UK and German productions secured four of the seven 2018 International Emmy Kids Awards doled out yesterday at MIPTV in Cannes, as the sixth annual ceremony honored outstanding achievements in global children’s programming.
Winners were announced by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in partnership with Reed MIDEM. In the UK, Magic Light Pictures took home the Best Animation Emmy for its Roald Dahl-themed Revolting Rhymes, while Kindle Entertainment/DHX Media/Walker Productions/Screen Yorkshire co-pro Hank Zipzer’s Christmas Catastrophe won Best TV Movie/Mini-Series.
As for German projects, illness-themed Club der Roten Baender (Red Bracelets) from Bantry Bay Productions and VOX Television won Best Series, and Imago TV/ZDF refugee doc Berlin und wir (Berlin and Us) nabbed the Best Factual Emmy.
In the Preschool category, French studio Dandelooo and Caribara Production won for La Cabane à Histoires (The Treehouse Stories). The series was the only French nominee among 28 nominees from 16 countries. The Digital Content Emmy, meanwhile, went to web series Jenter (Young Girls) from Norway’s NRK. Presented as a real-time blog, the show combines elements of Snaps, text messages and live-action drama.
Rounding off the winner’s circle, Canada’s Forte Entertainment earned the Best Non-Scripted Entertainment prize for its Snapshots live-action photo competition series, which bowed on CBC Kids in fall 2016 and was recently optioned for UK development by Manchester indie Three Arrows Media.
This year’s competition was also the first to make short-form submissions—original fiction and non-fiction programs with episodes under 30 minutes—eligible to win. Short-form series were previously recognized by the Academy at the International Digital Emmy Awards.