Screen Australia and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation have opened applications for the second round of their joint Kids IP Incubator program.
Screen Australia and ACTF Kids IP Incubator – quick links
What to know about the Kids IP Incubator
The intention of the Kids IP Incubator is to fund and support development of new Australian screen content for children, with a focus on a digital-first approach. Up to eight teams selected will gain access to online webinar modules, masterclasses, an in-person workshop and ‘tailored’ mentorship with the goal of producing a ready-for-market program for children.
Notably, NZ On Air is also on board for this round and will select and bring New Zealand-based teams into their own parallel version of the program.
Teams selected will receive $20,000 to help develop their pitch and assets, as well as a release and distribution strategy.
There is hope this support will help to deliver ‘high-quality Australian content to children across all platforms they engage with’ and in-line with current social media age restrictions.
Both emerging and established creators are encouraged to apply for support, with the program promising to ‘equip participants with the skills to experiment with creative tools, formats and business models on platforms such as YouTube (Made for Kids) and FAST.’
Great, standout ideas can come from anywhere, after all.
Those keen to apply will have until 26 November. You can learn more about the program requirements and expectations on the Screen Australia website.
The past success of the Kids IP Incubator
In its first round, the Kids IP Incubator supported an array of projects to successful releases across digital platforms. That includes Pit Pats, Worm Diner and Magic Monkey Mayhem.
Speaking to ScreenHub, the Pit Pats team explained the Kids IP Incubator was a chance to colour ‘outside the lines of conventional kids TV’ and become more experimental and creative, to better serve their key audience.
‘The incubator was born to try and help steer some of [the supported] IPs through and help them on their journey to become bigger and broader,’ co-creator Darcy Prendergast said.
‘‘The ACTF and Screen Australia have been amazingly supportive, but also very hands-off. They’re like, “This is your creative, do whatever you want.” There was no limits on how short or long the episodes could be … It’s a huge amount of creative freedom, which is to their credit.’
‘I think it’s a real strength of this particular program … it enables us to be really iterative and adaptive in real time.’
Those keen to learn more about the program and how it may elevate their latest creations can learn more via Screen Australia, which has also released an informative webinar outlining the intentionality of its support.
Also on ScreenHub: Australian parents launch low stim series to help kids find their calm
Children’s content on YouTube tends to be overstimulating by nature. It’s designed to engage the senses and be moreish for viewers. It’s loud, colourful and fast. The team creating Pit Pats, a new Australian children’s YouTube series, believes the general standard of this content is not as nourishing for young audiences as it needs to be. Inspired by their own experiences raising kids and their discussions with other parents, they’ve created Pit Pats as an antidote to the ‘sugar’ of modern YouTube content.
Read more …
