Latest / Miss Understood with Rachel Uchitel / Inside the Imaginative World of Children's Television With Co-Founder of Kidstream Dean Koocher
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- 0:55Speaker 1: real conversations in a new language today. Hi, guys. Welcome
- 0:59Speaker 1: back to Misunderstood. I'm your host, Rachel Yucatel. So I
- 1:02Speaker 1: love today's episode. Let me just stop and tell you that.
- 1:05Speaker 1: It's a little bit different than what we normally have,
- 1:07Speaker 1: but I really wanted to do this episode. So when
- 1:10Speaker 1: my daughter was younger, it was a constant struggle to
- 1:13Speaker 1: find good TV shows that she could watch that didn't
- 1:15Speaker 1: have violence or cursing or show mean behavior. It was
- 1:19Speaker 1: even harder to find stuff where I could feel comfortable
- 1:21Speaker 1: leaving her alone in the knowing she wasn't going to
- 1:25Speaker 1: switch over to something I didn't want her to see.
- 1:27Speaker 1: So in honor of the Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards that
- 1:30Speaker 1: are happening live tonight, today we welcome a TV trailblazer
- 1:34Speaker 1: in the world of children's programming, Dean Kuchar. Dean started
- 1:38Speaker 1: working in TV in some famous shows like LazyTown, Teletubbies,
- 1:42Speaker 1: The Wiggles. You guys remember those. Now he's the co-founder
- 1:45Speaker 1: of KidStream. which is basically Netflix for kids television. I
- 1:49Speaker 1: had not heard of it. If I had a younger
- 1:52Speaker 1: child from, you know, very, very young to age like nine,
- 1:56Speaker 1: this is like the perfect thing that you should have
- 1:58Speaker 1: on your TV that you should be watching. It's filled
- 2:01Speaker 1: with programs specifically curated for them. I got to chat
- 2:04Speaker 1: with him about how he got into TV, his work
- 2:06Speaker 1: on these classic shows. He even lets us in on
- 2:08Speaker 1: some behind the scenes stuff that happened during the whole
- 2:10Speaker 1: Jerry Falwell, Teletubby controversy. If you guys don't remember that,
- 2:14Speaker 1: Jerry Faldwell, he was accused, or he accused the Teletubbies
- 2:17Speaker 1: of being gay because one of them carried a purse,
- 2:20Speaker 1: which only made it an even bigger pop culture phenomenon
- 2:23Speaker 1: than it already was. I mean, who can forget that
- 2:26Speaker 1: Rolling Stone cover with Britney Spears holding a Teletubby? It
- 2:29Speaker 1: was basically iconic. So if you're a parent, a babysitter,
- 2:33Speaker 1: a teacher, or even if you just have kids in
- 2:35Speaker 1: your life, You're going to want to listen to what
- 2:37Speaker 1: Dean shares with us about the future of children's television,
- 2:40Speaker 1: how streaming services play a big part in our kids' lives,
- 2:44Speaker 1: even in ways we don't think about, like what algorithm
- 2:47Speaker 1: they follow to push certain programs over others and what
- 2:49Speaker 1: criteria he uses when choosing quality programming to broadcast. Dean
- 2:54Speaker 1: and KidStream's mission is to create a safer place for
- 2:57Speaker 1: kids to learn and be entertained. So I hope you'll
- 2:59Speaker 1: give a listen as we welcome this TV pioneer. Dean,
- 3:36Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining me today on Misunderstood.
- 3:40Speaker 2: Oh, thank you, Rachel. Great to be here on Misunderstood.
- 3:43Speaker 2: Really excited to be here.
- 3:44Speaker 3: Good.
- 3:45Speaker 4: Thank you.
- 3:46Speaker 1: So let's get right into who you are and your
- 3:49Speaker 1: background so that people can really, you know, who are
- 3:52Speaker 1: listening really understand why we're talking to you because you
- 3:54Speaker 1: are so interesting. And I think, you know, the topic
- 3:58Speaker 1: of children's programming, you know, may not come up in
- 4:01Speaker 1: daily conversation, but I think it actually is in all
- 4:04Speaker 1: parents' minds, right? So how did you get into TV
- 4:08Speaker 1: and programming in your past?
- 4:10Speaker 2: Well, I kind of fell into the business in the 90s.
- 4:12Speaker 2: I was a Out in Louisville, Kentucky, I was working
- 4:17Speaker 2: at Pepsi KFC headquarters, believe it or not, and a
- 4:21Speaker 2: friend of mine who was managing a children's TV brand
- 4:25Speaker 2: called Thomas the Tank Engine, who was very successful. He
- 4:30Speaker 2: was building all the toy brands named Ken Weisselman. He
- 4:33Speaker 2: asked me to help him with a business plan to
- 4:35Speaker 2: start a new entertainment company for kids. And I just
- 4:38Speaker 2: got into it. And next thing I know, I was
- 4:40Speaker 2: living in New York and we were raising money and
- 4:43Speaker 2: And that was about 95. And the first client we
- 4:48Speaker 2: hired or we signed on with was a company called
- 4:50Speaker 2: Ragdoll and a creator named Ann Wood. Amazing person. And
- 4:56Speaker 2: she created about two years later after we started working
- 4:59Speaker 2: with her, the Teletubbies, which just vaulted us into the
- 5:04Speaker 2: stratosphere of, you know, the common TV industry. Everybody knew us.
- 5:10Speaker 2: It was crazy. And it was a good way to
- 5:12Speaker 2: learn the business. And then we did a few other things.
- 5:16Speaker 2: We worked with Eloise at the Plaza. I don't know
- 5:18Speaker 2: if you remember that book. We acquired the rights to
- 5:21Speaker 2: that at the time. And we did a lot of
- 5:23Speaker 2: fun things. And then after that, I ended up leaving
- 5:27Speaker 2: and going to another company, working for another creator, a
- 5:30Speaker 2: guy named Magnus Skeving, who created a show called Lazy Town.
- 5:33Speaker 2: I helped him launch that and manage that. So I
- 5:35Speaker 2: was in that business, kind of fell into it. And
- 5:40Speaker 2: then this opportunity later on arose to start my own
- 5:44Speaker 2: kids' channel, basically, is what we have at KidStream. We
- 5:47Speaker 2: have a small but really high-end, really quality place for
- 5:54Speaker 2: people to find really good entertainment for their kids.
- 5:58Speaker 1: Yeah, so I want to get into that and talk
- 6:00Speaker 1: about it. But before we move to that, I'm curious,
- 6:04Speaker 1: when you were younger, what shows did you watch?
- 6:07Speaker 2: Ah, great question. Um, you know, it's funny. I was
- 6:10Speaker 2: just one of the shows that just came to my
- 6:12Speaker 2: mind just before you get him on the phone. I
- 6:13Speaker 2: was listening to a song, the monkeys. I loved the monkeys.
- 6:16Speaker 2: It was, you know, I was from, I was a
- 6:18Speaker 2: kid in the sixties. So that was one I really liked.
- 6:21Speaker 2: I loved the Jetsons. I remember the Jetsons, some of
- 6:26Speaker 2: the older ones that I liked. Um, I, of course
- 6:29Speaker 2: I knew, uh, Sesame street and I knew, uh, Mr. Rogers.
- 6:33Speaker 2: I was from Boston. So there was a show called
- 6:36Speaker 2: Zoom up there. I remember on the PBS station. I
- 6:39Speaker 2: really liked to write local.
- 6:43Speaker 4: Yeah. You know, it's funny.
- 6:44Speaker 1: I forgot about the Jetsons until until right now. And
- 6:48Speaker 1: I think that I grew up on Bugs Bunny and
- 6:51Speaker 1: the Roadrunner or whatever. And, you know, I think if
- 6:54Speaker 1: you had that on now, people might say that that's abusive.
- 6:59Speaker 4: You know what I mean? All that hitting on the head.
- 7:01Speaker 2: The roadrunner, I know, always getting blown up. Yeah, you're right.
- 7:05Speaker 2: You're right. I think that humor might be mistaken today,
- 7:09Speaker 2: even though I know it was very innocent back then.
- 7:11Speaker 3: Of course, of course.
- 7:12Speaker 1: But like today, everybody sort of gets up in arms
- 7:15Speaker 1: in a lot of different ways very quickly. Let's talk
- 7:18Speaker 1: about the Teletubbies for one second, because there might not
- 7:20Speaker 1: be a lot of people who are familiar with it.
