Shedding light on the ways co-consumption of content really happens within families. With more content available than ever, and with families leading very busy lives (true for both parents and children!), brands and content owners feel the pressure to create shared experiences to facilitate family time together. They don’t have a lot of time, so they must want to do things together, right? Well… it’s not that simple. There is more to these experiences than meets the eye, and they might be moments of delight or, at times, just unrealistic desires of the industry. Kids Industries surveyed UK children and parents, observed their play and viewing experiences and will share – for the first time – new data around multigenerational content, toys and experiences. Presented by Josh Brocklehurst and Maurice Wheeler, Kids Industries

11 year old Finlay has always had a love for the marine environment but especially sharks. Since the age of 10 he has campaigned relentlessly to raise awareness about sharks and why they need to be protected not feared. He has campaigned to stop restaurants serving shark fin soup and even took on Bear Grylls over his shark dive experience at his new adventure park in Birmingham. In December 2018 he was the first school child in Scotland and possibly the UK to start climate striking, joining the Fridays For Future movement started by Greta Thunberg, as he saw the impact that climate change was having on the marine environment. In the last six months he has travelled to the Scottish and European Parliaments to speak directly with politicians and given numerous television and radio interviews about this issue.

Your opportunity to come and listen to the creative producers and visionaries behind the animation comeback phenomena of ‘The Clangers’ and ‘Paddington’. Find out what inspired them to return to these Children’s classics, how they set about refreshing and re-creating them, each series over forty years after their first appearance. An experience not to be missed. Please bring your own marmalade sandwiches, green soup and blue-string pudding…

An insight into the brand new Young Audiences Content Fund pilot (which is supported by the UK Government and administered by the BFI). The Fund is dedicated to supporting the development and production of public-service programming of all genres and techniques for children and teens up to the age of 18. In this invaluable and unmissable session, Fund Execs Harriet Williams and John Knowles and Head of Fund, Jackie Edwards will lay out the intentions and importance of the Fund, discuss the story so far and offer advice that may be of practical assistance with applications. Following the session, the YACF team will also host a surgery as part of the CMC speed meetings programme, accompanied by Andy Wright and Christopher Halliday from the Certification Unit at the BFI. The team will offer advice and guidance on applications and criteria for the Fund, and for the tax reliefs, for Children’s Television and Animation.

Examining the kids content strategies used by online video incumbents and encroaching tech-giants to claim a slice of the growing online video sector. Ampere Analysis present analysis of Video-on-Demand (VoD) platforms’ children’s TV show catalogues and announced up-coming titles. This research examines the children’s TV content available via Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google’s YouTube (the FAANG group). Ampere show how the importance and types of children’s content available from Netflix and Amazon has changed as subscriber acquisition strategies have evolved. They also explore the current children’s catalogues of the emergent VoD platforms Facebook, Apple, and Google. Ampere will provide data and analysis of the announced up-coming slate of TV titles from these operators, including children’s titles, to shed light on the type of shows that the FAANG group are interested in, and what opportunities may exist to work with these key players. Presented by Fred Black and Natasha Rugg, Ampere Analysis

Cash-rich and data-savvy, Netflix, Amazon and YouTube Kids are eating traditional broadcasters’ lunch. Disney+ and AppleTV+ go live this autumn, and they’re hungry too. Warner and NBC have announced plans for their own SVoD services, and things are changing so fast that by the time you reach Sheffield, there may be more. But while these big, powerful companies are re-shaping kids’ media, they are notoriously shy of public conversations. So we’ve assembled a crack team of independent thinkers and researchers to tell us what the SVoDs want, how they work, and how their business models inform their view of kids — and us. So whether the SVoDs wow you or worry you, or if you just want to know how to get a piece of the action, this is the session for you.

Ruda is a 20-year-old Brazilian writer and director based in London. He is a BFI & NFTS Film Academy alumni. Ruda has made content for Nike, Channel 4, Adult Swim and Nowness. His narratives often centre around interrelated characters and youth culture. His visual style is characterised by distinctive, long, choreographed Steadicam shots with meticulous transitions and vivid colours. Ruda is represented by Francesca Devas at Independent Talent for Film & TV and Great Guns for commercials.

Come along and find out what’s new from some of the world’s biggest commercial kids’ broadcasters. We’ll hear what’s been working for them, what they’re looking for and how best to approach them. Commissioners from these channels will be available after this session for one-to-one meetings at 2pm in the Workstation Mezzanine.

Connecting grandparents and grandchildren through digital games. This session will explore what is required to make a digital game appealing and accessible for grandparents and grandchildren, combining previous research with new evidence focusing on smart toys. Presented by Amanda Gummer and Anna Taylor, Fundamentally Children

Five prospective producers enter the den to pitch their ideas to the dragons. But who will walk away with investment?

Alvin is the founder of TAG (The Advantage Group) and an IWILL ambassador. TAG is a social enterprise that aims to improve the employability and change the narrative of young people from underrepresented groups. Alvin has been able to impact over 600 students by delivering events and workshops in partnership with global companies such as Google and Facebook. Alvin was awarded a Point of Light from Theresa May for demonstrating remarkable commitment to improving career opportunities for young people.

Ahead of the cinema release of ‘Horrible Histories The Movie’, key creatives behind one of the most popular franchises in family entertainment take to the CMC stage on Wednesday 3rd July for this year’s Creative Keynote. First ‘Horrible Histories’ conquered children’s books, with global sales topping 32 million. Then it revolutionised children’s TV comedy, with a multiple BAFTA, RTS, and British Comedy Award winning BBC series. This summer it storms the big screen in a major new family feature film, with a cast including newcomers Sebastian Croft and Emilia Jones, alongside Nick Frost, Kim Cattrall, Kate Nash, Sir Derek Jacobi and many more. In a very special Creative Keynote, producer/writers Caroline Norris and Giles Pilbrow, director Dominic Brigstocke, and original series author Terry Deary will reveal the secrets to creating kids’ comedy that parents love, how they made learning such a laugh, and the challenges they faced taking the funniest franchise in history on its biggest outing to date.

