Singers, celebrities must identify the talented performers from the untalented ones, without ever hearing them sing. “Good Singers is feel-good family entertainment,” says Izzet Pinto, founder and CEO of Global Agency. “We believe that it will be a big franchise.” Can Yaman and Özge Gürel, who previously starred together in Bitter Sweet, are back in the new romantic comedy Mr. Wrong. The company is also presenting the crime series Aleph, which follows two detectives—played by Kenan İmirzalıoğlu and Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan—as they investigate a set of murders in Istanbul. “Audiences around the world have missed Kenan İmirzalıoğlu,” says Pinto. “We are happy to bring the international audience together with him, thanks to this new project.”

“With our powerful programs and trendsetting formats, we are well placed to keep providing content that creates buzz.” Aleph

—Izzet Pinto

Inter Medya The Ambassador’s Daughter / Ramo / The Light of Hope The slate of dramas in Inter Medya’s catalog features The Ambassador’s Daughter, which follows the story of Nare, a wealthy and educated ambassador’s daughter, and Sancar, a poor boy from a small Aegean town, and their innocent love that ends tragically. Ramo, meanwhile, centers on a man who goes against his superiors. “Inspired by real events, the story encompasses the deep conﬂicts of family, justice, revenge, friendship and love, and is, therefore, suitable for audiences across the globe,” says Can Okan, founder and CEO of Inter Medya. From the same producers as the worldwide hit Elif comes The Light of Hope, a daily prime-time series that charts the heartbreaking story of a family torn into pieces. “All three titles carry strong Turkish-drama DNA, with stories that can appeal to audiences everywhere,” Okan says.

The Ambassador’s Daughter

“We have widened our catalog, full of international hits, with new titles that show great potential from around the world.” —Can Okan 10 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

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Finding Alice

STUDIOCANAL Finding Alice / The King of Warsaw STUDIOCANAL is launching 12 new shows from 12 different European producers in six languages. Highlights include Finding Alice, starring Keeley Hawes (The Durrells, Bodyguard), Nigel Havers (Downton Abbey) and Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous). The drama—from RED Production Company in co-production with Bright Pictures TV, Buddy Club Productions and Genial Productions— focuses on a woman’s honest, raw, blackly comedic journey of grief, love and life. The King of Warsaw is a gangster drama set in 1937 Poland, right before WWII and the Holocaust. “Produced by Aurum Film, The King of Warsaw is Canal+ Poland’s biggest TV-series production to date, featuring a prestigious Polish cast,” says Beatriz Campos, senior VP of sales and production ﬁnancing for TV series at STUDIOCANAL.

“STUDIOCANAL has a continuing pipeline of new, high-end productions with strong appeal for the global market.” —Beatriz Campos

Universal Cinergía Dubbing Dubbing / Subtitling / Post-production Universal Cinergía Dubbing offers localization services in Portuguese, Spanish, English, French and Castilian, all done inhouse from its various studios . The company provides dubbing in other languages such as Italian, German, Polish and Russian through its partners in Europe and Asia. Work has continued throughout the pandemic, with new protocols for its employees and voice talents. “In the past months, our studios operated at reduced capacity, and remote recording has been incorporated into the workﬂow in all our locations,” says Liliam Hernandez, president and CEO of Universal Cinergía. “Our clients have been understanding regarding turnaround deadlines, and we did not miss a beat…. More than ever, these are times when we need to be here for our clients, yet take care of ourselves, our health, our environment, our families and our loved ones.”

“Our clients know they can count on us, and we are here for them.”

Universal Cinergía facilities

—Liliam Hernandez

Standing Tall

ZDF Enterprises Grow / Standing Tall / Sløborn ZDF Enterprises teamed up with Rocket Road Pictures and SF Studios Productions to co-produce Grow, a drama commissioned by Denmark’s national broadcaster, TV2. The eightepisode series is about self-discovery and morale, set in a multi-plot story—one that changes between a breathless thriller, deep development of character and an at times dissident reﬂection on what happiness is in an apathetic society. The ZDF Enterprises catalog also features Standing Tall, directed by Gianluca Maria Tavarelli (The Young Montalbano, Maltese). The crime series follows a former policeman’s unofﬁcial investigation into the death of his son, whom he hadn’t seen for years. Also on the drama slate, Sløborn is a mix of a coming-of-age series and pandemic thriller, telling the story of a group of islanders confronted with a fatal virus. 9/20 WORLD SCREEN 11

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Banijay Rights’ Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar.

Where’s the Drama? 12 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

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Leading distributors weigh in on what COVID-19 shutdowns and a proliferating streaming landscape mean for the global drama business. By Mansha Daswani

OVID-19 may have finally popped the peak-TV bubble. At least for now, with production on scripted series just beginning to resume in many markets, and new safety measures requiring a fair bit of getting used to. Travel restrictions mean that jetting off to far-flung locations (with generous tax breaks) may not happen right away. Plus, costs are still rising. All of these factors have required drama distributors to rethink their strategies somewhat. But for those companies with large catalogs and a presence in markets that have been less impacted by the coronavirus, there are indeed plenty of opportunities for brisk business. “We see a growing demand for finished tape and catalog product, mostly due to the lack of new product,” says Robert Franke, VP of ZDFE.drama at ZDF Enterprises. “Productions that have resumed shooting or are going into production now take longer to finish and cost more money, which affects the greenlighting process of new shows. Our answer to that is to concentrate on helping our partners to plug their program gaps with the vast variety of our catalog and selectively invest in the development of new shows, especially with lighter, more escapist themes.” Françoise Guyonnet, executive managing director for TV series at STUDIOCANAL, agrees, noting, “There is a need right now for lighter and more entertaining content, and we have more comedies and ‘feel-good’ series to offer.” Likewise, at Red Arrow Studios International, Carlo Dusi, executive VP of commercial strategy for scripted, says the company is emphasizing its TV-movie catalog this fall and winter. “During the COVID crisis, we’ve seen the demand for TV movies go up significantly, particularly from the traditional broadcasting platforms. It’s content that is easy to schedule, suitable for a broad family demographic, and tends to focus on feel-good, uplifting stories that chime with audiences and offer a bit of escapism from the state of the world at the moment.” While there isn’t the usual volume of new scripted content hitting the market as there normally would be in the run-up to MIPCOM, several distributors have benefited from both opportune timing and significant scale. Matt Creasey, the executive VP of sales, coproductions and acquisitions, rest of the

world, at Banijay Rights, points to the powerhouse distributor’s expanded slate following Banijay’s takeover of the Endemol Shine Group, with the integration of the two companies ongoing. “The catalog of new and returning series on the drama and comedy sides is unprecedented,” Creasey says. “There’s a certain element of luck in that some shows had finished shooting just before lockdown, and the producers have been amazing in how they’ve managed to move into that post-production editing world so quickly remotely to get these shows finished. And there’s an element of the breadth of the producers that gives us some advantage.” It’s been a similar story for all3media international, according to Maartje Horchner, executive VP of content, with several of its highlights having finished principal photography in the U.K. before lockdown “and the post-production, in varying degrees from full edit to final ADR, was able to be completed during the pandemic.”

BACK TO BUSINESS Meanwhile, production is slowly resuming with COVID-19 restrictions in place—and some additional cost factors to consider. Creasey says that COVID-19-related precautions are increasing production costs by anywhere from 10 to 20 percent. “There have been scenarios where shows shut down, and there’s a cost to shutting down as well as coming back up again. That has to be taken into consideration.” Broadcast and platform partners have been “pragmatic and realistic” about sharing costs, Creasey says. At all3media, Horchner says that production is back on in locations in Australia and New Zealand, and the company plans to ﬁnish shooting The Drowning for Channel 5 in the U.K. shortly. “COVID-19 regulations are being enforced, and we wholeheartedly support getting production back up and running, even if it means we will have to bear some extra costs to make this happen. The support of and sharing the ﬁnancial burden with our broadcast partners is invaluable in these times.” STUDIOCANAL is unveiling 12 new shows from 12 European producers this fall, according to Guyonnet. “We currently have ongoing productions in the U.S., U.K., France, Spain and Denmark, including new seasons of highly successful series Pros and Cons, War of the Worlds and Interns,” she explains. 9/20 WORLD SCREEN 13

Development on new content is also proceeding briskly, according to Red Arrow’s Dusi, who says the company used lockdown as an opportunity to get shows “market-ready.” Writing and on-screen talent were available and “keen to be kept busy and to use the time productively,” he says. But the global health crisis is likely to impact ﬁnancial structures for new content in the months ahead.

TIME TO SHARE “We see that there is more willingness among distributors to share rights and combine strengths to create synergies in financing and maximize ROI on new shows,” says ZDF Enterprises’ Franke. “Besides that, the pandemic will probably reshape parts of our industry in new ways we can’t imagine yet. My guess is we will see a long-term transformation toward a more B2C-driven approach, especially with the emerging AVOD players like Pluto TV taking up market share from pay platforms, [driven by] users who are unwilling to pay for a whole bunch of streaming services and who are looking for a more casual experience without the financial commitment. These new platforms offering content owners rev shares might incentivize producers to experiment with investing more capital into their own ideas.” Moreover, Franke notes, “the high level of uncertainty is making it hard for buyers to commit to long-term investments. Decisions seem to be short-notice and driven by actual need rather than mid- to long-term strategic planning.” At the same time, programmers are becoming increasingly open to new kinds of partnerships. “One of the main hats I wear is [overseeing] the co-pro business in the U.S.,” Creasey says. “We’re pitching at script stage—and we’re doing it on Zoom now, and we’re getting offers. I’m talking to people who were so particular before but have now opened up more to co-productions.” Red Arrow’s Dusi is also noticing a “greater focus on finding international partners, either in the form of presales or co-producers, to share some of the additional costs and risks that producing drama is inevitably going to carry in the coming months. And there’s an increasingly sophisticated approach to accessing soft money, akin to the financing models applied by the independent film industry, which historically has been very good at weaving multiple sources of commercial funding and public support

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From all3media international, All Creatures Great and Small is produced by Playground. together. We’re all having to become a lot more switched on in this respect to ensure the content we want to produce remains viable.” COVID-19 assistance being provided to the content sector by governments across Europe is also proving to be beneficial, Dusi reports. “State assistance, such as the guarantee fund recently introduced in the U.K. and the similar fund we will benefit from in Austria for Vienna Blood season two, will dictate the financing structure of many shows. If, as a producer, you can spend money in territories that provide a greater level of protection against the risk of further COVID-19 waves, this offers a greater incentive for financiers to stick their necks out and support your show going back into production.” As all3media’s Horchner indicates, the role of the distributor in pulling together financing has never been more critical, “not only from a deficit funding point of view but also to attract co-production funding,” she says. And, STUDIOCANAL’s Guyonnet stresses, “finding the right project is crucial,” adding, “we need to be creative and take time to work on the intricate funding process, which is tailored to each series and our partners.”

global streaming will continue to find more points of contact, as everyone battles for new ways to secure the content they really want.” Plus, Horchner at all3media adds, buyers do need the content right now. “Buyers are looking at gaps in schedules, and where a buyer has less finance available, windowing and reducing duration terms and exclusivity are excellent ways to still give the buyer what they want without us sacrificing financial gains.” Of course, how flexible you can be on dealmaking depends on the show. In the case of brand-new content at a “higher-dollar, premium threshold,” Banijay’s Creasey notes, “exclusivity is vital, which we’re happy to provide on the basis of the return value.” In terms of library product, however, Creasey says Banijay has been doing “a lot of nonexclusive or short periods of exclusivity and

then non-exclusive across multiple platforms. And that’s across SVOD to AVOD. On linear, we are far tighter than we ever used to be in terms of what those holdbacks can be against exploitation elsewhere. And the linear broadcasters, if they need that exclusivity for longer, they need to step up. We’re strong believers in windowing to get the full value.” As an example, he references The Fall, which came out of its holdback on Netﬂix in the U.S. this year. “We have a linear deal, two nonexclusive SVOD deals, and we have Amazon PVD, which is SVOD but revenue share. That’s almost a perfect model of what we want to do. The linear is exclusive with holdbacks against other linear. There are no holdbacks elsewhere. It’s a way of piecing that jigsaw together. It gives the show a breath of new life.” As for what impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on what audiences want to watch as we all struggle with a new version of normal, there’s no clear answer. “In general, content that is completed and ready to deliver is proving popular because there’s such demand for content to replace projects that have not managed to progress into production,” Red Arrow’s Dusi says. “It’s also true to say that buyers right now are largely looking for uplifting and escapist content because that’s what audiences appear to be demanding at the moment. However, I think it’s a relatively short-term response to the current crisis. Going forward, I imagine we’ll return to a position where some people will want to escape the depressing reality around us, and others will want to ﬁnd meaning and resonance in shows with darker themes. We are trying to keep as

SLICING AND DICING Meanwhile, windowing continues to evolve to meet the needs of the ever-changing landscape. “There is no one-size-fits-all strategy,” says Franke at ZDF Enterprises. “Distributors and producers will have to cater to the needs of platforms and channels and find clever ways to not only get their shows financed but also generate revenue beyond their producers’ fee on the international market, which means building very granular windowing strategies.” The increasingly competitive nature of the VOD landscape is translating into “more willingness from streamers to discuss hybrid structures for content they want and are bidding for against competitors,” Dusi explains. “The two worlds of traditional broadcasting and

One of ZDF Enterprises’ highlights this fall is Sløborn, a coming-of-age drama and pandemic thriller. 14 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

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STUDIOCANAL is launching 12 new European dramas this fall, including the eight-part The King of Warsaw, produced by Aurum Film for Canal+ in Poland. broad an approach as possible in the way we develop content, to make sure we have a little bit of everything on offer.” ZDF Enterprises has a slate of European crime and suspense dramas it is hoping will ﬁll programmers’ needs, including Grow, Standing Tall and Sløborn. British drama takes center stage for all3media, with a lineup that includes All Creatures Great and Small for Channel 5 in co-production with Masterpiece on PBS; Des, a true-crime series starring David Tennant; and the Channel 5 and Virgin Media co-pro The Deceived. “Our main strategy is to get these shows—all of which are from award-winning producers and will play in prime time in their domestic market—to the buyers who need top-quality content,” Horchner says. Creasey cites a diverse mix on offer from Banijay, including the Scandi true-crime drama The Hunt for a Killer; a series of shorts from the U.K. called Unsaid Stories, exploring stories around the Black Lives Matter movement; the returning dramas Black Lake, The Gulf, Hierro, The Sandhamn Murders and Beck; and a series of Agatha Christie movies produced by Darlow Smithson Productions for Channel 5. STUDIOCANAL is staying attuned to clients’ needs, including “partners asking us for more visibility on the delivery schedule,” Guyonnet says. “Event miniseries are appealing at the moment, and I see more and more opportunities for foreign-language drama,” she says, highlighting a fall slate from the company that includes series in French, English, Danish, Polish, Hebrew and Russian. Highlights include

About Last Night... and La Flamme for Canal+, The King of Warsaw for Canal+ in Poland, Finding Alice for ITV and Shadowplay for ZDF, Viaplay, Canal+, Canal+ in Poland and Avrotros.

