All the usual clichés of the wider entertainment industry still apply; it’s super competitive, not all fun and games and not always what, but who you know. Still, more specifically, what advice would you give to someone looking to make their big break, creating content for kids?

I’ll start with three things I think are most important, but would love to hear some other professionals share their wisdom and help newcomers like Claudia find their way.

Focus.

Whatever goal or position you want to achieve, be specific and keep trying to get there. Telling people you want to work in the media is too vague. Think of it like this, if Steven Spielberg showed up on your doorstep and asked you to help him make a movie, what would you tell him you want to do?

Now there’s a caveat to this I wish someone had told me when I graduated. Unless you’re best friends with someone like Mr. Spielberg, you’re not going to simply graduate and become a Producer or Director overnight. College is merely the first step on that path, so figure out the route you need to take to get where you want to go.

Join In.

Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Blogs – the opportunity to discover what kids media conversations are occurring right now is immense. Learn from others, but don’t be shy; contribute your own thoughts and ideas too! Don’t be afraid to share your work either, it’s what will get you noticed.

Do Do Do.

I don’t have any solid evidence to back this statement up, but I bet Picasso’s first painting wasn’t as good as his last. Whatever creative skill you want to develop, design, animation, photography, writing, or whatever; you have to keep doing it all the time. It’s the only way you’ll get better. Again, tell the world about your work, get noticed.

So there you go! I would love some other professionals to chime in with their tips, and likewise if you’re looking for advice, be sure to get in touch.

There’s nothing like an award show to get the blogging fingers twitching, and this Saturday, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will be hosting the 2009 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, from UCLA. In keeping with the voting theme Eric and I have had going on the site for a while, I thought I’d share my thoughts about some of this years nominees.

The Good

Two of the yellowest icons in cartoon history go head-to-head this time; SpongeBob SquarePants and The Simpsons. SpongeBob won the Favorite Cartoon award for five years running, before losing out for the first time to Avatar: The Last Airbender last year. We’ll see if the little fella’s got his game back this time around, but don’t count out competition from The Fairly OddParents and Phineas & Ferb.

The live action television nominations the year feature usual suspects, Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody as well as, surprisingly, Zoey 101, which ceased production back in May of last year. I’m hoping iCarly gets the nod. It’s a genuinely funny, and charming show which has more intelligence than other offerings aimed at the same demographic. Of course I’m biased towards anything that involves a cross-platform element, and iCarly achieves this well.

The Bad

“Hey Kids! As responsible adults with an understanding of how media influences your little lives, we all know you’re familiar with the crrrazy antics of Batman and Robin back in the 60′s. This is why we’re sure you can totally identify the difference between that retro rascal, The Joker and his modern interpretation – you know, the little scamp with a penchant for sticking knives in people’s mouths? BAZAM!”

I’m not going to go off on a tangent about what’s suitable for kids to watch or not, but seriously, someone forgot what the first letter of KCA stands for. Just be sure to cover your ears if Christian Bale has to give an acceptance speech. KAPOW!

The Interactive

Kid-voters essentially get two choices this year – plumbers or rockers, because two Mario games are going up against melodic mashers, Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Interestingly, perhaps even expectedly, the Nintendo presence is unmistakable. Two of the games are Wii exclusives, and the other two are both strong sellers on the Nintendo console. I admit, there’s a lot of competition between the pair of music games, but two Mario games as well is a touch too much. Mario Super Sluggers – really? What about Little Big Planet?

This leaves me wondering; why do the KCA’s have no award category for websites or online games? I’m not suggesting the big brands throw their massive sites into the mix, but smaller, quirkier, new innovative websites could create some buzz. In England, BAFTA has had an award category for online/multimedia content since 2002 – I should know, we had their award statues all over the place when I worked at CBBC. The Internet is every bit a part of kid’s lives, if not more so, than television and video games, so it’s a no-brainer to give some recognition to the online medium. Come to think of it, I’d be more than happy to submit some suggestions for next year. Hmmm…

I spent a lot of time in the States in the past, but it’s never quite the same as living in a new place. I don’t yet feel the need to write a Bill Bryson-esque memoir of all the amusing cultural nuances I’ve encountered since living here, but occasionally instances may occur that are relevant in this blog. This explains the odd mix of phrases or terminology I employ – so forgive me if I’m getting in a two and eight here, I’m just covering my bases.

The subject of cultural differences is what brings me to the core of this post, namely ratings of the television kind. I’m going to stick my neck out here and say this – in London I never felt pressured into chasing audience figures for the various shows or websites I worked on. I’m not saying they weren’t important – as part of the bigger picture, they were certainly a major factor, but at that stage of my career I placed most of my focus on delivering content. Combining this with the unique editorial remit of the BBC, namely it being a public service broadcaster, success can’t be judged purely on audience figures, and certainly not on ad revenue.

