contents <on_the_cover> /editorial - Kidscreen
contents <on_the_cover> /editorial - Kidscreen
contents <on_the_cover> /editorial - Kidscreen
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8<br />
T<br />
/web<br />
By Jeremy Dicks<strong>on</strong><br />
here’s decepti<strong>on</strong> in <strong>the</strong> air. Children’s<br />
series made specifi cally for <strong>on</strong>line<br />
platforms may not be what <strong>the</strong>y appear.<br />
At fi rst look, many offer live-acti<strong>on</strong> or animated<br />
storytelling and gaming elements. Most<br />
also offer feedback secti<strong>on</strong>s, blogs or links to<br />
social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter.<br />
But look closer and you’ll see that a number of<br />
new original series, and series based <strong>on</strong> existing<br />
IP, have taken <strong>the</strong> idea of <strong>the</strong> immersive multiplatform<br />
experience and turned it <strong>on</strong> its head.<br />
Adding more interactivity to web series is<br />
quickly becoming <strong>the</strong> norm given that <strong>on</strong>line<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tent creators now have serious competiti<strong>on</strong><br />
from mobile apps. According to global<br />
app measurement company Flurry Analytics,<br />
so far in 2012, <strong>on</strong>line video c<strong>on</strong>sumpti<strong>on</strong><br />
has dropped by 10% while mobile app video<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sumpti<strong>on</strong> has shot up 52%. As kids’ entertainment<br />
habits change—with <strong>the</strong>m placing<br />
greater emphasis <strong>on</strong> interactivity, mobility and<br />
gaming—c<strong>on</strong>tent creators have had to rethink<br />
what makes suitable fodder for web series<br />
and reexamine <strong>the</strong> features that will command<br />
<strong>the</strong> attenti<strong>on</strong> of today’s <strong>on</strong>-<strong>the</strong>-go kids.<br />
LIGHTS, CAMERA, LIVE ACTION!<br />
New COPPA-compliant, digital platform<br />
KickinKitchen.TV, from Bost<strong>on</strong>, Massachusetts-based<br />
multimedia company KidsCOOK<br />
Producti<strong>on</strong>s, features a scripted comedy web<br />
series aimed at tweens, teens and parents<br />
that promotes cooking, healthy eating and<br />
active lifestyles.<br />
The series, which soft-launched <strong>on</strong> January<br />
31, and is executive-produced by KidsCOOK’s<br />
founder and CEO Natasha Lance Rogoff (Sesame<br />
Street Internati<strong>on</strong>al), blends fun educati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tent, music and interactivity as it follows four<br />
teens making an <strong>on</strong>line cooking show. Fans<br />
can play food-related games, learn nutriti<strong>on</strong><br />
facts, enter c<strong>on</strong>tests, follow step-by-step recipe<br />
instructi<strong>on</strong>s and c<strong>on</strong>nect through Facebook,<br />
Twitter and Tumblr. The site also includes usergenerated<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tent, such as a recipe exchange<br />
Webisodes<br />
get immersive<br />
secti<strong>on</strong> where kids can upload videos and<br />
pictures of <strong>the</strong>ir own kitchen creati<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
To date, 13 x fi ve-minute episodes have been<br />
shot and a partnership with <strong>the</strong> New York City<br />
Mayor’s Offi ce of Media and Entertainment sees<br />
shorter two-minute episodes air <strong>on</strong> NYC Life<br />
(Channel 25) and in more than 13,000 NYC taxis.<br />
(Funding for <strong>the</strong> fi lming and producti<strong>on</strong> of <strong>the</strong><br />
fi rst set of webisodes and o<strong>the</strong>r website c<strong>on</strong>tent<br />
came courtesy of a Phase 1 USDA-NIFA government<br />
grant in 2011.)<br />
As KickinKitchen.TV looks to grow, its team is<br />
currently in discussi<strong>on</strong>s with several broadcasters<br />
for a half-hour TV series, and <strong>the</strong> platform is<br />
aiming to launch health-<strong>the</strong>med gaming apps.<br />
“We think <strong>the</strong>re are incredible opportunities<br />
to launch c<strong>on</strong>tent of various lengths and formats<br />
that has smart, entertaining and educati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
interactive comp<strong>on</strong>ents,” says Lance Rogoff.<br />
“The kinds of sites that have d<strong>on</strong>e well, like<br />
Club Penguin, have usually benefi ted from cobranding<br />
campaigns that promote interactivity.”<br />
ikids_Fall 2012<br />
Besides KickinKitchen.TV, ano<strong>the</strong>r liveacti<strong>on</strong><br />
web series that launched recently is<br />
Totally Random from Mountain Road Producti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
in Ottawa, Canada.<br />
The <strong>on</strong>line sketch-comedy series and n<strong>on</strong>commercial<br />
social networking site of <strong>the</strong> same<br />
name aimed at kids seven to 13 is funded by <strong>the</strong><br />
Canada Media Fund’s Experimental Stream. It<br />
lets users create and edit <strong>the</strong>ir own digital stories,<br />
choosing from a library of random animati<strong>on</strong><br />
and picture elements labelled “seeds.”<br />
Once <strong>the</strong> stories, called SnowBalls, are<br />
saved <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> site, kids can tag <strong>the</strong>ir favorite<br />
<strong>on</strong>es, and every two weeks <strong>the</strong> most innovative<br />
SnowBalls get incorporated into kid-hosted,<br />
bi-weekly webisodes. The fi rst and sec<strong>on</strong>d<br />
12-minute eps launched <strong>on</strong> April 1 and 15,<br />
respectively, and <strong>the</strong> third ep of <strong>the</strong> 12-part<br />
series is slated to bow September 1.<br />
Mountain Road claims it is <strong>the</strong> fi rst web<br />
series of its kind to feature this type of usergenerated<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tent and <strong>the</strong> prodco’s president