- 7:22Speaker 1: And then, of course, there are people who know all
- 7:24Speaker 1: about it. So can you explain in your own words
- 7:26Speaker 1: what that is and what that phenomenon is?
- 7:29Speaker 4: Was.
- 7:30Speaker 2: Yeah, I will. And this creator, Anne Wood, at the
- 7:35Speaker 2: time she was a 60-year-old ex-school teacher who had been
- 7:40Speaker 2: creating television shows over there in the UK. And she
- 7:43Speaker 2: was really into watching and understanding young children. So when
- 7:48Speaker 2: she created the Teletubbies, she wanted something that worked on
- 7:51Speaker 2: their level, not on the parents' level, not on older
- 7:55Speaker 2: kids' level. So she has a lot of built a
- 7:58Speaker 2: show with a lot of repetition that young kids really
- 8:02Speaker 2: learned by. I don't know if you remember, there was a,
- 8:05Speaker 2: this little, this little horn that came up and made
- 8:08Speaker 2: sounds because she, she noticed in that time in the
- 8:11Speaker 2: nineties that little kids were hearing, you know, speaker phones
- 8:14Speaker 2: and things, and they didn't know what they were. So
- 8:17Speaker 2: it was a really cool show. Of course it's live.
- 8:19Speaker 2: I don't know if your audience knows, but it's their
- 8:22Speaker 2: costume characters. And it was shot in a real life place.
- 8:26Speaker 2: So there was a set, in outside of Stratford, England.
- 8:30Speaker 2: That was amazing. A real, you know, in built into
- 8:33Speaker 2: a hill and they actually had real rabbits walking on
- 8:37Speaker 2: the hill so that it was just really people really
- 8:41Speaker 2: kind of got, um, taken by it. In fact, it
- 8:44Speaker 2: was such a pop culture. We had, I can remember
- 8:47Speaker 2: being in LA and having, um, the creators of South
- 8:50Speaker 2: park come up to us in the restaurant and tell
- 8:53Speaker 2: us how much they liked it. And, and, and, um,
- 8:55Speaker 2: And they were, of course, really big at the time too.
- 8:58Speaker 2: They had just come out.
- 8:59Speaker 3: The car is beautiful. Where did you end up going
- 9:02Speaker 3: for it?
- 9:02Speaker 5: This exclusive place that Dad has connections with. They have
- 9:05Speaker 5: more cars for more dealerships than like anywhere else.
- 9:08Speaker 3: You have to put me in touch. What's it called?
- 9:10Speaker 6: It's Dunaidial.
- 9:12Speaker 2: Where?
- 9:14Speaker 4: Dunaidial.
- 9:15Speaker 6: There's an accent on the E.
- 9:18Speaker 3: Do you mean.
- 9:18Speaker 6: Yes, I got it on Dundale Cars.
- 9:20Speaker 3: Lift?
- 9:21Speaker 2: Please.
- 9:21Speaker 3: Are you going past Kimmage? Oh, Kimmage.
- 9:24Speaker 2: No.
- 9:25Speaker 6: Done deal cars.
- 9:26Speaker 7: You couldn't possibly go anywhere else.
- 9:29Speaker 2: And we even had, I don't know if you remember,
- 9:32Speaker 2: Britney Spears showed up on the cover of Rolling Stone
- 9:36Speaker 2: magazine with a Teletubby in her hand. So we just
- 9:38Speaker 2: had all this press. People just, you know, they either
- 9:43Speaker 2: didn't understand it or they, there were some questions about it.
- 9:46Speaker 2: I think people weren't sure what it was, but it
- 9:51Speaker 2: was a really great show founded really on real core
- 9:53Speaker 2: principles of helping young, the youngest viewers really grow from television. So.
- 10:00Speaker 4: Yeah, and you're right. It became a topic of pop culture.
- 10:04Speaker 1: There was a tinky-winky controversy where people thought this one
- 10:07Speaker 1: character was gay because he carried a bag that looked
- 10:10Speaker 1: like a purse, and even Jerry Falwell said he was
- 10:13Speaker 1: a gay role model.
- 10:14Speaker 4: Do you remember that?
- 10:15Speaker 2: What were your thoughts on that? Oh, I remember it
- 10:17Speaker 2: really well. In our offices one day, we suddenly had
- 10:21Speaker 2: this press conference, and these very aggressive people came in
- 10:27Speaker 2: and started really... putting us through the wringer about that.
- 10:31Speaker 2: And at the time in the 90s, that was a
- 10:36Speaker 2: real controversy. But I can tell you from the creative standpoint, one,
- 10:42Speaker 2: the creator is certainly very friendly, gay friendly or friendly
- 10:47Speaker 2: to all people. But she actually, when she created that show,
- 10:52Speaker 2: she intentionally had the boy character carrying the pocketbook because
- 10:56Speaker 2: she wanted to break down stereotypes.
- 10:58Speaker 4: So it was intentional.
- 11:00Speaker 2: It was intentional to have a pocketbook, but it wasn't
- 11:02Speaker 2: intentional to add a sexuality to it at all. It
- 11:05Speaker 2: was just that, you know, boys can play with things
- 11:08Speaker 2: and girls can play. You know, there was a boy
- 11:10Speaker 2: that had a skirt. Sometimes he had a little skirt
- 11:12Speaker 2: that he would put on and they would do different things.
- 11:16Speaker 2: Girl would play with the ball. It wasn't it was
- 11:18Speaker 2: trying to break down stereotypes really for young kids. So
- 11:21Speaker 2: that's why I think he did it. But you're right.
- 11:23Speaker 2: It was a huge controversy, which just added more. fuel
- 11:27Speaker 2: to the fire, and we were all over the press
- 11:31Speaker 2: and everything. We even had a controversy. I don't know
- 11:33Speaker 2: if you remember being in New York that one of
- 11:36Speaker 2: the toys, the New York Post came out with a
- 11:38Speaker 2: story that said, got a gun. And one of our toys,
- 11:43Speaker 2: if you press the button and you listened a certain way,
- 11:45Speaker 2: it sounded like to some people that it says, I
- 11:48Speaker 2: got a gun. And it didn't say that, but it was,
- 11:52Speaker 2: so it was just wild, the controversy that we had. Yeah. Right.
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- 13:53Speaker 1: how do you think kids programming has changed from the
- 13:56Speaker 1: beginning when you started to now?
- 13:59Speaker 2: Um, well, there's some great producers out there all over
- 14:02Speaker 2: the world. One thing that, you know, I really appreciate
- 14:06Speaker 2: it is you can find great producers in New Zealand and, and, uh,
- 14:10Speaker 2: France and Canada all over in addition to the U
- 14:14Speaker 2: S so that, that has kind of continued to expand.
- 14:17Speaker 2: I worked on a show with a creator from Iceland,
- 14:19Speaker 2: this one lazy town. Um, but I'll tell you what,
- 14:23Speaker 2: in a, in a, in a way that I would
- 14:24Speaker 2: kind of make it, I don't want to, alarm anybody
- 14:27Speaker 2: but right now there's so much people so many people
- 14:30Speaker 2: creating television that it's not all qualified television you know
- 14:34Speaker 2: youtube is a is content generated you know you can
- 14:38Speaker 2: anybody can put users can put things up on youtube
- 14:41Speaker 2: so they don't i think what there is a risk
- 14:44Speaker 2: out there that anybody can create kids tv and not
- 14:47Speaker 2: all kids tv is the same right there are some
- 14:51Speaker 2: really great shows out there and people that you know
- 14:53Speaker 2: work really hard and writers and And educators that get
- 14:58Speaker 2: behind shows, but sometimes shows can be out there to
- 15:01Speaker 2: just try to make money and try to make clicks.
- 15:03Speaker 2: And that's where I think parents today have to be
- 15:07Speaker 2: more careful than they have had before. Well agreed.
- 15:12Speaker 1: And we're going to get to kids stream right now,
- 15:14Speaker 1: but it seems like you guys have really cherry picked
- 15:17Speaker 1: what you thought were some shows that had some core
- 15:21Speaker 1: values and obviously passed the test. But I just wanted
- 15:25Speaker 1: to mention my daughter's 11. When she was born, I
- 15:28Speaker 1: had never seen this channel before I had a kid, obviously,
- 15:32Speaker 1: but there was something called Baby First. Are you familiar
- 15:35Speaker 1: with Baby First?
