David Kleeman, president of American Center for Children and Media, catches up with Crystal Cook, the director of the Geena Davis Institute of Gender in Media. Courtesy of Donna Bulford.

At another “30 Mins With” session, Nina Hahn, VP of international development at Nickelodeon, told a group of would-be producers that, when looking at a project, she wants to know, "Who are the characters and why do I care about them? At Nick, we aren't looking to talk down to kids," she explained. "We want to create an environment for kids to feel safe on their terms. We want proactive characters, not passive ones. And think like a kid!"

At the “30 Mins With” session with Nick Wilson, Channel Five’s controller of children’s programs, Wilson agreed that they weren’t looking for education to override entertainment. “I hate the word ‘curriculum,’” he said. “I’m only interested in story and character.”

Wilson explained that the channel, the fifth largest terrestrial station in the U.K., has the leading preschool 6:00-9:00 am block, called Milkshake, which just moved its target audience from age 2-6 to 2-7. “This is an extremely successful block for us, and we’re always looking for new, fresh programming. This is the time in the morning when moms don’t want to be fiddling with a DVD or changing channels. They want to turn on a station they can rely on to safely entertain their young kids.”

Most Milkshake shows, Wilson explained, are commissioned or co-produced, rather than acquired. He said that Channel Five was particularly looking for dramatic shows geared to 4- to 7-year-olds in 11-minute blocks. But he also explained that since Milkshake has a live-action host, unlike most broadcasters it was open to different formats. He said that budgets ranged from 1,000-2,000 pounds per minute. When asked what kind of pitches he preferred, he told the group, “Good pitches. I’ll look at anything from cocktail napkin drawing, to a fully completed pilot.” Wilson also said that he didn’t subscribe to the common refrain in the U.K. that there was a crisis in children’s television. “Budgets are higher than ever, and broadband and digital expansion has created new opportunities. The time when broadcasters could rely solely on ad revenue is slipping away. Toys, merchandising and licensing are important now too, but in the end it’s all about the characters and the story.”

Co-Productions are King
In addition to the various meet-and-greets, there were also several sessions that explored the intricacies of co-productions. Some of them were even open to the Fourth Estate. At the session entitled “Charting a New Co-Production Roadmap,” experts explored the environment in various regions, including Australia, Canada, the U.K. and Asia. Tim Brooke-Hunt, executive head of children’s television at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, noted that Australia offered tax breaks, attractive shows, and creative producers that could make shows in English that work internationally. On the down side, he noted that there was only one public broadcaster and three commercial stations, each only greenlighting one or two shows per year, and local content was key, so opportunities from outsiders were limited.

Cartoon Network’s Michael Ouweleen led a workshop entitled “Bringing The Funny,” where he contended that character reigns over everything.

Jean Lofts, director of television at the Contender Entertainment Group, lamented that there was no tax credit system in the U.K., although there was a media fund open to members of the European Union. “Unlike Australia and Canada, the U.K. has no government cultural support,” she said. “Nickelodeon is giving more support to independent producers of kids’ television than either the BBC or Channel 5.”

And Frank Saperstein, senior VP of Children’s Programming & Animation at Blueprint Entertainment, sketched out the field in Asia, where he said there was very limited government support. “There is opportunity in Malaysia,” he noted, “but 51% of any TV series has to be owned by Malaysian companies. Singapore has very business-friendly tax rules, and there are a couple of different new funding opportunities in South Korea. Other than that, it’s every man for himself. The irony is that the lowest-cost countries have the [fewest] co-production opportunities.”

At many of the panels, participants tried to put their fingers on the characteristics that made for a successful international co-production. “New forms of animation are hot right now, but the main thing is character, character, character,” said Anna D'Agrosa, who hosted a session entitled “Kid Insight: Hot on the Trail of Cool.” D'Agrosa is the editor of the Hot Sheet, a well-respected newsletter reporting on youth trends and attitudes. “Funny also works,” she added, “but sometimes funny is difficult to translate. Slapstick, for example, is timeless, but it has to be good slapstick.”

Bail Money
I figured Dan Sarto would bail me out of jail if it came to that, so I also happily crashed the workshop entitled “Bringing The Funny,” with senior VP of development and creative director at Cartoon Network Michael Ouweleen. Ouweleen was also co-creator and executive producer on Adult Swim's Harvey Birdman, Attorney-at-Law. "The laughs for kids come from the scary stuff that they have mastered," Ouweleen told the participants at the packed seminar, who had the opportunity to have Ouweleen critique their own script pages. "That is why poo and pee jokes are so funny to three-year-olds; they just mastered it, now they can laugh."

"Character reigns over everything," he said. "Chuck said, 'I have to think as Bugs Bunny, not of Bugs Bunny.’ That's about as good advice as anyone can give in this field."