Decisions about where the Angry Birds will wind up on TV sets around the world won’t be known until the end of this year, but the good news is right now, fans can find some tasty crumbs following Rovio’s MIPCOM announcement of the next Angry Birds premiere set for November 8th:  Rovio’s in-house production Angry Birds – Star Wars, an animated video short http://mashable.com/2012/10/11angry-birds-star-wars-trailer/ 

Hulu was aggressive about buying at MIPCOM 2012.

At the MIPCOM WRAP-UP session, the digital-skewing panel didn’t distinguish between animation and other types of content.  Their general consensus was that we’re all at a tipping point in the evolution of the relationship between traditional and digital media.

Though there were no MIPJunior wrap-up panels to reflect on the two-day mini-market, trust me when I say that digital received its due fair share of attention from kids’ content producers and broadcasters alike.  

Cartoon Network’s Stuart Snyder addressed MIPJunior participants after a sizzle reel summed up the first 20 years of his network, replete with milestone markers of technology turning points.  Snyder pointed out that kids and our world are changing rapidly due to technology “moving faster than a speeding bullet,” making ours a very fragmented media landscape. Factoring in decreased ad revenues, CN’s shows need to be unique, irreverent, alternative, and on as many different platforms as possible.   The key is to generate multiple revenue streams, including consumer products, licensing and merchandising, VOD and direct-to-consumer apps.  Kids watch TV and play games simultaneously on iPads and other second screens.  Snyder continued, “If kids want your media on a banana peel, put it there.”

Cartoon Network's 20th Birthday Party at MIPJunior.

Paul Brown, GM of Disney Interactive & Disney Music Group EMEA, offered up a profile of the development and implementation of Disney’s first mobile app star, Swampy.  Where’s My Water started as a freemium experience (first few shorts for free), and went to #1 in 48 countries in the first two days of release.  Swampy’s now getting his own show on the Disney channels. Swampy’s Underground Adventures will be on-channel and on-line simultaneously with a Hasbro board game, free flash games and webisodes. 

A couple tweets and a comment overheard in a hallway during MIPJunior may be the most fitting wrap ups for the current state of play and future of animated and kids content: 

sarahhemar:  “Broadcaster needs to make a show famous, then digital deepens the experiences & attachment.”

luckthelady:  “meanwhile, yesterday …. Cartoon Network may take on Angry Birds with own digital I.P.”

“My head is so full of new information it’s falling out of my ears.”

People never stop pitching at the event.

From my view, this October’s convention in Cannes was indeed a full-on “multi-platform-like experience” with the kids business at MIPJunior seeming to be very much in tune with the world of the big kids of MIPCOM.  People of all ages want to connect emotionally, no matter what the screen or activity.

--

Catherine Morrissey writes regularly for AWN about the international animation industry.