On the star-spangled side of the pond, however, the situation is completely different. I’m in a world of “prime time” and “syndication” now, and it fascinates me. Not only do I find myself investigating viewing figures more often, but I have begun to think more seriously about the marketability of concepts I plan to pitch. Fear not, I’ve seen Death to Smoochy, and I don’t want to go down the soulless corporate road of no return – I’m purely being realistic, and growing more because of it.

This brings me to the second difference being in the U.S. brings – competition. There’s a lot more of it! Nickelodeon, Disney, and Cartoon Network to name a few, are formidable competition in the U.K. , but they’re center stage here and the numbers involved, both financially and audience-wise are considerably higher.

On this note, Cartoon Network and the newly-launched Disney XD threw their all into capturing young male audiences last week. Both channels announced positive figures. Cartoon Network announced up to a 29% rise in viewing figures compared to the same time last year, but Disney XD had a record rating of 6.5 million viewers on launch day. This was countered by Cartoon Network holding the number one prime time slot for boys aged 6-11, and so it goes on.

There are obviously a lot of numbers being thrown around here, and a great deal to take in, but it’s valuable information that deserves being discussed. I’ll close for now, but my parting question to everyone is, how much awareness do you have of audience figures and how important are they to the project or concept you’re working on?

Replacing Toon Disney, this newly launched boy brand has me in cross-platform heaven. On top of the cable channel, they’ve got the token MySpace and Facebook pages, but even better, there’s downloadable content on both iTunes and Xbox Live, the latter being the icing on the cake for me. A quick look around my living room shows the only electronic product Disney XD isn’t available to me is the clock on the wall – that’s impressive.

Before I come across as a total fanboy, let’s talk about some actual content. For starters, you better be into skateboards and secret agents – they’re everywhere on the site. I’m still on the fence over some of the program lineup, particularly flagship show, Aaron Stone. Sure, the whole “schoolboy super-spy” shtick has been done before with Alex Rider and Young Bond, but Canadian production, Aaron Stone seems a little too similar to CBBC’s M.I. High for my liking. There’s got to be a new angle for this kind if thing?

Between the likes of Hannah Montana and the Jo-Bro’s Disney has the girl’s market at this age wrapped up. I’m curious to see if the same thing happens with the male audience here. Right now I’m questioning some of the program output, but Disney’s approach to saturating every content medium, even at this early stage, leaves me awestruck.

Here’s something with a little transatlantic flavor. First, the news. BBC Scotland has just had a new children’s game show commissioned for CBBC. TMi hosts, Sam and Mark will be hosting the series that, “Pits two families against each other in a variety of exciting and captivating tasks which test players’ ability to pass on information.” More info as it happens.

This news brought a lightning bolt of realization to me – shazam! Growing up mostly in England, I can remember a plethora of classic children’s game shows – Philip Schofield hosting The Movie Game, Dave Benson Philips on Get Your Own Back, and the inimitable Tregard – dungeon master of Knightmare. Even these days, British kids are entertained by game shows like Hider in the House and Beat the Boss.

But where are the children’s gameshows in the United States?

Unless I’m unaware of some pretty conclusive audience research, it seems there is no demand for an entire genre of entertainment shows that offer a rock solid format and a goldmine of sponsorship and prize product placement opportunities.

Maybe I’m missing something here. I’m still rapidly absorbing information about all aspects of the children’s television networks here in the States. If anyone has info that can fill in any gaps on the subject, I would love to be enlightened.

Hollywood hosted the 36th Annual Annie Awards on Friday – the Academy Awards of the animation industry… unless you’re counting the actual Academy Awards that is. Hmmm. Anyway, it’s still an incredibly prestigious award, and this year Kung Fu Panda reigned victorious, beating stiff competition from the likes of Wall E and Bolt.

Don’t get me wrong, KFP checks all the boxes in terms of a delightful family flick, but I would have liked to see Wall E at least get some recognition, based primarily on the fact that mainstream audiences haven’t been treated to something so unique and visually rich in a long time. Pixar, who bare in mind have won the Best Feature award for four of the past five years, left empty handed this time, however what they created in Wall E was both poignant and thought-provoking. That being said, I’ve heard many people say it lacked the charm of previous Pixar creations, and a theme to subtle for young viewers to fully grasp.

Kung Fu Panda is still a highly deserving winner, and now what I’m intrigued to see develop is Director, John Stevenson’s live action debut with a new Masters of the Universe film. Just like Transformers and the soon to be released G.I. Joe movie, He-Man and Co. were childhood-defining brands of mine, and I’m excited to see what happens. Of course that’s what Warner Bros. and Paramount are counting on, aren’t they?

I left my two cents in a comment.

There goes my hope of a Pete’s Dragon game being released anytime soon