ON THE HORIZON Without a vaccine, a post-COVID-19 landscape remains unclear. Nevertheless, distributors know that content is a currency that remains incredibly valuable, and they are preparing themselves to adapt to whatever changes are still to come. At all3media, Horchner says there are three main strategies for the company going forward: “Collaborating with our producers and broadcast partners to get that finance puzzle started and finished. We are looking to invest in both development and deficit-production financing. And we’re making sure productions can start and continue in a safe and healthy environment so we can deliver on budget and on time.” ZDF Enterprises’ Franke reports that the industry should brace for even more fragmentation in the months to come. “Technological developments in the world are drastically changing viewership behavior and consumption patterns, possibly rendering a considerable part of the current industry’s business practice obsolete,” he says. “Despite the growing popularity of Netflix, Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime, the streaming giants have their own disruptors to beware of. Consumers will increasingly opt for more personalized streaming services, leading to fragmentation in the market.” Dusi at Red Arrow is keeping a close eye on the role of post-production facilities in 16 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

the drama business. “Going forward, we will all have to think laterally about how we render certain types of content onscreen to comply with COVID restrictions. As a result, there will be a shift from incamera work to post-production work whenever possible, particularly with respect to crowd and complex action scenes. I imagine that before too long, postproduction facilities may start to take more of a co-production or co-financing stake in TV drama in the way that they have long been known to do in film.” STUDIOCANAL’s Guyonnet has her eye on short-format series and half-hours, which she believes “are dynamizing the programming. We are seeing growing opportunities for this type of content as either ﬁnished tapes or format rights.” The Hollywood studios experimenting with premium VOD windows in the wake of theater closures is also a trend to watch, Dusi says. “Will [streaming platforms] put less focus on prestige TV drama series going forward because they can make as much noise and acquire more subscriptions by launching features originally intended as theatrical titles? Conversely, there could be an opportunity for those truly premium drama titles to be made available in a premium SVOD-protected window ﬁrst, at a premium cost to subscribers, with the creation of a quasi-theatrical digital launch for them. Perhaps the next Game of Thrones or The Crown will be premiered in the same fashion as Mulan; from our end, it’s something we’ll be keeping an eye on.”

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TVKIDS

WWW.TVKIDS.WS

SEPTEMBER 2020 EDITION

Distribution Trends / Diversity in Kids’ TV / Dan Povenmire & Jeff “Swampy” Marsh Lion Forge’s David Steward II / Kidoodle.TV’s Brenda Bisner / In-Demand: Known IP

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4 TV KIDS

CONTENTS

Serving Children Children have always deserved quality entertainment, now more than ever.

Ricardo Seguin Guise Publisher Anna Carugati Group Editorial Director Mansha Daswani Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Executive Editor Chelsea Regan Associate Editor David Diehl Production & Design Director Phyllis Q. Busell Art Director Simon Weaver Online Director Dana Mattison Senior Sales & Marketing Manager Genovick Acevedo Sales & Marketing Coordinator Andrea Moreno Business Affairs Manager

Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development TV Kids ©2020 WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, #1207 New York, NY 10010 Phone: (212) 924-7620 Fax: (212) 924-6940 Website: www.tvkids.ws

While in many countries, schools have reopened, and daily life has resumed a semblance of normalcy, the coronavirus is still a dangerous threat—and one that youngsters may not fully understand. In some countries, children may be attending classes virtually, not seeing their friends, not participating in afterschool activities, not visiting grandparents. And life at home may be stressful, as parents are working remotely and juggling multiple responsibilities. Not to mention families experiencing ﬁnancial difficulties. Kids may feel disoriented, confused and misplaced, but their favorite shows and characters provide a valuable safe haven in a world of disrupted routines. There has been a silver lining to this very challenging year—producers worldwide are reaffirming their responsibility to featuring diverse characters and inclusive storylines in their shows. They recognize the power of entertainment to shed light on different ways of living and thinking and the importance of programming that resonates with kids all over the world. We examine those trends in the two features in this issue of TV Kids. We speak to David Steward II, the founder of Lion Forge Animation, whose mission is to showcase diversity in content that better reﬂects the world we live in. A silver lining for platforms has been the increased time kids and families have spent viewing content. We talk to Brenda Bisner, the chief content officer of the family-focused Safe Streaming service Kidoodle.TV. She tells us how much the service has grown lately. Beloved characters and series remain important to kids for a long time, even past childhood. I witnessed that recently with my daughter, now 21 years old. I had the fun opportunity to interview Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, the creators of Phineas and Ferb, an animated series Alessia and I watched together when she was a child. When I mentioned to her I was doing the interview, she immediately said, I remember that show and rattled off all the characters’ names. What’s more, we both started singing one of the show’s signature songs, “Gitchee Gitchee Goo.” Povenmire and Marsh recently created Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe for Disney+ and talk about serving loyal fans and attracting new ones. Serving children is key, with diverse, inclusive and laugh-outloud quality entertainment. —Anna Carugati

FEATURES 12 TOONED IN

Distributors discuss the qualities that make for hit shows that can travel internationally.

18 BETTER TOGETHER

The kids’ industry is embracing more diverse and inclusive content for young viewers.

18 32 IN-DEMAND: KNOWN IP Spotlighting three kids shows based on existing brands: GO-N’s Simon, Aardman’s Brave Bunnies and Studio 100’s SeaBelievers.

INTERVIEWS

Dan Povenmire & Jeff “Swampy” Marsh

Lion Forge Animation’s David Steward II

Kidoodle.TV’s Brenda Bisner

GET DAILY NEWS ON KIDS’ PROGRAMMING

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Genius Brands International Rainbow Rangers / Llama Llama / Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten Genius Brands International has two seasons of Rainbow Rangers, an animated show for preschoolers about the adventures of seven magical girls from Kaleidoscopia, for the international marketplace. “With an all-star creative team behind Rainbow Rangers, which includes Rob Minkoff, the director of Disney’s The Lion King, and Shane Morris, co-writer of Disney’s Frozen, the series explores themes such as environmentalism, empowerment, activism, tenacity and diversity,” says Jess Brinder, VP of international distribution. The slate also features Llama Llama, based on best-selling books and featuring the voice of Jennifer Garner. The show promotes themes of friendship, community, acceptance and diversity. Meanwhile, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by John Landis, has storylines that incorporate messages of health and wellness, anti-bullying, diversity and mindfulness. “This is one of Stan Lee’s last projects, and it is co-written by Fabian Nicieza, the creator and writer of Deadpool, and Steven Banks, who is known for writing hit series such as SpongeBob SquarePants, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius and Planet Sheen,” Brinder says. “We are also on the lookout for both new and classic children’s series to further fuel our Kartoon Channel! pipeline.”

Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten

“Our mission from day one at Genius Brands has been to provide ‘content with a purpose’ for toddlers through tweens.” —Jess Brinder

Jetpack Distribution Master Moley / Chuggington / A Week to Beat the World Among the titles on the Jetpack Distribution slate is Master Moley, which features Warwick Davis, Julie Walters, Richard E. Grant and Gemma Arterton in its voice cast. “The moles are lovable, relatable and will appeal to kids and families globally,” says Dominic Gardiner, Jetpack’s CEO. “The style of animation is timeless. James [Reatchlous, the creator] wrote and read the stories to his children 20 years ago. He has shown incredible tenacity in bringing the moles to screen, as well as vision and creativity. It’s got lots of heart and humor, something we know our buyers—and, most importantly, our audiences—truly value.” The catalog also features the preschool hit Chuggington. “It offers preschoolers a fun and engaging place to explore and learn, with lovable characters in the form of animated trains,” Gardiner says. “With the right balance of entertainment and education, it’s also particularly popular with parents.” In the live-action arena, A Week to Beat the World, led by CBBC presenter Karim Zeroual and comedian Camille Ucan, involves six sporty young stars traveling around the world to compete in some of the toughest and most unusual sports on the planet. Countries they travel to include Guatemala, Kenya, Brazil, Mongolia, Japan and Malaysia. “It’s been a brilliant addition to our live-action slate and has a truly global appeal,” Gardiner says.

A Week to Beat the World

“At Jetpack, we remain as committed as ever to blasting the best shows across the planet.” —Dominic Gardiner 22 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

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Magic Light Pictures Zog and the Flying Doctors / Pip and Posy / The Gruffalo Magic Light Pictures’ brand-new 30-minute special Zog and the Flying Doctors will premiere this Christmas on BBC One. “A fabulously original, hilarious and heartwarming story based on the global hit book by award-winning author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler, it sees lovable dragon Zog and his loyal friends Princess Pearl and Sir Gadabout embark on a thrilling adventure,” says Muriel Thomas, Magic Light’s head of international distribution. Based on picture books by Scheffler, the 52x7-minute series Pip and Posy features a tale of friendship and understanding that captures the emotional highs and lows of preschooler life and shows that we all can be there to help each other. “Pip and Posy is packed with warmth, humor and sympathetic understanding of the little dramas of young children’s lives,” Thomas says. The Gruffalo, Magic Light’s ﬁrst special based on the multi-million-selling book by Donaldson and Scheffler, has become “an evergreen favorite, adored by millions around the globe,” says Thomas. It has won a multitude of international awards and has been nominated for an Oscar. The Gruffalo follows a magical tale of a mouse who sets out on a woodland adventure in search of a nut. As he ventures further into the Deep Dark Wood, he encounters hungry predators who all wish to eat him, but the quick-witted and brave little mouse creates a terrifying, imaginary monster to frighten them away.

Pip and Posy

“Magic Light Pictures has built a global reputation for excellence in kids’ and family programming with universal qualities.” —Muriel Thomas

SeaBelievers

Studio 100 Media SeaBelievers / 100% Wolf—Legend of the Moonstone / Heidi Each episode of SeaBelievers, represented by Studio 100 Media, leads kids on a new eco-adventure. Its genre of ecotainment “combines the beneﬁt of edutainment for children, being informative and realistic about real-life issues affecting our ocean, and encouraging kids to make a difference— because they can!” says Dorian Bühr, head of global distribution at Studio 100 Media. The series presents this all in “a fun and entertaining way, as the show emanates as a stunning and engaging musical eco-adventure with original tunes to sing and dance along to.” Also a highlight, 100% Wolf—Legend of the Moonstone follows Freddy Lupin, heir to a proud family line of werewolves, who accidentally turns himself into a poodle and is now making his way through life at the mysterious Howlington Academy. “100% Wolf—Legend of the Moonstone is special because of its hilarious and dramatic concept about a boy trying to ﬁnd his way in a challenging world, one in which he is an outsider: he is a pink poodle in a world of werewolves,” Bühr explains. “This guarantees a lot of laugh-out-loud humor, not leaving out the difficulties our hero has. That makes 100% Wolf—Legend of the Moonstone a unique action-adventure best-friend comedy with a very distinctive main character and a strong message with high social relevance: heroes come in many forms.” There are 26 new episodes of Heidi, described by Bühr as a “real worldwide evergreen.”

“SeaBelievers is an outstanding TV series, the ﬁrst ever to represent the whole new genre of ecotainment.” —Dorian Bühr 24 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

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Superights Pat the Dog / Clay Time / That’s Joey! There’s a third season of the animated series Pat the Dog on offer from Superights, which also has a second season of Clay Time as well as the comedy That’s Joey! for buyers. “These three highlights strengthen our strategy of offering a diversiﬁed selection of top-quality programming available on all linear and nonlinear media platforms,” says Nathalie Pinguet, Superights’ deputy managing director of sales and acquisitions. “They cover all topics a buyer could look for to complete its programming grid: action, comedy, humor, edutainment, creativity, tenderness and friendship.” The company is also on the lookout for new properties to bring into its portfolio. “We will attend Cartoon Forum with the aim of making acquisitions to enrich our catalog,” Pinguet says.

“Superights’ catalog is still growing.” —Nathalie Pinguet

That’s Joey!

Toon2Tango Hey Fuzzy Yellow / Monster Loving Maniacs / Agent 203 Toon2Tango launched a little over a year ago and already has two shows in production: Ja Films’ Monster Loving Maniacs and Mondo TV’s Grisú, a comedy for 5- to 8-yearolds. “We are in the final stages of financing Agent 203, Hey Fuzzy Yellow and our new slapstick comedy Aliens vs Cavemen, and we are confident we will finalize at least one of them before the end of the year—hopefully, two out of three—so we can greenlight production,” says Ulli Stoef, CEO and producer at Toon2Tango. Agent 203 is billed as a “spy-fi” action-comedy series, while Monster Loving Maniacs is pure comedy and Hey Fuzzy Yellow is an animation/live-action hybrid show for the preschool set. The company will be at Cartoon Forum to introduce Hey Fuzzy Yellow as part of the official program.

Hey Fuzzy Yellow

“We are very proud of the ﬁrst year of our new company and the great support and trust we have received from our partners and broadcasters.” —Ulli Stoef

Sheila HippoDreamer

WildBrain Green Hornet / The Woods / Sheila HippoDreamer Based on the classic superhero franchise, Green Hornet is a new 2D animated series that WildBrain is developing with the renowned ﬁlmmaker, screenwriter and actor Kevin Smith. “Kevin has a bold, creative vision, which will provide the perfect fuel for the project, and his voice will touch every aspect of the show,” says Deirdre Brennan, executive VP of content partnerships at WildBrain. For teens, the live-action drama The Woods follows as Noah, his sister Viv and his best friend Flip set out on a dangerous search for their missing grandfather in the remote woods of Halloran County. For preschoolers, Sheila HippoDreamer centers on a headstrong, single-minded, clumsy, big-hearted, hilarious hippo. Many characters in this animated series are based on characters found in the picture books of renowned children’s author David Walliams.

“Imaginative worlds, characters and stories are the core of the WildBrain business.” —Deirdre Brennan 26 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

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Dandeloooâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Stinky Dog.