- 15:36Speaker 2: I am. Yeah.
- 15:37Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 15:38Speaker 1: And it was a constant repetition of the same type
- 15:41Speaker 1: of shows that the reason why I'm bringing it up,
- 15:43Speaker 1: it catered to the child. I mean, obviously I looked
- 15:46Speaker 1: at it and I was like, what is this? This
- 15:47Speaker 1: looks low budget, like junk, but she was, you know,
- 15:51Speaker 1: as a baby, she was focused on this. And it
- 15:53Speaker 1: was funny because when she turned one and a half, two, three,
- 15:57Speaker 1: Out of nowhere, she started singing the song. So it
- 15:59Speaker 1: really resonated with her as a baby. And she learned
- 16:02Speaker 1: these things. And the shows, I guess, were about sharing
- 16:05Speaker 1: and friendships. And, you know, I don't remember because it
- 16:07Speaker 1: was hard for me to watch as an adult. But
- 16:11Speaker 1: that kind of stuff obviously really made an imprint on
- 16:14Speaker 1: a baby's brain. And I just felt, you know, I
- 16:16Speaker 1: thought that that was very, very interesting. I still see
- 16:19Speaker 1: Baby First on TV. What are your thoughts on it?
- 16:24Speaker 2: I don't know the channel very well, but I do
- 16:27Speaker 2: know that the focusing on, you know, programming for really
- 16:33Speaker 2: young children should be different than programming. And being a
- 16:38Speaker 2: little slow paced is a really good thing. So I
- 16:41Speaker 2: think they do carry that. We're bringing a new show
- 16:44Speaker 2: out out of Holland next month called tic tac not
- 16:49Speaker 2: to be confused with tick tock tick tock it's a
- 16:51Speaker 2: classic very visual show like that with images and and
- 16:56Speaker 2: very slow and gentle show for really the youngest viewers
- 16:59Speaker 2: as well so i yeah i do i do appreciate
- 17:01Speaker 2: that and i and there are values in these shows
- 17:05Speaker 2: you're right they learn sharing they they learn things at
- 17:07Speaker 2: a really young age Right.
- 17:09Speaker 4: And the concept of being kind.
- 17:11Speaker 1: And I definitely that resonated with me even just watching
- 17:15Speaker 1: it in passing. So let's get into your idea of
- 17:18Speaker 1: KidStream and how that started.
- 17:21Speaker 2: Yeah. So that started, you know, after I was in LazyTown,
- 17:26Speaker 2: I met a guy named Jordan Jadenkin, who's the co-founder
- 17:29Speaker 2: with me.
- 17:30Speaker 3: The car is beautiful. Where did you end up going
- 17:33Speaker 3: for it?
- 17:33Speaker 5: This exclusive place that Dad has connections with. they have
- 17:36Speaker 5: more cars for more dealerships than like anywhere else.
- 17:39Speaker 3: You have to put me in touch. What's it called?
- 17:41Speaker 6: It's Dunaidial.
- 17:43Speaker 2: Where?
- 17:45Speaker 5: Dunaidial.
- 17:46Speaker 6: There's an accent on the E.
- 17:49Speaker 3: Do you mean.
- 17:49Speaker 6: Yes, I got it on Dundale Cars.
- 17:51Speaker 2: Lift?
- 17:52Speaker 1: Please.
- 17:53Speaker 3: You going past Kimmage?
- 17:54Speaker 5: Oh, Kimmage.
- 17:55Speaker 2: No.
- 17:56Speaker 6: Dundale Cars.
- 17:57Speaker 7: You couldn't possibly go anywhere else.
- 18:00Speaker 2: We worked both. We were working at LazyTown. I was...
- 18:04Speaker 2: He had been brought in to do a lot of
- 18:06Speaker 2: the promotion, retail, and licensing deals. And we were traveling
- 18:09Speaker 2: all week, and we just really wanted to start a
- 18:11Speaker 2: company together. We felt like we were a good synergy.
- 18:14Speaker 2: He's a little younger than I am. In fact, he
- 18:16Speaker 2: has a young, his kids are now four and six.
- 18:20Speaker 2: And we just had different skills. So when LazyTown was
- 18:22Speaker 2: ultimately sold, we helped sell it to Turner. We just
- 18:28Speaker 2: started our own company. And then a few years in,
- 18:30Speaker 2: we had an opportunity from one of the big cable
- 18:32Speaker 2: companies to to create them a streaming channel. And we
- 18:36Speaker 2: just jumped on it and just, it really wasn't in our,
- 18:39Speaker 2: but streaming was just starting to come around and, and
- 18:42Speaker 2: subscription channels were big, just starting to come. This was
- 18:46Speaker 2: like 2016. So we, we just bootstrapped it and pulled
- 18:51Speaker 2: a channel together and had it up on, up on
- 18:54Speaker 2: Comcast was our first place that we aired it. It
- 18:58Speaker 2: was in January of 2017. We just, you know, kind
- 19:02Speaker 2: of really the wild, wild west of streaming. And now
- 19:08Speaker 2: there's a lot more competition, I would say, out there.
- 19:11Speaker 2: There's a lot of people that are in the streaming business.
- 19:14Speaker 4: Right, right.
- 19:16Speaker 1: So for people that are listening that are not familiar,
- 19:19Speaker 1: KidStream is basically a Netflix dedicated just to kids, correct?
- 19:24Speaker 2: Correct. It is, and that's a good example because we
- 19:28Speaker 2: are non-advertising like Netflix, or I know Netflix is maybe
- 19:32Speaker 2: moving towards advertising. We're subscription-based, and you can watch us
- 19:36Speaker 2: on limited amounts of time whenever you want. And so
- 19:40Speaker 2: in that respect, it is like Netflix. You can get
- 19:42Speaker 2: it in a number of different places. You can get
- 19:45Speaker 2: it from your smart TV. We're sold directly or on
- 19:49Speaker 2: apps online. We can get it through Amazon as a
- 19:53Speaker 2: subscription premium channel you can add on to Amazon. So
- 19:58Speaker 2: you can get it all different places. So in that respect,
- 20:00Speaker 2: it is. It costs $ 4. 99 a month. But for that,
- 20:03Speaker 2: you get unlimited viewing. We're adding new series about two
- 20:08Speaker 2: or three every month. Um, we have about 70 series
- 20:11Speaker 2: right now, you know, lots of episodes, um, really nice stuff,
- 20:16Speaker 2: really high quality. Our, our, our focus is more quality
- 20:20Speaker 2: over quantity too. We, we, I turned down, I turned down,
- 20:23Speaker 2: you know, in 10 out of more than, more than
- 20:26Speaker 2: a large percentage. I'm very selective. Yeah.
- 20:31Speaker 1: I was actually going to ask you about that. Like
- 20:32Speaker 1: what's the mission statement for for this network, so to speak,
- 20:37Speaker 1: but also, you know, what are the criteria that it
- 20:40Speaker 1: takes for you to pick a show on there?
- 20:42Speaker 2: Great, great question, Rachel. Uh, we have five major things.
- 20:47Speaker 2: Safe is probably the biggest thing. We want to be safe.
- 20:50Speaker 2: We want you to feel safe there. We don't have
- 20:52Speaker 2: any violence on the show. Uh, we don't even have
- 20:55Speaker 2: any mean spirited humor, which is very prevalent in older
- 21:00Speaker 2: kids stuff. Um, we want stuff to be enriching. So
- 21:04Speaker 2: we have things that have a lot of different things
- 21:07Speaker 2: that you'll learn from them. I mean, great role models,
- 21:10Speaker 2: but also we have really fun shows that talk about,
- 21:14Speaker 2: or in the background, science, technology, art, dance, crafting, fitness even,
- 21:23Speaker 2: and healthy eating. And so we have a lot of
- 21:26Speaker 2: shows that have this kind of built in, a lot
- 21:28Speaker 2: of wildlife nature. and things like that. So they're really,
- 21:32Speaker 2: you get something out of these shows, but mostly, oh,
- 21:37Speaker 2: and also diverse, diverse characters and diverse formats. So we
- 21:41Speaker 2: look for all sorts of characters. We pull in shows
- 21:45Speaker 2: from all around the world, and we also look at
- 21:47Speaker 2: different formats. We have puppets, we have live action, we
- 21:50Speaker 2: have stop motion, and of course, a lot of really
- 21:55Speaker 2: good high quality animation. um, and, and, and high production values.
