Genius Brands International Inc (GNUS)

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Found an article that was done with Liao Huainan it was an exclusive interview it is the most extensive interview I have found. He explains in detail in the article, when he found out about the project and contacted Genius Brand Networks in early June 2019. I think this is the article where all the others lifted parts and pieces of for their articles.

It won't work through the Google translation page where it shows in English so I will provide the link below the article and use another translation site and cut and paste it here.



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Youku Liao Huainan: In the next five years, domestically produced original animation will appear next "Pig Pig"
Guduo Guoman | Guduo Network Movies & TVs | 2019-11-18


Abstract: Without love and responsibility, it is difficult to create particularly good children's content, because the work should carry the values, the cultivation of good habits, and the guidance of growth.


Over the years, overseas children's animations have been highly sought after in the Chinese market, such as "Pig Pig", "Spongebob" and "Teletubbie". So can domestically produced children's animations, especially the increasingly active originals of online students, be exported in reverse and open up overseas markets? In order to realize this idea, Liao Huainan, general manager of Youku Children, and his team started a meaningful attempt.


In October 2019, during the Cannes Autumn Television Festival (MIPCOM), Youku announced a number of cooperation projects with overseas entertainment groups, including the "Little Luban" (tentative name) jointly created with Viacom International Media Group. ), "Stan Lee's Superhero Kindergarten" jointly produced with children's media group Genius, and the Australian national-level animation "Brui" introduced by signing with the BBC and so on.


After returning from Cannes in full, Liao Huainan, the general manager of Youku Children, accepted an exclusive interview with Guduoguoman and shared his team's experience in promoting the original animation of online students to the sea.


Breaking the norm, works with spiritual core can go global.

The original animation of "Little Luban" jointly created with Viacom is a key project for Youku Children.

It is reported that the original idea of ??this project came from Youku Children's own content team. The original intention was to make the stories of representative characters in traditional Chinese culture have the opportunity to go abroad, and to allow families and children from all over the world to understand China more. Taking into account the characteristics of children's love of manual brains, the direction of creativity is locked in creativity. In traditional Chinese culture, "Luban" is not only the originator of civil architecture, but also a symbol of the wisdom of ancient working people. The image of this inventor is also very suitable for adaptation. "Little Luban" came into being.


Liao Huainan revealed that after he and his team combed the original worldview and characters of "Little Luban", he happened to have an opportunity to contact Viacom. Viacom liked this animation idea that contained the spirit of Chinese craftsmen, so After more than a year of communication, the two sides repeatedly revised "Little Luban" to seven or eight different versions, and finally finalized the cooperation.


Youku has high hopes for the performance of "Little Luban" in the international market. Therefore, at the beginning of the script creation, Liao Huainan and his team considered the balance between localization and internationalization. Liao Huainan told Guduo Guoman that although "Little Luban" is based on Chinese traditional culture, it is not a costume animation that makes Luban appear as a sage mentor, but tells that "Luban Lock" came to the modern age as a robot pet. , To help children with stories of various inventions, the overall style is quite technological and international.


Liao Huainan said: "A lot of times we tell Chinese stories and may overlook the acceptance of overseas markets, so domestic cartoons are difficult to spread overseas. And" Little Luban "is to break the so-called" Oriental Culture "and will not put too much Chinese visual elements are inside because the spiritual core of Chinese culture is more important than the metaphysical Chinese elements. "


The cooperation with Viacom will allow "Little Luban" to obtain the assistance of overseas high-quality pre-production teams, making it more in line with the international production structure. In terms of specific division of labor, Viacom will be responsible for the project supervision, process and creativity, while the director, script and production will be completed by the domestic team.


In addition, Viacom will also be responsible for the distribution of "Little Luban" in overseas regions. Viacom International Media Group is a subsidiary of Viacom Group, including many well-known international popular multimedia entertainment brands, such as MTV, MTV LIVE HD, Nickelodeon, Paramount Channel, etc. . As a global brand, Viacom has covered more than 4.3 billion home users in more than 180 countries around the world.



Domestic children's animation entering the overseas market is just the beginning. As the first group of crab eaters, Liao Huainan is very optimistic about the prospect. He expressed optimistically: "Peers are working hard to do this thing, within the next five years (Domestic children) There will definitely be a super IP like "Pig Pig Page" and it can create very good results in overseas and domestic markets. "


It is reported that "Xiao Luban" is a total of 52 episodes, each episode is about 3 minutes of 3D animation, is expected to meet with the audience during the winter holiday in 2022


Co-create a young hero with Stan Lee, overseas cooperation is more than just bringing in.


