The Panel consisted of nine commissioners both overseas and UK based.   With only ten minutes each they kept their message short and sweet explaining briefly about their channel, what they have to offer and what kind of shows they are looking for.

The general consensus gathered was that the commissioners had lots of exciting opportunities to offer, over all of their target audiences.  They crave original ideas with a sense of surprise.  Disney are hungry for lots of new show formats.  They announced a new channel called XD which will be launching in the UK later this year, which will focus on shows for boys aged 8-12.   

Finn Arnesen of Cartoon Network expressed a huge interest in short form, describing it as a way to ‘test the bed’.   This was in union with other commissioners who also feel that short form offers greater opportunities for more people to pitch and for ideas to keep flowing.   

There was a lot of interest from the commissioners for co-productions, mainly due to tight budgets as the result of the economic downturn.  

As ever all the commissioners welcomed any ideas and encouraged anyone with the next big thing to get in touch.

Hosted by Andrew Baker of Rights TV, the idea of this session was to discover how to maximise business potential in the recession. We had a very inspirational panel who talked about the challenges they face in their businesses and how they overcome these issues and ‘survive and thrive’. One of the most impressive and interesting case study was presented by Charlie Donaldson of Rocket Licensing. In Jan 07 Rocket Licensing had one major client, but over the last couple of years despite the recession they have expanded greatly. Rocket believes that this is due to their key values which include Innovative, creativity and luck. They now have over 100 licensees over all of their brands. Charlie Donaldson’s message was “In tough times try harder to sell your bands”. He strongly believes that it is very important to speak to people and to collaborate. Alongside the case studies Andrew offered some beneficial top tips to ‘survive and thrive’; 1. Co Productions – Look outside the UK and speak to people at international festivals 2. Collaborate – Start talking to other people 3. Think outside the box – Don’t just link yourself to broadcasters, think about other areas such as online. 4. Exploit rights effectively – Speak to distributors about the market place and think about where you would fit in. 5. Do your homework - Find out what people want and pitch to maximise audience. 6. Buried treasure- Don’t forget programmes you have already made. 7. Shout about it – Profile is important. Commissioners are interested in people who are successful and hot. 8. Run your business – Think about spending, revenue and overheads. 9. Merge – Team up with people you can collaborate with. Halve your overhead and double your chances of a commission. 10. Look at new avenues and think about what is coming next 11. Play to your strengths 12. Do it for free – Slightly controversial but keeping costs to a minimal is an advantage 13. Don’t over complicate it – Keep it simple you just need a good concept. If nobody is interested in this concept move on!

The Panel consisted of nine commissioners both overseas and UK based. They moved along a ‘conveyor belt’ summing up in 10 minute slots who they were and what they wanted. The general consensus gathered was that the commissioners had lots of exciting opportunities to offer over all of their target audiences. They crave original ideas with a sense of surprise. Disney in particular are hungry for lots of new show formats. They announced a new channel called XD which will be launching in the UK later this year, which will focus on shows for boys aged 8-12. Finn Arnesen of Cartoon Network expressed a huge interest in short form, describing it as a way to ‘test the bed’. This was in union with other commissioners who also feel that short form offers greater opportunities for more people to pitch and for ideas to keep flowing. There was a lot of interest from the commissioners for co productions, mainly due to tight budgets as the result of the economic downturn. As ever all the commissioners welcomed any ideas and encouraged anyone with the next big idea to get in touch.

Peter’s passion and enthusiasm about the move to Salford was applauded by Nigel Pickard of RDF media who described the feeling as almost contagious.   There was a short lived approving buzz around the room until he landed Peter with his final thoughts that a commission should be on merit and not on postcode.  Peter defended the BBC by reiterating that the vast production companies are based in London and that the licence fee is collected from all around the UK.  He explained that this is a new approach to making programmes and believes that the BBC are taking positive action now to even the playing field.  Peter humorously answered the question about the way in which the world will look in 2031 describing it as ‘Dark’ but confirmed that the Children’s TV at the BBC was a very safe place.  He defended the accusation that the BBC weren’t living up to Kids TV being their third leg and added he believes that all sectors should be cherished.  He answered questions about ‘top slicing’ making it clear that he was against the idea.