How do you say resilient and productive during a tough period in the animation industry? That was the timely topic of a panel discussion held at The Animation Conference program of the Ottawa Intl Animation Festival on Thursday. Moderated expertly by animation industry veteran Archita Ghosh, the session featured Atomic Cartoons/Thunderbird Ent. CEO Jennifer Twiner McCarron, Guru Studio’s president and exec creative director Frank Falcone, Nelvana/Corus Kids VP Athena Georgaklis, Squeeze Studio CFO and co-owner Francois Houde and Jam Filled Entertainment senior VP of production Tori Coulthart.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the panel:
1. The Pendulum Will Swing Back … Slowly. Many of the panelists said they can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Although the hey days of streamers commissioning shows in great numbers are behind us, there will always be a need for animation and children’s content. “Our industry went through a major shift when Netflix began decommissioning shows last year,” said Frank Falcone. “We are in a place right now that we’ve had to regroup as an industry and find our way forward. One of my favorite quotes that I read I believe came from the head of FX who said, ‘The mechanisms for the monetization of content are in disarray.’ At the end of the day, we have to make things that people are going to want to watch. At one one point during the boom, we all felt that there were so much content being made and we asked ourselves, ‘Who is going to watch this stuff?’ Because there are only so many hours in a day. I believe that now we are at the end of that pendulum swing. We are going to see things coming back, but slowly, not at the rate we saw a few years ago.”
2. Flexibility Is Always an Asset. According to the panelists, the Covid pandemic opened new doors of opportunity for animation professionals who were able to use online technologies to work from home. However, it exposed them to more competition. As Squeeze CFO Francois Houde pointed out, “Working from home also expanded our competition so we had to find new ways to compete globally. In addition to developing our own IP, we provide service work for animation studios, as well as offering game cinematics and theme parks gaming industry and theme parks. One of our core values is flexibility and that’s how we’ve been able to survive the challenging times.’
3. Canada’s Bill C-11 Might Help! A new bill known as Bill C-11 aims to bring foreign online streaming platforms under the country’s broadcasting act. Also known as the Online Streaming Act, it sets out to create a framework to regulate digital streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+ and Spotify, and would require them to contribute to the creation and promotion of Canadian content. However some are concerned that it would create a two-tiered system that would require Canadian broadcasters to be held to higher standards than foreign streamers.
As Nelvana’s Athena Georgaklis pointed out, “The financing model for Canadian content used to rely on broadcasters to put about 35 percent of their advertising revenue back into content production. But they’re not getting the revenues they used to get, that means less money is being put into the business. Streamers and other platforms are taking away that viewership so this bill seeks to bring that investment back to the business. We still have to be a global player, and not just make content for Canada. The hope is that this bill will help guide us through.”
4. Looking for the Bright Spots. Among the examples of silver linings mentioned by the panelists was that more companies are sharing content across different platforms. More exposure in various outlets means more eyeballs for the producers. Also, the decrease in budgets has resulted in some creative invention on behalf of the creative teams at the studios. In addition, the execs also pointed out that successful platforms cannot survive without offering solid children’s content. “Kids’ content is the stickiest content because audiences are less likely to unsubscribe from services if they have families watching,” said Atomic Cartoon’s Jennifer Twiner McCarron.
5. A Good Time to Be Creative. Jam Filled Entertainment’s Tori Coulthart said it has never been a better time for a creative or an artist to have their work accessible to an audience. “Individual creators without the overhead of a studio are in better position to utilize things like YouTube or social media platforms.,” she said. “Artists can generate an incredible following on TikTok and and then can leveraging that on YouTube. That offers a great opportunity to test animated content online, and then if it sticks, you can go to a bigger studio and try to develop the brand.”
Georgaklis added, “What we always come back to is make sure you get to know your audience. Kids are constantly evolving. You need to get to know what kind of content they are consuming and why they are consuming it. You need to do your best to evolve and be creative about how to put yourself out there.”
6. Offering Comfort and Meaningful Entertainment. The panelists were quick to point out the positive aspects of working in the animation business, despite all the challenges and difficulties in finding the resources to produce new content. As Twiner McCarron noted, “Animation content is here to say. It provides a happy escape for everyone. My dad worked for Robin Hood Flour, and he used to say that he loved the recession because people stayed home, baked and watched TV. Our industry makes people happy and provides comfort. The silver linging was that during Covid, we had a boom in animation, and more audiences discovered animation as a great storytelling medium and realized that it wasn’t just for kids.”
As Falcone concluded, “It’s so important to focus on making meaningful content for kids and making things that resonate with them. That is the hardest thing. Sometimes we tend to strive for things that look cool or are hooky, but I think right now is a good time to go deeper and make things that resonate deeply.”
The Ottawa Intl. Animation Festival and The Animation Conference continue through Sunday. For more info visit animationfestival.ca
