TV producers want to follow in developer Rovio Mobile's footsteps, but book publishers are more sceptical about apps reddit this.
TV producers like FremantleMedia are setting up app divisions in the hope of making the next Angry Birds, but book publishers are more wary about the likely return on investment from apps. This, at least, was the upshot of the MIPJuni
TV producers like FremantleMedia are setting up app divisions in the hope of making the next Angry Birds, but book publishers are more wary about the likely return on investment from apps. This, at least, was the upshot of the MIPJuni
TV producers like FremantleMedia are setting up app divisions in the hope of making the next Angry Birds, but book publishers are more wary about the likely return on investment from apps. This, at least, was the upshot of the MIPJunior conference in Cannes over the weekend.
A panel session on how TV producers and book publishers are working together veered into a discussion of whether these partnerships will spawn a new wave of apps. John Rice, CEO of Irish animation studio Jam Media, said it's inevitable, "particularly tablet books and around animation where you can use the assets from your TV production and put them into the books".
Not everyone agreed, though. Helen McAleer, UK managing director at publisher Walker Books, was distinctly wary about whether apps can be lucrative spin-offs for books. "I'm not 100% convinced that apps is the right way to go," she said. "I'm still not convinced that for the investment one has to make for an app, that the return on that investment is good enough."
McAleer went on to say that she is more interested in the ePub 3 e-book format, which is expected to launch in 2012, and will provide more flexibility for publishers of picture books. She was backed up in her app scepticism by Emma Cairns-Smith, licence acquisition director at publisher Egmont UK.
"With an e-book you can sell it at pretty much the same price as the book, but as soon as you put that on an app you have to sell it at 99p," she said. "There are real commercial issues around it. It is far more expensive for us to make an app than an e-book, and yet we can charge far less for it. That's the conundrum."
In a later session at MIPJunior, Random House Children's Screen Entertainment's head of acquisition and development Fiona Macmillan mirrored Cairns-Smith's views. "With an app, you spend a huge amount of money developing it, and you sell it for a very small amount of money. An e-book is much closer in pricing philosophy to a traditional book."
Meanwhile, Penguin Group publishing director Eric Huang said he doesn't think there is currently much mileage in trying to launch new intellectual property as an app first, before it becomes a book or TV show. "Apps have worked for mega brands like Peppa Pig and Thomas the Tank Engine, but launching something with an app is very risky," he said.
There is a real contrast here, though. TV production companies are increasingly keen to do exactly that, and they all cite the same mobile-originated IP as their inspiration: Angry Birds. Producers have taken note of that franchise's 350 million downloads – not to mention its booming sales of plush toys and developer Rovio's promise to turn it into a TV series and/or films – and are wondering if they can follow suit.
Bob Higgins, senior vice president of kids and family entertainment at FremantleMedia, put this ambition most clearly in another panel sessionat MIPJunior. "Can we create the next Angry Birds and then raise it up through the rest of the media?" he asked, referring to the idea of launching something as an app or mobile game, and then turning it into a TV show.
Higgins also said FremantleMedia is keeping a close eye on the hits being created online and on app stores by games developers. "We definitely look at what's hot in games and gaming, and is it something that we think can become a TV show," he said. "Can it become more than just a game, and should it? You see a lot of movies based on games that should never have been done… We look at everything and see if there's a reason for this to become a TV show – and a good TV show."
In the same session, Nuno Bernado – managing director of production company beActive – delivered a warning for Rovio that spending too long making the Angry Birds TV series or film is a risky business.
"If you take two years to create the movie or TV show, probably the audience for Angry Birds has found another cool thing to play or follow," he said. There is evidence that Rovio realises this though, having acquired animation studio Kombo and hired veteran Hollywood executive David Maisel to speed its entertainment ambitions.
Angry Birds was not the only non-TV brand to be regularly cited during the weekend's MIPJunior sessions. Virtual worlds Moshi Monsters and Club Penguin were also highlighted for their popularity among children – and for their expansion into other forms of entertainment and merchandising.
In another MIPJunior debate focusing on the convergence between e-books and animation, CBeebies controller Kay Benbow talked about apps in a less commercial context.
"It is still really important to generate a love of reading and the ability to follow a narrative," she said. "Technology allows us to interact with compelling stories in new and different ways. Content, stories or narrative activity on tablets can engage children at a pre-literacy stage. Two year-olds can use iPads very easily: it's totally intuitive for them. We hope that by putting content out there in different ways we can stimulate a love of reading later on."
However, Benbow said that for shows screened on CBeebies but made by external producers, apps are usually the responsibility of the latter. "They retain the IP and go and find the deals to make it work [on other platforms]," she said. "It's up to them to work with appropriate partners who will extend that title, but they do keep me informed."
Random House's Macmillan confirmed that when the publisher is acquiring books that have the potential to become TV shows, it wants the rights to make the spin-off apps and other digital products.
"We try to acquire all of those electronic rights, and try to keep continuity over all the publishing, to keep the equity of the character strong so it doesn't get diluted," she said. "All publishers are doing that: we're looking to acquire a bigger bucket of rights."
Source: guardian.co.uk