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TOONED IN Ahead of Cartoon Forum, leading distributors reveal how they work with producers to offer content that strikes a chord with children the world over. By Chelsea Regan

hen surveying kids’ content execs about the industry—from the overall state and the types of titles deemed worthy of investment to the nuts and bolts of production and development strategies— there is typically a rather linear throughline of supply and demand. It comes down to what the networks and broadcasters and streamers want and how distributors can bridge the gap with producers to supply it. Several months into the coronavirus pandemic, in speaking to the state of any industry, one has to do so with some trepidation, understanding that there will be a level of uncertainty for some time to come. Speaking to the state of the kids’ content industry, speciﬁcally, there is no question of the certainty that demand is high. And thanks to companies with stacked catalogs and the flexibility of animation, amid the concerns are plenty of reasons to be thankful for being in this particular sector, where the question is more often about how to meet the demand rather than if there is one. Indeed, Cartoon Forum this year is set to feature 86 new projects from 30 countries as the industry ﬁnally returns to physical events. “Animation has been particularly resilient in this health crisis we are experiencing,” says Annick Maes, director of Cartoon Forum and Cartoon Movie. “The kids’ content industry is still and continues to be a great industry to be a part of,” says Martin Krieger, CEO of Studio 100 Media. “Even in these special times, with challenging and heightened conditions, we have learned

that it is still possible to produce outstanding animation— with some limitations, of course.” Sharing Krieger’s optimism is Emmanuèle Pétry Sirvin, partner at Dandelooo in France. “Ironically, the COVID revolution has created a spotlight on children’s programs for kids staying at home,” says Pétry Sirvin. “Parents, teachers and broadcasters have increased their awareness and caring about the quality of programs, which I believe is beneﬁcial to the industry by raising the bar in kids’ entertainment. It’s certainly enabling the opportunity to produce some amazing and outstanding shows.” At U.K.-based Jetpack Distribution, the idiom “when one door closes, another one opens” is bearing out. The company may not be doing the business it was expecting to do, but it’s still doing business. “Right now, in the business of distribution and selling series, for every series we’ve had put on hold, deals on hold—mostly for budget reasons—we’ve had a deal that we didn’t see coming,” says Dominic Gardiner, CEO of Jetpack. “There are people buying because they’re ﬁlling production holes. It’s a good time to have a library.”

THE ROAD AHEAD Looking ahead, Gardiner concedes the possibility that the road to new deals may take considerably longer to smooth out. “I think we’re still only at the beginning of the economic impact on advertising,” he says. “I don’t think we’ll feel the effects of the levels of advertising going into 2021 for some time because folks are probably still spending budgets that were set last year. We may see some people pulling back, making a few adjustments to their 2021 budgets.” 9/20 WORLD SCREEN 29

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Jetpack picked up the distribution rights to the SpanishChinese co-pro Emmy and GooRoo last year.

Gardiner adds, “We don’t know what’s coming, basically. We don’t know how long this is going to last. If it’s all over by Christmas, then we’re back on track in another six months and we should be good. I heard a quote right at the beginning that said, ‘Every World War, before it kicks off, people think it’s all over by Christmas. But, ﬁve years later, that’s not the case.’ I think we all need to be more cautious. Don’t expect a rapid recovery.” Ulli Stoef, CEO and producer at Toon2Tango, believes that the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored how vital kids’ content is for so many broadcasters and SVOD services. But he shares Gardiner’s more wary outlook that comes down in part to concern about budgets. “People are trying to stay positive, but I feel that the pandemic has slowed down many productions,” he says. “Broadcasters largely have to work on productions that have been stuck during the last few months of the pandemic, and so budgets for 2020 and 2021 are basically gone. I guess that most of the broadcasters are now working on 2022/2023.”

SILVER LININGS A less disputable positive about today’s kids’ content industry is its evolution to putting forth more programs for children that tackle topics like the environment and feature more diversity in their characters. “It’s amazing to see how the industry has evolved in these last few years,” says Studio 100’s Krieger. “The process of selection is now driven by strong core values and messaging like diversity and sustainability. We appreciate this very much, and before we make our decision to finance or distribute third-party productions, we take a closer look at what’s beneath [the surface]. It doesn’t make sense anymore to simply jump on trends; we are looking for content that makes a difference, that conveys some values but is also fun and entertaining at the same time.” Among the titles on Studio 100’s slate is the ecotainment show SeaBelievers, which teaches kids about real-life issues affecting the ocean while encouraging them to make a difference themselves. Hand-in-hand with the diversity of content is the diversity of platforms to host them, according to Julia Rowlands, VP of

sales, acquisitions and co-productions for Zodiak Kids. “The kids’ content industry is a much more diverse place than it used to be with the continuous emergence of new platforms, especially in the digital space,” she says. “This means, of course, greater opportunity for distribution and also co-production financing.” Rowlands, who also acknowledges the fragmentation of the market in both viewership and revenue that has led traditional linear broadcasters to expand their own digital services and compete for the same rights as the VOD platforms, believes it’s important for distributors to get in early on a project when possible. “At Zodiak Kids, we have been fortunate to pick up the distribution rights for a number of Amazon’s kids originals, but it is very rare to find such fantastic content available for distribution once financing is closed,” she says. “To secure good content, distributors have to commit early and, in many cases, will influence the creative and drive the financing in the role as a co-producer.” Toon2Tango’s Stoef isn’t too sure that every distributor would be up to the task of elevating a production, as it requires broad in-depth knowledge that may be lacking. “Many distributors think they can play an important role in the development and creation, but have never really produced a show in any great way,” he says. “On top of this, distributors often know just a part of the business, such as audiovisual distribution, but what about L&M, marketing, PR, digital in general, etc.? There are only a few companies who understand this well enough.”

SALES SAVVY At Jetpack, Gardiner is happy to keep the creative reins ﬁrmly in the hands of the producers as the distributor gets that creation into the hands of buyers. He explains the philosophy like this: “A good producer is focusing on production; in being a dedicated distributor, we can specialize and focus on the distribution. The producers don’t have to think about, What if I sold the rights to this person, does that mean I can’t sell it to that? We always say that’s where we come in to do that heavy lifting for them

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TV KIDS

while they can concentrate on the bit that they probably enjoy more, which is making the series and being creative.”

A BOUTIQUE APPROACH Jetpack is happy to offer a third-party opinion and give notes on an incomplete project but wants to remain out of the day-to-day involvement in production. “If we were investing in a property, then you would probably want more control because, in a way, you sort of become a co-producer even if you’re not doing the production yourself. You’re kind of in the mix. We try to stay out of that.” And that reluctance has done a service for the company, as Gardiner says that it can come as a comfort to producers to know that they won’t be competing for time and resources with any in-house productions. “We have pretty much the same commercial terms with everybody. You can feel rest assured that the deal that this guy is getting is the same deal that you’re getting. It’s not to say that this is the best way to do it, but we think that for us and for the size that we are, and specializing in kids, it works. We like to stay in our lane, and for now, that’s working for us.” The dynamic at Dandelooo is slightly different, Pétry Sirvin says. “As we produce and also distribute, we have a very good internal relationship. We only produce shows that we believe will sell internationally. We, as in Dandelooo Distribution, can also offer MGs to independent producers to help them early in the development of their show in order to make sure the program will be right for the market.”

Referring to the involvement of distributors on productions, she adds, “It is still crucial that a project indevelopment somewhat coincides with what the international market is looking for. We need to make sure the balance between a commercially sellable show and creative originality is maintained.” When eyeing projects to invest in, Dandelooo doesn’t subscribe to the idea of there being a tried-and-true list of necessary ingredients. “We trust in our experience and mostly in our instinct in spotting the projects that make our hearts accelerate, and we follow our hearts,”

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Zodiak Kids’ Totally Spies has been a hit among children all around the world.

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For this content to travel, “in our experience, especially in development and production, it is of great value to get different perspectives on a show or topic,” Krieger adds. “If a production— our own or third-party—is created from the beginning by an international team, from different continents and with various backgrounds, the storytelling gets to be international too. Diversity doesn’t only happen on-screen; it needs to be behind the camera as well. We have learned that good humor doesn’t have boundaries at all. So comedy, combined with strong storytelling and core values, seems to travel a lot easier than many other genres.” While keen to focus on animation for kids and families at Toon2Tango, which is behind titles like Hey Fuzzy Yellow and Aliens vs Cavemen, “it has to be different, very creative and represent a certain type of deep storytelling and character-related stories,” says Stoef. “All titles we are producing have international appeal. They can easily have a little touch of regionality, but we try to make sure that we are telling stories that are of interest to all kids regardless of where they come from, and we do that with great creativity and relevant stories.”

GUT INSTINCT Toon2Tango is co-producing Agent 203 with Mondo TV and V House Animation.

says Pétry Sirvin. “We believe in creative visions, and with our vast experience, we think that there is a demand for stories that are based on a child’s point of view; this has universal appeal.” And in place of following the common wisdom that kids want CGI, round design, colorful, easy-to-absorb content they can “chew on,” Pétry Sirvin believes “that good stories linked to [kids’] daily concerns and everyday life— whether the series takes place in the middle ages or the future—are still key. We think it is crucial that children can acquire ‘take away’ information from a program, whether it is academic information—such as our new series Kosmix about astronomy, or Cubs about animals—or gaining selfconﬁdence (social skills) or laughing at their own silly mistakes such as in the comedy Stinky Dog. Kids are naturally smart and are eager to learn, so we need to foster/encourage this intelligence and curiosity.”

GLOBE TROTTING At Studio 100, the company sees the ongoing potential of gender-neutral comedy adventure for the preschool to school-age target groups. “At the same time, we believe that great content does not exclude the possibility of also having commercial appeal,” says Krieger. “Especially when you are looking at further exploitation, for example, in the L&M area, bringing an IP not only to the screens but also into the hearts and homes of the kids physically.”

At Zodiak Kids, there’s a sentiment, shared by Dandelooo’s Pétry Sirvin, that there’s an unknowability in terms of what shows will truly resonate with kids internationally, so they keep an open mind. “International potential is key for distribution and while very few shows will become an outright global success, we need to be confident that the shows resonate in the key markets that drive the revenue,” says Rowlands. “There is so much content out there for kids nowadays that it is a challenge for any new show to break through. However, I think that great characters and good storytelling remain key for any audience, whether it is preschool or older. Generally speaking, animation tends to travel better internationally, as it is usually less culturally specific and can appeal to young audiences of different nationalities. Totally Spies is a prime example from our Zodiak Kids catalog that has transcended cultures and has been a global success for distribution.” As the wheels of the kids’ content industry keep turning, with deals and production moving forward, albeit, at a distance, there is hope that a return to normal with the lifeblood of markets and face-to-face interactions isn’t too far away. “We are looking forward to meeting all our colleagues again soon in person,” says Toon2Tango’s Stoef. “We miss the markets and the personal contact with all of them, and most importantly, the fun we all have in our fantastic industry.”

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Superightsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Moko the Young Explorer.

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Better Together

TV KIDS

The kids’ industry is embracing more diverse and inclusive content for young viewers. By Chelsea Regan

he Black Lives Matter movement gathered new support in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, earlier this year. The tragedy, in conjunction with scores of others in a similar vein, led millions of Americans to take to the streets, calling for justice. Around the world, millions more followed suit, with the protesters’ demands adapting to each country’s particular set of problems pertaining to race and ethnicity, sexuality and gender. While many wrongs must be righted through politics and policy, media has a role to play in changing hearts and opening minds by putting forth diverse stories with diverse characters. For kids, the value of watching shows about kids and families that don’t look like them—or watching a show that’s finally about kids and families that look like them—can’t be overstated. And in the current climate, kids’ content producers and distributors— many of which have already heeded the call for more diverse content—are determined to deliver. Safi Productions, a London-based company that makes ethically-minded content across film, animation and interactive media, has a core mission “to create a more ethical purpose to filmmaking,” according to Wa’qaar A Mirza, writer and global CEO of Safi Productions. “We want all of our content to feature mindful messaging and to demonstrate an understanding and celebration toward diversity, with an honest portrayal of history, peace and goodwill.” He adds, “Safi Productions’ key focus is on creating harmony and mindfulness across all cultures. The purpose is to improve the understanding of people and humanity, with a focus on young people, because that’s where education begins.” In keeping with the company mission, Safi is producing Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm, an animated English-language preschool series. Each episode follows siblings Zayn and Zayna

on their British family farm. It introduces kids to the concepts of mindfulness and sustainability, incorporating Arabic while it portrays both cultural diversity and diversity in abilities. The company is also in preproduction on a yet-to-be-titled travel show for 14- to 18-year-olds. It focuses “on countries that many people view in a negative light,” says Mirza. “We aim to explore each country’s culture, the people and history, and shine a light on the diverse cultural differences.”

REAL-WORLD APPEAL Among the titles on CAKE’s slate that offer their young viewers a more inclusive look at the world around them is Pablo, a preschool show for CBeebies that centers on a little boy who is on the autism spectrum. “The wonderful thing about the series is that it never mentions autism; it is just about a boy who sees things differently,” says Tom van Waveren, CAKE’s CEO and creative director. “Pablo shows people on the spectrum on television, and by doing so, effectively makes them part of the world as it is seen on-screen. That’s a big part of diversity—to make sure that the world we see on-screen reflects the real world. In the real world, there are a lot of people on the spectrum, but unfortunately, there are not that many people on the spectrum on the screen.” Mama K’s Team 4, a superhero series that CAKE is producing for Netflix, follows four teenage girls living in the neo-futuristic African city of Lusaka, Zambia, who save the world in each episode. “The show is a very entertaining action-comedy that happens to be set in Lusaka,” says van Waveren. “Here again, the simple fact of having an entirely African cast is hugely significant when it comes to seeing yourself on-screen. Consequently, that makes it an important contribution to improving diversity to the storytelling available to children of all ages and around the world.” 9/20 WORLD SCREEN 35

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Genius Brands’ Rainbow Rangers features storylines rooted in themes of empowerment, diversity, friendship and sustainability.

“The whole industry is interested in diverse stories and characters that reﬂect children’s worlds; their friends, their interests, what they see around them,” says Bernadette O’Mahony, head of development and production at the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF). “Projects that entertain and reﬂect the diverse makeup of society, as well as model positive relationships, behavior, kindness and inclusion, are important right now.” Traveling well for ACTF is the comedy series Hardball, which centers on a group of kids from different backgrounds and has a lead character with cerebral palsy. “Buyers love the diversity and how it’s just naturally a part of this group of friends—it’s not commented on in the show, it just is normal to kids and accepted—both onscreen and by the audience.”

