Youth Experts

YOUTH EXPERTS are part of the m:brane brand

We believe it’s absolutely crucial to experiment, to include the target group and focus on process in order to lift the field of Youths content creation as a whole. That’s the larger perspective, which we are putting on top of the agenda.

It started with REALYOUNG in 2015, the m:brane initiative for producers to develop documentaries for and with young audiences. We have developed REALYOUNG to meet the needs of younger audiences today. We want to offer them access to edgy, daring, stimulating and thought-provoking reflections on real life.

Before each workshop we dress the Youth Experts exactly as the Professional Experts to become familiar with each project and it’ s creators and background and context.

During the pre-pitch workshop project holders get direct feedback from the Youth Experts after the presentations, providing them with insightful and captivating opinions.

At this stage we have also developed workshops, that focus more on process than on project. And since we analyzed where the industry’s Gatekeepers are, we ended up inviting Decision Makers to the workshops as well. In fact, they were very excited about this development.

MEET THE YOUTH EXPERTS

YOUTH EXPERTS AND A YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD

HOW m:brane FOCUSES ON YOUTH EXPERTS AND A YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD

The participation of Youth Experts throughout our events has grown to become one of the key factors to m:brane’s brand.

What we aim to create at m:brane is a space in which the young participants are regarded as fully human beings and therefore alone equal to adult experts. We mind ourselves, that they are just at a stage in life, that is different from where we, the adults, are. In that stage, they are closer to the genuine, to the creative force and to their inherit intelligence. The younger, the closer.

Often, we realize quite a big gap between what our B2B participants think is “good, right or great content” for the young audiences – and what actually does speak to the target groups at deeper levels. And deeper levels are what we aim to enhance.

Youths often express existing ideas in unexpected and new ways, and thereby bring important insight and energy to new concepts and edgy productions for Young Audiences.

Adult professionals taking part in our activities, experience that feedback coming directly from their main target groups, guide and lift their projects towards new, more innovative and contemporary levels. Our professional workshop participants, often state that they have been happily surprised by the feedback they receive.

So after having worked more deeply in interaction with Youth Experts, we very often see that the project in the open arena pitching session two days later have become quite altered. And that the inherent potential redeemed differently, more clearly and even with other focus areas.

What REALYOUNG participants say:

“We succeeded because we had the opportunity to test the interest of the kids and how they would prefer to watch and enjoy our project.”

Rebeca Sánchez LópezKepler Mission Films S.L., Spain (2017 participant)

“Your expert meeting with kids was very good. It is very valuable, and it should be even more important. Also for the Commissioning Editors to listen to at the table.”

Willemijn Ceruttiproducer, The Netherlands (2015 and 2019 participant)

“The pitch at the Forum was a boost, the feedback was overwhelming, and this made it easier for financiers to trust us for further funding.”

Ingvil Giskeproducer, Norway (2018 participant)

These apparent effects have convinced us of the importance of having a steady body of Youth Experts, from which we can seek advice and feed-back; m:brane’s Youth Advisory Board. The board consists of Youths in different ages, with unique insights into today’s media consumption.

Our carefully designed creative lab’s ThinkJam and Participatory Design Track at m:brane’s Opening Industry Day conference, spans over two afternoons where creatives of Youth content from all fields/sectors are challenged to backtrack their ideas and examine the actual theme in order to make the original idea better. Within the process, the workshops involve the target groups themselves, Youth Experts in different ages, who work directly as co-creators under the various workshop themes.