Children’s media use has recently been associated with a direct link to children’s mental health. Do the benefits of social media and gaming outweigh the negative? The children’s media landscape attracts many headlines and has recently been associated with direct causal links to children’s mental health and well-being. But are there benefits? And if so, do these outweigh the negative side of children using social media and gaming? What do children gain from using social networking and gaming sites? What are the effects on children’s mental health through their engagement with online media? For the last 6 months Family Kids & Youth (FK&Y) have carried out on-going peer-to-peer focus groups and friendships groups, and with partner Panelbase a survey with 1,000 young people aged 7-16. The findings challenge some of the scare-headlines, as the research explores how children and young people really use social media and games sites, the benefits, and the drawbacks, the risks they face online and how they manage these. Presented by Dr Barbie Clarke, Family Kids & Youth

Noga Levy-Rapoport, 17, is a youth climate activist who led the London climate strike march on 15 February 2019 and has since become heavily involved with the U.K. Student Climate Network. Her work primarily involves the Green New Deal campaign and school outreach, having travelled to Berlin as a national representative. Her work with the press includes the Guardian and BBC Radio 4. She confronted corporate leaders directly at International Petroleum Week in February, and has spoken at several rallies and events to demand urgent climate action. Noga is one of the founders of T.E.A., an amateur youth-led theatre group based in West London, dedicated to improving teenagers’ wellbeing through free performing arts training. Currently an A level student at Arts Educational School in Chiswick, Noga also trains as a classical singer.

Since winning ‘The Great British Bake Off’ in 2015, Nadiya Hussain has written and presented her way to national treasure status in record time. Her refusal to be pigeon-holed has been as striking as her willingness to speak out – including openly discussing her lifelong struggle with a panic disorder. Ahead of the publication of her first children’s picture book, ‘My Monster and Me’, Nadiya will take to the stage to open the conference on Tuesday 2nd July, and face down the monsters that surround us all: mental health, intolerance, inequality… as she considers what we can all do to inspire young people to feel truly limitless.

Daniel is an eighteen-year-old activist from Manchester. In 2016 he founded the non-profit organisation YouthPolitics UK with aim of providing young people with the skills needed to enact positive social change and to engage them with the democratic process. Since its formation, YouthPolitics UK has expanded nation-wide, with branches in London and Edinburgh. The youth led organisation ensures that young peoples’ voices are heard in the current political climate by offering free training programmes and providing opportunities to discuss issues with high profile decision makers. Daniel is also an ambassador of HRH #iWill Campaign and has been awarded The Diana Award and a National Democracy Award from the UK Government for his work.

Brexit, Ofcom regulation and the commercial PSBs, the new Young Audiences Content Fund, the safety of the internet, responsibilities for children’s mental health, the environment, inclusivity and activism, the future challenges for BBC kids and public service in a massively competitive marketplace… Setting the agenda for the conference ahead, and using questions raised by CMC delegates, politicians, regulators, senior executives and policy makers will answer and discuss the things that matter.

16 year old Singer-songwriter, Sapphire, has caught the hearts of audiences all over the world with international fans in the USA, Germany, Poland, Indonesia, Russia, Australia and more, plus a large and rapidly growing following across the UK. Sapphire’s YouTube channel now counts in excess of 530K subscribers and over 120 Million video views, and is rising by the day. Having started on YouTube as a 7 year old, Sapphire has literally grown up in the social media industry and gives a unique perspective of this rapidly expanding world of opportunity. Not one to limit her talents to the camera lens, Sapphire’s recent live performances have included; Berlin Arena, legendary New York club Bitter End, London’s Wembley Arena, London’s 02 Indigo, Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena and shows at Colognes 17,000 capacity Lanxess Arena. Sapphire has recently completed a 6 month school performance tour seeing over 10,000 children across the UK to talk about Cyber-Bullying, Staying Safe Online and Mental Health. Sapphire has supported Bars and Melody on their UK & Ireland Academy tour and Union J on their 2018 headline shows. Sapphire is regularly commissioned by Dreamworks Animation, NBCUniversal, Disney, Warner Studios, Warner Music, Sony Music, DKNY, LEGO, Shout magazine and has performed on BBC, CITV and ITV.

With contestable funding and a free kids’ streaming service, this session discusses how New Zealand has introduced innovative ways of supporting local kids’ content. The focus of this research presentation is New Zealand on Air’s system of contestable funding and HEIHEI, the country’s new ad-free streaming service for kids content. Launched in 2018, HEIHEI offers New Zealand children local media content on demand including games. HEIHEI’s local focus provides a welcome disruption to existing children’s media offerings, including those from US-based streaming services like Netflix and YouTube. HEIHEI also eliminates linear broadcasters from the commissioning of local children’s content for the first time, removing previous limits on the distribution of domestically produced children’s content in New Zealand. Working in a small country of only 5 million people, with no dedicated public service media, New Zealand producers of children’s media content are accustomed to having to compete for limited funding, and limited platforms for their children’s content. The analytical research presented here (co-authored by New Zealand on Air Head of Funding) reveals how HEIHEI’s offerings have resonated with New Zealand children and their parents, and what the innovative streaming service has meant for the children’s independent production sector in New Zealand. Presented by Anna Potter, School of Creative Industries, University of the Sunshine Coast

A panel of CMC Changemakers discussed the conference, the wider industry and commitments to diversity.