TBI Kids: How live-action shows are flying high again

Spellbound hails from Cottonwood Media

Animation was seen as something of a safer bet through the pandemic, as live-action producers fought ongoing challenges and delays. Helen Dugdale explores if business has yet returned to its former equilibrium

Rewind a couple of years and the world was in the grip of the Coronavirus pandemic. Broadcasters and streamers were adapting to a ‘new normal’, while producers were fighting on all fronts to keep their shows on track.

For those of a live-action persuasion, this was harder said than done, with protocols making physical production an even harder business than normal. Those working on animation, meanwhile, were able to adapt quicker – and while they faced considerable challenges of their own, this part of the industry saw a spike in demand.

Fast-forward to October 2022 and the question is how have those few years of hardship affected the kids business? Has that surge in demand for animation supercharged the sector with a flurry of new shows now coming to fruition? And how are live-action producers faring?

Evolution track

While animation production grew during the pandemic, the balance with live-action shows is returning simply because both genres tend to target different audiences.

“The sweet spot for kids’ animation is typically 4-9 years and live-action tends to skew older and complement the kids’ channels’ offering as their audiences grow out of animation,” says David Michel, co-founder & president at Paris-based Cottonwood Media, whose line up includes Spellbound and Theodosia.

“Both genres don’t compete in the same space for the same time slots, so they are usually complementary.”

Circuit Breakers

For Bruno Zarka, president of distribution, syndication & features at Toonz Media Group India, it’s not a case of animation eating live-action’s lunch but rather the evolving nature of the kids business as a whole.

“Whether animation causes a declining interest in live action is not the way to see this, quality is the key,” he says. “The significant evolution from animation – notably for the teen audience – is the incredible rise in writing and animation quality.

“The incredible rise in writing and animation quality brings a level of engagement and complexity into scripts comparable to live-action series”
Bruno Zarka, Toonz Media Group India

“That brings a level of engagement and complexity into scripts comparable to live-action series in the same segment.”

The point around increasing quality of both animation and live action is also highlighted by Lionel Marty, MD at APC Kids France.

“Live action has always offered older kids a chance to project themselves onto the ‘real world’, to learn how to navigate it at the ages when they start being increasingly part of it,” he says.

“Whereas this would traditionally lead to a sitcom approach, the rise of high performing live-action series for adults has pulled kids’ live-action towards exploring more complex narratives.

“Similarly, animation used to be the realm of dream and imagination, offering less of an anchoring with reality, but it has also been evolving to appeal to older kids, getting closer to ‘real-world’ themes through their animated takes on the sitcom genre, offering also more complex and serialised narratives.”

Live-action shows can also be more accessible – provided there’s no global pandemic – points out Paulo Muppet, who is executive producer at Sao Paulo-based animation studio Birdo.

“It is still hard to beat, especially on social media, because it’s so accessible for content creators – all you need is a smartphone,” he says.

“Animated content in its traditional format takes a lot of time and effort, but tends to hold itself better for repeated views and stay relevant for a longer period of time.”

Balancing dreams & reality

There is also a noticeable difference in what animated shows and live-action series can offer viewers from the emotional perspective of kids, an area that has come to the fore in recent years.

Tiger Aspect Kids & Family’s Danny & Mick is in post on its fifth season

Tom Beattie, MD at Tiger Aspect Kids & Family, which has been behind Danny & Mick for the UK’s CBBC, says live-action can “offer audiences more of an emotional connection seated in reality.”

He adds: “Animation generally has heightened worlds, free from the constraints of what is physically possible – and that is how you can get a square sponge living in a pineapple under the sea. There are examples of emotive animation, but generally, for kids, animation is comedy, action and adventure, in short bursts of escapism,” continues Beattie.

Michel agrees, adding that the “real-life connection” is what opens the doors to this genre playing a key role during younger years.

“If there is a strong connection between characters and viewers, then it also means that relatable issues can be explored, which may educate or allow for some resolution in an individual’s life,” the Cottonwood chief adds.

For Muppet, animation is a natural fit for expanding content requirements. “Animation isn’t constrained by real-world limitations and lends itself well to exploring visually different stories, even when they happen in the real world.

“But the goal I think is to have a balanced diet of media consumption and animation will always play an important part in that.”

Line-ups & approach

For commissioners, live-action series certainly seem to be in demand as production rhythms return to normal.

“We’re looking for co-viewing and live-action shows that offer something for everyone,” says Katie Wilson, VP of channels & global acquisitions at WildBrain. “And we’re always on the hunt for the next big family comedy.”

Over at Apple TV+, meanwhile, Cottonwood Media is currently working alongside other production partners on Circuit Breakers.

The half-hour futuristic anthology series launches in November and tackles kid-relatable issues through a sci-fi lens, Cottonwood’s Michel explains. “But not everything is as it seems, and their curiosity leads to chaos.”

Cottonwood has also started filming tween series Spellbound – a co-pro with Opéra de Paris, Hulu, ZDF, ZDF Studios and France Télévisions – while Beattie and the Tiger Aspect team are in post-production on the fifth season of comedy Danny & Mick.

“I pitch it as my ‘live-action animation series’,” he says, “as the episodes are 11 minutes in length, it has an animation SFX layer, pinpointed music scoring and an animated scripting sense.”

Beattie also revealed that his team are working on an animation with YouTube Originals Kids and Family. Corpse Talk, a comedy history chat show for the dead famous, is based on the comic books by Adam and Lisa Murphy.

“We have a lot of action happening on the development side of things,” adds Muppet, who has three original projects moving forward with different partners.

Birdo is in development with Flora

Flora is a “botanical comedy” picked up by Jetpack Distribution that is evolving to become an international co-production; Bia And The Beats is a pre-school show in development with Cartoonito Lat Am; and an unannounced project with Nick International is going to the testing stage.

The slates reflect the returning balance of live action and animation and, as per the Apple TV+ show, there is new potential offered by some streamers, which are looking for quality above all and are, seemingly, prepared to pay for it.

“Saying ‘I prefer animation to live-action and consider it a better fit’ is wrong,” says Zarka. “What is essential is to share true emotions and offer a journey to audiences with a dedicated palette serving stories and characters.”