Executives from Disney and WarnerMedia told Content London this week about their commissioning strategies and what programmes they are looking for in the kids’ space in EMEA.

Orion Ross

This week has seen the return of C21’s annual Content London as a live event, after it was forced to move online in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Among the speakers participating in the children’s part of the conference were Orion Ross, VP of animation at The Walt Disney Company EMEA, and Sean Henry, head of content strategy and acquisitions for kids at WarnerMedia EMEA, who spoke about their commissioning plans and programming needs.

Henry discussed a move by WarnerMedia into unscripted kids and family originals – a first for the Cartoon Network and HBO Max owner. According to the exec, the move allows the company to get local people on screen.

“One area we’re really focusing on over the next year is non-scripted live-action for kids and family audiences. It’s really important on HBO Max that we give an opportunity for kids and families from Europe, the Middle East and Africa to be seen by the audience on screen. It’s really important that kids can see themselves on the platform.

“We’ve got a handful of shows in development at the moment but we’re open to pitches 24/7, 365 [days a year]. We’re looking for gameshows, competition formats and things that would be relevant for our kids’ audience in the way they consume media. At the moment we have a slate of four to five of these originals a year that we’re looking to fill, so we’d love to hear ideas.”

Overall, Henry said WarnerMedia is open to pitches for shows that will fill any gaps in the company’s offering.

“We are looking for content that we produce that’s going to complement our existing home slate coming from our studios in the US. Where are the gaps in terms of audience and genre and how do we fill them? We want to look at that and identify where we can add things to give us a more rounded offering,” he said.

Sean Henry

Over at Disney, Ross said he’s in the market for “sophisticated” serialised animations for six- to 11-year-olds, as well as local originals that can run globally on Disney+.

“We’re taking a closer look at serialised formats. For many years in the TV landscape there was this mantra that everything had to be repeatable. It was all about having the same self-contained episodes that you could run over and over again, to try to achieve the reach that you wanted on broadcast channels,” he said.

“Now there is a great opportunity for serialised adventure storytelling. It’s something that obviously works in ‘grown-up’ TV; it’s something that’s worked in anime productions for decades. But it’s not something we’ve been doing and it’s something we would like to figure out.

“The launch of streaming has made it more important to scoop up all the rights and approach things holistically and globally. For Disney+, we will also be looking for more original commissions, which would be original series made in Europe and Africa, but for Disney+ globally.”

WarnerMedia, meanwhile, requires EMEA-wide rights, according to Henry, with content airing on its linear channels and also having a window on HBO Max.

The exec added that WarnerMedia’s direct-to-consumer services allow the company to “trial more content and see how the audience reacts,” enabling it to take local programmes global if they’re successful.

“We’ve seen that a lot in the general entertainment sector,” Henry said. “Being part of a global company, we have teams on the ground in the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America and the US and we work very closely together. We share the content we’ve been pitched and we share ideas, and if one region likes something it’s an opportunity to test that globally and see how that works with different audiences.”

“Global streaming services give you a great opportunity for people to sample things beyond their normal horizon,” Ross added. “What we’re planning for Disney+ is that every region will be commissioning a slate of local content that includes kids, young adults and grown-ups. Some of those may be very locally targeted, but we will pick up global rights and make sure they live on the service everywhere.”