Rick K. Clodfelter
Lead, Content Acquisitions & Partnerships, Disney Branded TV
What I’ll be looking for in the fall markets: Diverse content focusing on animated comedies and holiday features, specials, series and shorts.
The best thing I watched in 2022: Bluey is a consistent standout, but I also enjoyed We Baby Bears.
Best way to approach me with pitches: I always appreciate an introduction at industry markets/events to hear how creators speak about their creative and experience their passion behind it.
Best pitch I ever got: Although not an animation pitch, the most memorable was done by Marty Krofft. I’ll never forget his generosity as I geeked out.
The animated show that changed my life: Adventure Time — smart and soulful storytelling.
Best advice for animated content creators: Timing is critical in this fluid market which creates wide-ranging platform needs. If your creative has an authentic voice for an audience to relate, the chances of syncing to a platform’s needs is greater.
Most annoying trend of the year: Not annoying, but there seems to be a bumper crop of farm-based preschool content. Guilty pleasure: Over the Garden Wall … it takes me back.
What I’ll be looking for at the fall markets: The shopping list is really long, I wish I had a pot of gold to buy it all! Animated fulllength feature films and animated specials for bank holidays, Easter, etc., as well as live-action features for a family audience; family co-viewing is an advantage, but only if kids are the focus of the storytelling. Animated series for six- to nine-year olds are in demand as well. We’ll go on cherry picking the best animations in preschool for our Kikaninchen preschool slots, too! For the socalled bridge audience, we actively search for strong new additions to go along with successful series like Fireman Sam. As you can see, after all: Great animated storytelling always was and will be a motor for KiKA! KiKA turns 25 this year. (Yes, we happily celebrate this remarkable anniversary in 2022 together with our audience!) and what surely also did not change over the last 25 years of KiKA is that we are looking for high quality content only, premieres preferred! The programs, whether animated or not, need to deliver a positive view of the world and offer the kids orientation while delivering strong positive values, too!
The best thing I watched in 2022: In total, we received a record 1,284 program proposals last year. This trend seems to be continuing in 2022 as we have already received 500 new programs and program concepts. So, we really saw a lot of great new stuff. One of the many outcomes was that we now will be co-producing Goat Girl, a very cartoony show from Daily Madness (Ireland) and Miam! (France) together with our friends at Cartoon Network. I also need to mention our lovely co-pro Odo, with Letko and Sixteen South, which is so heartwarming, smart and charming that I really had tears in my eyes when we screened the original production, which we are now dubbing into German.
Best way to approach me with your pitches: Easy, just send your pitch! But first ensure that your idea is a good fit for the world of KiKA. Look at www.kika.de (It’s in German, but pictures and programs will tell enough). If your idea fits into this world, you’re more than welcome to send it to sebastian.debertin@kika.de
The animated show/movie that changed my life: Well, too many to list them all here! After all, I guess animation does not change our lives, but makes it more colorful and much brighter! That’s why I so much enjoy working with creatives on making great concepts for animation come to life and influencing the kids and family audiences worldwide with positive thinking and values worth sharing!
Best advice for content creators: Keep being passionate about what you do! And keep on dreaming! But while dreaming, stay focused to make your dream come true! The best ideas come from people who are passionate about making their dreams come true. Most annoying catch phrase or trend of the year: Honestly, there is very little nowadays that can annoy me. Perhaps what’s a bit annoying is when people use keywords in a pitch that their concept doesn’t deliver at all. So, please, avoid just ticking boxes!
Guilty pleasure: Working for the best audience — kids! Doing what I love most — my job, with many talented and wonderful people in our industry, getting inspired always in a new and refreshing way, that is truly a pleasure and rewarding! Besides that, good bookstores and books are another passion!