The Children‘s Media Conference

CMC 2015 - Changemaker - Beth Reekles

Beth Reekles is a 19-year-old Young Adult author from South Wales, and is currently a Physics undergraduate at Exeter University. She began posting her first novel, ‘The Kissing Booth’, online to Wattpad when she was 15 years old, and when she was 17 she earned a three-book deal with Random House. In 2013, she was on the Time’s Top 16 Most Influential Teens list, and in 2014 she was nominated for the Queen of Teen awards. Her current published works are: ‘The Kissing Booth’, ‘Rolling Dice’, ‘Out of Tune’, and ‘Cwtch Me If You Can’.

CMC 2015 Changemaker - Alex Heron

Alex arrived on 14^th April 2002.

Alex was a happy boy but he really struggled at school, hated noise and lots of smells & tastes.

Alex was eventually diagnosed with dyslexia and sensory issues.

A specialist school changed his life. Alex says: “People think dyslexic kids are dumb but we are not. We just need to be taught in a different way”.

Alex loves computers!! It was a dream come true winning the Appsolute Genius competition as he hopes to become a games designer!

CMC 2015 - Opening Keynote - Michael Stevens

YouTube video star Michael Stevens, creator of the hugely successful Vsauce educational channels entertained and challenged a 750 strong audience of children’s media makers with his views on engagement, authenticity and the YouTube “revolution”.

CMC 2014 - Focus on Asia

Biren Ghose, President of the Association for the Animation Industry in Bangalore, as well as Country Head for Technicolor, will look at ways that independent studios can successfully co-produce in India as well as opportunities for individual writers and creators to engage with studios in India plus new developments in India as a market for content.

Chinese Canadian Trevor Lai, CEO of UP Studios in China, will look at developments with online video platforms and e-books in China and the new ways to build brands which that offers also covering ways to co-produce with China and ways for individual creative talent to work with Chinese Studios.

CMC 2014 - BAFTA Creative Masterclass: The Dumping Ground

Jacqueline Wilson’s much loved character, Tracy Beaker, has been at the heart of CBBC’s schedule since it launched in 2002.  The panel takes a journey through the original development of ‘The Story of Tracy Beaker’ and the decision to bring the series back after a five year gap.  What were the challenges of re-introducing the franchise with an older character (‘Tracy Beaker Returns’) and how do you then cope with the decision of your lead actress to move on?  Should you even continue?

BAFTA Award winning drama, ‘The Dumping Ground’, continues to resonate with its young audience. The panel explores its winning formula by talking about emotional truth, moral and editorial responsibility, on screen diversity, character and issue based drama using specific case studies including gay adoption and racism.

The discussion is chaired by Helen Blakeman, no stranger to Wilson characters.  She won a BAFTA for her adaptation of ‘Dustbin Baby’ and is lead writer on the new CBBC drama, ‘Hetty Feather’.  Panelists include lead writer Elly Brewer who helped develop all three titles in the franchise; original cast member Connor Byrne who plays head care worker Mike Milligan; and BBC executive producer, Lis Steele.

CMC 2014 - Charter Renewal: The Great British Sell-off?

As the Licence Fee and Charter come under public scrutiny, what’s the appetite at the BBC to commit to the children’s audience and guarantee increased budgets for their content and services?

CMC 2014 - Transmedia: Where Do I Start?

An examination of the genesis of Transmedia children’s projects, addressing both creative and budgetary/funding considerations.

CMC 2014 - Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Four pitches to industry executives ready to back their instincts and option the next big commercial kids’ property with hard cash.

CMC 2014 - Closing Keynote: Mind Candy‘s Big New Idea

Michael Acton Smith unveils Mind Candy’s newest app – a revolutionary new creative community for 7-12 year olds that will become a platform for content creators (books, games, cartoons, music) to connect with their fans…

CMC 2014 - Creative Keynote: Malorie Blackman

She originally trained in Computer Science and worked in computing before publishing her first book at the age of 28. She has since written 60 books for children and young adults.

Malorie writes children's novels, young adult novels, picture books, short stories and early readers. She has also written television scripts, including episodes of the children's television drama, ‘Byker Grove’, and original dramas for CITV and BBC Education. Her stage play, ‘The Amazing Birthday’, was performed in 2002 at the Polka Theatre.

She adapted her novel ‘Pig-Heart Boy’ for television, winning several awards, including a BAFTA for best children's drama in 2000.

Her best-known books for young adults are the multi award-winning ‘Noughts & Crosses’ series, which overtly addressed racial issues, depicting a world in which black people, or “Crosses”, are the ruling elite and white people, or “noughts”, struggle for acceptance.

In 2004, she wrote a novel entirely in verse, ‘Cloud Busting’, which won a Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Silver Award). In 2007, she edited ‘Unheard Voices’, an anthology of stories and poems to commemorate the bicentenary anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade, and in 2009 she contributed to ‘Free?’,  a book of stories celebrating Human Rights.

In 2005, she was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the world of children's books; she was also awarded an OBE in 2008. Her most recent novel is ‘Noble Conflict’ (2013).

Malorie was appointed Waterstones Children’s Laureate in 2013 in recognition of her outstanding achievements.  Her role covers the whole of the UK and entails meeting thousands of children and young people over her two-year term of office.  This, along with her career long commitment to inclusion and diversity, take her to the heart of her theme for her CMC Creative Keynote: ‘The Right to be Seen, the Need to be Heard’ or ‘We Are The Stories We Eat!’