Cynopsis: Kids!
08/13/12

Good morning. It’s Monday, August 13, 2012, and this your first early morning briefing.

Cynopsis: Kids! is ten years old this summer. In 2002, Cynthia Turner, creator of Cynopsis, asked me to help her develop and launch the kids’ version of her influential daily e-newsletter. So ten years and a several laptops later, here we all are, once again – in the midst of continuing technological change that’s having a profound impact on producers, distributors, broadcasters, advertisers, licensors, licensees, of course, kids and families. This week we continue the celebration of the first decade of Cynopsis: Kids!, in which we’re presenting a series of reflections from some of the industries top executives and thinkers. My question to them – looking back at the past ten years, what has changed in the kids media business, for better or worse? Offering their thoughts today are Margaret Loesch and David Kleeman:

Margaret Loesch, President & CEO, The Hub

Wow. There have been so many changes in kids television during my years in kids and family programming that it’s difficult to encapsulate them.

One of the most wonderful changes I’ve seen is the dramatic increase in production values. Some of it is just magnificent. Also, there is so much more competition for the kids audience. There are more programs available for kids to enjoy, and the funding for much of the kids business comes in large part from huge corporations. The kids TV business is a big revenue driver for these corporations.

Kids’ tastes have changed considerably and the variety of genres that exists now is eye-popping. The current trend of kids wanting to see “real” kids and characters – like themselves – on TV is fascinating. Currently, there’s the sense that everyone can become a star with homemade content that can get very large audiences. By the way, that will present an ever-bigger challenge to linear networks. But it’s the ultimate in wish fulfillment.

Also, kids want and expect more. They want to see their favorite programs everywhere (on multiple platforms). They want more new episodes. And they want to be able to watch them when and where they want. Fortunately, the vast majority of television is still watched on television.

Perhaps most unsettling to me personally is that kids are getting older younger and have easier access to content designed for much older viewers. In many cases the content is not age-appropriate and in its most troubling form it presents sexualized and objectified role models for young girls.

David Kleeman, President, American Center for Children and Media

The biggest change I detect from ten years ago is in our industry’s confidence. It’s easy to say there’s less money for creative risk, but have we lost the stomach for it, too? To be fair, anxiety, or at least caution, isn’t unwarranted; observing a tidal wave from the beach is far safer than trying to surf it.

Looking at the US, the early 21st Century was something of a golden moment. Kids television ratings were high, and the airwaves were studded with now-iconic programs that were new or hitting their stride – Dora and SpongeBob, Clifford and Between the Lions, Kim Possible and Lizzie McGuire, to name just a few. We’d gotten over our initial fear of the Internet and begun creating TV companion websites that were true enhancements (not just coloring pages and character profiles), as well as deep and engaging stand-alone sites. We were operating pretty well in sync with our young audiences.

What happened? Start with a worldwide recession. Mix in unprecedented change in technology – 10 years ago there were no smartphones or tablets. Add radical democratization of content distribution – 2002 was pre-YouTube and Netflix was a DVD-by-mail service – that left traditional gatekeepers still at their posts while producers and consumers alike found greener grass outside the fences. Audiences fragmented like a jigsaw puzzle, and the industry stalled while searching for lost pieces.

Fortunately, I think this is a temporary paralysis. At recent conferences, I’ve seen evidence of confident innovation from production and distribution companies, large and small. “Transmedia” has evolved from catch-all buzzword to organic development strategy, with the potential to return coherence to a disjointed industry. My current hypothesis is that a new generation of leaders – who grew up immersed in multi-platform media but frustrated by its silo-ed storytelling – is taking charge, eager and ready to create the kind of media it long desired.

