Digital demand moves centre stage

By Jesse Whittock 05-03-2012

At Kidscreen Summit in early February, a key theme among the 1,600-plus delegates was the potential revenue from digital media. Were library deals the way forward? Would video-on-demand site Netflix fund kids’ TV in the same way it has for mainstream drama? Does the on-demand dollar offer bigger returns than the DVD dollar did before the economic slowdown? Should you build digital apps and online games at the beginning of your TV project, regardless of cost?

Huzutech

All worthy questions, especially as 2012 seems likely to be the year digital comes of age (excuse the hammy cliché, seemed appropriate). Social gaming blog Huzutech noted that whereas 2011’s conference saw “peripheral” talk of social networks, virtual worlds and transmedia, 2012 was all about “user-generated content, social gaming, virtual worlds, 360° content and online communities.”

The post reported: “The [kids’ TV] market is clearly maturing and becoming more comfortable – and fascinated – by the opportunities presented by the rapid evolution of online and mobile technologies and the ongoing success of the various app stores.”

It also addressed whether multi-media should be built into the original funding and pre-production of a new kids’ TV show. “Many companies and brand owners are now looking for ways in which they can integrate these new experiences into their existing (and forthcoming) projects. Creators and brand owners alike are now recognising that using a single media channel is no longer enough to reach the greatest potential audience.”

How children’s programming gets funded is no longer set in stone and one source of finance fast becoming a major watercooler topic is VoD platforms. As mentioned, Netflix has begun investing in drama production. Elsewhere, Comcast has announced its latest on-demand product, Streampix, and Amazon-owned LoveFilm is still investing heavily in new content. The consensus from Kidscreen was that it is only a matter of time before LoveFilm does the same for kids’ programmes. As Natpe chairman Jordan Levin recently told C21: “It is inevitable brands will have to fund [digital] content more directly.”

There are other new models emerging – albeit on a minute scale, as this story from US news site My Surburban Life highlights. The article notes online crowd funding site Kickstarter helped Grammy-nominated musician Ralph Covert secure US$18,577 to produce a pilot for his first television series, Time Machine Guitar. This is 116% of the required budget at the time of writing, so it’s clear people can’t get enough of puppets and electric guitars.

While this is not exactly a Disney-level production (though Covert has been attached to Disney’s music label), the serious point is that online funding outlets are proliferating, albeit slowly, and it’s up to producers and distributors to work out where they are and how to best take advantage.

Hartford Business Journal Online

WWE wrestles with production
US-based sports entertainment and film producer WWE has announced plans to move into standalone kids’ TV production, according to The Hartford Business Journal Online and other US outlets. What on earth this exactly means is anyone’s guess, but judging by the output of its film division WWE Studios (heavy-duty action flicks such as The Marine, 12 Rounds and The Condemned), I’d take an educated guess animated boys’ action series are a primary objective.

With a roster of WWE ‘superstars’ stretching into the hundreds, the division, which will be led by former Reveille and Warner Bros exec Eric Pankowski, will not want for potential lead characters. This has been the case with WWE Studios, with wrestlers swapping the Spandex for lead roles in their own films.

Pankowski will be senior VP of creative and development, charged with overseeing new reality and kids’ TV programming. Whether this ties in with the upcoming WWE Network has not been made public but it looks like a handy fit, with Pankowski’s career spanning syndicated series such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The George Lopez Show.

The upcoming network was dealt a blow this week, however, according to the New York Post. It quoted an unnamed source who claimed WWE officials had not been able to secure even one cable or satellite-TV deal ahead of an April 1 launch date. Failure to hire a seasoned cable executive as general manager was part of the problem, the source continued, and the launch has now been put back to November.

UK toon sector seeks relief
Now back to that familiar subject, the UK animation production crisis. We’re fast approaching boiling point in the fight for a governmental tax relief system that would put the territory on a level playing field with Ireland, Canada and France, which all receive significant funding subsidies. UK indies are crying out for it, united through lobby group Animation UK.

Gideon Spanier, business columnist for The Evening Standard notes that judging the market by the BBC’s channels suggests there’s no problem. “Recent shows such as Shaun the Sheep and Alphablocks and the forthcoming Tree Fu Tom appear to be evidence of an industry in good health, building on the success of home-grown mega-brands such as Thomas The Tank Engine, Bob The Builder and Peppa Pig,” he writes.

British Animation Awards

But Spanier notes the industry perceives the BBC’s investment in kids’ content as “rare good news,” and adds: “One major problem is that commercial broadcasters, notably ITV and Channel 4, have cut budgets and air time for kids’ programming. A 2006 ban on junk-food advertising made these shows less lucrative. But the bigger problem is global. UK animation firms warn that Britain is losing out to other countries such as Canada, France and Ireland, which have been winning commissions from broadcasters thanks to generous tax breaks that can cut production costs by between 20% and almost 50%.”

This means UK talent taking their skills abroad, and companies selling IP to overseas investors, as has been the case with Hit Entertainment and Chorion. The latest UK budget will be announced on March 21 and chancellor George Osbourne is thought be undecided as to whether animation tax breaks will be included, even though Animation UK says it has won the “moral argument” behind it.

Six days before Osbourne’s budget, the British Animation Awards (BAA) will honour 2011’s best-in-class, with shows like Rastamouse and The Amazing World of Gumball expected to fare well. A well-attended event could even give Osbourne the kick in the shin needed to push him into agreement with the producers.

Alexsandr the Meerkat

To end on a bright note, especially for our UK readers who probably find all this talk of crisis evermore heart-wrenching, why not regress to childhood and nominate your favourite ever UK toon character? The BAA is accepting suggestions and will announce the winner at its awards event, held at the British Film Institute in London. Check out this Facebook page, which carries the current frontrunners, including SuperTed, Peppa Pig, Wallace & Grommit and, bizarrely, Alexsandr the Meerkat from the Comparethemarket.com TV ads.