The 30th edition of MIPCOM prelude MIPJunior featured two days of panels, presentations, screenings and pitches over the weekend in sunny Cannes, France.

In her keynote speech on Saturday, Cecilia Persson, managing director of BBC Studios Kids & Family, revealed that the division has doubled its development slate and talked about how its recent restructuring is designed to trigger growth.

With a streamlined one-budget-one-slate operation, the studio has developed partnerships to bring new series to air, including Phoenix Rise, which the BBC commissioned and co-produced with Canada’s Sinking Ship; and Popularity Papers, co-produced with Canada’s Aircraft Pictures and distributed by Wexworks Media.

Persson also shared details about two kids projects on the studio’s beefed-up development slate. The first is a sci-fi live-actioner from Irish author Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl) and screenwriter Viko Nikci. Described as “bingeable,” it follows a group of unlikely young heroes through many mysterious and comedic plot twists. And on the animation front, the BBC is teaming up with Big Deal Films to develop a series about a wannabe rapper, based on the Little Bad Man books by Humza Arshad and Henry White. Finnish prodco Haruworks is also developing a preschool series called Flip, Flap and Zip, inspired by the unboxing trend.

This year’s MIPJunior Project Pitch saw Canadian prodco Big Bad Boo Studios and Ukraine’s Starlight Media emerge as big winners in the kids and tweens/teens categories, respectively. Big Bad Boo pitched Ava Undercover (pictured), an animated series about an Iranian-American girl who loves cracking cases, while Starlight introduced Really?, a live-actioner about a teenage girl in Eastern Ukraine whose life is impacted by the war.

Later on Saturday, KidsKnowBest chief strategy officer Pete Robinson took to the stage for “New Kids On The Block” presentation, in which he mapped out trends in kids’ behavior and content preferences. While influencers continue to serve as a gateway to content for younger audiences, Robinson presented a case study in which kids discussed the appeal of YouTuber Mr. Beast—who launched a crowdfunded initiative to plant 20 million trees. Insights revealed the extent to which today’s young consumers value adjacency to social causes.

In his presentation, Robinson also issued a warning for brands and kidcos looking to wade into the proto-metaverse. “One child recently discussed with us how adults have made a bit of a mess of the real world, and now they’re coming into Roblox and making a bit of a mess [there, too],” he said. “Kids are starting to feel disenfranchised by all the branded and commercial content for Roblox. It has to be authentic.”

On Sunday, kids and animation execs from India ran a seminar called “Indian Animation & VFX: Forging a Global Destiny,” discussing the growth of animation and creative capabilities in the region.

While financial support is available for international co-productions, the challenge lies in creating “universal” stories that can thrive in the Indian market but also resonate in other territories, said Anu Sikka, EVP of the kids division at Mumbai-based Viacom 18 (Nick India).

“Now, India is not just a post-production hub—we are actively investing in becoming a content hub,” added Senthil Rajan, joint secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.