GLOBAL RESONANCE Superights is also witnessing the appetite for stories that center on those that are more often than not on the margins. “Our experience proves that diverse characters travel easily and that the demand for diversity is significant,” says Nathalie Pinguet, deputy managing director for sales and acquisitions at Superights. “There is a real desire to broadcast open-minded programs, especially from public free TV around the world.” Superights’ catalog contains several series that feature diverse characters and stories, including Story Time!, a collection of tales for preschoolers that takes its viewers on a journey to a new country in each episode. There’s also Moko the Young Explorer, about the titular African boy whose biggest goal is to explore the entire world; Koumi’s Animated Picture Book, about a 5-year-old mixed-race girl who travels the globe to meet the animals in her picture book; and Zibilla, which centers on a zebra in a world of horses struggling to find acceptance. “This lovely special about adoption celebrates differences and tackles the issue of children who feel different finding their place in the world,” says Pinguet. Key to effectively and authentically making diverse shows is having casts and crews that are representative of the diversity portrayed. “If you don’t have diverse cast and crew on your shows, how can you hope to effectively capture and communicate the experiences of those different races and cultures?” asks Jon Ollwerther, executive VP of global brand and business development at Genius Brands International, which counts among its tentpole properties Rainbow Rangers

and Llama Llama. “There is truth and authenticity in these stories, which resonates with kids, and we would be missing that if our cast and crew were not diverse.” Rainbow Rangers follows seven superhero girls that are each represented by a different color of the rainbow and have a different skin color. The show incorporates themes like empowerment, individuality, leadership, inclusivity, diversity and environmental care. “Llama Llama is a slightly different take on diversity than Rainbow Rangers, and each character is a different member of the animal kingdom,” says Ollwerther. “In season two, we also introduced Audrey the Antelope, who is limb different, and the outpouring of support from the limb-different community has been exceptional.”

CREW DIVERSITY For CAKE’s van Waveren, nothing is more important than getting the diversity right behind the scenes. “The stories of Pablo came from either people on the spectrum themselves or from people who have children on the spectrum or work with people on the spectrum. All the voices were done by children on the spectrum and this results in wonderfully unique stories, authentic and diverse, but most of all, with a unique and fresh voice.” As for Mama K’s Team 4, “all the scripts are being written by African female writers. There is no other way in which we could tell stories about children in Africa from an authentic perspective.” A common sentiment for those delivering diverse kids’ content to platforms and broadcasters is that the content needs to organically show different faces and perspectives without making these differences the focus of the show. As the world is made up of many different people with many different stories, it really shouldn’t be all that hard to do. “We live in a world with people of different abilities and disabilities, of different genders and geographical and cultural backgrounds,” says van Waveren. “The beauty of storytelling is embracing the richness of our world on both sides of the screen while resisting the urge to make the content about that.” Referring to shows on ACTF’s slate such as First Day, Little J & Big Cuz and The Inbestigators, O’Mahony concurs, explaining, “What sets them apart is that they are just great storytelling; authentic stories that ring true to an audience and have a lot of heart and warmth. Diversity comes naturally to these projects; it’s not heavy-handed or preaching, it’s just reﬂecting real life and the makeup of society.”

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Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh

he zany antics of two school-age stepbrothers in the animated series Phineas and Ferb have engendered legions of loyal fans—kids and adults. In each episode, the two boys would come up with an improbable project to fill their summer vacation days, which would inevitably annoy their older sister Candace. All the while, their pet platypus Perry was working as a spy for the mad scientist Dr. Doofenshmirtz. Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, co-creators and writers of the series, have jumped back into this madcap world and created Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe. Povenmire and Marsh talk about the genesis of the movie, having to finish animation and editing during the COVID-19-imposed lockdown, and serving fans of the series while attracting new ones. By Anna Carugati TV KIDS: How did the movie come about? POVENMIRE: Gary Marsh [the president and chief creative officer of Disney Channels Worldwide] gave me a call when we were finishing up Milo Murphy’s Law and said, Hey, they’re doing this new streaming service, and Bob Iger [executive chairman of The Walt Disney Company] has asked all the different divisions to contribute to it. They want stuff that is co-viewing-friendly, something kids and adults can watch together. Gary said, 40 percent of the audience of Phineas and Ferb was adults; would you like to do a Phineas and Ferb movie for the service? Swampy and I had just finished doing a crossover the year before with the Phineas characters and Milo Murphy’s Law. We were talking about how much fun that was and how much we had missed those characters. So we jumped right on it and said, Yes! TV KIDS: Is your level of involvement in the movie the same as it was for the series? You wrote, drew the characters and voiced two of the characters. And did you still write songs? POVENMIRE: Yes, we wrote lots and lots of songs. We did this movie more or less the way we did the original movie [Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension]. We tried at first to do the original movie like we did the series, which was we put two funny board artists who are also writers in a room and let them go crazy with the gags and stuff. But we found that doesn’t work on a feature because you give them a section and say, OK, we need to get from A to B here, this is your section. And they do what they do best, which is to go off on all these little tangents and make us laugh. Then when we put it all together, it’s sevenand-a-half hours long!

MARSH: We needed to connect the bits. POVENMIRE: What you need in a feature is to get from one spot to another as expeditiously as possible while still making it funny. We ended up having to rewrite all of that first movie and throw out a lot of really great stuff just [because it was too long]. [With Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe], instead, we started with a script and allowed the artists and director to add on to that, and we were adding on to it constantly. In the editing room, we would rewrite stuff and have stuff written in, but it was a much easier process to come to the same results. And it wasn’t heartbreaking to throw out all this amazing stuff. Some of my favorite gags are ones that we threw out in the original movie. MARSH: But if you start with a strong script and character arcs and you have a nice structure in place and a good foundation, it gives you the freedom to go and play a little bit when people come up with good ideas and ways of telling the story that we didn’t think of. POVENMIRE: Swampy and I, with three or four writers from the original series, sat in the room and figured out the story. Then we split that out script-wise and everyone wrote their sections. We came back and we took a pass to make it all cohesive. I think it’s the best thing that we’ve ever done. TV KIDS: Did COVID-19 impact production or editing? Did you have to do any work remotely? POVENMIRE: We did. We were pretty thick into editing. Not all the animation had been finished yet. We were editing and calling retakes, and the tech team at Disney realized that we were probably going to have to go into lockdown in the next five days or so. They spent a hurried week buying 9/20 WORLD SCREEN 41

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POVENMIRE: Don’t quote me, but no one’s complained to me about it!

Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe arrived on Disney+ at the end of August.

equipment they could send home with every editor that would allow them, with internet security, to still access the files that are in the main computers at Disney, so we could all edit from home. It was a Friday when they said, We’ve got it. All the editors can pick up their package at this building tonight any time after 5 p.m. But that morning is when they shut down everything, and they were not allowed to go in and get their stuff. TV KIDS: What did you do? POVENMIRE: We were six hours away from being able to do it all from home, and they shut down. We had a week or so to figure out what protocols we needed to follow—because we didn’t want to be in violation—to get this stuff into the editors’ hands. They figured out how to do it, and all the editors got the machinery they needed to hook up to their computers. Then we were doing editing sessions that we would have been doing in the editing room, but we were on a Zoom type of chat. The editor would play a section, and I could pause it and actually draw on my screen because I have a tablet here, and it would show up [on everybody’s computer]. They would copy that and send it to the overseas studio or send it to the background artist or whatever they needed to do. It was more or less the same. It took a little more time, and the joke was that I finally got to see my editor’s face because I’m usually sitting behind her and just see the back of her head. But when we were on Zoom, Oh look, that’s Anne’s face! That’s what she looks like! TV KIDS: Who had a more perilous journey: you getting the movie done or the characters in the movie? POVENMIRE: We had never put anybody in real jeopardy in the series. [In the movie], Candace gets in real jeopardy, and the boys have to save her. [In the series, in each episode] Phineas and Ferb [have to decide] what are they building today. [But in the movie], Candace gets abducted by aliens. They realize that and have to figure out how to get there, save her and bring her back. MARSH: The answer to your question is that they had it much more difficult than we did! POVENMIRE: Yes! None of us that I know of got abducted by aliens during the editing process. MARSH: I’m not saying that didn’t happen, we just don’t know about it. 42 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

TV KIDS: How do you balance serving the loyal fans of the show against attracting new viewers? MARSH: That was honestly one of the challenges of doing this. POVENMIRE: This was the second story we did a full treatment on. The first story we did a full treatment on, the executives said this would be a great story if we were on the air and everybody was watching the show, but we want to bring new people in. They wanted to do something more accessible to people because there is a younger generation coming up that may not have seen Phineas and Ferb. MARSH: It took some convincing to get us to believe that. POVENMIRE: [Laughs] If you watched the series, there are lots of Easter eggs and lots of jokes specifically for you. But I feel like we’ve hit this nice balance where you’re not going to feel like you’ve missed anything if you are watching it for the first time, and maybe it will make you want to check out the series. The entire series is available on Disney+. MARSH: It was a little bit like doing the series when we talked about doing jokes for the youngest kids in the room as well as throwing in some jokes for the adults and even some of the astrophysicists from time to time. We wanted to make sure there was something in there for everybody, so even if there may be an inside reference you have to be a massive fan of the show to love, don’t worry, two seconds later we have a joke for all the people who haven’t seen the show. TV KIDS: Are there any procedures you had to implement while working remotely that you might use going forward? POVENMIRE: I think the idea that people can work from home almost as efficiently helps in a lot of ways. You save the time that everyone is driving to and from work, especially in L.A. Anything that helps morale always helps the show get made. When people realize, Oh, I can do this and it will be easier on me; I can watch my kids at the same time, for example, I think you’re going to see a lot more people working from home a lot more often. MARSH: I can’t wait to get back to the point where we’re all getting together in the same room to do the wacky brainstorming. But [until then], you will see a lot more people working at home. It’s going to increase the quality of their family life; they’ll have more time with their kids. They’ll be off the road. The other technical thing I thought was cool is that we have found an efficient way to record voice actors from their homes. It’s not that we’ll do that all the time, but it certainly means there will be fewer problems if we have some difficulty with somebody who has a scheduling conflict or can’t travel. Whatever it is, we’ve got that down pat! POVENMIRE: Swampy and I wrote the last song and the end credits after lockdown on FaceTime on our phones. I did a quick demo of it and sent it off. It turned out well. MARSH: We were so pleased we could be so creative without having to be in the room with each other. POVENMIRE: Yeah, because that’s bothersome!

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acquired Oni Press. We’ve since merged the two comics publishing companies into Oni-Lion Forge. A couple of years ago, we started Lion Forge Animation. Then, a year and a half ago, we created an umbrella company, Polarity, which all of these organizations sit under. Our mission focuses on creating new content paradigms with an eye on diversity and inclusion and making sure that the stories we are telling and the mediums we are using push the boundaries of what expectations are in those mediums. We’re working with diverse creators on content that is authentic and reﬂective of the communities that they represent. We’re trying to ﬁnd those unique genres, angles and voices to foster and grow and develop things that haven’t had the opportunity to be seen. TV KIDS: How did Hair Love come about, and how did it land with Lion Forge? STEWARD II: The project was brought to us by one of our coproducers, Karen Toliver from Sony Pictures Animation, who had a relationship with Jimmy Thomas from our business development team. We met with her, looked at the project and got to meet creator Matthew Cherry. We recognized the vision and what he was striving to do, and we felt very compelled to get behind it; it spoke to our tenets of what kind of content we want to do as an animation studio. It spoke to the tenets of diversity and inclusion, to showcasing Black characters in a medium that we’re woefully

David Steward II Lion Forge Animation By Kristin Brzoznowski

his year’s Oscar for best animated short went to a touching tale about an African American father struggling to style his young daughter’s hair. Hair Love quite perfectly sums up the ethos of what David Steward II wants to do through his Lion Forge Animation studio: to showcase diversity in content that better reflects the world we live in. Lion Forge Animation, the only African Americanowned animation studio in the U.S., is expanding the story of Hair Love with a new series for HBO Max, Young Love. The company has also landed an exclusive first-look partnership with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Kids+Family. Steward II tells TV Kids about the importance of amplifying content that challenges expectations and reflects the diversity of modern viewing audiences.

TV KIDS: What led to the launch of Lion Forge? STEWARD II: It started as a comics company, Lion Forge Comics, in 2011. We built that publishing company and along the way we acquired Magnetic Press, which focuses on foreign reprints and premium comic books. We also 44 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

underrepresented in: animation. In a lot of ways, it spoke to not only the African American community, but also had the potential for far-reaching impact across various communities. It was a great property that socialized an aspect of African American culture to audiences across the country and across the world. It was a very touching tale as well. We helped to produce the project and to make sure that Matthew’s vision was seen. We made sure that he was able to work with the team in an unfettered way. All too often, projects get developed underneath a studio guise, and a lot of times the studio executives feel the need to put their imprint on a project or change it from what the intention of the artist is. With this one, we wanted to make sure that Matthew’s intention and direction remained pure. We got a great product that we’re very proud of. TV KIDS: How did the deal come together to develop a series inspired by Hair Love with HBO Max? STEWARD II: We are getting the “old gang” back together that helped to produce the original series, including Matthew.

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The series is about taking the initial narrative and view that we saw within the animated short and expanding on it. We are going to explore more within the family, with Stephen, Zuri and Angela. We will see more slice-of-life moments that occur within this family unit. It’s about a millennialgeneration family in today’s world and how they go about life. We’ll have some more sweet moments and funny moments, as there were in the short. Fans of the original will find something to love in this new series. TV KIDS: Lion Forge also has a first-look deal with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Kids+Family. What made you want to collaborate with them? STEWARD II: Imagine has been a great partner of ours. We’ve been having conversations with them off and on for a while. We were able to come together and find some projects that really spoke to us and spoke to them to collaborate on. They very much have a similar vision in how they look at content and how they look at bringing that content to fruition in various formats, whether it’s something that maybe starts as an animated series or starts as a feature, and how to give it extended life in other areas. So much of that comports with how we conduct our company. We look at things that we’re creating and what life they may have in comic books, in animation, in other potential mediums. We very much think along the same lines. They also have a view on diversity and wanting to see authentic and marginalized voices put out there. That spoke to us as well.

helping to produce the content diverse as well so that we’re getting an authentic voice and an authentic portrayal in that. All too often, content is produced through the lens of someone else. While the diversity and inclusion may be wellintended, the mark is missed. That’s another important thing to think about when creating content. In one case, we had a book called Superb that was in our superhero line for Lion Forge, and it featured a character who had Down syndrome. In order to make sure that we were portraying that character appropriately and giving him a real and authentic voice, we worked with David Walker, who is a writer working with kids with Down syndrome, and also with the National Down Syndrome Society to engage them and have them weigh in on how the portrayal was. We wanted to have that authentic voice. The number of letters and pictures I got when that book came out, it really makes you tear up. It shows you that representation matters.

