Amy Takahara Talks Market Shifts

Netflix alum Amy Takahara, who has set up her own consultancy, Sigma Girl Media, joined the TV Kids Summer Festival to discuss navigating the evolving ecosystem.

In her keynote conversation, which you can watch here, Takahara weighed in on the importance of authenticity and being wherever kids are amid shifts in consumption habits.

The biggest pressure point in the business is audiences’ attention, Takahara said, and “how to reach them where they are at. It’s discoverability. It’s also in authenticity. We all know the audience is on YouTube. There’s all the user-generated content that they’re watching. It feels authentic to them. Those are real people. They feel like they’re their friends. That’s what they want. So they can spot when something does not feel authentic, it doesn’t feel real, it doesn’t feel that it’s speaking to them and their generation.”

I asked Takahara how professional content producers, distributors and platforms should be approaching these challenges.

“One, you have to be where the audience is. You have to try your best to get in front of them and try to capture their attention. I don’t think it’s necessarily going after user-generated content. It can be, but I think it is more about creating the content that will speak directly to them, to their interests, to what they want. It’s not about the traditional way of making content. It’s about how we adjust our thinking and perceptions of things in a way that will appeal to the audience.”

This is a challenge for everyone, Takahara said, linear and streamers alike. “It’s about knowing your audience and being very specific with that target. Hopefully, you do get the broad audience, but if you’re specific to one audience, then hopefully it can expand beyond that. It’s also starting out with something that’s more of a brand and trying to build awareness ahead of time before going straight into content. It used to be that content could launch and drive brand and toy. And that’s not necessarily the case anymore. It’s other aspects of entertainment that can reach kids, whether it’s games or live events or just getting out in front of the audience… and have them know and be familiar with your brand. Content can be a part of that, but it’s all about building out a brand, an IP, versus just creating content now.”

Known IP is still paramount, Takahara said, despite there being some franchise fatigue in the marketplace now. Launching a new brand is still possible. “If you have something that is so incredibly special, that has so much heart, that kids can connect with, things that can break through. I often tell people when they’re coming up with ideas, What is the shock factor? What is it that we haven’t seen? Is it a theme? Is it character? Is it a design? What is that shock factor that you can bring into a show or a brand to make kids want to interact with it and watch the show or buy the toys or play the game.”

Collaboration in this new environment is also critical, Takahara said. “Every streamer has pulled back on the amount of content that they’re making. That’s why there is this slowdown in the market; it’s no longer the gold rush. Everybody is pulling back. Everybody is looking at how much they’re spending and how much they’re investing. There are some properties that the streamers will do fully global and will fund completely. Then there are other projects where maybe they don’t necessarily want to, but they’re open to a co-production. Having that opportunity to go to international markets and find the funding and piece together your budget is definitely a viable option.”

On the road ahead for a kids’ media business, Takahara is upbeat that there are better days to come. “There’s a lot of opportunity with kids. It’s figuring out where they’re at and how you produce content for the new generation. It’s not the traditional content we used to do. Is it shorter form content? Micro dramas are getting very popular—is there something in the kids’ space for that? There are people who are working with Roblox. Another opportunity is AI. It can help workflows. I don’t think AI replaces human creativity. It enhances and quickens the timeline of human creativity. Being able to adapt and adjust and use these technologies is going to be key to surviving this slump in the industry. I think of this moment in the industry as a bit of our pandemic in a way. During the pandemic, I admired so many companies trying to figure out any way to stay alive. It was thinking outside the box. That’s what we need to do in our industry. We need to think outside the box.”