RTÉ Independent Productions

RTÉ YOUNG PEOPLES

COMMISSIONING BRIEF

Commissioning Editor - Sheila DeCourcy
Executive Producer - Pauline MacNamara

UPDATED: Friday 13th April 2012

RTÉ: OUTPUT for CHILDREN

RTÉ broadcasts two distinct programming blocks designed specifically for its younger audiences on television. For the 0-6 year olds RTÉjr delivers a mix of both original and acquired live action and animated programming on RTÉjr Saorview 2 from 0900 - 1845 on weekdays. This programming is also broadcast on RTÉ TWO from 0900-1500 on weekdays, and during the early mornings at the weekend. For older audiences, aged 7-15, TRTÉ on RTÉ TWO delivers a mixed schedule from 1500-1730 weekdays and mornings at the weekend. In addition 'Two Tube', a third programming strand, for older teens and young adults runs from 1730-1900. All of our original programming is complemented by online content on our websites, and on digital radio. (During school holidays the schedule alters according to the availability of the young audience)

TYPES OF PROJECTS WE'RE LOOKING FOR

RTÉ YPP looks for a broad range of material to meet the needs of these audiences. Entertainment, gameshows, reality challenge, factual and lifestyle, drama and comedy are all of interest to us. Short-form series can work well as can longer series of half-hour programmes. Documentaries and specials also work well in our schedule. Both animated and live action treatments are of interest. As the online world is central to the world of todays child, we are looking for shows which will engage our audience on more than one platform. Proposals which embrace multi-platform will be favoured at assessment.

Above all, however, your proposal must have the capacity to bring something original, innovative and exciting to our audience.

Of particular interest to us at this time are co-productions with broadcasters or content producers in other countries. These should deliver material reflective of and relevant to youngsters living in Ireland in a way that is cost-effective to RTÉ.

WHAT HAS WORKED FOR OUR AUDIENCE?

Our audiences love to escape their daily lives with good stories, strong characters and loads of humour. They like people to look up to, people who will guide them through the messy business of everyday life, and entertain them on the way. They love (age-appropriate) anarchy and passion, but their lives are busy and their media lives even more cluttered. So TV content needs to hook them right from the opening moments of a show to the very end, and the content must have an online resonance. There must be something to talk about - whether in school or online after the show.

Since the launch of RTÉjr and TRTÉ in September 2010 we have seen the creation of many new series. On RTÉjr series such as the 'growing and cooking' series GRUBZ UP, OUT THE BACK in which a team of boys create games in the back garden, the animated series GARTH AND BEV and comedy shorts READY STEADY REUBEN have been very successful with the younger audiences. PUNKY the animated series in which the central character has Down Syndrome has also been a special feature of RTÉjr this season.

Successful series on TRTÉ included MISSION BEACH USA which brought 8 Irish 16 year olds to Florida to train as lifeguards; the teen entertainment show WHO ARE YOU KIDDING?, recorded in front of a live audience of hundreds; FRENEMIES, a debating gameshow, in which teenagers try to work out who is with them and who is against; Science challenge series THE MOUNTAIN and PRIMARY SCHOOL MUSICAL which followed TY students as they devised and produced a musical in their local primary school. One-off documentaries included ON THE BLOCK:ROAD TRIP in which the Buckingham St Film Club travelled to Tory Island to meet young filmmakers who live there, and ONLINE ALL THE TIME following a youngster in his bid for online success.

SO, WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE INTERESTED IN?

We are interested in original well-considered ideas for programmes or series. We are interested in proposals for existing formats which have a 'junior' skew or reversion. We are interested in co-productions on proposals which will contain a strong Irish component and provide our audience with good value-for-money content. We are interested in innovative production models, original onscreen/online style and diverse approaches to storytelling. We are interested in every proposal having an original complementary online component or dimension. Finally,as we are unlikely to commission a subject area already in the schedule, we highly recommend you familiarise yourself with our output before finalising your idea or proposal. We look forward to hearing from you.

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PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS HAS NOW PASSED AND WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS

YOUNG PEOPLES' PROGRAMMING

GAMESHOW or ENTERTAINMENT SERIES

Duration: 25 minutes

No. of Episodes: 9

Target Audience: 9-12 year olds (tweens)

Transmission: Weekdays

Budget: €241,000

Young Peoples Programmes is looking for proposals for an entertainment series which primarily targets the tweens audience (9-12 year olds) for transmission in an early evening slot.

