Dragon Tales:

At first glance, the Dragon Tales team seems an odd marriage. On the one side is Children's Television Workshop (CTW), the 30-year-old, not-for-profit icon that has made its mark with several generations of kids to whom it taught the ABCs. On the other side is the children's division of monster studio Columbia TriStar Television Group (newly renamed Sony Pictures Family Entertainment Group), which has a varied collection of projects with a strong action-adventure component such as the Men in Black TV series and feature film Godzilla.

Scratch a little deeper though, and the relationship isn't all that unusual. Perhaps a few years ago it may have been considered odd, but with producer and broadcaster alliances firmed up, increased competition in the kids market, and the expensive prospect of exploiting all the accompanying mediums beyond TV, few bedfellows seem odd these days.

Co-production partnerships are becoming more creative in nature, as well as more common. The rules of the co-pro game, regardless of who the players are, are two-fold: hook up with a company that complements yours, and find a player that can inject needed cash; both of these goals minimize risk. Although a co-pro relationship is not something larger studios need to pursue, Bob Higgins, senior VP of creative affairs for Sony Pictures Family Entertainment Group, says "for a lot more of the original programming, it makes sense to at least explore it."

And for Dragon Tales, the original-programming risk is indeed there. This is an unfranchised concept; no book, movie nor CD-ROM of any kind exists-just some paintings discovered at an arts festival. So, for the time being, this is no Arthur or Paddington Bear with well-established tailcoats to ride on.

For Columbia TriStar Television Group (CTTG), which conceived the show through producer Jim Coane, the partnering with CTW allows the studio to advance into the arena of educational preschool programming while holding hands with this realm's uncontested pro. It also brings a US$6.2-million grant obtained from the U.S. Department of Education, administered through the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (a grant that Sony alone could never have secured), as well as a much-coveted relationship with pubcaster PBS.

Enticing for CTW were CTTG's access to solid in-house animation facilities and the much-needed cash acquired by the studio's rights purchase.

And neither was soured by the experience. The compromises seemed to work for both CTW and CTTG, but lining up shared objectives was key. "It's not only a financial question," says CTW's Steve Miller, group VP of international television and product, "it's also a question of finding partners who share a vision, especially when you are talking about children's TV."

Few players, regardless of size or stature, are willing or able to take the same chances, and this particular alliance just serves to illustrate that the playing field is becoming a little more even. While the landscape may be a little more complicated, the rules of the game are being applied with more uniformity.

The property

Dragon Tales is a 40 x half-hour preschool animated series created by Children's Television Workshop (CTW) and Columbia TriStar Television Group. The series, which has a budget that falls in at just under US$20 million, follows the adventures of six-year-old Emmy and her little brother Max as the pair is transported into Dragon Land. The show, which received a grant from the Department of Education, administered through the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB), has an educational bent. Its three primary goals are: to encourage young children to investigate new challenges; to help kids identify the different ways to deal with the challenges they may encounter in their lives; and to help them understand that trying, and perhaps not completely succeeding, is a valuable exercise.

Each of the 40 episodes is divided into two 12-minute shows, separated by a two-minute music video. There are 80 separate episodes, an opening song and 12 musical interstitials in all.

How the partnership began

Jim Coane, a producer who made his mark with reality-based shows such as America's Most Wanted and Totally Hidden Videos, joins Columbia TriStar in July 1995 from 20th Century Fox, where he served as an overall deal producer. That summer, while visiting the Sawdust Art Festival in California, Coane stumbles across the paintings of Rod Rodecker, a former elementary school teacher, principal and counselor for children with emotional, academic and learning problems. His art depicts dragons in mythical backgrounds. "Ron's artwork and the worlds he created were whimsical and beautiful," says Coane. Inspired by these paintings, Coane comes up with a show concept about strategies for overcoming the challenges-physical, emotional and social-that all children eventually face.

With the go-ahead from CTTG, Coane shops the idea around. PBS likes it and suggests showing it to the member stations, but all pass on the concept.

October 1995

While at MIPCOM, Coane meets with friend and former senior VP of programming and production at CTW, Marjorie Kalins. He shows her the property, simply looking for feedback. When she returns to New York three days later, Kalins calls Coane to tell him that she and CTW love the idea and want to partner with CTTG on it. To top if off, CTW wants to tap into grant money in the amount of US$6.2 million on offer by the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB), as part of the Ready to Learn program. The hitch is that the deadline is in three weeks. "Fortunately, at CTW they press F7 and out comes a grant proposal," quips Coane. But it wasn't as simple as that. A thumbs-up was given at the highest levels and, according to CTW's VP and project director on Dragon Tales Karen Gruenberg, the company marshaled all its forces to meet the application deadline.