Like many of its peers in the industry, Cottonwood Media is grappling with how to safely restart live-action production amid the coronavirus pandemic.

High-end live-action drama for children was a booming genre prior to the pandemic, with shows such as Cottonwood Media’s Find Me in Paris finding their way around the world via both traditional broadcasters and streamers.

David Michel

However, the pandemic has well and truly thrown a spanner in the works, with a Find Me in Paris movie, shot at the Opera National de Paris, among the production casualties in 2020.

Nevertheless, in the first year of its three-year plan between now and 2023, Cottonwood Media president David Michel says the company is focusing on three key things to help it get back on track, while also addressing industry-wide issues.

This includes plans to start shooting a new live-action series with an international cast, for which it has been implementing safety measures.

“The first year is still a year of a very unusual crisis where it’s hard to travel, which creates all kinds of problems,” Michel says. “We’ve done everything by the book in order to be prepared in terms of Covid safety measures. It’s the year of the unknown, so we’re trying to think in terms of the worst-case scenario.”

Part of France’s Federation Entertainment, Cottonwood Media produces both live-action series and animated shows, such as The Ollie & Moon Show and Squish. With the virus presenting an ongoing threat, Michel adds that while animation may be more Covid-proof than live-action and buyers are seeking finished programming, demand for new live-action content is still strong.

“Broadcasters are still greenlighting new live-action shows to shoot in 2020/21. They know, just like we do, these shoots might take a little longer and might end up being a little bit more costly, but they are making that commitment,” he says.

The Find Me in Paris movie was halted due to the pandemic

While potential further lockdowns could prevent filming of live-action shows, Michel also points out that during France’s initial lockdown period, Cottonwood was able to use the time to develop new programmes that it is now starting to pitch and sell.

In the second and third years of its plan, Cottonwood will focus on two industry trends: diversity “without tokenism” and escapism. When it comes to the former, Michel notes that Cottonwood has to address the different concerns of its various international audiences, given that its shows travel across the globe.

“Our main clients are in the US and Canada. So, from a production perspective, we have to really think about our writers rooms and our casting and so on, about their needs and where their cultures and societies are at, which is slightly different from where we’re at in Europe right now. In Europe, we are still lagging behind a bit as to how central diversity should be,” he says.

Meanwhile, Michel predicts that escapist content will remain an important trend over the next three years as viewers seek lighter and more optimistic programmes following the pandemic.

“In the past few years, there has been lots of dystopian content showcasing quite grim
futures, both on the adult and kids’ side. I don’t think people will want to be hearing about the end of the world for a few years once Covid is over. Everyone is in this very sombre mood right now and people will want escapism rooted in reality,” he says.

Despite the challenges ahead, Michel is optimistic about the future, partly thanks to the influx of SVoD platforms and the opportunities they present to production companies like Cottonwood.
“We have access to much higher budgets than we did before and, just like with diversity, it’s very exciting because we can tell other stories,” he says. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years and, basically, for the first 15 of those, I was working on the same format of shows for the same broadcasters for the same budgets.

“It was nice but, at the end of the day, when all your parameters are the same, you end up telling the same stories. There’s something very refreshing about working with the platforms right now with their different budget requirements and audience skews. So I’m strangely optimistic.”