Kids and Teen Doc Course gets inspiration from the PRIX JEUNESSE Suitcase
A report from Prato/Italy
Promoting non-fictional content for children and teens in Italy is the aim of an in-depth training course organized by the Fondazione Sistema Toscana and the Anica Academy, offered free of charge to young, ambitious media makers.
The course programme and method is designed for authors, filmmakers, producers, editors, art directors, and showrunners who are eager to learn more about factual storytelling for kids and teens. 24 creative talents from all over Italy are part of this training initiative which started last November and runs until May 2025. Every second weekend they come together for in-person sessions in Prato, Tuscany, and in between for many online meetings.
Most of these young media makers already have some experience in audiovisual production. In the course, they learn how to approach and manage, in the role of author, producer, or showrunner, all stages of development of documentary and factual content for children and young audiences. The final session will include a professional pitch of all projects developed by the course participants, to an audience of selected Italian production companies.
Initiated by PRIX JEUNESSE’s long-time friend Markus Nikel, international advisor at RAI, a presentation of a special PRIX JEUNESSE Suitcase was one of the recent training elements. Kirsten Schneid, the festival coordinator of PRIX JEUNESSE, curated a special selection of non-fictional content of diverse genres and from all parts of the world. The programmes were selected according to topics the workshop participants are working on in their own projects, for example dealing with death and grief, disabilities, sustainability or working with sport for social gain. The participants appreciated this opportunity to watch the wide variety of quality content for young audiences and to discuss about the particular strengths of the shows. We are all now looking forward to the projects that will emerge from this impressive training initiative!
