FROM: TVKIDS WEEKLY (WORLDSCREEN) By Anna Caraguti
Providing children with quality programming has been Tatiana Kober’s goal since she founded Bejuba! Entertainment more than 20 years ago. Today, as the company’s president, she works with producers, assisting them with financing and distribution. She recently partnered with Mainframe Studios to offer international buyers the animated show It’s Andrew!, about a rhino adopted by magical unicorns. Kober and Mainframe’s senior VP of development and current series, Tanya Green, tells TV Kids about the show’s important themes of problem-solving, belonging and being true to oneself. Kober also shares her view of the current kids’ landscape and her overall strategy for Bejuba! Entertainment.
TV KIDS: What’s been the strategy behind growing your company?
KOBER: I started Bejuba! in 2003. I see us as a small-to-medium boutique because we’ve built a good catalog over the years. I’ve always strived to be a creator-friendly studio. We’re an executive production/distribution company. I help put financing together and scope creative that needs it. I work with experienced producers, like Mainframe—I might just do third-party distribution, or I come on board if shows need financing from 0 to 100 percent.
The goal has always been that if I put the financing together, I stay on board to handle distribution because it’s a marriage, and it lasts a long time. Most of my producers stay with me and bring me new projects along the way. And we always have to pivot, as each project has different needs.
TV KIDS: Has financing become more complex in today’s fragmented market?
KOBER: The children’s business has always been complicated, so I feel like we are ahead of the curve. But I think there are a lot of opportunities. I also teach an MFA program for distribution, acquisition and marketing. I tell the kids, This is a really, really hard time, but it’s almost the most exciting time because we are the gatekeepers now, too. Yes, we still need broadcasters. But you can reinvent yourself. You can decide where you want your content, and if you can start on digital, where everybody is, and then grow it into something else, you can.
So, one of our new strategies is brand-building. We’ve partnered with merchandising and licensing expert Christina Sklavenitis, and we’re growing brands through content. A lot of broadcasters are saying, We want [known] brands because we want to build the audience, and it’s better if there is publishing [behind a show]. But we also know that originals really work as well. Look at Bluey or KPop Demon Hunters. And Mainframe has It’s Andrew!, a co-production with Pirate Size Productions, Mainframe Studios and Infinite Studios for ABC in Australia and CBC and SRC in Canada.
TV KIDS: What’s the show about?
GREEN: It’s about a rhinoceros named Andrew who’s been adopted into a family of unicorns. He lives in the magical world of Hornsby Downs. It’s all about belonging, being truly yourself and finding solutions to problems using creativity, love, friendship and family. It’s a happy, fun show that allows preschoolers to understand that being different is not just ok, it’s rhin-awesome!
KOBER: It’s Andrew! came from an idea from Dan Nixon, who founded Pirate Size Productions. Mainframe came on board and brought CBC and SRC. Mainframe had the distribution rights and asked me if I would pick it up. I immediately fell in love with it, and we’re getting a great response, too. It’s for preschoolers; 3-6 upper preschool. The characters include Andrew’s mom, Dasha—very grounded but up for anything to be with him—Captain Wonderful, the grandfather, and Andrew’s friends, the fraternal twins Pegasus and Spark, and Dazzle.
GREEN: Spark is on the spectrum, and it was important to us that her representation was accurate, so we partnered with Autism Awareness Australia to make sure we were being as thoughtful and accurate as we could with her character. We also partnered with an adoption consultant to help ensure we are representing adoption, being adopted and telling kids they are adopted in a way that is relatable, understanding and thoughtful.
TV KIDS: It’s so important that kids from a young age don’t feel “othered.”
GREEN: That’s what we want to do. Andrew is different from everyone else because he is not a unicorn. He has a horn, but he’s not a unicorn. He is different, but his differences make him extra special. All of Hornsby Downs embraces who Andrew is, even though he is not a unicorn. We have stories where he’s trying to do magic, but he can’t. He’s trying to levitate something, but he can’t because he’s not magical. But he comes up with solutions to problems using his creativity and his own way of looking at the world, which they don’t see. It’s a great way to show that being yourself is magical.
KOBER: Eight episodes of the series have already been delivered, with SRC on board. We’re going to be delivering in English and French. CBC starts airing in December this year and ABC next year. We’re just launching, and we are already starting to get offers. I feel like people are beginning to want to buy again.
TV KIDS: And original ideas can cut through?
KOBER: Yes.
GREEN: It’s Andrew! has a really different aesthetic; it’s colorful, magical, whimsical and it stands out. The characters are so rich and relatable, and the stories are funny, warm and inviting, and I think that it will make kids come back to watch more.
TV KIDS: The general rule has always been that great stories and characters are the key. Regardless of how complicated the market has become, this rule still holds true, doesn’t it?
GREEN: Yes, I believe so. Kids really want something they can relate to. Characters that represent them in some way, that face issues that they do and have stories that matter to them. If you have a great character and a great story, you can fall in love with anything, right?
TV KIDS: And I think it’s great that you’re helping children.
KOBER: That’s why we’re here!
GREEN: Kids are important, and showing them that they matter and that there is magic in the world!