MipJunior faces up to YouTube and the dawn of AI
MipJunior returned to Cannes last weekend, where attendees heard discussions on AI, YouTube and the place of public broadcasting, as well as keynotes from newly formed company Miraculous Corp and toy giant Mattel.
How the industry attracts and retains kids was a major talking point at MipJunior
Kids’ buyers, distributors and producers headed to Cannes last weekend for the 2024 edition of MipJunior. This year’s market was the second time it ran an extended programme, beginning on Friday afternoon rather than on Saturday.
The market opened with a presentation from Ampere Analysis research manager Olivia Deane , who shared data on the level of kids’ commissions and acquisitions in the first half of 2024.
Declaring that public broadcasters “are the jewel in the crown” in children’s commissioning, Deane presented research showing that pubcasters are the only type of TV channel or platform to have increased the number of commissions for children in 2024.
She said: “If we had been here a few years ago, people would have been asking whether we really needed public broadcasting in the age of streaming. The public broadcasters clearly did need a shift in operating towards more streaming models, but in this time of commissioning downturn, we’re reminded of the distinct value of public broadcasters, particularly when the market is proving so volatile.”
Also on the Friday, delegates heard that the kids’ industry must radically re-think how it creates, produces and distributes content as US giants Nickelodeon, Disney and Cartoon Network have lost their audience to YouTube.
The advice came from Gregory Dray, co-founder at London- and Paris-based prodco Animaj, who warned: “The old world is not going to come back. Stop waiting for multi-million-dollar commissions that might never happen again. Think about new, scrappy ways to share your stories with your audience on the platforms that are increasingly dominating children’s lives, like YouTube and Roblox.”
Navigating AI today
YouTube and Roblox came up again on Saturday, when Ken Faier, CEO and president of Epic Story Media, said the growing influence of creator-led platforms has meant traditional children’s TV producers and studios are essentially going head-to-head with kids for attention. “We’re living in a creator-platform world these days. Our biggest competitors are kids,” he said.
Another hot topic in the world of kids’ TV is the rise of AI, and in one session focused on the subject, showrunner and entrepreneur Evan Baily urged producers to experiment with the technology if they want to stay relevant in a rapidly-evolving industry.
“The world is going to be flooded with a previously unimaginable volume of AI content. I understand the temptation to say ‘I want no part of this’ on a very deep level. But even though it’s uncomfortable to see the craft that I love changing and potentially being supplanted by AI modes of production and my own livelihood and my friends’ livelihoods threatened, we need to use these tools and understand them,” he said.
“They’re going to be so powerful and so ubiquitous and so cheap that they’re going to define the future. We need to have insights and instincts about them so we can have a voice about how content creation evolves from here. If we don’t, people who don’t care about storytelling in the way we do, or who don’t care about the kids audience, will shape the future of our business.”
European public broadcasters are joining forces
On Sunday, a session focused on public-service broadcasters revealed that France Télévisions is increasing its focus on and aiming to invest more in documentaries and live-action drama for kids. Pierre Siracusa, the French pubcaster’s head of children’s, education and animation, said the move is part of the department’s efforts to diversify its offering, since 75% of the children’s content budget is currently taken up by animation.
Speaking alongside Siracusa was Patricia Hidalgo, director of children’s and education at UK pubcaster the BBC, who spoke about the need for collaboration in Europe in the face of competition from the streamers.
“We have about 350 hours of original content that we produce each year. We have had to really ramp up what we’re doing in that space, but the budgets are not getting bigger. The reason we need to ramp up is because of all the streaming services that we have now. So to be able to deliver on that, we’ve had to change our strategy and start being much more cooperative with our neighbours from Europe,” she said.
The two MipJunior keynote speeches came from Miraculous Corp’s new CEO Andy Yeatman and Mattel’s chief franchise officer Josh Silverman.
Yeatman revealed in his keynote that hit animated kids’ series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir is getting a variety of spin-offs centred on different characters and based in various locations around the world. Silverman, meanwhile, disclosed that Mattel is expanding into live-action scripted content for kids.