Our audiences love good stories and strong characters. They enjoy humour, anarchy and passion. They need to be hooked from the opening moments of a show and entertained right to the very end. Successful programmes for this audience understand the audience and feature and reflect the themes which occupy their worlds and minds.

This particular age group is curious about growing up, about attaining independence from their parents, about developing personal relationships, about identity and how they should appear to their own peer group. Their generation is celebrity obsessed. Social media has created a world in which confident youngsters publish many aspects of their own lives and anybody can be a celebrity.

Other programmes which have been successful for this audience include Frenemies, a debate-based game show, Sing! - a teen version of the gameshow The Lyrics Board and OMG! Jedward's Dream Factory. In the lifestyle/reality genre Mission Beach USA and Ultimate Street Challenge have also engaged the age-group successfully.
We are looking for a proposal for a series that will entertain and engage our tween audience. A game show format with jeopardy, skill and fun at its core will have appeal. This audience enjoys much of the entertainment programming made for adult audiences (Deal or No Deal, ICA Bootcamp, Got To Dance, Anonymous, I'm A Celebrity, Masterchef). A series for this audience would need to incorporate the production values of adult/family shows: the jeopardy, the entertainment and the fun.
Each programme can be self-contained and capable of standing alone, however there should be a format or other defined identity that gives cohesion to the series.

Youngsters with strong, engaging characters should feature strongly on-screen in each programme and there should be a good regional spread amongst participants.

It is envisaged this series will be block recorded in a studio but ideas but location based ideas achievable for the available budget may also be considered.

Existing formats or formats new to RTE Young Peoples Programmes/Ireland will be considered.

Proposals should include a format outline, draft running order, proposed talent. In addition casting methodology should be addressed along with criteria for selecting the participant teams and characters within.

The experience and credentials of the production team is a critical factor for the success of this series. Proposals should indicate that suitable director(s), producer(s) and production personnel have been approached and agreed to commit to participate in this series. Proposals should also identify suitable presenting talent and outline why his/her/their skill set and experience represent a valuable asset to the production format and style.

The completed series must be available to RTÉ for transmission from 3rd September 2012.

If you have an idea you think fits the bill we're interested in hearing from you by Wednesday 4th April 2012.

We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system:
https://e-commissioning.rte.ie/SWIFT.Web/skins/rte/login.aspx
under the programme category Young Peoples "Gameshow or Entertainment Series" closing date for submissions is Wednesday 04th April 2012

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PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DEADLINE HAS NOW PASSED AND WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS

YOUNG PEOPLES' PROGRAMMING

Lifestyle/Reality

No. of Episodes: Between 5-10 episodes

Duration: Half hour

Transmission: 5.30pm weekdays

Target Audience: 11-15s

Budget: Range €80,000 - €85,000 per hour

What are we looking for?

We are looking for strong reality or ob-doc programming designed to appeal to tweens and teens. The appeal of this genre for Irish youngsters is evidenced by the recent successes with MISSION BEACH USA which saw 8 Irish 16 year olds take the challenge to train for 3 weeks at the Fort Lauderdale Junior Lifeguard Programme, and tackle sun, sea and survival on the Florida coastline; ULTIMATE STREET CHALLENGE which challenged 10 sixteen year olds in a series of physical and fitness trials using Dublin city as an urban gym and SUPERCREW, which followed the search for Ireland's hottest teenage hip hop dancers with the aim of creating a new dance group to perform alongside Jedward at the Christmas pantomime.

The successful proposal will feature teens taking part in a series which embraces the positive aspects of teen world - achievement, bond-building, physical challenge, positivity, friendship, happiness, overcoming fears etc. Ideas which see the participants in the outdoors, nature and sunshine also have an appeal.

We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system:
https://e-commissioning.rte.ie/SWIFT.Web/skins/rte/login.aspx
under the programme category Young Peoples "Lifestyle Reality before close of business Wednesday 07th March 2012"

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PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DEADLINE HAS NOW PASSED AND WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS

SCIENCE SHORTS

No. of Episodes: 5 x short films

Duration: 2.5 min

Transmission: During Two Tube (between 5.30pm and 7pm weekdays)

Target Audience: 11-18s

Budget: €28,000

What are we looking for?