TV KIDS: What does the partnership with Starlight in China entail? STEWARD II: When Peter [Luo] from Starlight approached us, it was a great opportunity to look at, what does content look like in China, what are the cultural opportunities to take an American sensibility and content-creation capability and apply it with a Chinese voice? I find it very interesting that in the U.S., our culture is very much enumerated through the medium of the things that we put out. Other voices from other countries don’t have the opportunity as much; a lot of that content ends up being localized and regionalized but doesn’t really become a global phenomenon. We’re looking at those stories and working with them to find those cultural paradigms that are interesting and that can play not only in China but on a global scale as well. TV KIDS: What message would you like to send to the animation community about the value of programming that challenges expectations and reflects the modern, diverse times? STEWARD II: Representation matters—especially for kids’ content. Content creators need to keep in mind: what do we want our future generation to be and how do we want them to be able to see themselves and to see themselves in many different ways? I am a kid of the ’80s and I remember Saturday morning cartoons. There weren’t shows that had an African American lead character, but maybe had a character who was African American. There were these paradigms of the Black character would be “the strong guy,” and later that the Black character was “the smart guy.” There are so many things that a Black person can be within content and we shouldn’t be limited to the same thing at all times. Content creators need to think about how they’re portraying and putting out content with diverse characters—but also behind the scenes, how are we making those teams that are 9/20 WORLD SCREEN 45

The Oscar-winning short Hair Love is being developed into a series for HBO Max.

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and so many others. From the beginning of the pandemic till today, our whole company stepped up to ensure we were meeting families where they were at and providing a channel that everyone could feel good about watching. TV KIDS: What are some of the factors driving the service’s recent gains? BISNER: Our AVOD channel is geared for families and kids 12 and under globally, with a primary point of entry being connected TVs (CTVs). We serve low-, middle- and highincome homes and do not have a barrier to entry; be it that you’re watching on the TV in the living room or on a tablet or phone, we are there for free. Our Safe Streaming standards of adhering to the highest letter of the law give relief to families looking for a better alternative, and have proven successful. So successful, we have grown over 1,035 percent and now service over 5 million monthly active families and expect that monthly growth to continue at 35 percent per month for the remainder of 2020. Kidoodle.TV continues to rank as the number one trending app.

Brenda Bisner

Kidoodle.TV By Kristin Brzoznowski

he family-focused Safe Streaming service Kidoodle.TV has been growing by leaps and bounds. Since the beginning of 2020, it has seen an increase of over 1,000 percent in users and now services more than 5 million monthly active families. Expanding its slate is top of mind as Kidoodle.TV prepares for even more growth ahead. Last month, it revealed Wes Tank’s popular StoryRaps series as the first Kidoodle.TV original programming, with a slate of new episodes that land monthly throughout 2020 and into 2021. Brenda Bisner, chief content officer, tells TV Kids more about what’s to come. TV KIDS: With children and caregivers at home more amid lockdown measures, how did Kidoodle.TV step in to ﬁll the needs of the marketplace? BISNER: With parents juggling so many things, like homeschooling, Kidoodle.TV has immediately become families’ go-to trusted source for screen time, not just because of our Safe Streaming assurance, but because we have harnessed so many brands from around the world, like Talking Tom, Paw Patrol shorts, Wallace and Gromit, Winx Club 46 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

TV KIDS: What led Kidoodle.TV to move into the original programming space? BISNER: We believe in co-viewing; we always have. In March, we came upon a viral sensation, Wes Tank, and instantaneously engaged in meaningful dialogue with him to discuss a partnership. What Wes did was create a movement in households full of families on edge and overworked. The idea of taking something otherwise ordinary and up-leveling it to appeal to not just the kids but the whole family was extraordinary. We watched his success and carefully measured what could be done, hence the recent launch of our ﬁrst Kidoodle.TV originals. We have always wanted to create content for today’s families, and Wes was a great person to do that with. What we have developed together will continue to grow, and you can see new StoryRaps episodes every month on Kidoodle.TV. TV KIDS: With regard to acquisitions, what types of programs are you currently on the lookout for? BISNER: We are looking at everything, all the time. We love data, and want to bring fresh and relevant programming to our audiences globally. We love viral, established sensations and are looking to change the game across the board, not just with where and how families consume but what they see. Making a show based off of traditional co-production means is less interesting to us, and we’ll be looking for partners who have not only an audience that loves them, but partners who care deeply about the important work we are doing at Kidoodle.TV to keep kids Safe Streaming. TV KIDS: What’s the strategy for continuing to grow the Kidoodle.TV platform? BISNER: Viewing data shows co-viewing through CTVs has not only grown but is continuing as the new normal, and we are at the front lines of that. Our research studies show that 97 percent of parents are co-viewing, and with the steady increase of cord-cutting, advertisers are looking for a safe destination to place their brand adverts and reach families. With a September full of a lot of uncertainties, we will be increasing content launches even more to align with the needs of families. With the growth data we have been measuring, we only expect to keep soaring.

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In-Demand: Known IP In a crowded content landscape, delivering properties based on known IP always helps to cut through the clutter. This report on shows based on existing brands spotlights Aardman’s Brave Bunnies, GO-N Productions’ Simon and Studio 100 Media’s SeaBelievers.

Brave Bunnies Produced By: Glowberry (Ukraine), Anima (Spain) Origin: Brave Bunnies originated as a successful storybook about a traveling Bunny family, released in Ukraine, created by Olga Cherepanova, who is creative producer on the series. Rights Available: Worldwide in all media excluding certain rights in the U.K., Germany, Australia, Israel, Finland, Ukraine and Italy, from Aardman Animations. Description: Brave Bunnies shows children the diversity of the world, encouraging viewers to accept differences, no matter how big or small. The series will launch autumn 2020. Targeted to the 3-to-5 set, the series encompasses 52 7-minute episodes and a digital miniseries, format to be determined. A second season is in development. Pitch Perfect: Launching in October 2020, this is the perfect time to partner on a refreshing new brand, with diversity and inclusion at the heart. Aardman Animations manages distribution rights worldwide, except Italy (DeAgostini), Spain (Anima) and Ukraine (Glowberry). Sales Contact: Alison Taylor, Director, Distribution & Business Development.

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Simon Commissioned By: France Télévisions Produced By: GO-N Productions Origin: Based on the worldwide best-selling children’s books by Stephanie Blake, published by l’Ecole des Loisirs, with over 3.5 million books sold in key territories such as France, Japan, China, the U.K., Italy, Spain and South Korea. Rights Available: All international rights are available from GO-N International. Description: Simon is an adorable little rabbit who exudes all the vitality of childhood. He is at an age when little rabbits (and indeed children!) are starting to come into their own—challenging relationships with parents, embarking upon school life and learning about the world in general. Geared at kids aged 3 to 6, Simon encompasses three seasons of 52 5-minute episodes. Pitch Perfect: Simon has reached worldwide audiences thanks to its unique, realistic, fun and cute tone. Our little bunny Simon is an international phenomenon, garnering audiences all around the planet. With over 4 million subscribers on YouTube, Simon also has an impressive international and digital presence. With three seasons of 52 episodes completed, Simon is going on a new journey with a new spin-off season in development with France TV! Slot Winner: Our partners include France TV, Télé-Québec, RTS, YLE, NHK, Clan RTVE, Cartoonito, SVT, NRK, DR, NPO, ERR, HOP!, RUV, RTV, Channel 5’s Milkshake!, Discovery Kids MENA, Jim Jam and VRT. Sales Contact: Eric Garnet, Producer & Co-Founder. 9/20 WORLD SCREEN 49

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SeaBelievers Produced By: Baboon Animation (U.S.), Telegael (Ireland), AnCartoon (China). Brien Arone is the producer. Origin: Founded and owned by SeaEO Brien Arone, SeaBelievers was inspired by the SeaBabies property of the 1990s created by Cathleen Arone. The property celebrated the environment and inspired children to care about the future of the planet. Determined to reboot this franchise and realize its full potential as environmental concerns reach an all-time high, SeaBelievers will teach a new generation of children the importance of caring for the planet in a fun and positive way. SeaBelievers is a member of 1% for the Planet, a global organization that connects businesses, individuals and nonprofits. Rights Available: Worldwide rights (excluding Russia & CIS) for all audiovisual as well as L&M exploitation from Studio 100 Media. Description: SeaBelievers is the first TV series to represent the genre of ecotainment. In each episode, the positive SeaBelievers problem-solve and take action around key environmental issues with their Magic Sand Dollars, which ignite their unique superpowers—fueled by their self-belief! The target demo is preschoolers aged 4 to 7. Season one consists of 52 11-minute episodes. Pitch Perfect: “SeaBelievers is the world’s first ecotainment show for kids and will entertain children in the best possible way, especially as each episode comes with original tunes to sing and dance along to,” says Dorian Bühr, head of global distribution at Studio 100 Media. “A series with such high quality together with a strong message is something really special.” Sales Contacts: Dorian Bühr, Head, Global Distribution; Tanja Aichberger Schaetzle, Senior Sales Executive; Vanessa Windhager, Sales Executive. 50 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

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LUCAS GREEN BANIJAY

By Anna Carugati

he coronavirus has swept across the globe and caused the shutdown of dozens of television studio and on-location productions. However, several unscripted shows in the Banijay group—the global content producer and distributor formed by Banijay’s acquisition of the Endemol Shine Group—were able to get back up and running in the last few months. The group’s head of content, Lucas Green, talks about the flexibility of several entertainment shows, the creativity used to adapt to COVID-19 safety guidelines while maintaining and even enhancing these global brands, and the popularity of shiny-floor, feel-good, family-friendly shows.

WS: What shows were you able to produce while countries were still in lockdown? GREEN: Big Brother is a perfect COVID-friendly format because the house is like a biosphere. You have to do the classic precautions: all the housemates have to go into quarantine beforehand, do the tests, prove that they are in the clear, and once you’ve got the green light, they go into the house. You have protocols in place, and you have backups. But once you are in, it allows you to provide a huge number of hours of content in a safe environment, and there is no interaction with the production team. Big Brother could have been created for a pandemic environment. Those were the productions that we were able to keep going through lockdown. Germany, Portugal, Italy, Brazil, Israel, Sweden, India and Finland have all been producing Big Brother. One of our main successful examples was Australia. Big Brother came back in Australia as a prerecorded show—and not because of COVID. It was part of refreshing the brand, creating a new story around Big Brother coming back to air. They cleverly used a lot of music. They edited it, so it was about slightly warmer storylines than some of the classic ones with housemates falling out with each other. By making a prerecorded version, they were able to have a stronger grip on the storylines to make sure that the narrative suited the time. In the very early days, we all looked in our catalog and asked, What can we reversion? There were some easy wins there, like taking a show like Location, Location, Location, one of the strongest performing property shows in the U.K. They did an order of 20 episodes taking the best houses and the best stories. They reversioned that with some COVID-friendly links to create fresh content from tape. They did the same thing with Big Brother in the U.K. WS: What were some of the programming trends you observed during the lockdown? GREEN: Many of the shows that reﬂected COVID weren’t so successful because people didn’t want to be reminded of the fact that their favorite host and shows were also in lockdown and everyone was stuck between the same four walls. People wanted escapism, fun, comedy and laughter. It seems a long time since we were talking about Tiger King being the most popular show on television. That was about a crazy guy running a tiger

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The Temptation Island format, which originated in the Netherlands almost 20 years ago, continues to sell worldwide; last year it was rebooted by USA Network. sanctuary and about as far from coronavirus as you could possibly get! People wanted something different. They wanted escapism. They wanted to forget about their daily troubles and didn’t want to watch the infection rates on the news every night. One of the trends we saw during lockdown was a polarization of the types of content broadcasters were looking for. The shows that were about COVID very quickly went away. What broadcasters started saying to us was that they either wanted very big events, big glossy entertainment shows that they could use as tentpoles, or they wanted lowcost, high-volume shows. If you are going to have to spend your programming budget wisely, go big or go volume. And there was a squeeze on [mid-budget] programming. That’s another trend of 2020—the acceleration of existing patterns. We’ve seen the streamers come more to the fore. We’ve seen subscription rates go up. We’ve seen the linear broadcasters come under a bit more pressure. We’ve seen budgets get tightened. Those have all been accelerated by COVID, but they were all trends that were in play already. I would say that appetite for either big shows or low-cost high-volume shows was already there, but it’s now come much more sharply into focus. WS: What other shows are getting back into production? And is it fair to say that it’s easier to get unscripted shows up and running now than scripted?

GREEN: Yes, that’s true. We were all waiting for unscripted to have its time in the spotlight again. That has come around faster, and it shows the robustness of having a very strong unscripted catalog. Even if it’s not Big Brother, which is like a bubble, if you’ve got a studio environment and everybody is quarantined or isolated beforehand, and you have all the right tests, you can get into a machine where you start to produce multiple episodes in a short amount of time. In the U.K., The Wall is back into the studio with BBC One. Tipping Point, our big ITV stripped show, has been back in production. We record three episodes a day, ﬁlming it in big blocks. If you’ve got those format engines, you can ﬁlm them in blocks. And once you’ve got your protocols in place, you can generate the shows very quickly because that’s the beauty of a format. You’ve got a system and a schedule, and it’s much easier to reproduce in numbers. It’s not just the U.K. Deal or No Deal was one of our big successes in lockdown. It was an early example of a [Banijay-Endemol Shine] integration show. That was an Endemol Shine catalog format that had not been on air in France, but it came back and was produced by a Banijay company, H2O Productions. It was hosted by one of the big talents of Banijay France, Cyril Hanouna. They didn’t just bring it back in exactly the same form. They did it live. No one had ever done Deal or No Deal live before, but it worked. It rated 54 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

very well and was very quickly renewed. That was a big success for us. Another one I quite like is Don’t Forget the Lyrics!, which airs 14 episodes a week in France. It’s fun. It’s a singalong, an up-tempo show. It makes you feel good. One of the big challenges of lockdown productions is the audience. That is your biggest risk. You’ve got a potentially large number of people packed in close together, and you want the audience to have a good time. They have a socially distanced audience and tasked people to wear masks, but they printed quite fun masks that were of people’s faces. So it didn’t look like they were wearing medical masks. They had iPads with people’s faces who were fans of the show. They actually augmented the entertainment value of the show. Rather than say you can’t have an audience or having the audience sitting there looking miserable, you take a challenge and turn it into a new, fun part of the format. WS: After all, necessity is the mother of invention! GREEN: You have to be creative and see these as opportunities to do something new and innovate. That’s been the key to it. A lot of the shows with a great track record have been the ones that have been robust. It’s more challenging to create new IP and experiment with brand-new shows in lockdown, but that’s the new phase we are moving into. For the next quarter, we are focusing on new IP and getting our pilots back up

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and running. The next big thing for us is to create the hits of 2021. Surprisingly, one of the territories that you wouldn’t normally expect to be contributing to that is Germany, which traditionally has taken shows that work and adapted them. But German production protocols have been very strong. They have been producing big entertainment shows throughout lockdown and are very quickly ramping them up. We’ve announced lots of entertainment shows in Germany: The Big Performance for RTL and FameMaker for ProSieben. They are both big studio performance-related shows that will be on the air in September. FameMaker is the brainchild of Stefan Raab, who is a huge name in Germany, and we have high hopes for that. Endemol Shine Germany announced a new show called I Got You Babe. It’s a big studio performance show featuring singing with puppets. The Masked Singer, produced by Endemol Shine in Germany, is a feel-good family show that has inspired people to think there can be a new wave of big shiny-floor entertainment shows that don’t have to be talent shows. They’re fun performance shows. They might have a guessing element; they might have a competitive element. We’ve seen the likes of Got Talent, The X Factor, Idols and The Voice that have been on air for a long time. There’s a new wave of entertainment shows that don’t have the same narrative because they’re not about who’s the next big star. It’s let’s have some fun and make people laugh. Let’s sit down and watch big glossy shows with our kids.

