Q: Describe your objectives at MIPCOM.
A: This is my first MIPCOM with BBC Worldwide. My priority is to get people talking about the slate of programming we’re taking. Technically the new slate of shows but also the landmark series that still performed very well, shows like Teletubbies and In the Night Garden and I know they’ve been very successful across Asia and they’re successful everywhere really.
For the new series, they are shows with the BBC seal of approval because they’re quality titles and also because they have international appeal. Shows like Sarah and Duck which is a big show for us at MIPCOM, a beautiful animated series which is about a young girl and her best friend which happens to be a duck. Really, that’s celebrating all sorts of quirky kids out there, so not necessarily the cool kids but the kids that are just doing their own thing. The second series of Baby Jake; I’m really happy to be taking that out to the market. It’s performing incredibly well on CBeebies in the UK; on CBeebies channels internationally and also broadcasters that have picked up the series in Europe. Also, another landmark series from the Natural History Unit for CBeebies is called Andy’s Wild Adventures and that takes the footage from the Natural History archives and we put the live action presenter in the middle of it so preschoolers are actually getting into the world of animals.
Q: What are buyers looking for and how are you meeting their needs?
A: Broadcasters are first of all looking for shows that will perform and will get them ratings and I think that’s where we’re ahead of the game because we have a track record of delivering ratings. In terms of genres, for such a long time, people were talking about live action but I see that coming to an end actually. It’s not quite so dominant and people are now looking for animated comedy for the 6 – 12 year-olds. And in the preschool genre the trend is really moving towards pure storytelling. The education elements are there, it’s just that they’re in the background. They’re not sort of didactically educational. The whole ethos is “learning through play.” So it’s not about heavyhanded education but it’s about discovering things through play and fun.
Q: How are rights negotiations different this year?
A: For us it’s about making sure our clients get the rights they need to reach the kids because the kids are consuming the content everywhere; and as far as we can we’ll always try to make that happen for our partners. I think with the economic situation, broadcasters are being more cautious. We’re doing pre-sales but they’re a lot harder to do. I think broadcasters are sitting back, waiting to see finished episodes, even in some cases, waiting to see finished series and how the shows perform in other countries.
Q: How important is related merchandising at this market?
A: I think Sarah and Duck is going to be a great show in itself but in terms of merchandising and licensing it’s going to be a great publishing property; it’s also going to have toy potential; and also there are the online and interactive elements we’re working on as well. If you look at something like Deadly 60 (hosted by Steve Backshall), the merchandising and licensing programming for that has taken everyone by surprise because it’s been so well received. For us, it’s about quality first of all and the show has to work and the content has to be good. And then when we look at merchandising it has to be about popular characters. It has to be a brand that will work across as many lines of business as possible. It also has to be something that parents enjoy so co-viewing is important too.