Dublin is the City of Science 2012 and to mark the celebration of science in Ireland Young Peoples Programmes would like to commission five short films which will play to a tween-teen/young adult audience. The scope is broad - these shorts can be live action, animation, drama, documentary in style. They can be high concept and will be repeatable during the year either as stand-alone interstitials or as a series of inserts with a continuing narrative. Given the audience age profile, placing a wow-factor or humour at the core of these shorts is advantageous.

We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system:
https://e-commissioning.rte.ie/SWIFT.Web/skins/rte/login.aspx
under the programme category Young Peoples "Science Shorts 2012 before close of business Wednesday 07th March 2012"

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PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DEADLINE HAS NOW PASSED AND WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS

LIVE ACTION

No. of Episodes: In multiples of 5

Duration: 8'00"

Transmission: RTÉjr (0-6's)

Budget: Up to €42,000 per hour

What are we looking for?

We are looking for a series of fun, activity-based programmes for RTEjr which will appeal to 0-6 year olds. In YPP we have had successes with Grubz Up!- a series about growing and cooking; Out The Back - boy's creating games and adventures in their back gardens; and The Art Factory which saw teams of children take on art challenges.

This audience likes to watch children at the upper end of their age demographic and slightly older children but proposals need not feature children. While we are not looking for presenter-led programmes, adults may be of interest on-screen as children's entertainers or comedians. Themes already featured on our programmes include cooking, growing, make & do, back-garden antics and art. Areas we are interested in exploring for this audience include farms and rural scenes, irish wildlife and nature, comedy, music and sport. Programmes commissioned for RTEjr will have repeatability and a lasting appeal to serve both RTEjr on RTE Two and RTEjr on Saorview.

We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system:
https://e-commissioning.rte.ie/SWIFT.Web/skins/rte/login.aspx
under the programme category Young Peoples "Live Action 2012 before close of business Wednesday 07th March 2012"

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YOUNG PEOPLES' PROGRAMMING

ANIMATION for RTÉjr

No. of Episodes: Multiples of 5

Duration: Up to 11'00"

Budget: Finance available to a max. of €60,000 per hour

What are we looking for?

RTÉ YPP is interested in receiving your proposals for animated series suitable for the RTÉjr audience. The RTÉjr audience is made up of two distinctive groups - under 4's and 4-6 year olds. For the Under 4s the world is a safe and magical place, and their lives are very defined by the range of their daily interactions. Series which continue to be successful with this audience include GRABBY-BAG, FLUFFY GARDENS and HAPPY VALLEY. For 4-6 year olds the world is opening up as they deal with everything going to school offers. For this audience PUNKY and GARTH AND BEV work particularly well.
Series commissioned for RTÉjr for the 2011-2012 season include 'I'M A MONSTER' which features information about monsters; 'THE ABADAS', a mixed-media, word-based series and 'JOE AND JACK' which features character-based stories.

When submitting an animation proposal for consideration it is helpful for us to have as much detail as possible. Ideally this should include Producers CV and Production Company information and similar for proposed co-producers, production bible (Including character description, project synopsis and episode outlines;) any completed scripts or pilot; rough indication of budget and finance plan including additional sources of finance.

Proposals may be considered for general Broadcaster support, support for BAI Sound and Vision Funding or other funding support. While it is appreciated that funding models necessitate proposals for animated series looking towards the international market, proposals that have an Irish resonance are of particular interest to us. This may be reflected in a number of ways including visual design; specific character qualities; soundtrack; editorial content amongst others.

We are also interested in proposals that offer versions in both the Irish and English languages, aswell as potentially other languages which are part of Ireland's cultural diversity. Proposals which bring an original or unique point of view, understanding or dimension to the RTÉjr schedule will be particularly welcomed.

We ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system:
https://e-commissioning.rte.ie/SWIFT.Web/skins/rte/login.aspx
under the programme category Young Peoples "Animation for RTÉjr"

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YOUNG PEOPLES' PROGRAMMING

ANIMATION for TRTÉ

No. of Episodes: Multiples of 5

Duration: Up to 24'00"

Budget: Funding available to a max of €75,000 per hour

What are we looking for?