In addition to cooperating with Viacom, "Little Luban", Youku announced another eye-catching project in Cannes, which is naturally produced in collaboration with children's media group Genius, and 3D animations created by the two stars Stan Lee and Schwarzenegger "Stan Lee's Superhero Kindergarten."


Liao Huainan revealed to Guduo Guoman that Youku ’s chances of participating in this project were also accidental. He first saw the news on a financial investment website in the United States and found the project very interesting. Then he contacted Genius's US headquarters and did not expect them. I was also curious about Youku, so the two sides communicated for more than half a year, and finally signed a contract in Cannes this October.


According to Liao Huainan, "Stan Lee's Superhero Kindergarten" is the last work of Marvel's soul figure Stan Lee, telling the story of a group of kindergarten children who accidentally acquired super powers and became superheroes. Stan Lee himself is deeply involved in a lot of project development, and Schwarzenegger and Stan Lee are close friends. Therefore, the animation uses his image to shape the role of "Captain Courage", and "Captain Courage" will be a young hero Our mentor.


It is worth noting that In this cooperation, Youku bid farewell to the model of pure copyright purchase, but as a joint IP owner and global co-producer, deeply participated in the planning and development of the content itself. It is reported that in the character image and plot design, "Stan Lee's Superhero Kindergarten" combined Youku's suggestion, added oriental elements, and set a protagonist to come from China, and localization was further enhanced.


Liao Huainan explained: "When we first got the project, we found that there are some difficult factors for the script to be implemented in China. For example, the model of foreign kindergartens is different from that of domestic kindergartens, and the teaching system is different. Point, join the role of China, and adjust the teaching and living mode of kindergarten. "


With the blessings of Stan Lee and Schwarzenegger, "Stan Lee's Superhero Kindergarten" has shown signs of explosion before it is broadcast, and Youku Children has always maintained a precise selection in the introduction of overseas animation. Vision.


During this trip to Cannes, Youku also signed a cooperation project with the BBC. The Australian national-level animation "Brui" issued by the BBC will be exclusively launched on Youku. Liao Huainan said: "We think this animation will become a small explosion. In fact," Bruy "has reached the highest ratings in Australia. Youku has a professional evaluation system in selecting content. We are in the explosion There is an advantage in the judgment of the show. "


Liao Huainan said that in the cooperation with overseas media giants, Youku will have more diversified methods, and it is necessary to create a systematic cooperation model. He believes that overseas cooperation is not only to bring in excellent content, but more importantly, to have the opportunity to participate in the core level of absolute head content overseas to develop and learn from overseas colleagues.


Doing good children's animation, the most important thing is love and responsibility.


Among the frequent contacts with overseas counterparts, Liao Huainan felt the deepest point is that the overseas children's animation team attaches great importance to love and responsibility.


He said, "It is very important to cooperate with international teams, that is, to create a good content from the heart. When they value the content, they have love and responsibility. Without love and responsibility, it is difficult. Create particularly good children's content, because the work should carry the values, the development of good habits, and the guidance of growth. "


In addition, Liao Huainan is often asked by overseas colleagues, "Why is Sun Wukong the only one developed in Chinese myth?" At this time, Liao Huainan only smiled bitterly, hoping to change the category of Chinese children's animation through Youku and more partners. Too single status quo.


Liao Huainan therefore specifically revealed that Youku will be devoted to enriching the themes of children's animation in the next project planning. Trends, idols, and sports will all be involved in the theme. At present, a racing-themed animation "Motor Electricity Formula 2030" has been released with TV TOKYO. Sign up.


Liao Huainan believes that the current children's audience has a very strong ability to learn and absorb, which means that children's animation is no longer blindly young. He and the team further subdivided the age group of the children's audience, and used this to produce more program forms and more targeted program content.


He explained: "The children's audience is 0-9 years old, and we further divide it into two age groups of 2-5 years old and 6-9 years old. In addition to cartoons, there are more children in these two age groups The needs of content categories, such as live-action dramas, youth variety shows, documentaries, and so on, we want to make some innovative attempts in these categories, these actions are in progress. "


Regarding Youku Children's future development plan, Liao Huainan said that Youku will continue to vigorously develop original children's content, and in the process, cultivate an international vision for creative and development teams. In the process of working with overseas teams, we will continue to learn.


Editor-in-chief: Hou Yali


https://lmtw.com/mzw/content/detail/id/178498/keyword_id/

There is still another article I have to find where the release date was confirmed as 2020 but no actual date, I read so many that first day I went digging, I will find it.

There is also an article based on an interview with the head of some Chinese company that said POW was their subsidiary or the other way around? I cannot remember I should have book marked the pages when I found them.

I will find them so all can be up on everything out there, as there is a lot of false postings on other message boards, saying that a script still needed to be written and an assortment of other nonsense.