Report – First Timers Reception

Posted on: Wednesday 05 July 2017 10:27am by Lucy Heavens

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This event, hosted by Disney, was an opportunity for first timers to mingle with each other and CMC veterans. CMC debutant and Guest Blogger Lucy Heavens dived right in.

Takeaways:

• Friendliness! The children’s media industry isn’t your run-of-the-mill media industry; these people are nice!
• People want to chat – they’re here to chat, so use this opportunity to introduce yourself.
• Go to as many sessions as you can; they are all full of nuggets that could prove invaluable to your work.

Detail:

After a pretty intense trial by fire this morning at the International Exchange (not for the faint-hearted), and a great ‘Pitch Perfect’ session full of really solid advice, the day has been intense and interesting. I topped it off with the First Timers Reception. It wasn’t a session exactly – more just a room full of slightly dazed souls gripping wine glasses.

The speakers quickly put everyone at ease. There was a substantial Disney presence at the event and the message was clear – talk to us! Talk to everyone you can get a hold of. Yes, sure, of course it’s daunting but this is why we’re here and this what we do – and thank goodness we’re working in an industry where your colleagues and even your competitors are your friends.

So even though I heard of a lot of “it’s been manic” and “what a day”, everyone was wonderfully open to exchange names, ideas and cards. I met everyone from Gareth and Rhiannon from Cymru (first timers) to veterans like the awesome Stephanie Wahlstrom (producer of the event) as well as notable Disney-ers like David Levine, writers from abroad, as well as representatives from gaming companies, broadcasters and production companies.

As a writer and show creator, it’s heartening that the more of this stuff I do, the more this big industry is demystified. Sometimes it feels like you have to align actual planets just to make headway on a project, but it’s amazing when you discover that other people want your projects to succeed. That’s just good business, and that’s the business everyone is here to do.