- 21:59Speaker 2: We're looking at really good shows. We, we don't want,
- 22:03Speaker 2: we want, there are so many really good creators that
- 22:06Speaker 2: put a lot of time and money into their shows.
- 22:08Speaker 2: And we really value the value of those high quality productions.
- 22:14Speaker 2: And finally, it has to be entertaining. You know, you
- 22:17Speaker 2: can't fool a kid. They are really smart. I was
- 22:21Speaker 2: just in a, in a second grade talking to a
- 22:23Speaker 2: second grade class recently. And I just a Blows me
- 22:26Speaker 2: away how smart these seven, eight-year-olds are. But so you
- 22:32Speaker 2: can't trick them. It has to be entertaining first. So
- 22:35Speaker 2: the show has to be entertaining. And then good creators
- 22:38Speaker 2: know how to build in the background all these great
- 22:41Speaker 2: things you can learn at a young age.
- 22:44Speaker 4: What's the sweet spot for the age that you're targeting here?
- 22:47Speaker 2: We only try to target from two to nine years old.
- 22:52Speaker 2: We feel like we have a nice range in there.
- 22:54Speaker 2: you know, as you know, after they get nine or
- 22:56Speaker 2: 10 or 11, they're, they're, they're graduating into, um, other programming, really.
- 23:02Speaker 2: It's hard to keep, even though some kids, you know,
- 23:04Speaker 2: 11 or 12 love some of the shows we have. We, we,
- 23:08Speaker 2: we focus for nine, uh, two to nine. And I
- 23:10Speaker 2: would say that even the shows that we have that are,
- 23:13Speaker 2: I would say are for the older age in that group. Um,
- 23:17Speaker 2: we feel like a two or three year old wouldn't
- 23:20Speaker 2: ever be offended. You would never worry to have your
- 23:23Speaker 2: your two or three or four year old in front
- 23:25Speaker 2: of any of our shows. So that's kind of a barometer.
- 23:28Speaker 2: We wouldn't want to show that we felt was too
- 23:31Speaker 2: scary or something if a three or four year old
- 23:34Speaker 2: turned to it.
- 23:35Speaker 4: I'm curious how it works when you get these deals.
- 23:37Speaker 1: Are these shows now exclusive just to your streaming service
- 23:41Speaker 1: or can you get them elsewhere?
- 23:44Speaker 2: Good question. Really good question. I'd say about half of them,
- 23:47Speaker 2: we are the only person in the US to have,
- 23:50Speaker 2: but many of them, You know, the other half, we
- 23:52Speaker 2: were happy to share, you know, we even share some
- 23:55Speaker 2: with Disney or PBS, a few, but we have some
- 24:00Speaker 2: classics that are other places. Like we really like the classics. Like,
- 24:04Speaker 2: you know, we have some old, old, but great Thomas,
- 24:08Speaker 2: the Tank Engine, the original Thomas, the Tank Engine. We even,
- 24:11Speaker 2: I think we're the only ones though, in the US
- 24:13Speaker 2: that have the original with Ringo Starr, who was the
- 24:16Speaker 2: narrator for the first couple of seasons. And we have
- 24:20Speaker 2: George Carlin, who became the narrator after that. We have both.
- 24:25Speaker 2: But most people here in the States don't have Ringo.
- 24:28Speaker 2: And we have Barney, for example, Madeline, some of these
- 24:31Speaker 2: real old classic ones that are on other places. You
- 24:34Speaker 2: can find them. So we do share some, but we
- 24:38Speaker 2: really don't look, you know, when I when I that's
- 24:42Speaker 2: one of the things I do at the company. And
- 24:44Speaker 2: I really love this part is finding the show's. If
- 24:47Speaker 2: someone comes to me and says, hey, this is great.
- 24:49Speaker 4: It's everywhere.
- 24:49Speaker 2: You know, you want this show because it's here and
- 24:51Speaker 2: there and there and there. That doesn't attract.
- 24:54Speaker 4: That doesn't appeal to you.
- 24:55Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 24:56Speaker 2: No, no. We like a special environment here.
- 24:58Speaker 1: So you basically are looking for some some shows that
- 25:02Speaker 1: we may have heard of. But you're looking to find
- 25:05Speaker 1: new shows to give a chance to that that fall
- 25:07Speaker 1: under your criteria of the five.
- 25:09Speaker 2: Exactly. Exactly. We love to bring these great new shows.
- 25:14Speaker 2: I mean, I if you if you could. Let me,
- 25:17Speaker 2: I could tell you about many of them that we
- 25:19Speaker 2: are the only ones that have. Well, yeah.
- 25:21Speaker 4: Tell me about some of your favorites that people should
- 25:23Speaker 4: check out.
- 25:24Speaker 2: Oh gosh. Okay. I know we don't have that much time,
- 25:27Speaker 2: but I'll tell you this one interesting one. I, I,
- 25:29Speaker 2: we just brought in that no one else has that
- 25:32Speaker 2: might be interesting. It's called Gudrun, the Viking princess.
- 25:36Speaker 1: Okay.
- 25:37Speaker 2: She's this it's shot live action. So I know there's
- 25:40Speaker 2: a lot of people that have, you know, adults that
- 25:42Speaker 2: have watched game of Thrones and all these other Viking shows.
- 25:45Speaker 2: So this, It's a very safe young show. Gudrun is
- 25:48Speaker 2: a Viking princess. Her father is the king of the Vikings.
- 25:52Speaker 2: And in each episode, you know, she's out in the...
- 25:55Speaker 2: It's all shot in the wild, too. It's not, you know,
- 25:57Speaker 2: in a studio. And they usually each.
- 26:00Speaker 3: The car is beautiful. Where did you end up going
- 26:03Speaker 3: for it?
- 26:04Speaker 5: This exclusive place that Dad has connections with. They have
- 26:06Speaker 5: more cars for more dealerships than, like, anywhere else.
- 26:09Speaker 3: You have to put me in touch. What's it called?
- 26:11Speaker 2: It's Dúne Díal. Where?
- 26:12Speaker 6: Dúne Díal. There's an accent on the E.
- 26:19Speaker 3: Do you mean.
- 26:20Speaker 6: Yes, I got it on Done Deal Cars.
- 26:21Speaker 5: Lift, please.
- 26:23Speaker 3: You're going past Kimmage.
- 26:24Speaker 6: Oh, Kimmage.
- 26:25Speaker 4: No.
- 26:27Speaker 6: Done Deal Cars.
- 26:27Speaker 7: You couldn't possibly go anywhere else.
- 26:30Speaker 2: This episode focuses on an animal. It could be the
- 26:33Speaker 2: seal or the wolf or the eagle or the raven.
- 26:36Speaker 2: And so it's really, I don't know, narrated in such
- 26:42Speaker 2: a way that it's really a captivating show. So that's
- 26:47Speaker 2: an example of one that we have.
- 26:49Speaker 1: Well, wait, I have a question about that because I
- 26:51Speaker 1: know it's like on... on Netflix where sometimes I'll be
- 26:55Speaker 1: scrolling and all of a sudden I'll see these shows
- 26:58Speaker 1: from Germany or Holland or wherever. And I try them
- 27:02Speaker 1: out and they're actually really good. So how are they
- 27:05Speaker 1: making these shows? Are they making it for intent to
- 27:07Speaker 1: go somewhere else and you end up finding it and
- 27:09Speaker 1: think it's great because you don't really have exclusive, it's
- 27:12Speaker 1: not made like made for Netflix.
- 27:15Speaker 2: Yeah, we didn't commission those shows. We're starting to dabble
- 27:19Speaker 2: in that, but no, we didn't commission that one. You know,
- 27:23Speaker 2: it's funny. Kids around the world tend to like the
- 27:26Speaker 2: same things. So you can a child in Germany or
- 27:31Speaker 2: a child in Australia or a child in Canada may
- 27:34Speaker 2: have the same exact taste at a young age. They
- 27:37Speaker 2: really haven't. So we find that first kids entertainment really
- 27:41Speaker 2: travels around the world really well. And if it's animated,
- 27:45Speaker 2: you can dub it. you know, very easily. Live action is,
- 27:50Speaker 2: I think the stuff you're talking about, Netflix is doing
- 27:52Speaker 2: a great job starting to bring some live action dubbed shows.
