6 October 2014: Nancy Kanter, Disney Junior Worldwide’s executive vice president, original programming and general manager, talked to ContentAsia Summit delegates in Singapore about global kids trends, what inspires the story development process, how to stay relevant in a fast-changing media landscape, and what the brand will and won’t do in Asia."Our focus is on story because we believe that story is the key to a child’s life-long learning. While children’s television series change and evolve because every day we have new technologies and formats to put them on, what remains constant is the need for story to be the driver of engagement.”"Getting down on the floor talking to kids is a fundamental part of our [content] development process.”“It’s important to us that parents feel our content reflects the goals and interests and values that they place on their child’s development... that they can feel like purposeful parents by choosing the right kind of content at the right time for their child to interact with.”“Live action is very tricky for us because we want all our content to be globally appropriate and accepted and live action hasn’t been for us in the past... Right now we are focused on animation”.“[in Doc McStuffins], we are able to communicate important messages about children’s health that inspire parents and kids to think about their own well being and what they can do to stay healthy”.“In today’s world, when anyone and everyone can create a piece of content and have it be seen, our goal is still to make sure that our stories reflect the world kids live in while still embracing the magic that makes them want to play alongside these characters every day.”“In order to build a better world, children have to be able to imagine a better place, and imagine themselves being able to make those changes and we think [2015 series] Miles from Tomorrowland can set them on that path.”"Because kids find Doc [McStuffins] so aspirational, we may justbe changing the way all children think about who they are and what they can be.”“We all want our children to do well, but if they also don’t learn to do good, then doing well will never be enough... by creating inspiring experiences not only on television but also at events that kids can touch and feel, we havea chance to show them that they have the power to make the world a better place.”“We are all aware that the landscape is changing and we put a real effort into how we portray girls, and also how we portray people across the board, whether cultural, ethnic or gender. In Miles from Tomorrowland, Miles’ sister is the most proficient in terms of science and tech in their family. Their mother, Phoebe is Chinese and the captain of the ship. The dad is equally smart in a different way. Loretta, the sister, is the family brainiac... We don’t shine a huge light on it, in the sense of making it a major focus of attention. We want to present it as just what you can be. We [want kids to] come to think of it as ‘this is the way the world is and how people behave’, and hopefully they will carry that through as they become adults.”"We absolutely will consider commissioning from all over the world... Asia is a top priority. Many of our series are animated in Asia; Doc McStuffins wasanimated in Singapore. The challenge that we find in terms of developing original material is in story telling and finding the great story tellers here. We are dedicated and being aggressive about finding that but it has been a challenge, not just to look at the technical and the production... story is where it all starts.”ContentAsia Issue Four