Report – Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Posted on: Wednesday 04 July 2018 7:38pm by Sian Reed

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Takeaway:

·     Know who you are pitching to. It is important to do your research beforehand.

·     The children’s TV market is saturated. You need a USP.

·     Make the pitch exciting – add in video and other visual elements.

Detail:

Dragons Den done CMC-style. This session presented the opportunity to pitch your TV ideas to four industry heavyweights. In this interactive session, five potential producers stepped up to share their pilots for the panel and audience to debate.

Hosts Tony Collingwood and Anthony Utley first explained the format before introducing each contestant to pitch away. Each panellist had £1000 to bid for projects: to work with the producers, gather up information and see if the idea could be taken to the wider market.

Pitch 1: Galapagos X by Shabnam Rezaei, BigBadBoo Studios

·     This project is based on the tales of four children on the Galapagos Islands whose mission is to rescue animals.

·     It is aimed at ages 4-7.

·     The show focuses on STEM subjects and will use Google Expeditions and VR backgrounds.

·     The panel enjoyed the animations and liked that the show investigates STEM subjects, warned of market limitations.

·     Eryk Casemiro, of Zodiak Kids Studios, bid £200 to work with Shabnam.

Pitch 2: Geek Girls by Leticia Milano

·     This is a transmedia series based on a game coding contest.

·     It is aimed at girls aged 11-15.

·     The idea is to make it as interactive as possible.

·     You can sign up to play in contests, watch the episodes weekly, attend live events at the end.

·     The panel enjoyed the concept of getting more girls into a ‘male-dominated’ industry.

·     Bob Higgins, of Boat Rocker Rights, Kids and Family, wanted more information and bid £100.

Pitch 3: Ru and Blu by Candi Bloxham

·     This project is an animated, pre-school show.

·     It focuses on two lead characters who travel to a new country and teach the viewer new recipes every episode.

·     Children watching will learn about ingredients and nutrients.

·     The show comes with a full digital set-up and licensing for in-store opportunities.

·     The panel was impressed by Candi’s pitch in industry of kids cooking shows which are hard to crack.

·     £1050 bid from Alix Wiseman, of 9 Story Media Group, who praised the show for not being prescriptive or patronising.

 Pitch 4: Planet Z by Terhi Vaananen, Pyjama Films

·     This is based on the comics of Maria Bjorklund.

·     It features creatures from Planet Z.

·     It aims for the 6-9 age range.

·     There is the option for the programme to be narrated or not.

·     The project already has a distributor on board.

·     The distribution deal was an issue for some panellists.

·     Bob Higgins thought the show was right up his alley; he loved the look and bid £200 to work with Terhi.

Picth 5: Young and Mighty by Henry Patterson

·     Henry is already a published author.

·     The show is based on his books.

·     He will invite creators between ages 10-15 to come on the show to pitch product ideas.

·     The audience and panellists were impressed by his ideas and motivation.

·     The presentation was filled with laughs aplenty!

·     All four panellists were inspired by Henry.

·     He left with a £1000 bid from Nigel Pickard, President of TRX and Director Nevision.