03/27/18: Q&A: Andi Mack creator Terri Minksy on the Disney Channel series keeps up with its sophisticated audience

Good morning. It’s Tuesday March 27, 2018, and this is your your first early morning Kids briefing!

BEHIND THE SCENES

Last month Disney Channel renewed for a third season tween series Andi Mack, which has addressed topics including life in a military family, an authentic bar mitzvah and the network’s first coming-out story. This week, creator Terri Minsky (who was also behind the network’s hit Lizzie McGuire) talks with CynKids about how the show keeps pace with an increasingly sophisticated audience. Season 3 is slated to debut in late 2018.

Cynopsis Kids: Big congrats on season 3. What’s on your mind as you look ahead?

Terri Minsky: I’ve never worked season three of anything, so I’m very excited. I‘m hyper aware of the fact that you have to keep moving or you die. It has to continue to have momentum, so that’s why we expanded out into other stories like Buffy’s family and things going on with Cyrus. And of course we want to keep exploring that mother-daughter dynamic.

CK: Does it feel like a freer time to explore family and friendship dynamics than it was during the Lizzie McGuire days?

TM: I think of recent TV as sort of being divided into two periods: pre-season 9, episode 1 of Game of Thrones, and post season 9, episode 1 of Game of Thrones. That, to me, was a game changer because they took the audience into this very deep expectation and then went the other way. When I saw that I was kind of, Oh my God, that is an incredible thing to do to an audience. It stayed with me. I don’t think a spoiler anymore to say they cut off Ned Stark’s head but when they cut off Ned Stark’s head it was all different.

CK: Did that give you a different level of permission in how you approach storytelling in Andi Mack?

TM: Yeah. Not only can we, but now we have an obligation to surprise the audience. I worked in multi-cam sitcoms for a long time and there definitely is a formula. And that formula works, and people have done great things with that formula. But you don’t want the audience to be ahead of you, ever. That’s what I’m trying to do, stay ahead of a really smart audience.

CK: The tween audience is getting more sophisticated by the day, it seems.

TM: They’re growing up fast; unfortunately, they have had to. I do want to keep pace with them, but that’s tough too because of how fast they’re growing up. Many times when we’re sitting in the writing room and suggesting stories, it’s like, You know what, I’m not going to do the school election, I’m not sure I’m ever going to do a prom.

CK: Among the territory you’ve covered this past season are life in a military family, a gay character coming out and an authentic bar mitzvah. Authenticity seems to be a big trademark for you. Is that where you start?

This next generation of kids, when they are writing television shows, this [topic] isn’t going to be on this fragile level. But for now it’s still hard, it still isn’t fully recognized or accepted. And I think if it’s on television, that will make a difference.

CK: Your characters tend to be multidimensional.

TM: Multidimensional is very important to me. We introduced this character TJ, who was seen originally as kind of the jerk captain of the basketball team. But then you find out he has a learning disability so now he seems vulnerable. My goal with that character specifically was to start him at beginning of season 2 with the audience hating him, and by end of season 2 loving him.

CK: Are there other topics that you’re interested in exploring?

TM: A lot of people in our writing room had experiences with panic attacks from a very young age, and we were discussing how scary it was to have to deal with. It’s a lot. It’s your body betraying you.

CK: And of course there was Cyrus’ bar mitzvah…

TM: There’s a lot of Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween episodes that have been beautifully done. What hasn’t been done? What can we do that’s specific to this family? Chinese New Year was obvious, and Cyrus’ bar mitzvah—that’s something right out of my life. If it comes from reality, you’re covered.

For more of our interview with Terri Minsky, see the new Cynsiders.

IN THE NEWS

New kid on the block: The Africa Channel will premiere its first-ever animated kids programming on Saturday, April 7. The shows will air as part of a weekly kids block running from 7-9a. Jabu’s Jungle, where kids can follow the jungle adventures of an intrepid 9-year-old, and his Magic Talking Drum, will premiere at 7a with back-to-back half-hour eps followed by The Magic Cellar, which follows Pula and her friends through their everyday lives as they encounter social issues and moral dilemmas. Rounding out the block is Siyaya- Come Wild with Us, which offers a fast-paced adventure through some of South Africa’s most fascinating national parks. “Kids have few choices when it comes to multicultural shows. We aim to help fill that void with our Saturday morning programming block so that kids of color can wake up each weekend to a reflection of themselves on morning television,” said Karen Juve, Africa Channel VP of programming & acquisitions.

NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises launched El Campeon en Ti (The Champion Within You), a company-wide campaign focused on empowering young Hispanics to find their inner champion through sports. The exclusive Spanish-language home of 2018 FIFA World Cup, Telemundo will focus its campaign on soccer, investing more than $250,000 and partnering with the US Soccer Foundation, Alianza U Foundation and local community organizations to expand access to organized soccer for underserved Latino youth in cities including LA, NY, Chicago, Miami, Washington, DC, Orlando and Dallas.

Scholastic Corp. reported financial results for its Q3 ended February 28, 2018. For the quarter, revenue was up 3 percent to $344.7 million, compared to $336.2 million a year ago. The GAAP operating loss from continuing operations for the third quarter of fiscal year 2018 was $23.7 million, a 4 percent improvement over the prior year period’s GAAP operating loss of $24.7 million. Q3 typically is a lower revenue quarter for Scholastic, in which the company tends to record a loss.

