Wizard back in Oz

By Michael Carrington 10-01-2017

I couldn’t have had better preparation for serving Australian audiences and producers alike than the quarter of a century I’ve spent living in the UK, working in the broadcasting and production industry. I’ve been privileged enough to take part in so many different aspects of the kids’ business, from commissioning across all genres and producing series to helping toy companies enter the IP world.

It all started when I left Australia, the place of my birth, in January 1990 for what Aussies call the ‘mother country,’ having begun my career in the children’s department of Network Ten. At that time, there was very little original production for children on Aussie networks, so feeling a little trapped, I decided to head to London.

There were about three million children under 12 years old in Australia when I left, as opposed to about 12 million in the UK. So when I landed in London, I was in awe at the level of investment in, the passion for and the general acceptance of children’s television across the country.

All genres were being produced and children’s presenters were celebrated, even appearing on the front covers of magazines. But what struck me most was the emphasis on making children’s programmes from the audience’s perspective.

In those years, CiTV, Channel 4 Kids and BBC Children’s, where I got my first broadcasting job, were the predominate players; cable and satellite television was very much in its infancy. Fast-forward a few years, however, and children’s television had exploded, with more than 20 dedicated children’s channels in the UK alone.

The BBC previously invested in Aussie shows such as Round the Twist

At the same time, albeit on a slightly smaller scale, the likes of Turner, Disney and Viacom were launching children’s channels in Australia, too. Funding shows had become a jigsaw of coproduction partnerships. Indeed, this necessity for finding partners reintroduced me to Australian broadcasters and producers.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the BBC invested in excellent children’s content from Oz, including Round the Twist, The Genie from Down Under and Ship to Shore.

Developing shows was relatively simple. As a producer, you adapted a book or created your own story, which you then pitched to a TV exec. If they liked it, you got a commission. The environments were similar in both terrestrial TV and satellite broadcasting, although the latter would test concepts with research groups. In any case, it was the TV execs who were in charge, not the audiences. As we all know, things have changed dramatically in recent years, with video stores moving online and children being able to create, collate and publish their own content.

Broadcasters in both the UK and Australia have adapted and evolved alongside their audiences. The audience is now very much in charge and we are all working to connect with them across multiple platforms and devices. Added to that, we’re competing not only with the cable and satellite broadcasters, but with OTT and VoD platforms.

So after the 26 years I’ve spent away from Australia what I’ve discovered on my return is very much what I left behind in the UK. It’s a kids’ industry that has passion, determination, is forward-thinking and has the pure desire to tell great stories using any medium to engage its audience.

Something I learnt from my time in the UK, and I feel particularly passionate about, is the importance of diversity and authenticity in storytelling. I believe they are the non-negotiable attributes of a successful show today.

Now I’m head of children’s and education at ABC, I’m very much involved in its initiative to encourage and attract more women, disabled and indigenous peoples to work in the media, both in front of and behind the camera.

As a result, my ultimate aim in my role is to inspire new characters and stories that have a unique Australian voice. Hopefully, those stories will perform on the world stage too.