- 27:56Speaker 2: But this was shot in English, shot in the north
- 28:01Speaker 2: of England. So it really has a Viking kind of
- 28:04Speaker 2: feel to it. But this one, you know, was big
- 28:07Speaker 2: on the BBC in the UK. So it was actually,
- 28:10Speaker 2: they were the commissioning broadcaster, the BBC, who has a
- 28:14Speaker 2: great history of really good kids television. In fact, they
- 28:17Speaker 2: were the ones who commissioned the Teletubbies originally, was the BBC.
- 28:21Speaker 2: So we look at that quite a bit. When I'm
- 28:24Speaker 2: picking out a show, I look at the commissioning broadcaster
- 28:27Speaker 2: and the people that made that show, the producers, the animators.
- 28:32Speaker 2: And I really value that a lot when I pick
- 28:35Speaker 2: a show, because I know the quality of the different companies.
- 28:39Speaker 2: I'll give you an example. We work a lot with
- 28:41Speaker 2: Jim Henson, who's from the US, of course. And we
- 28:44Speaker 2: have Some of his, or they are newer shows. There's
- 28:49Speaker 2: one called Dot, a little girl that's very tech savvy.
- 28:53Speaker 2: There's one called Sid the Science Kid that a lot
- 28:56Speaker 2: of people know. And we also have some of the
- 29:00Speaker 2: more classics. One we have that's actually from the 70s
- 29:04Speaker 2: that was a, it's a special, kind of like a
- 29:09Speaker 2: mini movie called Emmett Otter and the Jug Band Christmas
- 29:12Speaker 2: that used to be on HBO. And it was just
- 29:15Speaker 2: it's a beautiful movie that a lot of grandparents love
- 29:18Speaker 2: because they grew up with it. So that's a popular one.
- 29:22Speaker 2: And so we have a lot of different Jim Henson ones.
- 29:25Speaker 2: We have one called Billy Bunny, who was actually the
- 29:28Speaker 2: first one that Kermit the Frog appeared on, too. So
- 29:30Speaker 2: we have we have stuff like that. Other ones that
- 29:35Speaker 2: we're the only person with, just to give you a few,
- 29:42Speaker 2: we have a really cool one we developed with a
- 29:45Speaker 2: guy named Coyote Peterson. Coyote Peterson's a wildlife expert who
- 29:49Speaker 2: has his own show on the animal planet. But he
- 29:53Speaker 2: gave us a collection that's curated just for us, of
- 29:58Speaker 2: his animal adventures that are really geared for younger kids.
- 30:02Speaker 2: And we curated them with him, and it's called Coyote
- 30:04Speaker 2: Peterson's KidStream Collection. So we're the only one that has
- 30:08Speaker 2: that here in the States. And there's several, many others
- 30:15Speaker 2: that we're the only ones that are running right now.
- 30:18Speaker 2: I just want to give you a couple more examples
- 30:21Speaker 2: of fun ones. Sure. Um, we have one called circle
- 30:24Speaker 2: square right now that came out of the UK. It's
- 30:26Speaker 2: for older kids animated, won a big animation award is,
- 30:30Speaker 2: is the best new animated show out of the UK
- 30:33Speaker 2: this year. Um, that, that we have, we have a,
- 30:37Speaker 2: we have a really cool show named Addison, which is
- 30:41Speaker 2: a little girl that solves mysteries, um, out of Canada. That's, that's,
- 30:45Speaker 2: that's really special. Um, we have a new one called, uh,
- 30:52Speaker 2: Louis is out of France. There's a little white rabbit
- 30:57Speaker 2: named Louis, and he has a little friend named Yoko,
- 31:03Speaker 2: and very young, and they build stuff. So it's all
- 31:08Speaker 2: kind of teaching kids a little bit around buildings. So it's,
- 31:12Speaker 2: it's really sweet little, little, little things like that.
- 31:15Speaker 1: Every single one of these sounds so interesting. The world
- 31:17Speaker 1: of streaming seems like it's pretty crowded. So what would
- 31:20Speaker 1: you say sets you guys apart from something like a
- 31:22Speaker 1: Disney plus?
- 31:23Speaker 2: Uh, good question. Well, we're very focused at this age group,
- 31:27Speaker 2: you know, Disney's got some great shows, you know, really,
- 31:31Speaker 2: you know, we love, we love Disney, but they're, they're
- 31:33Speaker 2: focused as you know, for all ages, they've got, um,
- 31:37Speaker 2: a lot of stuff that you wouldn't want your young
- 31:40Speaker 2: child in front of, uh, could be some scarier stuff.
- 31:44Speaker 2: And they're very limited to their stuff. They have all
- 31:48Speaker 2: the Marvel, of course, all the Marvel movies, which are
- 31:51Speaker 2: great for people. So we feel like we're much more
- 31:55Speaker 2: focused on that younger audience, parents and caregivers that really
- 32:02Speaker 2: want something enriching, high quality, no advertising, safe. So we
- 32:08Speaker 2: feel like there's a really good market for that. especially
- 32:12Speaker 2: when parents see some of these things, because you'll see
- 32:15Speaker 2: all sorts of things that no one else has, and
- 32:18Speaker 2: it's all in a safe place for them.
- 32:20Speaker 3: Right, right.
- 32:21Speaker 2: Go ahead.
- 32:22Speaker 4: No, but I was.
- 32:24Speaker 2: Just going to say, certainly Disney has some excellent shows
- 32:27Speaker 2: as well.
- 32:28Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 32:29Speaker 1: Now that the strike has ended, what are your thoughts
- 32:32Speaker 1: on how business might change? I mean, I know a
- 32:33Speaker 1: lot of these networks are excited to get back to
- 32:36Speaker 1: some original programming are you guys gonna you know is
- 32:39Speaker 1: that where you see the trajectory of where you guys
- 32:41Speaker 1: are going to.
- 32:42Speaker 2: Go you know we are starting just dabbling we're pretty
- 32:46Speaker 2: small still you know we don't have the big budgets
- 32:48Speaker 2: that that some of these um streamers have bigger you
- 32:52Speaker 2: know networks have but we are starting to look at
- 32:56Speaker 2: a originals um or or commissioning right you know commissioning
- 33:00Speaker 2: them getting involved in the front end um there's one
- 33:04Speaker 2: out of France we're looking at right now that is
- 33:07Speaker 2: a really unique, it's a book series that a French, um,
- 33:11Speaker 2: producer we work with a lot named Dan DeLue is,
- 33:14Speaker 2: is producing. We're, we're, you know, a little ahead of
- 33:17Speaker 2: the game telling you this, but we're hopefully going to
- 33:19Speaker 2: announce in February that we're going to be involved with
- 33:21Speaker 2: that production. And what's cool about that show is it
- 33:26Speaker 2: teaches kids about their own emotions. This, this book, the
- 33:30Speaker 2: woman who created book series, um, has a big book
- 33:35Speaker 2: series and these little unicorn, uh, who's the main character, uh,
- 33:41Speaker 2: changes the color of their, their main, depending on what
- 33:45Speaker 2: emotion they're feeling. And so this little series is, is
- 33:49Speaker 2: not going to be out till the end of two, 2025.
- 33:51Speaker 2: You know how it is. Series take forever to produce, but, um,
- 33:56Speaker 2: it will really be important for kids because for kids
- 33:58Speaker 2: to understand their emotions is the first step and dealing with,
- 34:03Speaker 2: um with these emotions and then then she the creator
- 34:07Speaker 2: also has a lot of ways to deal with those
- 34:09Speaker 2: emotions you know whether to be positive and visualize positive
- 34:13Speaker 2: things or breathe and different things like that so it's
- 34:16Speaker 2: really a it's a young show but it it we
- 34:19Speaker 2: thought it was such an important um thing to have
- 34:22Speaker 2: for kids that that we we wanted to get involved
- 34:25Speaker 2: with that from the front.
- 34:26Speaker 1: End Yeah, actually, I have a question about your streaming service.
- 34:30Speaker 1: So is it just like.
- 34:31Speaker 3: The car is beautiful. Where did you end up going
- 34:34Speaker 3: for it?
- 34:35Speaker 5: This exclusive place that Dad has connections with. They have
- 34:37Speaker 5: more cars for more dealerships than like anywhere else.
- 34:40Speaker 3: You have to put me in touch. What's it called?
