Distributed for Intellect Ltd
Producing Children’s Television in the On-demand Age
Much like the rest of the traditional television industry, children’s programming is undergoing a revolution. In this book, Anna Potter provides a detailed insider account of the creative circumstances that are transforming contemporary children’s screen content and reshaping the surrounding digital media landscape. Drawing on extended interviews with leading screen industry figures, Potter explores television’s distribution revolution and reveals how creative practices, funding models, and production norms in children’s TV have adapted to fit the changing times.
Combining comprehensive case studies, scholarly research, and industry perspectives, Potter presents a rigorous study of success stories in the children’s screen production sector. The book explores effects on the industry from disruptions by streaming giants like Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube, and describes the challenges faced by public service broadcasters like the BBC in their efforts to stay relevant to adolescent culture in the UK. Interdisciplinary and informative, this volume is compulsory reading for anyone struggling to make sense of television’s distribution revolution and what it means for children and young people.
Table of Contents
Producing Children’s Television in the On Demand Age
Representing Diversity on Public Service Media: Matchbox Pictures, NBCU and ‘The Show for Girls with Balls’
Netflix, Nickelodeon and the National: Jonathan M Shiff Productions’ Mako Mermaids and The Bureau of Magical Things
The Making of a Netflix Original: Cheeky Little Media and the Australian Animated Series Bottersnikes and Gumbles
Creating Streamable, Diverse Content for Children’s BBC: Drummer TV and the My Life Strand
From Wellywood to Amazon Prime: Rebooting Thunderbirds Are Go for the Post- Network Era
Streaming the Local with Contestable Funding: How New Platform HEIHEI Disrupted Children’s Media Provision in New Zealand
Emerging Trends in the Distribution, Production and Consumption of Children’s Television in the On Demand Age