Promi Big Brother, a celebrity edition of the megaformat, is currently airing on Sat.1 in Germany. There is a new wave of those coming from Germany, and that’s quite exciting. What’s unique in COVID is that across the world, we’ve all been in the same boat. How rare is it that you can say that what is happening in India is politically or economically or culturally the same as what is happening in the U.K. or [the U.S.] or Finland or Germany? We are all going through the same questions and challenges. It’s our job at the group level to collaborate and facilitate and say, If you are producing Temptation Island, here is what we can learn from our Dominican Republic location, which is up and running. If you want to piggyback onto our Dominican Republic location where we’ve got the ﬁlming equipment and location sorted, and

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we’ve developed the social distancing protocols, jump on board. We collaborate and share information. A lot of the maybe traditional politics go out the window, such as I don’t want to go to the Dominican Republic because I’ve got a nice deal in Thailand. The priority is to get the show back on air. We collaborate to make that happen. WS: Are production budgets increasing as you comply with COVID-19 guidelines? GREEN: The costs do go up. In the U.S., they have gone up more. Clearly, the U.S. is further behind. To get back into production in the U.S., you need a greater level of testing [and it’s] the sheer volume of tests that drive up the price. There are other factors. The day is a bit longer. You have to allow time for cleaning. You have to put people into quarantine beforehand for certain shows, [so there are] higher hotel costs. The testing is the biggest line in the budget that goes up. I would say that in Europe it’s a smaller increase and there are other factors you have to build in. The schedule, the time involved, but it’s not made shows impractical. Yes, the networks have suffered from the decrease in advertising, and yes, costs are going up because of COVID lines in budgets. But networks haven’t been ordering as many shows. As they get back into production, it’s up to them to decide where they spend the money. That’s where the beneﬁt of a strong catalog and tried-and-tested shows is really important to us. The acquisition of Endemol Shine has made us an even more diversiﬁed business. We’ve got a better spread of production entities, different territories. We’re not so reliant on a couple of key markets, so it’s a good time to have formats in lots of different territories that we can dip into and de-risk the market for the broadcasters.

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MARKET TRENDS

WS: What’s the overall strategy for driving growth at Red Arrow Studios International in the 12 to 18 months ahead? DENTON: Our priority is to focus on our core strengths and key areas of specialization, particularly scripted and formats. In scripted, we have a strong slate of “global drama,” ranging from returning, premium series like Bosch, Vienna Blood and Departure through to our catalog of TV-movie titles, which number over 500. We are also a big supplier of quality, critically-acclaimed non-English language drama like Dignity, The Bank Hacker and Falco. The increasing globalization of drama means viewers are more accepting of subtitled and dubbed content than ever before. Our scripted slate is an attractively broad mix of content, which is important as trends come and go quickly in this genre, so building on that is a priority. And of course, formats are a big part of our strategy. We are known for being innovators in this space and have a track record of launching interesting, off-beat, noisy and commercially successful formats that quickly become the new mainstream. A format like Married at First Sight, for instance, is huge for us in distribution and for the group as a whole. It’s now the world’s most locally produced

Joel Denton

Red Arrow Studios International By Mansha Daswani

o distributor has been immune to the effects of COVID-19, but some, with large libraries, have been able to weather the storm better than others. That has been the case for Red Arrow Studios International, which, while dealing with production pauses on shows it was gearing up to launch this year, has a deep bench of scripted and nonscripted properties to offer buyers across the globe. Broadcasters coping with their own production delays have been snapping up TV-movie titles, library shows with multiple seasons available and the holy grail for broadcasters in need of entertainment shows in a COVID-19 landscape: quickturnaround, flexible formats that can be made with or without studio audiences. At the helm of Red Arrow Studios International is Joel Denton, who joined the company earlier this year with a wealth of experience working in international content distribution, having previously spent time at A+E Networks, RHI Entertainment and Hallmark Entertainment. He also previously ran Red Arrow Studios’ operations in the U.K. Tapping into his knowledge of production and distribution trends across the globe, Denton is building on Red Arrow Studios International’s core strengths of premium international drama titles and innovative formats. In this interview with World Screen, Denton articulates his strategy for the year ahead.

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relationship format, with 29 local productions, and local tape versions sold to over 100 territories. Over the next 12 months, we see Beat the Channel gaining signiﬁcant traction: it’s a totally original concept in which two presenters are given the chance to win a 15-minute live slot, where anything goes. Produced by Florida Entertainment for ProSieben, it’s been a huge hit in Germany and season four is now in production. Internationally it’s been licensed to a number of territories, so it will start to roll out locally next year. We are lucky as we have a strong supply of in-house formats from renowned Red Arrow Studiosowned production companies, like CPL Productions, Snowman Productions, Kinetic Content and RedSeven Entertainment, and we also work with leading third-party suppliers and will continue to do so. In terms of factual, our focus going forward will primarily be on premium factual and brands; titles like The Weekly and the forthcoming new series The Weekly: Special Edition—the landmark factual series produced by Left/Right and The New York Times for FX and Hulu—and also Galileo, our long-running sciencetainment series that continues to sell widely and has spawned numerous spin-offs and brand extensions.

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WS: How are windowing strategies evolving? DENTON: As the landscape keeps evolving and old rules get broken, there is a greater degree of flexibility regarding windowing and other traditional broadcast rules. From our perspective, we try to be as creative as possible in finding windowing solutions that capitalize on this new openness, serving our broadcast and producer partners in the best possible way. However, it all depends on the content. For those channel-deﬁning, premium dramas, exclusivity is important. In these instances, the commissioning channels tend to hold onto all rights, and what we are seeing is more split-window deals whereby free-TV broadcasters collaborate with pay-TV players or streamers at the commissioning stage, thus tying up two windows. WS: You’ve had a long history with TV movies; how has that market evolved? DENTON: There has always been a healthy demand for TV movies, particularly from broadcasters in Europe, and the popularity of the genre continues to endure, in part because the movies are incredibly ﬂexible to schedule— they are almost always rated PG. There has been an evolution over the years, though; broadcasters used to schedule them in prime time, now they generally run in daytime or shoulder peak for a largely female audience. That said, networks are still buying TV movies in volume. In terms of genre, romantic comedies and light crime tend to be the most popular. Recently we have seen an increase in the number of holiday movies produced, which is driven by the Hallmark channels’ success with

this genre. We have a number of holiday and Christmas titles and they do good business for us, but they obviously aren’t as ﬂexible to schedule as rom-coms. We look to launch a minimum of 20 new U.S.-produced TV movies a year, along with a number of German TV movies, and are one of the larger trusted volume suppliers. For us as a distributor, having a good stock of TV movies in our catalog and a steady ﬂow of new titles means we can service pay- and free-TV needs and also the increasing appetite from the streamers. WS: How important has it been for Red Arrow to become a producer-distributor-packager, especially in scripted? DENTON: It’s hugely important for Red Arrow to be involved in content throughout its whole lifecycle. In the scripted space, in particular, we get involved in projects right from the treatment and development stage, with Red Arrow’s Carlo Dusi leading on scripted development. Good examples include both Vienna Blood and Departure. If you are a distributor of scale, it has never been more important to get creative projects to the screen by building interesting business models and financial packages and then coming up with bespoke distribution strategies, often with complex rights structures, to make sure each show generates as much revenue as possible back to the production company—be they in-house or third party. WS: How are you working with Joyn? And what benefits does RASI derive from being part of the broader ProSiebenSat.1 group?

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Red Arrow has done a number of deals on the period drama Vienna Blood, which has been renewed for a second season by ORF and ZDF.

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DENTON: Our catalog of TV movies is doing particularly well, as there’s a clear demand right now for easygoing, feel-good content—viewers don’t want too much gloom and doom at the moment. As it’s content that appeals to a broad family audience, it’s easy and ﬂexible for broadcasters to schedule. Quick-turnaround formats is another key area for us, particularly those high-volume, lower-cost shows that can play in daytime and access prime. Our format Block Out, which Red Arrow Studios developed with Nippon TV and July August Productions, has recently been commissioned for 70 episodes in Spain and also in the Netherlands. Broadcasters are experimenting with these types of formats in prime time as the lower price points mean the risk is also a lot lower. We’ve also been doing a lot of business with the readymade episodes of Married at First Sight. The U.S. version, WS: And in terms of your extensive library, what’s resonatproduced by Kinetic Content for Lifetime, sells widely to ing with broadcasters at this time? broadcasters around the world, as does the Australian version, which has been a massive hit for Nine Network. This year it has been acquired by Lifetime in the U.S. and Channel 4 in the U.K. Additionally, SIC Portugal has taken seven seasons, alongside spin-offs Married at First Sight: The First Year and Married at First Sight: Second Chances. The other local versions also travel, with SVT having picked up the Norwegian tapes, SIC Portugal the Italian and New Zealand tapes, and PRO Plus Slovenia has acquired Married at First Sight Croatia, just to name a few! My observation is that big TV brands are just becoming bigger, with broadcasters looking to supersize them in as many different ways as possible. So, in addition to making their own versions, picking up other ready-made versions and their associated spin-offs is a cost-effective way for a channel to extend a hit brand, ensure it is recognized as the home of that brand and beneﬁt from How to Become Superhuman is a new format from Snowman Productions, the creators of Married at First Sight. the halo effect. Red Arrow’s scripted catalog includes the Canadian series Departure, which Global has renewed for a second season.

DENTON: We work closely with our colleagues at Joyn and ProSiebenSat.1. We distribute Dignity, Joyn’s first original drama series commission, and two of our comedy-dramas— Ms. Jordan and Check Check—are also Joyn and ProSieben commissions, both of which have been recommissioned for second seasons that we are launching this fall/winter. German drama continues to get more ambitious—in terms of production values and budgets, and the scope of its themes and storylines—so it’s a fruitful relationship. Being part of a large broadcaster in Europe is incredibly beneficial for us; it provides us with a pipeline of shows and, more broadly, resources for investment. We also continue to benefit from the shows flowing from Red Arrow Studios as a production group, something I want to focus on even more in the next 12 months.

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BEHIND THE SCENES

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Elwood Reid

Barkskins A

t a sprawling 736 pages and spanning 300 years, Annie Proulx’s acclaimed 2016 novel Barkskins could have been deemed unadaptable. But National Geographic and Scott Rudin Productions saw potential in Proulx’s epic tale of two immigrants to New France in the 1690s, optioning the rights before the novel had even hit shelves. In this wide-ranging Q&A, novelist and scriptwriter Elwood Reid tells World Screen about his approach to bringing Proulx’s work to the small screen. By Mansha Daswani WS: What was the approach to crafting the arc of season one, and are you envisioning more episodes? REID: It’s always been planned to be multiple seasons. I really only adapted the first 100 pages of the book. When you leave 600 pages of a book on the table, there’s a lot of room for a lot more stories. I designed it to ramp up to a high point and then just drop you off a cliff. You want to leave the audience wanting more and not feel like they ate the whole meal. That was a very conscious decision on my part to do that. WS: What were the challenges of re-creating this time in history—one that most of us know nothing about? REID: I don’t mean to speak broadly about a whole genre of TV shows—I do watch period shows. I do find the trap that period shows run into is they tend to be all about the costumes and the setting and the look, and a lot of the drama is very interpersonal. When people talk about period, it’s, Oh, everyone walked around in beautiful dresses and they went to balls and rode in carriages and they were going to figure out who they were going to marry! History is incredibly bloody, in particular, this period of time. That seems to get left out. And that seems to go into genre. Anything you read about this era, there were wars and battles and people are screwing each other over land. It was full of plot. So I said, we’re going to have people in beautiful costumes and there’s going to be some dances and there’s going to be some relationships and there’s going to be people sticking axes into other characters. WS: Tell us about how you brought your background in writing crime procedurals to the show. REID: I came up as a novelist, and I read a lot of crime fiction. When I first came out to Hollywood, I loved procedurals. I loved NYPD Blue, that world that David Milch created. One thing I noticed about those shows is, the minute there’s a body, when something really bad

happens, people by and large, no matter how bad what follows is, are going to stick around to ﬁnd out what happened and why did they do it. So it’s a very effective motor, and I think we tend to only apply it to cops in Armani suits walking around cities. Why not transplant some of that motor into what you call period drama? I think it really works. It felt good to be able to drive the story around a central mystery. One thing you always have in a procedural is this train track. You can diverge off that train track, but the minute you get back on that story track, the pace picks up. It’s very comforting to have that as a writer. WS: How do you juggle TV writing and novel writing? REID: It’s a complicated question. The rap that used to be on novelists and story writers was that they couldn’t write television or movies because they didn’t understand the structure. Starting with David Milch, David Chase, the pacing and the structure of a great novel is very akin to serialized cable drama. As the medium has evolved, it’s made my skills much more in common, as a novelist, with screenplays. I love both. I’m not going to say it’s easy. I hire a lot of novelists for my rooms; sometimes they can make that transition, sometimes they can’t. One thing you have to learn in a TV show is you can’t be precious; you’re always going to get rewritten, or you’ll get a note that you may disagree with. A novelist will say, I can put whatever I want in there. You can’t do that in television. If you enter [into TV writing thinking], I’m going to be an artist and no one can touch my precious words, you’re never going to win. There are days I work on my novel in the morning and I work on screenplays at night, but it is a little bit of a different muscle to ﬂex. As I’ve gotten older and craftier, I’ve learned how to switch between those two. Back in the day, once I wrote screenplays, I put down novel writing for a while; I was trying to learn a new craft. It’s trial and error. 9/20 WORLD SCREEN 63

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SPOTLIGHT

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Cathrine Wiernik

TV4 Media A

s the director of acquisitions, formats and development at TV4 Media for the Nordics and Baltics, Cathrine Wiernik oversees TV4, the leading commercial free-TV channel in Sweden; its sister AVOD digital service, TV4 Play; and the SVOD platform C More. She talks to World Screen about her programming strategies and needs.