- 34:42Speaker 6: It's Dunaidial.
- 34:44Speaker 3: Where?
- 34:46Speaker 5: Dunaidial.
- 34:47Speaker 6: There's an accent on the E.
- 34:50Speaker 3: Do you mean.
- 34:51Speaker 6: Yes, I got it on Dundale Cars.
- 34:52Speaker 2: Lyft? Lyft?
- 34:53Speaker 6: Please.
- 34:54Speaker 3: You're going past Kimmage. Oh, Kimmage.
- 34:56Speaker 5: No.
- 34:58Speaker 7: Don't deal cars. You couldn't possibly go anywhere else.
- 35:00Speaker 1: 30 minute, um, series, or do you have movies too?
- 35:05Speaker 1: Because something like that reminds me of inside out.
- 35:07Speaker 4: You remember that movie?
- 35:08Speaker 2: Oh yeah.
- 35:09Speaker 4: About the feelings.
- 35:10Speaker 1: And that like, you know, I don't know if that's
- 35:12Speaker 1: for that age group, but you know, do you do movies?
- 35:15Speaker 2: We have some movies. Um, in fact, one of the
- 35:19Speaker 2: movies that we have that we're so proud of is
- 35:21Speaker 2: we have the, um, the Madeline movie that has Christopher
- 35:25Speaker 2: Plummer as the narrator. I mean, just amazing. You know,
- 35:28Speaker 2: one of the classical ones, but we are, we're, we're
- 35:31Speaker 2: less about movies. We we're starting to build those up.
- 35:34Speaker 2: You know, I think our movies are more like hour
- 35:37Speaker 2: long specials. The Wiggles just gave us some of their great,
- 35:41Speaker 2: they have a brand new one called the Wiggles great
- 35:44Speaker 2: fruit salad show that they just, they just licensed to
- 35:47Speaker 2: us brand new. So we like specials, but a lot
- 35:50Speaker 2: of our stuff is smaller episodes. So if you get
- 35:54Speaker 2: one of our series like Goodrin, there might be 20
- 35:58Speaker 2: of those and they're five minutes each or 26 five
- 36:01Speaker 2: minutes each or something.
- 36:02Speaker 4: It's better for the attention span probably.
- 36:04Speaker 2: You're right. You're right. 11 minutes is a popular format
- 36:08Speaker 2: for five, six-year-olds, seven-year-olds. They like 11 minutes is something
- 36:12Speaker 2: that a lot of people produce.
- 36:14Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 36:15Speaker 1: Well, if you get into the movie thing more, I
- 36:18Speaker 1: have a suggestion. My favorite movie growing up with it
- 36:20Speaker 1: was The Secret of Nimh.
- 36:22Speaker 4: Do you remember that?
- 36:24Speaker 1: Tell me more about The Secret of... It's so good.
- 36:26Speaker 1: And I always talk about it. No one knows what
- 36:28Speaker 1: I'm talking about. It's about a bunch of mice and
- 36:31Speaker 1: they live in a cinder block. And they find out
- 36:34Speaker 1: that the human in the area is bulldozing it and
- 36:38Speaker 1: they have to get all the mice to a safe place.
- 36:41Speaker 4: And there's, you know, a bad.
- 36:42Speaker 1: Guy, there's a good guy, there's a good mouse and
- 36:45Speaker 1: it's so good. And then they have to get in
- 36:47Speaker 1: the house and they have to deal with the cat.
- 36:49Speaker 1: in the house and they have to deal with the humans.
- 36:51Speaker 1: It's such a great story.
- 36:52Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 36:53Speaker 4: You have to, that's such a good one.
- 36:55Speaker 1: And then another one that's more like religious, I would say,
- 36:58Speaker 1: but was called small one. And it was about like
- 37:01Speaker 1: the donkey that had to make the trek and through Bethlehem.
- 37:04Speaker 4: Maybe I don't even remember. Cause it wasn't about religion.
- 37:08Speaker 2: Right.
- 37:08Speaker 1: To me when I was little, but I, I remember
- 37:11Speaker 1: different parts and it was about this little donkey that
- 37:13Speaker 1: was the runt of the group. And he had a
- 37:16Speaker 1: hard time, making the track. And anyways, those were great movies.
- 37:19Speaker 4: I love it.
- 37:20Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 37:20Speaker 2: I love that they have values. You know, a lot
- 37:23Speaker 2: of these good movies have values in them that stick
- 37:26Speaker 2: with kids. So that's really cool to hear. Yeah.
- 37:30Speaker 1: And I only mention it, too, because I was born
- 37:32Speaker 1: in Anchorage, Alaska. I'm sure you do not know this.
- 37:34Speaker 2: No, I didn't know that. Okay.
- 37:36Speaker 1: My parents were New Yorkers, and they moved there, and
- 37:38Speaker 1: they actually started cable television in Anchorage.
- 37:42Speaker 2: Wow.
- 37:42Speaker 1: So when I was younger, I grew up, you know,
- 37:45Speaker 1: kind of in the office. You know, I would go
- 37:47Speaker 1: there all the time, and my dad got the rights
- 37:49Speaker 1: to the satellite dish or whatever, and all of a sudden,
- 37:51Speaker 1: they named it Visions, and they had, you know, this...
- 37:54Speaker 1: this cable company. And my mother was an actress in
- 37:56Speaker 1: New York. And so she did all the on-air stuff.
- 37:59Speaker 1: So she did the intros to the movie. She was
- 38:01Speaker 1: also the head of programming. They had a lot of
- 38:03Speaker 1: different hats at the time. And so she would pick
- 38:06Speaker 1: the movie that was going to go on. She'd go
- 38:07Speaker 1: to the, the wall that had all the movies, but
- 38:09Speaker 1: they were betas and she'd put them in the thing
- 38:12Speaker 1: and it would come out on TV.
- 38:13Speaker 4: And I thought it was incredible.
- 38:15Speaker 1: And so we always had the beta of those two
- 38:17Speaker 1: movies I just told you about. And as a kid,
- 38:19Speaker 1: I just, I thought they were cool.
- 38:20Speaker 2: So you actually had the original tracks yet. Who knew? I, I,
- 38:24Speaker 2: I don't know either one. I definitely want to see
- 38:25Speaker 2: the one with the mice. That one sounds really cool.
- 38:28Speaker 4: It's so good. I would watch it again.
- 38:30Speaker 1: You talked about the, you know, the timeframe that's, that's
- 38:33Speaker 1: good for kids to watch. And I'm curious because there's
- 38:36Speaker 1: a lot of kids that, even at a young age
- 38:38Speaker 1: will tend, obviously get on social media now and they're
- 38:41Speaker 1: into TikTok and all these things. How do you steer
- 38:43Speaker 1: your kid for more of an educational, you know, something
- 38:46Speaker 1: to watch that's more educational? Like what's a good tip
- 38:49Speaker 1: to get them to, you know, be focusing on things
- 38:53Speaker 1: or shows that they should be watching that could entertain
- 38:55Speaker 1: them a little more than watching people and things on TikTok?
- 38:59Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I understand the power of TikTok and Instagram and,
- 39:04Speaker 2: you know, they can be very captivating. I think with KidStream,
- 39:07Speaker 2: one nice thing is if you can get them in
- 39:11Speaker 2: and give them a sample of some of these shows,
- 39:12Speaker 2: they'll be amazed. We show them, a lot of these
- 39:15Speaker 2: kids don't know these shows and they're allowed to, you
- 39:18Speaker 2: can let them free in here. We don't have any
- 39:21Speaker 2: algorithms that push a child to pick this video to
- 39:25Speaker 2: hear or bait. We don't track them or anything like that.
- 39:28Speaker 2: So some some children, you know, some girls may like
- 39:31Speaker 2: Coyote Peterson and that may someone might have thought that
- 39:34Speaker 2: was a boy's show. But we don't have any of that.
- 39:37Speaker 2: You know, you pick what you like.
- 39:40Speaker 1: Um, and that's actually important what you're saying, because you
- 39:42Speaker 1: could give the kids the freedom to choose some of
- 39:45Speaker 1: these shows as opposed to standing over them and saying,
- 39:47Speaker 1: we're going to watch this next and let me scroll
- 39:48Speaker 1: through this because you can't see this.
- 39:50Speaker 4: So that's a great environment. It is.
