In a presentation to Annecy audiences, Nina Hahn broke down Nickelodeon’s international commissioning strategy in a way kids can understand. The kidcaster is looking for three things in shows: “heart, smart and farts.”
"Farts" doesn’t actually mean flatulence humor, she clarified. But rather, Nickelodeon content should be broad, fun and funny—something that makes kids laugh, allowing them to let loose.
Heart is a bit easier to grasp: audiences need to know why they care about specific characters. Usually, this results in a single character that everyone can relate to, while the crazy, outlandish behavior is handled by surrounding characters (Hahn specifically points to “everyman” SpongeBob as the epitome of this approach).
Finally, content needs to be smart and, to an extent, simple. This doesn’t mean talking down to kids, Hahn says. Nickelodeon is looking for content the audience can understand, targeting its key age demos (generally kids six to 11, with a sweet spot of nine). Or, content may skew a bit older in an aspirational way.
Recognizing shifting demographics is important, she says. When Nick was originally founded, for example, parents were the outsiders. The channel, and its content, was built as a parent-free zone and parental figures in shows reflected that. They were cartoonish and often misunderstood the main characters' intentions. Today, however, the relationship between kids and their kin has changed. Kids are actively involved in household decisions and parents take a bigger role in their kids' daily viewing habits. Parental characters on screen are reflecting that shift, being portrayed as someone younger characters respect and can turn to.
When thinking through pitches, Hahn also recommends adopting a programmer's mindset. Namely, when approaching Nickelodeon, producers should pair their own shows with something already on the network. Looking at existing content on air will also help producers see gaps in programming—the network generally tries to strike a gender and age balance, so pitching shows that fill those gaps is useful.
Pitches to Hahn need to be aware of their geographical reach as well. The gold-medal show will have broad global appeal, and many of the brand’s existing IPs fall into that category. She also looks for what she calls “silver medal” content, which has broad reach outside of the US. And while she’s not as likely to pick up regional (or, as she calls it, “bronze medal”) shows, when the right idea comes along she will give it a look.
Internationally, however, Hahn is not looking for much in the way of preschool (despite how much of that content is coming out of the US). She is, however, on the hunt for bridge content for the five-to-six crowd.
While not regional, Hahn is “dying to work on a project with a Japanese root,” she told the Annecy crowd. Over the past two years, she’s been looking for the right project or anime for kids.
Format-wise, Nickelodeon’s new relationships with other platforms, like Netflix, have given it opportunities to R&D around lengths and formats, which it wasn’t always able to do previously. While the series might not necessarily end up on Nickelodeon, she’s open to shows with shorter seasons or lengths, which the studio can then put its own Good Housekeeping-style stamp on.
To meet growing demand for content, Hahn also has more resources at her disposal as the head of ViacomCBS International Studios' new VIS KIds arm. Hahn accepted the expanded remit in October. Under her leadership, the division plans to develop more than 30 new kids shows over the next three years.
VIS Kids aims to broaden its global pipeline to include short and long-form kids content that will be produced and sold to third parties, as well as to ViacomCBS brands and platforms. In her newly expanded role, Hahn is tasked with growing VIS Kids’ global footprint by finding and developing new original animated and live-action content for preschoolers and kids.
Team
Nina Hahn SVP of Production and Development
Chris Rose VP of Animation Production and Development
Demographic
Kids six to 11, and bridge years five to six.
Format
2D Animation
3D Animation
CG Animation
Live Action
How to Pitch
For animation pitches, the best way to reach out is via the shared pitch account: nick.animation.pitches@vimn.com
For creators looking to get in touch with Nina Hahn or for more info on VIS Kids, use the link https://citia.com/content/organization/scratch-viacom/views/vis-kids-microsite?i=gIVx6n#kidscreen-title
or email vis@viacomcbs.com
Contact
Global animation pitches: nick.animation.pitches@vimn.com