WS: In the past year, what imported shows have performed particularly well? WIERNIK: Acquired shows are not prime-time product on free-TV channels and haven’t been for a long time. They work in daytime. But for C More and TV4 Play, our AVOD platform, premium acquired series carry a very central role in our strategy. On C More, where acquisitions are very key, it features films and shows from the premium cable world, like any other SVOD service. We’re pan-Nordic and we have had, as of last year, a few stand-out acquisitions: The Capture, the BBC hit, did really well for us, as well as Younger, which is a half-hour dramedy. An initiative that we launched in March, the success of which was also fueled by the fact that there was the coronavirus going around and more people were looking for shows to watch, is the hayu channel, as a branded section on C More. It features the Kardashians [and much more]. It offers significant volume, great brands, and we get a lot of binge-viewing from that. Then, on the Swedish local programming side, we’ve had amazing success with Bäckström. It’s a classic cop show, but with a slightly different tone than the classic Nordic noir, more family-friendly. We had fantastic success with the relaunch of Big Brother on C More. We’re building TV4 Play, our AVOD service. It’s our ad-supported business on the digital side. In a few years, TV4 has to migrate into TV4 Play, because [as linear viewing declines], we will need to move people into TV4 Play, which is the world of TV4. All the shows that do well in prime time on TV4 linear do well on our Play service. We have a huge focus on Play at the moment because we need to create a service with a rich, deep, broad spectrum of content that will not only reflect our prime-time schedule and provide a catch-up service but will also be a go-to destination where people want to hang out. When it comes to acquisitions, we historically didn’t make a lot of exclusive AVOD acquisitions because TV4 Play was mostly a catch-up service for our TV4 local productions. Now we realize we need to feed our AVOD platform, but it won’t be as premium or as high-end. It might be more mid-segment drama or daytime drama. Last summer, for example, we launched Series Sommar or Series Summer, where we offer a new series every week. It can be anything from a daytime

BBC TV show to a second window of a premium show. It’s not as extensive and not as premium, but it’s still good and, accumulated as an event, does really well. WS: How are you filling the gaps for the programming that is not coming in due to COVID-19? WIERNIK: Given that we have not been on total lockdown, our local productions have slowly but surely moved forward. Production has not been unaffected, but not nearly as affected as the rest of the world. We’ve had to cancel some stuff that’s shot abroad. We’ve had to coronaproof sets according to directives on how we produce: how many people on set, who eats where, when, etc. But we are allowed 50 people in a room. We are allowed to continue going to work, but with social distancing rules. Even though we have postponed, adjusted, revised and canceled, we’ve managed to continue production. We don’t have huge gaps that we need to fill. A lot of the big international series and feature films are not coming in. So we’ve worked creatively on the local side, where we had to push something forward, maybe it airs this fall instead of this spring, and we’re shuffling things around. We’re also trying to stay sane when it comes to new investments because we’ve been so hard hit [by the decrease in] revenue from our ad business, like every commercial broadcaster in the world. We have all-time records in linear viewing and C More consumption, but we are not getting paid for it. So we can’t just go out and bingeshop to replace things. We need to think creatively and costeffectively. We need to shuffle things around more than just finding things. And we have to live with the fact that 2020 might be a little less powerful as far as new titles and volumes of exclusive new shows coming out. Hopefully, we are finding new ways to replace the delayed new international acquisitions by buying shows that are already boxed. Of course, the competition for that programming is more significant because everybody is experiencing the delays and consequences of the coronavirus and that’s tough. But we’re trying to finish deals quickly to fill at least some of the needs that have occurred. Rather than new premium series, we might fill in with other things. It’s about being agile and flexible and acting quickly on the shows that are available. The competition is bigger on those titles because people would have gone to L.A. and watched 60 pilots and would have picked and chosen from those. That’s not happening. Still, we’re managing. Again, everybody looks creatively at this. There are other things to buy, and we are lucky enough to have a lot of our local productions. We’re keeping the factory going slowly but surely with everyone’s health prioritized. 9/20 WORLD SCREEN 65

By Anna Carugati

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In-Demand: Wildlife The wonders of nature and the animal kingdom are explored in these four stunning wildlife docs: all3media international’s The Elephant Hospital, ZDF Enterprises’ Realm of the Volga, Albatross World Sales’ Land of the Far North and ORF-Enterprise’s Big Bend—America’s Wildest Frontier.

The Elephant Hospital Commissioned By: Channel 5 in the U.K. Produced By: Maverick Television Rights Available: All rights worldwide from all3media international. Description: Take a trip to the world’s largest hospital devoted solely to treating elephants: the Elephant Hospital in Lampang, Northern Thailand, which cares for over 100 sick, injured or neglected animals each year. With unique access to the daily challenges faced by the vets and volunteers on site, this is a heartwarming series full of uplifting, extraordinary and unexpected stories—whether that’s treating an elephant with cancer or fitting a prosthetic leg to one that has lost a limb after standing on a land mine. Two 60-minute episodes available. Pitch Perfect: Feel-good, heartwarming television featuring elephants both old and young, who are looked after by a team of hard-working and determined vets and local volunteers. Sales Contact: Stephen Driscoll, EVP, EMEA & European Co-Productions.

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Realm of the Volga Commissioned By: ZDF Enterprises Produced By: Doclights in co-production with Altayfilm in association with NDR, MDR, WDR, ARTE, ORF, Channel One Russia, CuriosityStream Rights Available: From ZDF Enterprises. Description: The Volga is Russia’s natural lifeline, collecting its water over some 1.5 million square kilometers, incorporating most of European Russia. Its basin is larger than France, Spain and Portugal combined. Innumerable springs, lakes and rivers feed the main stream. During the epic journey towards the delta, the river skirts the edges of Siberia and central Asia. Globally there is no larger river that does not enter an ocean—this one makes its own: the Caspian Sea. For centuries, the river has been central to the development of this huge region as well as its people. A 2x50-minute production. Pitch Perfect: The biggest country in the world and the longest European river running through it still remain a mystery to many. For the first time, the multi-awardwinning wildlife specialists from Doclights, with a number of international coproduction partners, give detailed insight into the amazing diversity of wildlife roaming the gigantic river and its surroundings throughout the seasons of the year. Stunning UHD photography shows Russia’s natural wonders as you’ve never seen them before! Sales Contact: Ralf Rückauer, VP, ZDFE.unscripted. 9/20 WORLD SCREEN 67

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Land of the Far North Commissioned By: WDR, ARTE Produced By: Marco Polo Film Rights Available: Worldwide, all media, from Albatross World Sales. Description: The polar regionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;where eternal light and everlasting darkness take turns to challenge all animal and plant life, making this region one of the most extreme environments on the planet. Above the arctic circle, the winter nights last for months, seemingly bringing all life to a halt and making way for bitterly cold winds to sweep the barren landscape. But at second glance, this inhospitable region is home to remarkably resilient animals and plants that have evolved to survive and even thrive in such harsh conditions. They have developed truly unique survival techniques to endure perpetual darkness. And they have learned to really seize the polar day as soon as the sun rises above the horizon and covers the landscape with a warm, long-lasting light. We follow the paths of its inhabitants as they lead us through rugged landscapes full of extreme contrasts and magnificent beauty. This 4K production consists of 2x52-minute episodes. Pitch Perfect: This two-part series by renowned wildlife factual producer Marco Polo Film leaves no one untouched. In the rugged, yet beautiful landscape of the polar region we follow polar bears, arctic foxes, reindeer and other magnificent creatures in their struggle to survive in one of the most extreme environments on Earth. Sales Contacts: Lisa Anna Schelhas, Sales Manager, Europe (except Eastern Europe), Americas, Australia, New Zealand; Eleytheria Heine, Sales Manager, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Russia & CIS; Claudia Zell, Sales Manager, Eastern Europe. 68 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

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Big Bend—America’s Wildest Frontier Commissioned By: ORF-Enterprise Produced By: Crossing the Line Films, ORF, PBS, France TV, SVT, ARTE, ORF-Enterprise Rights Available: Worldwide except for the U.S., France, Ireland and Sweden, from ORF-Enterprise. Description: The legendary Rio Grande river cuts deep canyons between the U.S. and Mexico, but the wildlife knows no boundaries. This most talked-about frontier is a vast wonderland of serene beauty and larger-than-life desert landscapes—and home to some of America’s most glorious wildlife. Big Bend National Park boasts more species of birds, butterflies, bats, reptiles, cacti, ants and scorpions than any other U.S. National Park. The soaring Chisos Mountains are sky-islands harboring survivors at the extreme edge of their ranges and seeking respite as they migrate through. This is America’s true borderland, where horizons never end and stars blaze as they have for eons; where mountain lion and black bear roam, where bats stalk the desert floor at night, seeking out of all things—scorpions! It‘s the wild west of our cartoons and movie dream worlds. Big Bend still appears exactly as it did when Native Americans were the only humans to drink from its springs and hunt its game, before the wagons of the white settlers first appeared on the horizon. The duration of this special is 52 minutes. Pitch Perfect: Big Bend—America’s Wildest Frontier joins this year’s fall lineup of ORF’s nature and wildlife brand UNIVERSUM and presents the Wild West between the U.S. and Mexico with stunning pictures. The film journeys through Big Bend throughout a year, seeking out its secret places and wild creatures. Sales Contacts: Armin Luttenberger, Head, Content Sales International; Monika Kossits, Sales Manager.

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In-Demand: Science & Technolog Society-transforming ideas, climate change and space take center stage in these new science and technology docs: ZDF Enterprises’ Great Inventions, Albatross World Sales’ On Thin Ice and TVF International’s Searching for Light.

Great Inventions Commissioned By: ZDF Enterprises Produced By: Off the Fence, doc.station, World Media Rights and k22 for ZDF Enterprises. Rights Available: All rights worldwide from ZDF Enterprises. Description: In this series, we look at the successes and the failures, the brilliant ideas, and some, well, not so brilliant. This series celebrates the million ways great inventions have transformed our world. The series consists of 35 50-minute episodes. Graphics are used to explain the technology, while international experts unravel the social significance and look at the inventions from the perspective of their own specialist fields—such as physics, medicine, psychology or history. Unique archive footage and exciting shots provide a wealth of fascinating images and a fresh look at the science. Pitch Perfect: “This long-running series, created in collaboration with some of the greatest production companies in Europe, talks in a modern and entertaining way about all the things that we tend to take for granted in our modern civilization, highlighting their history and their meaning for our lives in the past, present and future,” says Ralf Rückauer, VP of ZDFE.unscripted at ZDF Enterprises. Sales Contact: Ralf Rückauer, VP, ZDFE.unscripted.

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nology

On Thin Ice Commissioned By: MDR, ARTE Produced By: Altayfilm Rights Available: All rights, worldwide, distributed by Albatross World Sales. Description: The Arctic is a fascinating region, but all life is in grave danger due to climate change. Gripping imagery from one of the remotest areas of the world in this 1x52-minute HD and 4K production. Pitch Perfect: In the Russian Arctic, Pandora’s box has been opened. Scientists, indigenous people and wild animals have long been confronted with the consequences of climate change in the region. Gripping imagery and storytelling reveal the devastating, perhaps irreversible, effects, as the Arctic becomes a haunting warning sign of the effects of climate change for the whole planet. Slot Winner: Nominated for Best Changing Planet Film—Long Form at the Jackson Wild Media Awards and the Homeland Earth Audience Award at the Silbersalz Festival in Halle, Germany. Also nominated in three categories at the 2020 Green Screen—International Wildlife Film Festival in Eckernförde, Germany: Heinz Sielmann Award, GREEN REPORT and Best Science Film. Sales Contacts: Lisa Anna Schelhas, Sales Manager, Europe (except Eastern Europe), Americas, Australia, New Zealand; Eleytheria Heine, Sales Manager, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Russia & CIS; Claudia Zell, Sales Manager, Eastern Europe. 9/20 WORLD SCREEN 71

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Searching for Light Commissioned By: For the market. Produced By: In-House Films Rights Available: All rights available worldwide from TVF International. Description: This 60-minute special is about an astronomerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s odyssey to find the darkest skies on Earth. Pitch Perfect: Follow professional astronomer Gary Fildes on a mission to find the darkest skies on Earth. His journey takes him from the Kielder Observatory in England to the bustling metropolis of Santiago, Chile, before heading into the Atacama Desert to visit the most advanced astronomical facilities on the planet. Gary witnesses true dark skies, learning from leading scientists how the Chileans protect this most precious natural asset. On his return to the U.K., the sky above the Kielder Observatory is granted protected status from the International Dark-Sky Association, making it the largest dark sky reserve in Europe. Sales Contact: Lindsey Ayotte, Head, Sales.

In-Demand

Virtually Pitch Your New Factual Shows this October

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In-Demand: Dating Formats These dating and relationship formats help participants find love in a range of unique ways: Constantin Entertainment’s M.O.M, Soho Formats’ Love Is In the Air, Armoza Formats’ Guys in Disguise and Global Agency’s The Married Game.

M.O.M Commissioning Platform: JOYN, Germany Production Company: Constantin Entertainment Distributed By: Format and ready-made available from Constantin Entertainment Distribution. Description: The first age-gap-love reality dating show for the German streaming platform operated by ProSiebenSat.1 and Discovery. What role does age play in love? Track Record: Optioned in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. Pitch Perfect: M.O.M is JOYN’s very first original reality-dating format, combining the most-modern and daring twists: age-gap love. M.O.M prevailed from its start over all other JOYN titles. M.O.M reached the top three in June, and the top five for JOYN’s first semester in 2020. Slot Winner: Top five among users overall in 2020, top three among users in May/June, top five in watch time in May and top two in watch time in June. Sales Contacts: Aline Avedikian, Christoph von Issendorff.

