The Children‘s Media Conference

CMC 2014 - Service with a Smile

Combining a lucrative service facility alongside developing hit children’s properties sounds so easy doesn’t it?  Practically every animation/digital/creative studio dreams of nurturing a seed of an idea into a global show. But what really happens? What do you need to think about? This session examines how best to develop, produce and exploit your own IP, whilst optimising your service work… with a smile of course…

CMC 2014 - Mini Dragons

Putting our perceived understanding of children, and the concept of kids as commissioners, to the test. A group of 8yr old Mini-Dragons will have 3 new ideas pitched to them, and – facilitated by the BBC Children’s Stepping Out team – we’ll hear their thoughts and feedback. Will their comments match what the panel predicts the children would think about the ideas?

CMC 2014 - Whatever Happened to the Heroes?

Box office and toy shop tills still seem to ring to the power of superhero and action star machismo, but in TV animation there’s been a shift away from mutation mayhem, secret-super identities and intergalactic adversaries. Action adventure is being replaced by comedy. Superheroes are being exchanged for new comic-heroes that make kids laugh.

Are today’s 6-9 boy’s audience no longer interested in animated action adventure TV shows? And where are 6-9 girls in all of this?

If there is a trend towards ‘spaghetti-armed comedy’ amongst commissioners, what will it mean for animation producers and toy companies? Why is the market seeing a super-shift, and what can we do to make action adventure exciting again?

CMC 2014 - Learning and Laughter

We all love a good joke, and humour is important in producing entertainment for all ages, including children. However, how much can humour aid learning? The best media producers cleverly weave layers of humour to appeal to the widest audiences and as a result can help audiences learn. The best educators use humour in their lessons, relaxing kids and making them more receptive to the topic to be learnt. Can the two providers work together to get children’s entertainment into the classroom too?

CMC 2014 - Angels and Urchins

Private money and children’s media.  Hear from leading early-stage investors on what they’re looking for, where they’ve seen success and what to avoid.

CMC 2014 - Achievement Unlocked

Educational computer games are big business, and the market is growing. From the huge success of online learning startups like Mathletics to News Corporation’s recent $100m investment in digital educational technologies, digital games are becoming an important new area for those interested in the business of education. However, putting together games that are fun, educational and commercially viable isn’t easy, and requires a new mix of skills – some quite different to traditional forms of media.

This session explores how to get it right by beaking down the key parts of the development process; including hiring an agency vs building the right team, scoping projects, setting effective educational goals, working with game designers, prototyping, testing and how to evaluate projects once they’re finished. It also looks at some of the commercial models behind educational games and considers how companies are finding routes to market and ultimately making money in this space.

CMC 2014 - When Technology Meets Storytelling

Ever since the dawn of film, skilled visual story-tellers have relied on technology to help them imagine the impossible – although the actual software and hardware to realise their dreams didn’t always keep up with expectations.

But now, with the explosion of digital innovation across the industry, it’s the producers who are in danger of being left behind.

This session explores the new technologies that tomorrow’s content creators need to be aware of, if they want to stand out from the crowd and deliver cost-effective, highly inventive, screen-based narratives in the future.

CMC 2014 - Children‘s Film: Forever Forgotten?

This session aims to contribute to the BFI’s  current consultation on future support for children’s feature films. 

Family films took over 15% of the global box office in 2013  - worth over £1bn/$1.7bn/€1.2bn – this excludes merchandising.  We all take children to see movies and/or end up seeing endless repeats of favourites on DVD or downloads.  So why when we discuss UK Film Production are Childrens/family film forgotten?

With a solid base of 3 out of 8 of the top films watched by 7-15 years olds produced in the UK in 2013 what are the next steps and how can the BFI, tax credits, distribution support and talent development be improved to build on this beginning?

One key question in this area is do features have to be brand/franchise based – how original can we be?

And how does UK support for Children’s film production compare with the rapidly changing support initiatives in Europe.

To help answer these questions and more:

•  Justin Johnson  (BFI)  brings us up to date with current BFI research and thinking.
•  David Sproxton  (Aardman Animations) identifies the key aspects  a feature and its market value looking at the US Studio model and a UK Independent model
•  Robert Chandler  (Space Age Films) uses 'The Canterville Ghost' feature as an example of a UK independent producer model
•  Viola Gabrielli  (Kids Regio) brings us up to date with the latest German government support for Children’s Original films, and its impact on EU wide support.

CMC 2014 - Hunting, Finding, Caring, Sharing

A panel discussion looking at how the proliferation of connected devices and content platforms has fundamentally altered the way kids consume media and engage with brands and IP’s. This session explores some of the key trends and seek to understand what the opportunities and challenges are for content makers, broadcasters and IP owners.

CMC 2014 -The IP Crowd

In today’s highly crowded market place for kids IP, consumers, platforms owners and retailers are becoming more and more brand orientated. Platform owners are increasingly pursuing a ‘fewer bigger better’ approach in an attempt to stand out. While for the consumer there is simply too much choice. Brands, rightly or wrongly, represent either a safer bet or an easy-lazy choice as to what to spend their money on. The retailer’s position is not too dissimilar, with brands representing security, a proven proposition with an established commercial track record.

Children Television and Children’s Publishing still represent two of the main creators of new children’s brands. Historically they have always been strongly connected businesses but primarily on an arm’s length basis with, in simplistic terms, Television optioning and developing book properties and Publishing creating licensed publishing based on TV series. While this model will always remain, this session will explore whether the future of these two businesses, driven by necessity in an already overcrowded market, is one of much greater convergence both creatively and commercially. It will explore the present and future challenges of launching and establishing new IP and what the panellists see as the advantages and disadvantages of the media within which they work. Lastly the session will explore to what extent the individual cultures, as well as the creative and commercial skillsets, of the two industries are compatible.