PowerPoint Presentation

Beyond the BookWhats Working and What isnt - in Digital, Rights and Licensing

(and what the CMC plans to do about it)Hello. Ref other speakers. Plan for my 10 minutes take a quick view of how the challenges for the industry particularly publishing are reflected in the approaches we take to providing insights, networking and information at the Childrens media Conference and with luck provider you with some brief insights for today, along the way.1Beyond the Book11 years of conversation in SheffieldInternational Exchange market dayOther events through the yearPan platform approach2014 stats: 1001 delegates, 200 speakers, 50 sessions and workshops

The Childrens Media ConferenceBrief intro to to me and what CMC is and does, leading to our approach being platform agnostic our belief in stories, and business models. Not sectors and segregation.

Why is this relevant today? NEXT2Beyond the BookCMC Started as a TV and Internet conferenceNow also welcomes radio, film, licensing, publishing, games, apps, museums, theatre and the educational media industriesPublishers are late to the party but active and avidLate is not always bad

Our journey reflects the industry's.

How the CMC has grown into a pan-platform event welcoming especially publishers and exploring new ways of developing and managing IP.

Its interesting that the world of publishing is looking at what Beyond the Book means. Going Beyond your core product is where the film and TV business models have been for over 10-15 years. This model has ultimately meant that the core product, a film or TV series can be just a break-even marketing tool to launch characters and scenarios into new media.

But the fact that publishing and the wider book industry are only now significantly engaging in the Going Beyond strategy is actually a testament to the commercial strengths of the UK childrens publishing business. TV and Film went there out of necessity ,not choice. Late is not always bad.

Looking at the talent of Malorie Blackman our keynote speaker last July Im touched by how close to their talent the publishing business is. Its one of your greatest strengths and it could be a key to your future power in the partnerships and alliances which new ways of working will throw up.3TransmediaFilmLicensing & MerchandisingDigital & GamesTV

As we all know, Beyond the Book means your story or characters moving off the page into Film, Merchandising, Games, Digital, or Television.

Creatively and commercially you are broadening or creating longevity for the IP. Transmedia if you like many dont like the word or indeed know what it means. But lets; avoid the arguments about story-worlds and amplifying and extending the story, or providing more opportunities to experience the same story, or all the variations in between lets just agree that to create a strong, cohesive, long-term, attractive brand around characters and a story or stories you need to place that content in front of the audience in different ways at different times and differently structured and monetised.So based on intelligence Ive gleaned from sessions and expert panels at the CMC a quick look at how likely it is to happen with literary projects

Film The most sought after, the most traditionally engineered, and probably the least likely partly based on the production economics. Partly n the severe lack of family and childrens film coming out of the UK youll need to look further afield.

L&M To make the leap from the page directly into merchandising tends to happen only on classic properties and to become a classic probably takes a minimum of ten years you cant fast forward the classic process. L&M usually happens following a film or TV.

Digital / Games Digital can happen quickly, be self-financed, but the financial models are still unclear. This was a major theme of CMC this year how to monetise digital content to the satisfaction of the audience and their parents.

Moving books directly into Games seems extremely rare, my sense is there should be more of this happening, Ive only heard of one published property that has moved in this direction and thats Beast Quest there may be others of course.

Which brings us to TV. TV is as difficult as all of the other Beyond The Book routesbut with the likes of Amazon and Netflix etc. on top of traditional broadcast outlets the opportunities for television content are growing despite the competition for time and eyeballs in all the other activities and the amount of TV viewing amongst all but the oldest of children is holding steady.

4Start at the StartBegin earlyPresent a holistic brand approach to IPThink about other media and their needsHow well do you or your company know the way other media sectors think?

All of the above are, in my humble opinion, nowadays more likely to happen if the process begins early. What we are hearing from the transmedia consultants who come to CMC is that Beyond the book thinking should be happening long before a book is published, and probably even before the point of commission.

One of those CMC friendly consultants did some survey work with the kids TV production community to assess how they react to literary content, which hes kindly shared with us to help guide our thinking on how we can help oil the wheels of collaboration

John Bullivant surveyed 10 TV Production Execs, all veterans, with huge experience in companies such as Nickelodeon, HIT, Zodiak Media, ITV, CBBC, Tiger Aspect and asked them some simple questions about how they interact with books as potential source material

NEXT5Survey Q1When you look at a book cover how quickly do you decide if it could work for television? (Picture Books)

Question 1

When you look at a book cover how quickly do you decide if it could work for television?(Picture Books)

Almost instantly 50%I need a quick flick but Ive already got a strong idea 40%I always read the book before deciding 10%

90% of TV Execs felt they already knew, instantly or based on a quick flick, whether something would work for TV or not.

