Children seek stories that reflect their own growth and transformation, featuring characters who evolve and adapt, but think characters who remain static or ‘stuck’ are childish and unengaging.
This is one of ten key findings from a Europe-wide study on the viewing habits of young audiences published today by children’s film lobby organisation Kids Regio.
Called ’European Children’s Film in Focus’, the report was conducted in collaboration with Denmark’s publikum.io and examined the media consumption of 374 children aged 7-11 in 12 European territories, exploring how film and television impact their lives. It was published on the opening day of Amsterdam’s Cinekid Professionals’ programme.
The ten key findings of the report are:
1. Thinking about 7-to-11-year-old children as one homogenous target group is tricky. Although there’s only four years between youngest and oldest, they are worlds apart.
2. Born as digital natives, children today view screens as their primary gateway to media consumption. Films are just another form of content accessed through technology - essentially longer videos available on streaming services, positioned alongside other apps such as YouTube or TikTok.
3. Children navigate through assessing thumbnails, watching previews or trying out the first few seconds. This way, they feel they can maintain control in selecting from the bigger shelf of content. The last thing children want is adults choosing for them.
4. Children love to watch stories about young characters, preferably a few years older than themselves. However, if it becomes too obvious that the film or series is made ‘for them’, it can quickly become a major turn-off.
5. By mixing elements from different genres, films offer a rich and multifaceted viewing experience. It allows children to find and connect with story aspects that resonate with them.
6. Children seek stories that reflect their own growth and transformation, featuring characters who evolve and adapt. Characters who remain static or ‘stuck’ are perceived as childish or unengaging.
7. Children seek stories that reflect their own feelings and experiences but also transport them to worlds where the ordinary becomes extraordinary. This combination allows them to explore complex emotions within the safe, yet thrilling, confines of a fantastical setting.
8. Children enjoy discovering new information or skills as part of an engaging storyline. They appreciate stories that subtly weave educational elements into the narrative without making them the focal point.
9. Watching a film together at home forms an opportunity for family bonding. The cinema experience, however, is valued by children not only for the film, but also for the unique environment, the big screen and peripheral experience it provides.
10. Differences in preference are determined by age rather than by nationality or gender, and while local nuances which shape country-specific preferences can be identified, young European audiences share more similarities than differences.
Besides the 10 key findings, the Kids Regio Forum final report also presents a series of recommendations to support the European children’s film industry.
It calls for young audiences to be prioritised through positive discrimination in the allocation of funding for children’s films, both on a national and a European level.
It also says there is a need for pan-European co-operation via a European Children’s Cinema Network, inspired by the successful national model in Sweden.
Finally, it recomends that regular data collection and analysis on children’s film production, distribution and audiences is essential for informed decision-making and advocacy.
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