NEW PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

Lionsgate‘s movie The Hunger Games: Catching Fire welcomes two more cast members in Alan Ritchson and E. Roger Mitchell, both former tributes who will compete in the Quarter Quell (the 75th Annual Hunger Games) featured in the new movie, which is based on the second book in Suzanne Collin’s book trilogy. Mitchell is cast as Chaff, a tribute from District 11 who won the 45th Annual Hunger Games. Mitchell he has appeared in TV and movies including Battle: Los Angeles, The Shield, One Tree Hill, and Tyler Perry movies such as Diary Of A Mad Black Woman, Daddy’s Little Girls, and House Of Payne. Ritchson will take o the role of Gloss, a former Career tribute from District 1. Gloss’ sister Cashmere (we don’t know yet who will play her) will also compete in the Quarter Quell. Ritchson most recently starred in the CBS comedy pilot Super Fun Night, and the Spike TV series Blue Mountain State. Lionsgate will release The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on November 22, 2013.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

MORE KIDS STUFF

The newest episodes of Nickelodeon‘s live action series Victorious, 15×30 new episodes from season 3 that are set to premiere this fall, will end the series, according to the network and series creator/writer/producer Dan Schneider (iCarly, Zoey 101, Drake and Josh). In a statement the network said, “Nickelodeon will not be moving forward with production on a fourth season of Victorious following the final season that will premiere this fall. We are very proud of the show, its very talented cast, and our audience will continue to see many of them in upcoming new Nickelodeon projects.” For Schneider’s part he sent out the news via Twitter and posted it on his blog saying, “This was the network’s decision – not mine.” But as Schneider noted in his upbeat missive, “Almost all Nickelodeon live-action shows have a life span of about 60 episodes,” further adding that about 60 episodes each of his series Drake & Josh and Zoey 101 were produced. Schneider, who has worked with the Nickelodeon for years on numerous shows has two newly announced pilots in the works with the network, Sam & Cat and Gibby (spin-offs of iCarly and Victorious).

Nick Jr. goes for the gold with new sports-themed episodes of The Fresh Beat Band and Yo Gabba Gabba! on Sunday, August 19. The Fresh Beats go up against the Junior Beats on the basketball court in the new episode titled Hoop Dreams, premiering at 8p. Then immediately following, the NBA’s Metta World Peace (LA Lakers), his daughter Diamond World Peace, Bill Hader (SNL), Marissa Jaret Winokur, and the band Cut Copy guest star in the new Yo Gabba Gabba! episode, Olympics, debuting at 8:30p. Additionally, in other Fresh Beat Band updates, the group begins the second leg of its nationwide tour on August 23 in Melbourne, Florida.

WWE and Saban Brands will debut the new series WWE Saturday Morning Slam when Saban Brands launches Vortexx (http://www.myvortexx.com/) on The CW, its new 5-hour, kid-targeted Saturday morning action/adventure programming block that will launch on the Saturday, August 25, 2012 (7a-12n). The half-hour series will air at 10a and features WWE Superstars profiles, behind-the-scenes footage and an exclusive WWE match each week. Additionally, the show will also feature highlights from WWE’s Be a STAR anti-bullying campaign and other initiatives. This marks the first time, since 2001, that WWE will have a TV series in a kids’ time slot. The Vortexx line-up includes: Power Rangers Lost Galaxy (8a); Iron Man: Armored Adventures (9a); Justice League (9:30a); WWE Saturday Morning Slam (10a). The block will also feature Yu-Gi-Oh.

Germany’s Your Family Entertainment (YFE) acuqires the German distribution rights to three popular European animated series, Jasper the Penguin, The Hydronauten and The Lazy Paula. YFE has also taken rights to related movies icnluidng Jasper – The movie. The properties were created by the Hamburg, Germany-based aniamtion studio Toons ‘n’ Tales, which went into bankruptcy last year.

Glee star Chris Colfer is set to have his first young adult novel, Struck by Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in the US on November 20, 2012, per Entertainment Weekly. The book is based on Colfer’s movie of the same name, which stars Colfer, Allison Janney, Christina Hendricks, Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Hyland, and Polly Bergen, is scheduled for release later this year by Tribeca Film. Colfer previously released the middle grade book The Land of Stories.

