The Children’s strand of the Vision+Media Meet the Commissioners programme for 2011 is run in partnership with The Children’s Media Conference.
The second session took place in March 2011 and was a full-day workshop for those wanting to enter the international children’s market, designed to prepare companies for the key markets in the children’s production economy such as Annecy, Cartoon Forum, Kidscreen, MIP TV and MIPCOM Junior.
Delegates were split into one of three areas of the children’s business, according to their own specialism. These were animation, live action, and interactive/cross-media. Speakers including Genevieve Dexter, Sean Coleman, Marc Goodchild and Karl Woolley then led group sessions which outlined the development process which should be taken in the lead-up to each of the key markets and gave useful tips on pre-, during and post-market activity. The focus was on reaching the required standard to pitch to buyers and commissioners in terms of the creative and business development of the proposal.
The other element of the workshop was a comprehensive pitch training session with world-class pitch trainer Roshi Behesht Nedjad who frequently runs development and pitching workshops across Europe and the Middle East. Roshi outlined the key elements of a successful pitch, and worked with all the delegates in more detail in small group sessions.
The training was designed to develop competencies in pitching not only in international market situations, but also to UK broadcasters such as the BBC. So the event acted as a follow-up to the previous Meet the Commissioners: Children’s event and also the BBC @North initiative.
Also in attendance at the event was Judith Rooney from UK Trade & Investment who presented the benefits and toolkit on offer to companies in the Northwest, and what assistance they might expect from UKTI in preparation for international markets.
Whilst it was accepted that the days of competitive broadcasters with money to spend on commissioning were long-gone, there certainly are opportunities to be found in the kids’ sector, and not just at the BBC. It was explained however that preparing to approach a commissioner was now much more about responding to a brief than throwing in random ideas. Also worth noting is that most shows now seem to require some sort of deficit-funding to get them off the ground, making an understanding of co-financing more important than ever.
A full report of the day, containing tips and advice from a number of the speakers can be downloaded from the sidebar.
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