As in many countries, producers in Canada are struggling with a declining volume of greenlights both domestically and internationally as a result of consolidation, strained media revenues and hyper-competition for eyeballs. Mix in the fickle tastes of today’s kids, and companies need a well-stocked toolbox of creativity to stay in the game. Luckily, that’s a specialty for Canadian producers, who have long had to be scrappy to compete on the big stage.

One useful tool, particularly for kids content, is government-certified YouTube channels that allow producers to access tax credits for digital-first productions. Other jurisdictions, such as the UK and Australia, already allow digital series to qualify for tax credits. But Canadians remain restricted by regulations that prioritize traditional TV broadcasters over other media outlets.

The certified YouTube channels, launched in 2017, haven’t changed the world, but are proving a useful launchpad for fledgling, harder-to-sell IPs.

“Commissioning of Canadian content is on a decline, and commissioning of kids content, in particular, has been on a historic decline,” says Mark Bishop, co-CEO of Toronto-based marblemedia and its subsidiary, Distribution360 (D360). “We had to find a different way to unlock these funds and tax credits.”

Bishop was instrumental in efforts to get Canada’s tax credit office, CAVCO, to accredit qualified YouTube channels as broadcast outlets in order to unlock their content for credit eligibility. For the handful that meet the requirements, the tax credits provide an opportunity to make shows that broadcasters might never commission, and find global audiences with creative approaches to distribution.

Marble’s YouTube channel, marbleKids, became CAVCO-certified in 2018 and focuses its efforts on kids ages nine to 15. There really aren’t any buyers for that age category in Canada, limiting producers’ ability to develop content outside the in-demand preschool demo, says Bishop. “The channel allows us to take big swings and to really think about how we can tell interesting stories,” he says.

Lady Ada’s Secret Society launched on the marbleKids YouTube channel in April and is now being repackaged as an 80-minute movie.

One of those big swings for marbleKids is a new tween-focused comedy called Lady Ada’s Secret Society (nine x nine minutes) from Toronto’s LASS Productions. Launched in mid-April, the live-actioner is about four girls who are planning a rebellion at their boarding school using their STEM skills. D360 is repackaging the show as an 80-minute movie and already has interest from international buyers.

Production was funded by Ontario Creates, Shaw Rocket Fund and the tax credits unlocked by the CAVCO channel. Without those tools, Bishop doubts the series’ quirky concept would have been able to get its start with a Canadian greenlight. “In Canada, who would pick Lady Ada up? It’s too old for a lot of broadcasters, and it’s got this educational piece and zany comedy element…it would fall between the cracks.”

Likewise, Toronto-based Shaftesbury’s channel, Shaftesbury Kids, offers a mix of proprietary and third-party shows—a requirement of CAVCO certification. The company’s EVP of legal and business affairs, Scott Gavie, says the channel is working as intended so far.

“We are really hoping to build an audience, and if that audience grows, we can use that to take it to another platform,” he says. “We just need to find the right content that makes the transition.”

Recently, this content has included Every Body Curious, a 21 x 22-minute sex-ed series from producer Louise Pollard that launched in 2019. It puts a healthy, positive spin on sex education for nine- to 12-year-olds, with the newest five-episode season spotlighting the topic as it relates to kids with disabilities.

On the other hand, Shaftesbury’s in-house production The Solutioneers is a more traditional scripted live-action series aimed at kids ages eight to 10. Since premiering on YouTube, both of its seasons have sold to ABC Australia’s linear and streaming platforms.

Toronto studio Headspinner is particularly bullish on the CAVCO-certified digital strategy, having used qualified channels to generate about US$30,000 each in tax credit financing for three of its shows—Happy House of Frightenstein, Gisele’s Mashup Adventures and Denis and Me.

Happy House of Frightenstein debuted on marbleKids last year, and D360 subsequently sold it to WildBrain’s Canadian kidsnet Family Jr., which packaged the episodes as Halloween specials for its linear and YouTube channels. Gisele’s is set to premiere on Shaftesbury Kids in October 2022 and has a deal with Canadian pubcaster CBC for international distribution.

After rolling out in December 2020 on Canadian SVOD Crave, global rights for hit series Denis and Me were picked up by Canada’s WildBrain, which sold seasons one and two to its Family Channel TV network. Last September, the channel ordered four new 11-minute Denis and Me specials. WildBrain’s AVOD division, WildBrain Spark, also manages the Denis and Me YouTube channel, including direct advertising sales.

“We’re growing, and it’s all [through] non-exclusives because we are holding out for other deals,” says Headspinner CEO Michelle Melanson. “Like our first two shows, the goal is to sell Gisele’s Mashup Adventures traditionally, and look at all sorts of channels and platforms worldwide.”

Adds marblemedia’s Bishop, “I hope this can serve as a beacon—an example of a different way a production company and a distributor can work—so people internationally can look at it and see how well this has worked in Canada. It’s helping to build up an industry that is navigating how to go from a linear to a digital world.”

This story originally appeared in Kidscreen’s August/September 2022 magazine.