A thought from Annecy

I'm back from Annecy animation festival a couple of weeks now and I've been gathering my thoughts. How was it? It was hot. Like, temperature-wise I mean. It got up to 37 degrees and I really felt it. Yes, I still ate hot, melted cheese dishes probably invented for the winter skiing months because why wouldn't I? I was sweaty in all the wrong places.

But heat and cheese aside, I found myself feeling conflicted about the vibe, like I was chasing conclusions that I just couldn't quite pin down (hence not posting up to now).

Mostly, I found myself with questions about identity.

As I expected post-Digital Circus, Backrooms and Obsession, there was lots of talk of the creator economy which, in many ways, sounds lovely but often what it really amounts to is: hey, how about you do all the work first and build a big audience and then come to us when you're done? Not all that different to the current default of buyers only wanting to buy big brands which, yes, also amounts to: hey, how about you do all the work first and build a big audience and then come to us when you're done?

In either route, you're not really buying a property. You're buying an audience. But you're also buying a sense of identity. A very strong, already-established sense of what something is, or who someone is, and who that sense of identity means something to. We attach ourselves to what we love, to what we experience and we like to share that love and that experience with others. We've been doing that forever, right?

But then I began to look around at the people asking for these built-in audiences, and I asked myself: what's their identity?

There was a time when someone could put on the Disney Channel and know exactly what to expect. Or Cartoon Network. Nick. The Sci-fi (Syfy?) Channel. Comedy Central. And so on. A strong sense of identity. Now I can see Crunchyroll, Shudder, a few smaller niche ones. But when I look at the wider streamers, I don't really know who they are. And I'm not sure who they are for.

I have to believe that's a factor in the lack of loyalty to services among younger people.

Maybe this isn't really all that different to days gone by where there were larger, more varied TV channels that existed over the more targeted cable channels but, in the days of streaming, where much of our lives are narrowed into interests by algorithms and retention is a constant struggle, I think identity needs to start taking centre stage in conversations in the near future.

Especially because, for us, where our films and shows end up really matters. Not all homes are equal. I know sometimes it feels like such an uphill struggle that we'll take any platform that offers us some revenue (or sometimes even homes that don't) but the long term health of what we make and our IP is often hugely affected by where it can, or can't, be found. And what audience that might open up to us.

Identity works both ways.

The identity of the platforms, the streamers, the homes should be just as important to us as the identity of our content is to them. So when we're asked what's our identity, I think it's probably a very good idea to follow that up with: what's your identity?

Anyway, it was good to catch up with friends and peers at Annecy. Let's do it again soon, only just a few degrees cooler if that's okay.