Kids of the World, a new global study from Viacom, found nearly 90 percent of kids ages 6-11 believe they can accomplish anything if they work hard enough. The report, based on responses from 6,000 kids in 30 countries, also revealed today’s kids embrace a fearless attitude toward life: 85 percent of all kids surveyed also believe it’s better to try things and risk mistakes than never trying at all. Among other findings, ending wars is the top problem that kids want to solve globally (61 percent), with ending world hunger (58 percent) and bringing happiness to the world (53 percent) rounding out the top three.

“We need to continue to ensure we are truly reflecting the world that kids live in today,” Viacom’s head of global insights, Christian Kurz, tells CynKids of today’s children’s programming. Kurz points to series like Nickelodeon’s The Loud House, “where we have a mixed race, same-sex couple being introduced without much fanfare just by dropping off their kid for a sleepover,” he says, and the family situation in Hunter Street, “where it’s all about foster kids. We look at other shows where the influential roles, the ‘parents,’ are different people in different roles. We need to continue to ensure that happens.”

Based on the study, he adds, “Friendships really matter to kids. What seems to be new is it’s not just important to have good friends but to be a good friend. In the world od social, you can upset people much more quickly than in the real world because the emotions and expressions don’t come through. Kids are learning that now.”

Additionally, today’s global kids also view themselves as highly independent (76 percent), curious and creative (nearly 90 percent for both). This mentality extends to the way kids are consuming information and entertainment – watching TV and listening to music rank as their top ways to relax. This appetite for content breeds curiosity and creativity: nearly 80 percent claim to use more than one device at a time, with 88 percent of kids using their free time to build new skills including sports, learning new languages and even learning to make slime.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

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April 12 at the New York Athletic Club in NYC

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NEW & RETURNING SERIES

Pablo, the story of a 5-year-old boy on the autism spectrum who uses creativity, and magic crayons, to invent an imaginary world, debuts on Universal Kids on April 2 – which is World Autism Awareness Day – at 8:30a. Each story in the series was developed from the real-life experience of someone with autism, and everyone in the core cast is on the autism spectrum. Series is filled with Pablo’s animal friends, each of which has a trait associated with autism.

New eps of DreamWorks Dinotrux Supercharged have arrived on Netflix. Season 2 features more larger-than-life adventures as the Dinotrux find a new source of superchargers and suit up Dozer with upgrades, while Ton Ton tricks out in supercharge to participate in the “Doom Run” ore race.

Disney doings: The second season of Mickey and the Roadster Racers revs up on Disney Junior beginning Saturday, April 14 at 9:30a… On sister net Disney XD, the season 3 premiere of Walk the Prank will premiere April 21 at 11a.

COMING UP

A Star vs. the Forces of Evil stunt featuring fan art will air on Disney XD April 2-6 from 6-8p, leading into the season 3 finale on April 7. Finale will feature two new eps at 11a and 11:30a. Also on XD, Inside the EA Sports Madden Ultimate League will air every Thursday in April at 10:15p.

New eps of The Lion Guard are headed to Disney Junior Monday, April 2 through Thursday, April 5 at 5p… Also on the net, a Puppy Dog Pals “Hide & Seek” marathon will air Saturday, April 7 and Sunday, April 8 at 1p each day. The stunt will drive kids to find a Puppy Dog Pals hidden graphic that will appear in every episode of the marathon… And a burst of Goldie & Bear premieres will roll out Mondays at 8p beginning on Monday, April 9.

DIGITAL DATA

NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises partnered with global video community musical.ly to develop and launch a series of new digital entertainment programs targeting Hispanic members of Gen Z, the post-millennial, predominantly bilingual, tech-native generation. The partnership will feature original shows, including The Cheese, an entertainment and pop culture show that launched this past weekend, and On the Ball (working title), a sports show focused on the world’s top soccer players. The shows will be created and executive produced by Fluency+, Telemundo’s production studio.

AROUND THE INDUSTRY

Warner Bros. Animations’ The Lego Movie 2 just got a little funnier. Tiffany Haddish will voice a character in the movie, slated to debut February 8, 2019.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

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LICENSING & PARTNERSHIPS

Gifting company Demand Media is a licensee for Robot Wars through a new deal with Licensing Link Europe, which manages the TV series’ licensing. New products will include stainless steel model construction sets and a first aid kit.

eOne and its master licensee in Japan, Sega Toys, are gearing up for the launch of Peppa Pig product in a “Peppa Goes to London” themed pop-up store that will be open March 28-April 3 in Japan that will also host special screenings of fan-favorite eps and originals.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

A couple of new exec moves at Genius Brands: Former DreamWorks Animation Television and Hasbro Studios’ executive Michael Jaffa joins Genius as general counsel and SVP, business affairs. Most recently at DreamWorks Animation Television, Jaffa served as head of business affairs. Additionally, Cindy Elfenbein was named to the newly formed position of VP of global consumer products & retail development. She previously served as VP, retail business development at ZAG, an indie animation studio.

Today’s Trivia Question: The family vehicle in which kids series was inspired by the Ford Concept car the FX-Atmos? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: A limit of four correct answers from each time zone will be selected.).

Classic Kids Series Anagram: Class Tell It Heart (Email [email protected]; first three respondents with the correct answer who aren’t in trivia will be posted in tomorrow’s newsletter.)

Cathy Applefeld Olson
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