Virtual PRIX JEUNESSE Suitcase for CCTV’s Children’s TV Producers
Different times require different approaches. While two years ago CCTV/China had organized a big three-day PRIX JEUNESSE Suitcase event for its children’s TV staff and had invited Bernadette O’Mahony from the Australian Children’s TV Foundation over to moderate the session, the 2020 edition had to take on a virtual format. So, in mid-November the CCTV colleagues in Beijing and Bernadette in Melbourne connected for one day via Zoom. Together they watched and discussed non-fictional highlights from the 2020 PRIX JEUNESSE festival.
The CCTV children’s department staff were engaged by the wide mix of programs they viewed, discussing whether all the programs would work in other territories or some were more local in nature, the use of humour in the pre-school category, and producers in the room were interested in the different formats and the production methodology and how long episodes might take to make.
It was a very full day of viewing and whilst not the same as being in the room with the CCTV/China team – it is great to be able in these strange times to still see the Prix Jeunesse suitcase travel the world!