John asks: Do c90% of publishers and agents know which of their books will almost instantly work for TV and have a chance of going beyond the book?6Survey Q2When you look at a book cover how quickly do you decide if it could work for television? (Fiction)

Question 2 same question for Fiction Books

Almost instantly - zeroI need a quick flick but Ive already got a strong idea - 30%I always read the book before deciding 70%

For fiction, Beyond The Book potential is clearly much more to do with story, whereas for picture books going Beyond the Book is all about illustration.

7Survey Q3Do you think publishers understand what character designs do and dont work for television?

Do you think publishers understand what character designs do and dont work for television?

Absolutely. - zeroKind of - 50%Not really, because the majority of book designs dont work for television - 50%

None of the TV Execs thought publishers absolutely understood what designs do and dont work for TV. If TV is a critical part of a Beyond The Book strategy, isnt understanding what does work for TV pretty important.

8Survey Q4How regularly are you pitched new or established books as the potential source material for a new TV series? How regularly are you pitched new or established books as the potential source material for a new TV series?

Frequently - zeroOccasionally - 60%Hardly ever or never - 40%

If books are only occasionally pitched or never pitched then the likelihood of your IP going Beyond The Book is pretty limited.

9Survey Q5How interested are you in being pitched new or established books as the potential source material for a new TV series.?

How interested are you in being pitched new or established books as the potential source material for a new TV series.

1.Very - 80%2. Reasonably - 10%3.Dont bother thanks. - 10%Producers are interested in developing books and working with publishers to help them go Beyond The Book!

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The way we see itBrand Management from the outsetPartnerships and collaborationSometimes service relationshipsBuilding a Transmedia planAt the CMC everything we come across in this suggests that the most efficient and creatively interesting way forward is through partnerships of different sorts. You all know of examples of companies like Penguin pursuing new IP from a standing start, introducing it in digital and then considering its exploitation across a multiplicity of media.

Another example is Walker with their deals with animation and drama production companies (and CITV and CBBC) over properties like Fleabag MonkeyFace and Hank Zipser, drawing together the expertise they need but not letting the control go. remaining the brand manager in the partnershipsas ever with new strategies its all about developing dialogue and relationships.

11The collaborators that you will want and need to be working with wont necessarily be at Bologna Book Fair. Eric Huang 20127th November 2014Two Temple Place, London WC2 (Victoria Embankment)Morning Conference Afternoon Market

The CMC is hoping to help foster such relationships with a new business event, The CMC Rights Exchange, Friday 7th November in the very lovely 2 Temple Place, which we hope will provide what Bologna and Frankfurt lack a focus on building those new forms of partnership which will be invaluable in getting ahead in the digital future. It will create the environment where everyone interested in developing IP beyond the book can meet and do business. 12Conference Contributors includeBob and Co.CBBCNurture Rights (Dinosaur Roar)LAW agencyPenguinZodiak Kids

The conference in the morning promises a range of sessions on the topic of business and IP development in the new environment, with contributions from Michael Carrington (recently arrived as CEO of Zodiak Kids), the Penguin team acting as dragons in a Character-focused dragons den, and Nurture Rights Co-Founder and industry veteran, Peter Curtis, talks for the first time about a groundbreaking partnership with the Natural History Museum and why television is not the only thing on his brand building list.

13We should all be looking for ways to spark new connections and do new business. I hope the CMC Exchange will help do just this. Philippa Milnes-Smith, MD, LAW, Writers and Artists AgentsMarket Participants include1973 Films, AdAstra, BBC, Blake Freedman, Bloomsbury, Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency, CITV, Counter Culture LLP, David Higham Associates, Figment Factory, Fraser Ross Associates, Kempt, Kerrupt Animation, LAW, Nickelodeon, OUP, Rights.TV, Sheil Land Associates, Start Licensing, The BIA, Walker Books, Zodiak Kids/the Foundation

The market in the afternoon will be a managed event with short meeting slots and the capacity for everyone participating to profile themselves in advance on a meetings booking system. We are expecting Agents, publishers, broadcasters and producers of TV, animation, film and interactive media as the main participants in the Exchange. And if you dont recognise all those names that is surely the point.

At CMC we believe its time to mix it up and the Rights exchange is our way of getting the party started.147th November 2014Two Temple Place, London WC2

www.thechildrensmediaconference.com

Thanks any questions.15