RTÉ YPP is interested in receiving your proposals for animated series suitable for the TRTÉ audience. The TRTÉ schedule has two distinctive focuses. When TRTÉ starts, following the end of RTÉjr channel block behind, the core audience is aged 7-10 years old. At this age the world is opening up , but it's still a time when youngsters want to be safe, and entertained, and to laugh a lot. BALLYBRADDAN has worked very well for this audience, and coming into the schedule in 2011 is THE MAD COWS which follows the adventures of a crazy bovine bunch as they travel around Ireland, in search of surf, in their campervan.

Later in the afternoon tweens and teens join the TRTÉ audience. At this stage they want to escape (from school, authority, their parents.. You name it) but they want to feel safe; friends and fitting in are very important to them and anything that gets in the way is problematic; they love anarchy and madness and in consuming content they are platform-neutral, and will only stay with something if it engages them from the start - or if their friends are watching too. ROY worked very well for this audience, and there is a new series commissioned for 2012.

When submitting an animation proposal for consideration it is helpful for us to have as much detail as possible. Ideally this should include Producers CV and Production Company information, production bible (Including character description, project synopsis and episode outlines;) any completed scripts or pilot; rough indication of budget and finance plan including additional sources of finance.

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YOUNG PEOPLES' PROGRAMMING

Entertainment/ Gameshow/ Quiz

No. of Episodes: Between 5-10 episodes

Duration: Half hour

Transmission: 5pm weekdays

Target Audience: 11-15s

Budget: Range up to €50,000 per hour

What are we looking for?

Entertainment shows form a strong part of the young peoples schedules. Recent successful series include 'FRENEMIES' , 'QUIZONE', 'TEST THE TEACHERS' and WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE'. Smart, fast-moving, clever, these series feature kids in control, taking on one another and/or turning the tables on the older generation. Quizzes, challenge shows, action shows all rate well with our audience. Have you got ideas for a series which will engage our audience?

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YOUNG PEOPLES' PROGRAMMING

Comedy

No. of Episodes: Episodes in multiples of 5

Duration: Up to Half hour

Transmission: 5pm weekdays

Target Audience: 11-15s

Budget: Up €70,000 per hour

What are we looking for?

Have you developed an idea which will make youngsters laugh out loud? Youngsters love to laugh. Situation comedy, slapstick comedy, pranks, basic silliness all are attractive to the TRTÉ audience. They love when situations that are familiar to them are turned upside-down. They love when kids get the upper hand on adults. They love magic and energy. They hate seeing someone humiliated or undermined, particularly someone of their own age.

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YOUNG PEOPLES' PROGRAMMING: TWOTUBE

SHORTS: Drama, Comedy, Documentary, Issue Driven..

No. of Episodes: In multiples of 5

Duration: 1'00"-3'00" With potential for compilation

Transmission: RTÉ Two, 1830 during Two Tube

Budget: Up to €50,000 per hour

What are we looking for?

We are open to receiving proposals for highly original, quirky, entertaining or immersive short-form content for our teen strand Two Tube. Series which have worked very well in this schedule include cross-media series THE GUITAR and THE DRUMS; user-generated style series SWEDED TV; the award-winning series AISLINGS DIARY (which had a range of simultaneous formats, from 3'00 - 90'00" compilation, and everything in between!) THE VARIETY SHOW, TEENOLOGY, MANAGING THE UNIVERSE and ARTY FARTY. Content should work across platforms, sitting comfortably both online and on broadcast and ideally should drive consumers back and forth between platforms.

This series lends itself well to innovative production models as well as a wide range of treatments and subjects. Proposals for this series should include a sample script and treatment; an outline of content to be covered as well as proposals for key talent etc.

Please note:

The discussion of, or initial interest in, a proposal does not represent a commitment to commission by RTÉ and should not be understood as such. Commissioning decisions will reflect the quality of proposals received and the scheduling priorities operating at the time. RTÉ's financial position will also be a factor.

Any proposals previously submitted to RTÉ in categories listed here, and which were rejected on a first reading in a previous Round, should not be re-submitted and will not be reconsidered.

RTÉ 2010
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