At the MIPJunior keynote address, Stuart Snyder teased the audiences with a first-generation mobile phone, one he claimed he owned way back when!
It was in a tent lined with black and white balloons (Cartoon Network colours) that a delectable seaside lunch was served to all who came to witness two giants in the kids programming world commemorate their 20th anniversaries. MIPJunior, the arm of MIPCOM that has gathered and nurtured talent and decision makers in the children’s programming field has been at it for 20 years now; as is Cartoon Network, who celebrates two decades of entertaining kids.
At the Turner Networking Lunch held at the beach outside the Hotel Martinez, Reed MIDEM’s Laurine Garaude thanked Turner for choosing this MIPJunior to celebrate Cartoon Network’s 20th anniversary. “Turner has been with us from the very beginning. We thank them very much for their support,” says Garaude.
Michael Carrington, Chief Content Office for CN in EMEA, represented his other content counterparts to highlight the achievement of the network thus far.
“This is a fantastic milestone to celebrate with you the amazing content that’s been created over the last 20 years in animation, as well as more recently live action. We’ve had 20 years of nurturing amazing talent and giving them a window for creativity and to allow their ideas and illustrations to come to life so we’re also proud of the talent we’ve created along the way and we continue to create great talent.”
Among CN’s many recent successes, Carrington is tremendously proud of The Amazing World of Gumball. Though only a year-old, the series has garnered 15 awards, including Turner’s first British Academy Children’s Award (one for writing and one for animation in 2011).
Also highlighted was the addition of the hugely successful Icelandic preschool series Lazytown, which was acquired by Turner and renamed Turner Iceland. Carrington shares that the new series, the third installment (and the first with Turner’s involvement) wrapped over the weekend and would be presented as a key title at the market.
Speaking on the success of Cartoon Network at the keynote speech shortly after the lunch, Stuart Snyder, President and COO of Turner Broadcasting System’s Animation, Young Adults & Kids Media division, attributes the success of the network to “wanting to surprise our audience with whimsical and irreverent content that you can’t find anywhere else.”
Exalting the hits from Powerpuff girls to Ben 10 to current CN originals Adventure Time, Regular Show and The Amazing World of Gumball, Snyder was quick to remind the full-house audience that Cartoon Network’s programming remains unique and distinct.
“From the very beginning, we never did sound, feel, or look like other kids’ networks,” says Snyder. “The fact that we kind of straddle the line between an all cartoon-loving audience as well as (a channel) for kids really has been the key for us.”
In a keynote speech interspersed with soundbytes of children articulating what they want to see on television, Snyder says the network is constantly speaking to children; what he calls “the occasional refresher course”. What the network has found out is that kids are accessing a variety of content via many different platforms. Snyder says that boys start with gaming while girls start mainly for social habits and for photos.
“It is not about one single device, but rather a slowly changing portfolio of devices that kids are using,” explains Snyder. “Some kids even have BYOD parties (bring your own device)” – supporting the point about children’s need for gaming and social connectivity.
Despite the proliferation of multiple screens, Snyder maintains that kids are still watching as much television, if not more than before.
At the post-keynote Q&A, Snyder acknowledges that the network in the U.S. struggled in 2007, so he had the research team speak to kids, and one of the things they found out is that kids “want more of themselves”, hence the move to live-action. A notable example is the current CN live-action series, Level Up.
Still, “Cartoon Network is always about cartoon and animation,” Snyder maintains.
On the emergence of multiscreens, Snyder cautions that while “technology lowers the barriers for creative talent to get their content across, it is what happens after that matters.”
Citing the example of CN’s Annoying Orange, which began first as web content but has since been developed as a TV series, Snyder says that “it’s about coming up with an original take, not just a derivative of something that has existed.”
At the 20th anniversary, Snyder says his network’s mission is clear.
“We will continue to look for the thing that you won’t see anywhere else but on Cartoon Network, by asking the following questions: First, is it unique? Second, do we love it? Third, will our audiences love it?”
