During a panel discussion at MipJunior in Cannes on Sunday, Ayo Davis, president of Disney’s Kids & Family division, reflected on how the studio was responding to the disruption in viewing habits among younger viewers, including working with some of the same creators who are contributing to that disruption.
Working With CreatorsThe Disney execs on the panel spoke about how the studio works with creators, such as Nastya and Dhar Mann, who delivered the opening keynote at Mipcom on Sunday.
“Creators are important. We know that they’re important to our audience. It is literally where they are engaging all day long,” Davis said. “The thing to highlight is that we’re not just connecting with creators for creators’ sake, right? We are connecting with creators that actually bring something to the table, that actually align to our values, and the way we are telling our stories.”
Charlie Andrews, executive VP, live action, Disney Kids & Family, said he was also working with Nastya. “Nastya is also, you know, ageing and her interests are changing, so [we are looking to create] content that is also for herself and her demo as they age with her on the live-action side. So we’re really strategic on that.”
Zack Olin, senior VP, development and current series at Disney Television Animation, Disney Kids & Family, said, “Our goal hasn’t changed, which has consistently been: We want to be in business with the world’s best storytellers. We have to listen to our audience because they are really responding to these storytellers.”
“A recent example of that is we have a new anthology, a short-film series called ‘Locker Diaries.’ So these are vertical shorts shot through characters’ lockers. Thankfully, a lot of our properties have high-school hallways in them. It feels organic. There’s a reason for being. It gives you a real immersive experience into a character’s world. You get to know them.”
Fresh Original ContentOne aspect to the studio’s approach to kids content that the Disney execs on the panel were keen to emphasize was the importance of fresh original content, alongside the legacy franchises.
Sapire said, “We’re always looking for new stories, new storytellers, new formats based on what we know about preschoolers. We’re all pretty obsessed with knowing our audiences well, their passions, their interests, and, for preschoolers specifically, it’s about knowing where they are developmentally and finding those fresh stories to tell with those relatable, connected themes.”
Kids Love Vampires and WitchesDavis said that Disney Jr. can be seen as “a gateway” for their audience. “It’s the introduction to the company, the introduction to the characters,” she said.
Researchers Are the Bosses NowSapire pointed to the importance of research. “From the preschool side, we have touch points with preschoolers literally every week because we have an internal educational resource group, so we go and we sit with kids, we share the stories that we are bringing into our series and getting that direct feedback, having an understanding of what they comprehend. And then we bring that back to our writers, our showrunners, to help them evolve the stories based on that feedback. They are our bosses!” she said with a laugh.