- 39:53Speaker 2: You can, you can relax a little bit. And, but
- 39:55Speaker 2: we also really want to be sure because we know
- 39:58Speaker 2: parents are in the background or grandparents or caregivers. We
- 40:01Speaker 2: want to, we want, we want to have everything that's
- 40:03Speaker 2: on that air, um, to be something that they would
- 40:06Speaker 2: approve of or have in the background. So we don't,
- 40:09Speaker 2: we don't have any of these kind of fast paced
- 40:11Speaker 2: kind of shows that are, you know, some of the
- 40:14Speaker 2: shows you find on are made to try to attract
- 40:17Speaker 2: kids and keep them almost addicted to watching them. And
- 40:20Speaker 2: they keep coming and keep coming and they, and we don't,
- 40:24Speaker 2: we don't promote that at all. We promote much more,
- 40:27Speaker 2: you know, we're happy if a child watches a show
- 40:30Speaker 2: for 10 minutes and that's it. And then they're done.
- 40:33Speaker 2: If you're making money off of clicks or ads for kids,
- 40:39Speaker 2: then you're trying to drag them in as many as
- 40:41Speaker 2: you can because that's how they're... For adults, advertising is great.
- 40:46Speaker 2: I find it to be one of the highest art forms.
- 40:49Speaker 2: They make you laugh in 30 seconds. But for young children,
- 40:53Speaker 2: they have a hard time distinguishing between reality and ads.
- 40:56Speaker 2: So we just made a decision to just feel safe
- 41:00Speaker 2: and don't have any of that on KidStream.
- 41:03Speaker 1: Yeah, I had a different kind of question for you
- 41:05Speaker 1: just because you are such a TV industry expert. What
- 41:08Speaker 1: are your thoughts on the stigma of, maybe it's not
- 41:10Speaker 1: a stigma, but you know, these kids that are, that
- 41:12Speaker 1: are growing up in TV, like that were on the
- 41:15Speaker 1: Mickey mouse club and kids that have been related to
- 41:18Speaker 1: Disney stuff. You know, you had Britney Spears, Amanda Bynes, um,
- 41:22Speaker 1: Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Bella Thorne, all turning out a
- 41:26Speaker 1: certain way and finding their way maybe eventually, but like,
- 41:29Speaker 1: you know, they've hit some hard roads, but do you
- 41:31Speaker 1: have a thought on what it's like to have these
- 41:33Speaker 1: kids thrown into these shows at such an early age?
- 41:37Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, I, um, I do. I mean, I
- 41:41Speaker 2: feel for them, you know, when they were thrown into
- 41:43Speaker 2: stardom at such a young age. I even think of
- 41:45Speaker 2: Brittany at 15 or 16 and what she had to
- 41:48Speaker 2: go through. The one experience I have with that, we
- 41:53Speaker 2: had a really good experience. We had the star of
- 41:55Speaker 2: LazyTown was a young girl. You know, she was 14
- 41:58Speaker 2: at the time, became a very big star. But one
- 42:01Speaker 2: thing that really helped was her mother was on set
- 42:03Speaker 2: with us all the time. And she was a really
- 42:06Speaker 2: good student, too. She really was. And Juliana and Moriales,
- 42:13Speaker 2: her name is. And she went on to be a,
- 42:16Speaker 2: you know, went to college and I haven't kept in
- 42:19Speaker 2: touch with her, but she did a really good job
- 42:21Speaker 2: handling that. But I do feel for those young ones
- 42:25Speaker 2: that get thrown into stardom and how much it must,
- 42:27Speaker 2: you know, impact their lives. I, you know, you hear
- 42:30Speaker 2: about them. I know Natalie Portman, I remember when she
- 42:34Speaker 2: decided to go back to college and kind of left
- 42:36Speaker 2: the stardom and went, I think she went to Yale
- 42:38Speaker 2: or something.
- 42:38Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah.
- 42:39Speaker 2: But so I mean, there are those that do it well.
- 42:43Speaker 2: But I do feel bad for them, the ones that
- 42:45Speaker 2: that don't, you know, because it does, it does, you know,
- 42:49Speaker 2: seem to affect them, you know, must, you know, with that,
- 42:53Speaker 2: that superstardom as a young one. Yeah.
- 42:55Speaker 1: And I think it must be hard to once you've
- 42:57Speaker 1: experienced that stardom, just go back to being a normal kid,
- 43:00Speaker 1: so to speak. And you don't know how to find
- 43:03Speaker 1: your purpose probably after that. So I personally think that
- 43:06Speaker 1: that's where a lot of the struggle comes. It doesn't
- 43:07Speaker 1: necessarily have to have anything to do with the, you know,
- 43:10Speaker 1: who they're working for. And sometimes it does. But, you know,
- 43:13Speaker 1: I think the networks must have to do a good
- 43:16Speaker 1: job of protecting the kids, making sure they still study
- 43:19Speaker 1: and have something to do.
- 43:21Speaker 2: They really do. There's rules about how many hours they
- 43:25Speaker 2: can work. If they're a certain age, they have to
- 43:27Speaker 2: have the parent on set with them. And so there
- 43:29Speaker 2: is a lot of good protections out there for them.
- 43:33Speaker 2: But I think it's when they hit superstardom that there's
- 43:38Speaker 2: no rules for that. It must be hard for them.
- 43:41Speaker 2: They can't go into the shopping malls by themselves without
- 43:44Speaker 2: being recognized and things like that.
- 43:46Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah.
- 43:48Speaker 1: My last question for you would be about the future
- 43:51Speaker 1: of kids programming.
- 43:52Speaker 4: What do you see? What should we look for?
- 43:57Speaker 2: Well, like I said, I think there's some amazing kids
- 44:00Speaker 2: producers out there, and the business is vibrant. And I
- 44:05Speaker 2: would open your eyes, just like you saw the shows
- 44:08Speaker 2: on Netflix from different countries. That's one thing we do.
- 44:12Speaker 2: We bring some amazing shows from different markets into the U.S.,
- 44:17Speaker 2: So I would keep my eyes open for that. You know,
- 44:21Speaker 2: the animation is all really good. You know, it's funny,
- 44:25Speaker 2: some things old come back again. Like right now, there's
- 44:27Speaker 2: a lot of stop motion animation. And we're working on
- 44:30Speaker 2: a new show. We're bringing a show into the channel.
- 44:33Speaker 2: We'll be the only ones that have it this year
- 44:36Speaker 2: coming called The Sound Collector. And it's very landmark in
- 44:41Speaker 2: a couple of ways. The main character is hearing impaired. Hmm.
- 44:46Speaker 2: which is really cool. And it's a beautifully shot show.
- 44:51Speaker 2: We have a very famous narrator, Keira Knightley is doing
- 44:54Speaker 2: the narration on this one. And it comes out of the,
- 44:59Speaker 2: she has young kids and I've met her, but I've
- 45:03Speaker 2: seen some of the promos she's done for the series.
- 45:05Speaker 2: She's really got into this series. And we also have
- 45:11Speaker 2: the animation company, called McKinnon and Saunders did all the
- 45:15Speaker 2: models and all the, you know, stop frame models, which
- 45:18Speaker 2: are amazing. And it was, they were the same ones
- 45:21Speaker 2: that did the Pinocchio movie that won the Academy Award
- 45:25Speaker 2: last year. So that old kind of animation is coming back.
- 45:30Speaker 2: You know, we also have some stuff from Aardman, like
- 45:32Speaker 2: Shaun the Sheep that is a little for more for
- 45:35Speaker 2: older kids, but it's very safe and funny and, and
- 45:38Speaker 2: things like that. So. I would say whatever is old
- 45:42Speaker 2: is new again. Yeah.
- 45:45Speaker 4: I'm just curious how this works.
- 45:46Speaker 1: Like, do you ever remember like a childhood book you
- 45:49Speaker 1: have and realize that was never made into animation and
- 45:52Speaker 1: you're like, oh, that would be a good idea for
- 45:54Speaker 1: an original series to commission eventually?
- 45:57Speaker 4: I mean, I'm just making this up.
- 45:58Speaker 2: No, it's a great idea. It's a great, you know,
- 46:00Speaker 2: almost every, you know, I would say at least half
- 46:02Speaker 2: of the stuff we have came from a book. So
- 46:06Speaker 2: it's a great way to start animation. It's from books.
- 46:10Speaker 2: You're right.
- 46:11Speaker 1: Is Ferdinand made into something on TV or a series yet?
