Kids Animation Model ‘Broken’ as Streamers Retreat, Upending Pathways to Market

As streamers curb spending and linear fades, veteran producers warn kids animation’s legacy pipeline is fracturing, driving a shift toward creator-owned IP, digital-first audiences and new financing models that challenge traditional gatekeepers

By Callum McLennan

Callum McLennan

Latest

• Quirino Animation Awards Lean Into Collaboration as Latin American Producers Adapt to Funding Volatility 2 days ago
• Goya Winner ‘Maspalomas’ Probes the Return to the Closet in Later Life 3 days ago
• One Real Post-Peak TV Crunch: A Supply Chain That’s Too Slow 3 weeks ago

CANARY ISLANDS, Spain — The business model underpinning kids and family animation is under growing strain, as a post-streaming contraction collides with declining linear viewership and tighter commissioning, a panel at Spain’s Quirino Future Lab session underscored on Wednesday.

That was the message from veteran producers Sherry Gunther Shugerman and Bobbie Page, who argued that traditional pathways to market are narrowing just as new, creator-led models begin to scale. The conversation, moderated by Quirino executive producer Jose Luis Farias as part of the Futures Lab session, paired Sherry Gunther Shugerman, a former producer of “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy” and “King of the Hill,” now co-CEO of creator platform Heeboo, with Bobbie Page, head of production at Australian indie juggernaut Glitch Productions and a Warner Bros. Animation veteran. 

Related Stories

Marian Rivera, Dingdong Dantes, Sharon Cuneta, Vice Ganda Set for Prime Video Philippines' Local Slate