‘Bing’ producer Mikael Shields on why pre-school content is as valuable as prime-time drama

Bing

With MIPJR & MIPCOM 2023 underway, Acamar Films CEO Mikael Shields reveals the secrets behind the global success of ‘Bing’ and considers what the coming years hold for pre-school animation.

How do you expect the demand for pre-school content to evolve in the years ahead?

Pre-school programming is already as valuable as prime-time drama. It will continue to grow in prominence. It’s taken digital platforms to help us all to measure this. One example; in 2020 the BBC iPlayer announced their nationwide Top 10 streamed episodes across all genres in the UK: 1. Killing Eve 2. Normal People 3. Bing: Fireworks.

As the ecology of global media continues to tilt towards ‘on-demand’ platforms, and further empowers its audiences, Gen X, Millennial and Gen Z subscribers will account for up to 70% of all revenues. Young adults with young families will be vital to success. Pre-school children are, at once, the most discerning and the most loyal audience on the planet, and Bob Iger, Reed Hastings, and Jeff Bezos would be wise to serve their needs ever more attentively as ‘churn’ becomes the dominant challenge of the global media industry.

Mikael Shields

How did Bing initially come about and what drew you to the premise?

Bing began life in a short series of insightful books by author Ted Dewan which were published and edited by David Fickling. Acamar Films acquired the option to those books and began a lengthy development process, along with our studio partners Brown Bag Films, to create a world, an ensemble group of characters, and a team-writing approach to narrative development which supports the healthy development of young children. I had already produced a range of live-action and animation productions, both at the BBC, and at EVA. I felt passionate about Bing because I could see the genuine potential of our stories to support young children, and to help them to feel and label the strong emotions of their daily lives. Done right, this helps to build life-long resilience. Done on a global scale, this feels like meaningful work.

What does it take to find international success with a pre-school brand?

• To attend deeply to the needs of the audience – as if your future depends on it
• To grow ‘on-screen’ and to continue to build retention and loyalty, across a wide range of cultures
• To grow ‘off-screen, and to treat each product or service as an opportunity to ‘delight’ or ‘disappoint’
• To attract and grow a talented team, and to work hard with the best partners
• … and a bit of luck.

How are you currently expanding the Bing brand and how will you grow further in future?

We’re working on new episodes of Bing and on greatly expanding our geographic footprint by localising existing Bing content. By the end of 2024 we’ll cover an addressable population of over 5 billion people. We’re also developing a range of new formats to cover education, music, audio and interactive digital content. Currently, on a good day, we have over 1.5 million hours of viewing per day, across our 25 YouTube channels. That’s around 10 million Bing episodes each day in a range of global languages. This continues to grow.

Bing

What are the biggest challenges and opportunities for Acamar in producing pre-school content?

One of the greatest challenges is complexity: Acamar Films, as an independent studio platform, is involved in writing, design, development, voice-directing, audio, production, financing, corporate finance, marketing, distribution, legal, digital products and services, as well as licensing, publishing, experiential events and our own apps and digital channels; it’s complex. We navigate through all of this by asking ourselves: ‘how will this serve the needs of the audience?’ One of the greatest opportunities is to continue to grow awareness of the unique value of a loyal pre-school audience in our evolving global media landscape.

What’s on your agenda as you head into MIPJR/MIPCOM 2023?

We’re looking forward to seeing old friends and cherished partners, and to meeting new organisations and making new friends. Since the last MIPJR we have launched in new European territories including France with France Télévisions where Bing has been winning timeslots. We’ve also added six localised YouTube channels and have seen a tremendous response to Bing in Asia so we will have a lot to share while we’re in Cannes.

What is Acamar Films working on right now?

As I say, we’re busy writing more Bing, we’re also currently in production on high-quality localised versions of Bing in Latin American Spanish, Japanese, Arabic and Hindi. We’re also working on a range of new publishing and educational content as well as a broader range of toys, clothing and licensed products.