- 46:15Speaker 4: I used to love Ferdinand.
- 46:17Speaker 2: Boy, you have good... Yeah, I remember Ferdinand. The Spanish one? Yeah.
- 46:22Speaker 4: He lived under a tree or something?
- 46:24Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 46:25Speaker 4: And he didn't want to participate in the fights or whatever?
- 46:28Speaker 2: I can't really remember.
- 46:30Speaker 4: It's a good one. I have a whole list.
- 46:31Speaker 2: Yeah, it is a good one. I'll make a note
- 46:32Speaker 2: of that one. I'll give you credit on that before
- 46:34Speaker 2: you ever do that one. I like that as a movie.
- 46:36Speaker 2: There might be something on that one. Over in Europe,
- 46:40Speaker 2: but that is a good idea for a movie.
- 46:43Speaker 4: And then I have one more. I love, do you
- 46:45Speaker 4: remember Mrs. Piggle Wiggle?
- 46:49Speaker 2: That sounds really familiar.
- 46:50Speaker 1: Okay, so here's another one. I'm sorry, everybody that's listening.
- 46:53Speaker 1: That's like, shut up.
- 46:54Speaker 2: Mrs.
- 46:55Speaker 4: Piggle Wiggle was so good. She was an old... Bat
- 46:58Speaker 4: of a woman. She was like a babysitter.
- 47:00Speaker 1: And so if, if parents had a problem with their
- 47:03Speaker 1: kid and it was called like the no good, very
- 47:06Speaker 1: bad day kid, the kid who always came home and
- 47:08Speaker 1: always had a very bad day, the parents would call Mrs.
- 47:11Speaker 1: Pigglewiggle and she would come in. and teach them how
- 47:13Speaker 1: to change their attitude. Or if it was a kid
- 47:15Speaker 1: who didn't like to clean their room or a kid
- 47:17Speaker 1: who didn't like to go to sleep, they would call Mrs.
- 47:19Speaker 1: Pigglewiggle and the kids would be so horrified that she
- 47:22Speaker 1: had to come in, but she would completely, whatever she did,
- 47:24Speaker 1: it was a lesson on how to change.
- 47:26Speaker 4: Their attitude or their behavior. And it was a whole series.
- 47:30Speaker 1: And when I was younger and I would visit my grandmother,
- 47:32Speaker 1: she would read me the stories from Mrs.
- 47:34Speaker 4: Pigglewiggle.
- 47:34Speaker 1: And there's like 20 chapters in every book. And it
- 47:37Speaker 1: always was something that could resonate with you as a kid.
- 47:40Speaker 1: And I'm talking, you know, when I was five, six, seven.
- 47:43Speaker 2: Important years.
- 47:44Speaker 5: Yeah.
- 47:44Speaker 2: You develop a lot of your habits by the time
- 47:46Speaker 2: you're seven. A lot of the things. So it's great.
- 47:49Speaker 2: Your grandmother read those too.
- 47:51Speaker 5: Okay.
- 47:51Speaker 4: So that goes on your list also.
- 47:53Speaker 2: Okay. That's another one. Boy, that sounds like one that
- 47:55Speaker 2: the parents would love if we could give them that tool.
- 47:58Speaker 2: A lot of the things we have in our tools
- 48:01Speaker 2: for parents. I mean, we have a show that we're
- 48:03Speaker 2: the only ones that have it right now called Ollie,
- 48:06Speaker 2: the boy who became what he ate. And him and
- 48:08Speaker 2: his little sister go on these adventures. And every adventure
- 48:11Speaker 2: is like about a blueberry or an avocado. And so
- 48:16Speaker 2: they weave food into the show. So you end up
- 48:20Speaker 2: getting these kids much more familiar with vegetables and all
- 48:24Speaker 2: the positive things about vegetables and fruits. Right.
- 48:27Speaker 4: Oh, I love that.
- 48:28Speaker 1: But also, you know, with one of the lessons I
- 48:31Speaker 1: remember was a kid in the book, Mrs.
- 48:32Speaker 4: Pigglewiggle, who wouldn't say please or thank you.
- 48:35Speaker 1: And so I can imagine a parent sitting your kid
- 48:38Speaker 1: down and being like, I have an episode for you,
- 48:41Speaker 1: you know, and the kid watching.
- 48:42Speaker 2: See what Mrs. Big Oval said?
- 48:44Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
- 48:45Speaker 1: So that kind of stuff is fun, whatever. But all right,
- 48:48Speaker 1: where could parents find your streaming network right now?
- 48:52Speaker 2: Well, you know, KidsStream is available a number of places online.
- 48:58Speaker 2: You can see them all on our website, which is www,
- 49:02Speaker 2: there it is, kidstream.tv. So you can go on there
- 49:04Speaker 2: and see all the places. But just to know, if
- 49:06Speaker 2: you're an Amazon customer, which a lot of people in
- 49:09Speaker 2: the US are, we're an Amazon Prime video channel, which
- 49:12Speaker 2: is a great place to get us. If you get
- 49:15Speaker 2: your cable or internet from Cox or Comcast, you can
- 49:19Speaker 2: speak right into the remote and say kid stream and
- 49:21Speaker 2: it'll come up. You can also find us on the
- 49:24Speaker 2: app store. Roku has us. So both the Google play
- 49:28Speaker 2: store and the Apple store, and you can get us
- 49:31Speaker 2: directly from kidstream.tv in which you can, you can use
- 49:35Speaker 2: those on smart TVs or all your, you know, a
- 49:38Speaker 2: lot of our audience watches on tablets or, um, and
- 49:43Speaker 2: things like that too. So it's, it's, it's a, there's
- 49:46Speaker 2: a number of places you can get us now. Uh,
- 49:48Speaker 2: but if you want to check us out, uh, you
- 49:50Speaker 2: can see us on the, on the web and see
- 49:52Speaker 2: what kind of shows we have. And, and, uh, they
- 49:54Speaker 2: have a, they usually have a seven day free trial.
- 49:56Speaker 2: Even it's 499 a month is what we charge. Absolutely.
- 50:00Speaker 2: No commercials. Thank you. Really appreciate you saying that.
- 50:03Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I think it's so fantastic. I'm bummed my
- 50:06Speaker 1: daughter's 11, but we might have to check it out anyways,
- 50:08Speaker 1: because she still loves all that stuff.
- 50:10Speaker 3: All right.
- 50:11Speaker 1: Well, Dean, thank you so much. I wish you the
- 50:12Speaker 1: best of luck. I really loved having this conversation. I
- 50:15Speaker 1: can't wait to see where things go for you.
- 50:17Speaker 2: Oh, I really appreciate being here, Rachel. And thanks to
- 50:20Speaker 2: your audience too. Appreciate you guys listening.
- 50:32Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening to Misunderstood. I'm your host,
- 50:35Speaker 1: Rachel Yucatel. Please be sure to subscribe to the show
- 50:38Speaker 1: and give us a five-star rating and review. You can
- 50:41Speaker 1: support the show by joining our Patreon at patreon.com slash
- 50:45Speaker 1: misunderstood with Rachel Yucatel. Do you have ideas for the
- 50:48Speaker 1: show or want to reach out? Email us at infomisunderstoodpodcast
- 50:52Speaker 1: at gmail.com. That's spelled M-I-S-S understood. Thank you so much,
- 50:58Speaker 1: and I'll see you next time.
- 51:04Speaker 3: The car is beautiful. Where did you end up going
- 51:07Speaker 3: for it?
- 51:07Speaker 5: This exclusive place that Dad has connections with. They have
- 51:10Speaker 5: more cars for more dealerships than like anywhere else.
- 51:13Speaker 3: You have to put me in touch. What's it called?
- 51:15Speaker 6: It's Dunaidial.
- 51:17Speaker 2: Where?
- 51:19Speaker 5: Dunaidial.
- 51:20Speaker 6: There's an accent on the E.
- 51:23Speaker 3: Do you mean.
- 51:23Speaker 6: Yes, I got it on Dundale Cars.
- 51:25Speaker 5: Lift?
- 51:25Speaker 2: Please.
- 51:26Speaker 3: Are you going past Kimmage?
- 51:28Speaker 6: Oh, Kimmage.
- 51:29Speaker 2: No.
- 51:30Speaker 6: Dundale Cars.
- 51:31Speaker 7: You couldn't possibly go anywhere else.