Co-production remains one of the vital keys to ensuring that children’s content can be brought to fruition. This was the focus of the conference “Co-Producing Kid’s Content: Keys to Success” during the second day of MIPJunior 2024, which featured the participation of BBC Children, Goldbee, and Watch Next Media who shared insights on the current challenges and benefits of collaboration in the kids’ media landscape, from the perspective of broadcaster, producer and distributor.
One key point made was the importance of building strong relationships in the co-production process. Sarah Muller, Commissioning BBC Children‘s 7+, BBC Children’s & Education, emphasized: ‘Successful partnerships are not only about financial investment but also about working with people who bring different creative ideas and perspectives. This diversity of input can help make content more universal and accessible to global audiences’.
From the creative standpoint, Philippe Alessandri, CEO, Watch Next Media, noted that ‘co-productions allow producers to share cultural approaches, which can enrich character development and storytelling, making the final product stronger and more appealing across different markets’.
From a distribution perspective, Christophe Goldberger, Managing Director of GoldBee explained that co-productions can ‘add credibility to a show by bringing together a team of broadcasters and producers, which makes it easier to sell the content’. Continues: ‘However, negotiating rights with multiple partners can be complex, particularly when balancing the demands of local broadcasters like the BBC with global players like Netflix’.
Despite the challenges, the panel remained optimistic. All the spokenpersons suggested that ‘the current landscape could encourage innovation and the discovery of new talent in less obvious places’. Additionally, the shift in market conditions might create new opportunities for European producers, who are adept at assembling financing for projects and managing diverse creative inputs.
