Report – Kids’ Media Connected

Posted on: Friday 05 July 2019 9:50pm by Jess Percival

MACKY, the Media & Audiovisual Creatives for Kids and Youth, is an international organisation of children’s media professionals which gathers the insights of creatives and youth across platforms. Founded in Belgium, MACKY is now looking for partnerships abroad to put the collective on sound financial ground and develop supporters in neighbouring countries, so it can grow into an international creative association.

Takeaways:

• MACKY was started because Charlie believes all youth deserves to be represented in all media.
• MACKY brings together many professionals who want to share their knowledge with those who want to learn.
• It is important to spark more conversations about what creators truly want to create – not just what they think broadcasters will like.

Detail: 

Audiences are becoming very difficult to grasp, especially with the growing number of platforms now available. MACKY aims to do research into the best ways to target youth consumers, as well as working with professionals to bring information into one place. When Charlie Dewulf got support for their first youth film, they realised that they needed to figure out how best to reach the audience, therefore, MACKY was born. It works by bringing together many professionals who want to share their knowledge with those who want to learn. Jonas Vanseveren described how MACKY can help creators come together and has plans to create a database to make the production process easier. Charlie believes all youth deserves to be represented in all media. “There is a lot of work that needs to be done, and we want to get that work done.”

MACKY also focuses on other aspects of the kids’ media business, such as how the production process can be made more eco-friendly.

The three core parts of MACKY are Creatives, Youth Audience and the Industry. Across these areas there are workshops, focus groups, advisory committees and various other things. Importantly, these areas all embody the same values – Collaboration, Curation of knowledge, Audience Interaction, Professionalisation and Internationalisation. Jonas explained that there is a hope that MACKY will spark more conversations about what creators truly want to create – not just what they think broadcasters will like.

Telidja Klaï discussed how it is critical to include young creators in the production process, as it can help extensively. She is certain that as a broadcaster, they have a responsibility to support young people. Amina Hatim reflected that MACKY brings a diverse range of creators together, meaning you can get second opinions and collaborate on projects.