The 13 competition categories: Youth
We bring you the 13 categories featured in this year’s competition along with a precise definition, example videos and an interview with a prominent expert in the field.
5. Category: Youth
Definition:
Fiction or non-fiction programmes produced in content and style to entertain, inform and engage a young audience 12 to 16 years old.
Youth is a completely new category at the Rose d’Or Festival and will be awarded for the first time in 2012. In 2010 the Youth and Children categories were combined.
The Youth Interview with Barbara Uecker
Barbara Uecker is an internationally respected children's broadcaster with experience in both Germany and Australia. As a key player in the establishment of award-winning German public children's channel KI.KA, she first took on the role of Commissioning Editor of Acquisitions and Co-Production before becoming being appointed Deputy Head in 2000. Well known in the international production community, Barbara has also worked for Germany’s ARD affiliate Sender Freies Berlin in the Family TV Department where she produced programmes for children, teenagers and family audiences. In 2005, Barbara became head of Family, Education & Nature TV Programmes for ARD's affiliate, Hessischer Rundfunk. Currently, she holds the position of Head of Programming and Acquisitions for Children's TV at ABC, Australia's public broadcaster.
1.Can you give us a typical example of a Youth programme?
The youth demo is a difficult one to programme for, they often watch programmes that aren’t necessarily made for a young audience. They are extremely tech-savvy and are very well connected. So the latest season of Gossip Girl or Skins are easily found on the internet. Reality shows like The Biggest Loser, Masterchef, Bondi Rescue and Comedies like How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family and Glee are especially successful. Who would have thought that a show about a show-tune singing choir would resonate so well with this audience? They have a well developed sense of humour and demand a more sophisticated type of comedy than ever before. At the same time larger than life reality and aspirational drama are big for them.
Shows that are produced specifically for a young audience that resonate well with our audience are for example the drama series Dance Academy, the reality TV series Prank Patrol and the animated series Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, Total Drama Musical and Stoked.
What do these shows have in common? Comedy is important for this audience and when it comes to Drama, the topics tackled have to resonate with the viewers.
2. Of all the Youth programmes, which one would you love to have created?
I’m a huge fan of a New Zealand show called The Tribe. It appeals to quite a diverse audience but resonates well with the 12+ audience. The series has a huge and very loyal fan base around the world. It’s been described as a mix between Mad Max and Lord of the Flies. For me it tells the story of Mankind. A mysterious virus has killed all the adults leaving the children to fend for themselves. How will they deal with the situation? How will they organise themselves and establish some kind of order? The series is extremely entertaining and uses classic soap-elements (love and betrayal) to raise rather philosophical questions (the cast discuss topics like democracy).
When we launched ABC3 – Australia’s first public children’s channel dedicated to school age children - in December 2009 we showed the first two seasons of the series. During the broadcast and especially after the transmission of the two seasons our message boards were full of fans discussing the program and asking for more. They even discussed the idea of raising money to fund the acquisition of further seasons!
3. What will future Youth programmes look like?
Comedy will remain popular with this audience although it will have to be wittier, more sophisticated and rather fast paced to keep up with an ever technologically advancing audience. There’ll be room for dramas but they will have to be edgy with a tangible connection to an aspirational lifestyle.
This audience demands to be treated like young adults, consequently programmes must not shy away from dealing with real world issues entirely. The challenge for producers is to look for creative ways to incorporate those issues with a youth sensitivity.
4. Do you see emerging markets and sub-genres?
Apps for mobile phones and tablet devices are the big thing at the moment and I’m sure we’ll see more of this. We face a development where shows target very specific and fragmented audiences but at the same time there seems to be a demand for TV events that bring the whole family together in front of the TV. Masterchef or The Biggest Loser are examples for shows that attract co-viewing.
5. Which show are you hooked on right now?
I love Glee, Nurse Jackie and am still very much into House. Besides that How I Met Your Mother, Raising Hope, Madman and Weeds are on my TV menu.
Youth example video: Dance Academy