Actors Matthew Modine (The Dark Knight Rises, Full Metal Jacket and tons of other projects) and Kate del Castillo (Telemundo’s La Reina del Sur) lend their voices to the newly released bilingual (English/Spanish) storybook app, Punky Dunk and the Gold Fish. The app follows the story of a curious cat and was created to reflect the hand-drawn illustrations and watercolors from the original 1912 print edition of the book. Designed and released by DumFun Productions, in association with Cinco Dedos Peliculas, as part of the Punky Dunk Project (www.punkydunk.com) spearheaded by artist Kat Llewellyn, the Punky Dunk and the Gold Fish storybook app is targeted to young readers and features 101 interactive sounds and animations, which were coded by Glow Interactive. The app is available via iTunes Store for iPad and the Amazon Appstore for the Kindle Fire. Punky Dunk and the Gold Fish is one of several Punky Dunk books.

Bluewater Productions is set to publish a slew of new titles in its FAME comic book and graphic novel series that will appeal to kids and tweens. Focusing on the world of pop music artists, specifically Nick Jonas, Demi Lovato, One Direction, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, and Cody Simpson, the new “bio-comics” titles will be available in both print and digital versions. FAME: Nick Jonas will be available via iTunes exclusively in digital form for the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, or iBook on computers. FAME: Justin: Bieber 2, the sequel to FAME: Justin Bieber, offers an extended look at the young singer. Bluewater’s current FAME titles those based on Big Time Rush, Selena Gomez, and The Hunger Games writer/creator Suzanne Collins. Issues of all FAME comic books can be purchased online at Amazon.com, as well as in your local comic store. Digital copies, for Kindle, Nook, and iPad, are also available for pre-order or purchase.

Music videos from myKaZooTV (www.mykazootv.com), a K2-9 aimed interactive multi-channel video platform, have been added to the lineup on Ameba TV (www.amebatv.com), a multi-platform subscription service streaming kid-targeted content. Ameba delivers content from its library online and across a wide and variety of platforms, including Google TV, Roku and LG Smart TV. myKaZootv is a free online channel featuring a library of hundreds of music videos of original songs by kid-centric artists, including animated videos and live concert videos. The channel is also accessible via handheld devices (phone and tablet platforms) and cable TV. myKaZootv has also recently entered partnerships with MobiTV and Kabillion TV on Demand. Additionally, myKaZootv has teamed with Kidtoon Films, Cinedigm’s matinee program that offers kid-friendly content to families every month at 100+ theatre locations nationwide, to include some of its music videos this summer. In other myKaZoo news, sister company myKaZoo Music (www.mykazoomusic.com), a label of Universal Music Enterprises, will release The Barber of the Beasts CD by Zak Morgan, this October 2012.

STONE SOUP

Weekend Box Office Estimates for kids/tweens/teens rated G, PG or PG-13; August 10-12, 2012:
The Bourne Legacy (Universal) PG-13                                 Opening Weekend $40.3m
The Dark Knight Rises (Warner Bros.) PG-13                         $19.5m-4 wk total $390.2m
Hope Springs (Sony) PG-13                                               $15.6m-1 wk total $20.1m
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (Fox) PG                             $8.2m-2 wk total $30.6m
Total Recall (Sony) PG-13                                                 $8.1m-2 wk total $44.2m
Ice Age: Continental Drift (FOX) PG                                    $6.8m-5 wk total $144.1m
Step Up Revolution (Lionsgate) PG-13                                 $2.9m-3 wk total $30.2m
The Amazing Spider-Man (Sony) PG-13                               $2.2m-6 wk total $255.5m
Brave (Disney) PG                                                           $1.9m-8 wk total $227.3m
Beasts Of The Southern Wild (Fox Searchlight) PG-13            $735,000-7wk total $7.2m
Source: Rentrak (www.rentrak.com)

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question: “2-Tone Army” by the Toasters is the theme song to what show? KaBLaM! Kudos to: Brett Ashy-The Ashy Agency/LA.

Today’s Trivia Question: Who travels the world in their Commvee? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: Only the second four correct answers from each time zone will be mentioned; and once you’ve been mentioned in any of the Cynopsis editions, you can’t be mentioned again that calendar week.)

Later — Gwen
Gwen Billings for Cynopsis Kids!
08.13.12

Denise O’Connor: Group Publisher, Media Entertainment
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