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Love Is In the Air Commissioning Broadcaster: UniMás TV, U.S. Production Company: Soho Productions Distributed By: Soho Formats Description: Love Is In the Air is the ultimate live dating/matchmaking format that has proven to be a smash hit and a huge success for 13 years on live TV with more than 3,000 episodes broadcast. Episodes are two-hours long, daily stripped live. Track Record: The show started in Turkey and became a hit for ten years. It also became successful in the U.S., where a second season is launching this month. It has been licensed to territories like Germany, Romania, Mexico, Colombia and Kazakhstan. Pitch Perfect: “When it started in Turkey, the show became a massive hit and phenomenon, reaching almost 20 percent share, and it became a phenomenon in the U.S. as well,” says Zeynep Peker, the creator of the format. “The show has generated not only huge ratings; since its debut an incredible 120,000-plus people have appeared on Love Is In the Air hoping to find their soul mate. It brings a lot of interaction and social media buzz for the broadcaster. It’s perfect for channels looking for high-energy, attractive programming. It’s suitable for cross-promotion and brand-integration opportunities.” Slot Winner: The show was a slot winner in Turkey for ten years on live TV. It ranked as the number one show on Azteca Uno in Mexico. Sales Contact: Aysen Turkmen Senon, sales@sohoformats.com. 9/20 WORLD SCREEN 75

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Guys in Disguise Commissioning Broadcasters: Rede Record, Brazil; Kanal 2, Estonia; ProSieben, Germany Production Companies: Armoza Formats, Artza Productions Distributed By: Armoza Formats Description: A surprise-filled factual dating format that puts the fun back in dating. In each episode one sexy single meets two guys in the hope that she will find true love. When she meets her dates she realizes that they are dressed in weird and wild costumes, fully disguised from her. In a world where looks are often placed above all else, she will have to get to know them without seeing them. And after the two dates with each guy in disguise, she is confronted with one more twist—both her dates know who she is, have seen her before and have admired her from afar. Before deciding which secret admirer she will choose, she will meet each of them one final time and find out who they really are. They will meet at the place that they first saw each other. Will she recognize them when they remove their costume? And will she choose the admirer that she liked best when in disguise, or will the big reveal change everything? Pitch Perfect: “Guys in Disguise takes away the common element of judging people solely on their looks and gives the suitors the opportunity to show their personality in a humorous and secure way,” says Sharon Levi, head of sales at Armoza Formats. “Also, our fun-filled disguises give these suitors a safe place to speak freely and openly about themselves and their attraction to the single in ways they were never able to before, despite knowing her already.” Sales Contact: sales@armozaformats.com

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The Married Game Distributed By: Global Agency Description: Four men, one bachelorette. A daily stripped dating game show with four dinner dates and one big revelation. Pitch Perfect: Four men, three married and one single, take a savvy bachelorette out on dinner dates and try to convince her that they are single. If she guesses right and chooses the single bachelor, she leaves with him on an all-expenses-paid trip and wins the prize money. If she guesses wrong, the married man who deceived her leaves on the trip with the prize money and his own wife. The only show where a wife can encourage her husband to flirt with another woman! All four dinner dates take place in the man’s home. He will shop and cook a four-course dinner for the lady. If he’s married, his wife will help him with the preparations, and remove all evidence from the home of a married couple. If he’s single, a friend will help him prepare and advise him on his strategy. As the dinner and flirting starts, the friend or wife will watch his progress with the lady, and advise him on how to improve his technique. The bachelorette will give her opinion to the camera at the end of each date. On the fourth day, the bachelorette will become the hostess for the four men in an expensive restaurant with a professional chef. Over the course of the dinner, she will eliminate them one by one until she is left with her choice. The bachelorette gets to meet all of the wives at the end of the show and they discuss who flirted the best. Sales Contact: info@theglobalagency.tv

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In-Demand: Korean Content From hit dramas that have traveled the globe to cutting-edge formats, Korea has emerged as a leading content hot spot. World Screen puts the spotlight on some of the most compelling IPs coming out of this creative territory.

Zombie Detective Production Company: KBS Commissioning Broadcaster: KBS2 Distribution Company: KBS Media Description: (Black comedy/drama, 70x12 min.) A man born again as a zombie, without any memory of his previous life as a human being, disguises his identity and starts to avenge corrupt humans. Incorporates action, horror, fantasy and romantic comedy themes. Pitch Perfect: A combination of a variety of genres of drama featuring a zombie—but not that horrible one, a bittersweet zombie that makes the show more unique and interesting. This is a humanistic drama with a zombie you’ve never seen! Slot Winner: Premieres on KBS2 in mid-September. Sales Contact: Max G.B Nam.

When I Was the Most Beautiful Production Company: MayQueen Pictures Commissioning Broadcaster: Munhwa Broadcasting Corp. (MBC) Distribution Company: MBC Description: (Melodrama) A man faces the horrible situation of becoming the brother-in-law of his first crush, who he thought was destined to be with him. He believed she was his soul mate and could give her everything he had, but they become family when she chooses his brother instead of him. Then his brother goes missing. She is still his brother’s wife, but the feelings and desires he had suppressed start surfacing. The love of a woman and two brothers that cross over time and destiny makes us question the salvation of the human soul. Pitch Perfect: It is a warm but heartbreaking love story of a woman caught between two brothers. The intensity of a love affair and attraction between three characters is capturing the hearts of melodrama lovers. Slot Winner: Sold to several Asian countries and many inquiries from worldwide. Sales Contacts: Haewon Chin, Mini Hwang, Woody Choi. 78 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

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Do You Like Brahms? Production Company: Studio S Commissioning Broadcaster: SBS Distribution Company: SBS Description: (Music/melodrama, 16x70 min.) The story of a wavering dream and love of a 29year-old classical music student. Pitch Perfect: Do You Like Brahms? is a drama that brings together Park Eun-bin and Kim Min-jae, actors who were highly praised by the director for expressing dreams, love and delicate emotions. Slot Winner: Sales already concluded to Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia, among others. Sales Contacts: jisangkim@sbs.co.kr, sj@sbs.co.kr, siwonp1@sbs.co.kr.

I Can See Your Voice Production Company: CJ ENM Commissioning Broadcaster: Mnet Distribution Company: CJ ENM Description: (Mystery music game-show format) The audience and the singers have to use their â&#x20AC;&#x153;sixth senseâ&#x20AC;? to figure out who is the terrible singer among the contestants. The singer who survives till the end wins the prize or gets the chance to release a song. Pitch Perfect: Licensed to the U.S., U.K., Germany, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Romania, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and the Philippines. Slot Winner: Best Non-Scripted Entertainment nominee at the 44th International Emmy Awards. Sales Contacts: Diane Min, Alison Chang.

More Than Friends Production Companies: JTBC Studios, Contents Zium Commissioning Broadcaster: JTBC Distribution Company: JTBC Studios Description: (Drama, 16x70 min.) A series blending fantasy, romance and comedy. Pitch Perfect: Your ex-crush is now crushing on you? An exciting and sometimes thrilling romcom between two friends as they shift to being lovers. Sales Contact: Visit www.jtbcworldwide.com. 9/20 WORLD SCREEN 79

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Heart Signal Production Company: Channel A Commissioning Broadcaster: Channel A Distribution Company: Channel A Description: (Romance reality, S1: 12x80 min., S2: 13x80 min., S3: 16x80 min.) A suspenseful romance reality show following the lives of ten housemates living together in a “signal house” for a month. There are people in the studio, known as the “predictors,” secretly peeping at these ten housemates via cameras. The predictors will try to guess the housemates’ secret crushes by analyzing their interactions, nonverbal communication, etc. Pitch Perfect: Anonymous text message: At the end of every night, each person will send an anonymous text message to the person with whom they felt a connection, which brings tension among those who live in the signal house. The role of predictors: Between scenes, the celebrity panelists—the Love Experts—debate on “who texted who” and predict the love signals. Slot Winner: Broadcast rights sold to U.S., Taiwan, Hong Kong and Indonesia, among others. Format rights sold to Mainland China. Ranked number one in unscripted show publicity. Sales Contacts: Dahye Son, Polly Yoon.

Toilet!! Production Company: di turn Description: (Hip-hop competition) The real “rapper” is at school? Teenagers can audition as easily as going to the toilet during recess. This is a new audition where judges visit schools. Because they are students, they are more outspoken. And in schools, they become more honest. A story of the hip rapper lifestyle of teenagers! Pitch Perfect: Flushing the toilet to eliminate contestants in round one. Giving a spoonful of food to pass contestants in round two. Opening the door of the toilet cubicle and starting to rap to take up a challenge in round four. The above format points are devices that make the most of the school space and are essential to highlight the entire concept of the show and to build a structured TV format. And of course, this idea is unique and fun to watch. Slot Winner: We think this is an interesting idea for short-form auditions. And we are sure it’s a highly accessible format to our target audience of teenagers and young adults who are familiar with shortform content. And lastly, this show can attract students from all over the world. The real life of high school students around the world will draw curiosity and empathy from peer groups, which will lead to interest in the show. Sales Contacts: Jade Song, Ji-Sung Kim. 80 WORLD SCREEN 9/20

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B.I.B (Battle in the Box) Production Company: N Media Distribution Company: Something Special Description: (Studio game-show/reality format, 8x50 min.) When the wall starts moving, the excitement begins! Two pairs of celebrities enter into a box made of two rooms. They must battle each other to secure bigger space and more cash! Pitch Perfect: What would it be like to move in with someone who has a different lifestyle? How would you effectively share space and a budget while keeping a good relationship? Two pairs of celebrities become a team and they must battle each other to secure a bigger space and earn more cash to buy daily necessities. The more battles your team wins, the bigger space you can possess! With more gameplays, the winning team can take everything in the Box! Sales Contacts: Jin Woo Hwang, Insoon Kim.

Open to Love Production Company: IMTV Distribution Company: IMTV Description: (Dating show, 1x90 min. & an hour every day individual streaming online) A new approach to dating formats with this zero-contact show. Pitch Perfect: The participants will open their lives 24 hours a day on the romantic server (online) so that other participants and their supporters can watch. This is how they begin online dating. Will they be able to go through several online dates and end up meeting offline? This is a real dating program for young men and women who would like to start dating for real online without any bluffs or masks. Sales Contact: twista07@naver.com.

BCWW 2020 BCWW is the most efficient content acquisition and networking event in Asia. All of the shows in this report were presented at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s virtual edition. Contact BCWW secretariat for more information. 9/20 WORLD SCREEN 81

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WORLD’S END

IN THE STARS Almost every national constitution forbids the establishment of an official state religion. But this secular bent doesn’t stop people from looking to the heavens for answers to life’s most troublesome questions: Will I succeed? Will I find love? Will I get divorced via text message? Every day, papers, magazines and websites worldwide print horoscopes— projections for people born in a specific month, based on the positions of the stars and planets. While many people rely on these daily, weekly or monthly messages for guidance in their lives, some readers skip over them entirely. The editors of WS recognize that these little pearls of random foresight occasionally prove pro phetic. But rather than poring over charts of the zodiac to predict world events, our staff prefers to use past horoscopes in an attempt to legitimize the science. As you can see here, had some of these media figures remembered to consult their horoscopes on significant dates, they could have avoided a few surprises.

Nina Dobrev

Kelly Clarkson

Justin Hartley

Miley Cyrus

NINA DOBREV

MILEY CYRUS

Global distinction: Vampire Diaries’ Elena. Sign: Capricorn (b. January 9, 1989) Significant date: August 17, 2020 Noteworthy activity: The brunette beauty gives her

Global distinction: American singer. Sign: Sagittarius (b. November 23, 1992) Significant date: August 20, 2020 Noteworthy activity: The Disney Channel icon-turned-

opinion on her hunky former The Vampire Diaries co-stars Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley after E! News shares an Instagram photo of the actors sipping their new bourbon with the caption, “POV: You’re Elena on #TheVampireDiaries. Who are you choosing?” Her snarky reply: “the bourbon.” Horoscope: “Put your love life on hold and focus on business success right now.” (tribunecontentagency.com)

pop star releases the breakup single “Slide Away” right around the time her split from husband Liam Hemsworth goes public, leading fans to believe the song is about the couple’s demise. “I wrote ‘Slide Away’ before my breakup,” she reveals in an Apple Music interview. “I wrote ‘Slide Away’ in February of the year before. And I just keep speaking these things into existence.” Horoscope: “Rein in the provocative remarks or you’ll wind up creating a self-fulﬁlling prophecy.” (sfgate.com)

KELLY CLARKSON Global distinction: Singer & TV personality. Sign: Taurus (b. April 24, 1982) Significant date: August 13, 2020 Noteworthy activity: A social media troll takes aim at

KIRSTEN DUNST Global distinction: Actress. Sign: Taurus (b. April 30, 1982) Significant date: August 18, 2020 Noteworthy activity: A picture of Dunst appears in a cam-

the host of The Kelly Clarkson Show, who filled in for Simon Cowell on the America’s Got Talent judging panel, blaming the multitasking mother of two’s busy schedule for the downfall of her marriage. Clarkson fires back with, “Wow. Shaming a woman who has a great work ethic, is a great mom, and who steps up and fills in when a friend asks for a favor because that’s actually what ‘good old country girls’ do…. this can’t be who you are deep down. I have more faith in your heart. Aim higher please.” Horoscope: “If you’re being put in a position to defend yourself, remain strong.” (elitedaily.com)

paign ad for rapper and fashion designer Kanye West, who has launched a late bid for the U.S. presidency. The On Becoming a God in Central Florida actress, who previously endorsed Bernie Sanders, spots her likeness and takes to Twitter to express her confusion. “What’s the message here, and why am I apart [sic] of it?” she tweets. Dunst does not receive an answer to her query. Horoscope: “Don’t let yourself be used by someone who hasn’t ﬁgured out that people aren’t stepping stones to success.” (delawareonline.com)

JUSTIN HARTLEY

DAX SHEPARD

Global distinction: This Is Us star. Sign: Aquarius (b. January 29, 1977) Significant date: August 7, 2020 Noteworthy activity: The actor’s real-life relationship

Global distinction: Comedic actor. Sign: Capricorn (b. January 2, 1975) Significant date: August 17, 2020 Noteworthy activity: The Top Gear America host takes

drama with real estate agent Chrishell Stause is captured on the Netflix reality series Selling Sunset, which his soon-to-be ex-wife is a part of. The show reveals Stause’s co-workers finding out about the divorce from a TMZ report, and she claims she was only alerted to the filing by a text from Hartley just shortly before. Horoscope: “It’s essential for you to be honest and open as you enter new relationships, or maintain your current ones.” (refinery29.com)

his motorcycle out for a spin on the Sonoma Raceway in California and ends up with a number of broken bones after trying, unsuccessfully, to pass some other riders and hitting the breaks too hard. “I was totally at blame,” says Shepard on an episode of his Armchair Expert podcast. He also admits he was reluctant to share the experience as he does “not want to get in the habit of getting attention for being injured.” Horoscope: “Rest, take better care of yourself, and avoid dangerous hobbies or activities.” (fengshuimall.com)

Photo credits: Nina Dobrev (Nathan Congleton/NBC), Kelly Clarkson (NBCUniversal), Justin Hartley (Nathan Congleton/NBC), Miley Cyrus (Trae Patton/NBC).

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