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Image Source: Disney Wiki

The weekend of MIPJunior, a precursor trade show to MIPCOM focused on younger media consumers, has come and gone. The weekend offered industry professionals educational opportunities, networking and pitching opportunities, discussion panels, and more. During the event, several Disney higher-ups discussed the state of media, what children are consuming, and what they are doing to redirect these audiences to something more age-appropriate and enriching.

Ayo Davis, president of the Kids and Family division at Disney, began (via Variety), "I think we can all probably acknowledge that there’s been a lot of disruption, especially in the kids space. We talk about it a lot. Kids are watching anything and everything. I experience it in my own home with a 12-year-old. I like to say, they’re watching everything from Bluey to Squid Game. So it was clear that we had to activate quickly. This audience is really important to us. We had to step outside of ourselves and take a look at how we were approaching our strategy."

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Image Source: Disney Wiki

Davis pointed out the presence of social media in the lives of kids: "Creators are important…We are connecting with creators that actually bring something to the table, that actually align to our values, and the way we are telling our stories. Dhar Mann and Nastya are great examples of that." Disney Junior programming and strategy lead Alyssa Sapire explained Nastya's audience demographic, "Nastya is, as most know, hugely popular with preschoolers. What she does is she really leans into imaginative play, which really speaks to so much of what is important for preschoolers and what we infuse in our storytelling."

Charlie Andrews, live-action Executive Vice President of Disney Kids & Family, expounded on what they hope to see from these collaborations, "Nastya is also, you know, ageing and her interests are changing, so [we are looking to create] content that is also for herself and her demo as they age with her on the live-action side…We just got the scripts for the two series we’ve greenlit with Dhar Mann. They are excellent. They meet kids where they are." Senior Vice President of current and developing shows for Disney Television Animation Zack Olin wrapped up the statements: "Our goal hasn’t changed, which has consistently been: We want to be in business with the world’s best storytellers. We have to listen to our audience because they are really responding to these storytellers."

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Source(s): Variety, MIPJunior

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