Josh Selig, founder and president of China Bridge Content and former CEO of Little Airplane Productions, recently attended this year’s edition of the China International Cartoon & Animation Festival (June 20 to June 24). This week, we’re running his key takeaways from the event in a series that looks at the state of China’s kids TV market.

Perhaps the biggest change I noticed at CICAF was a clear tilt towards creator-driven content. Nowhere was this more apparent than at Fish Studio in Hangzhou. This company is run by its iconoclastic owner, JiaYao Yu, who has created a string of successful originals including Prince on Youku and Naughty Elfin, which streams on all the leading platforms in China. JiaYao’s lovely shows are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. 

“To create from the experience and feeling of one’s own life is often the most original method,” he said. “At the same time, I combine artistic elements of my interests into the creation and enrich the early concepts with my personal favorite animation styles. Our creations have a unique look, and therefore stand out quite well in China. On the whole, the animation industry here is still developing vigorously. In recent years, many small studios have emerged, and the original content has become more and more abundant.”

So what are the big opportunities for Western companies in China these days? Well, if your only goal is to try and get your shows on the air and perhaps sell a few plushies and pajamas, then your chances are slim to none. Even if you’re fortunate enough to find an interested platform and get past all of the red tape, the license fees for new shows—both foreign and domestic—are quite low, and no one’s earning a lot of RMB on distribution.

On the other hand, if you’re interested in making a real commitment to China and exploring opportunities to co-develop, co-produce and share rights in this vast media landscape—in gardening parlance, to cross-pollinate—then China remains a vibrant market filled with endless possibilities and surprises. But be forewarned: Nothing in China grows quickly, and without spending real time here—eating and talking and listening—nothing grows at all.

Are geopolitics getting in the way of doing business in China? It didn’t seem like it in Hangzhou. You could find folks from leading Canadian companies like WildBrain and Nelvana, as well as contingents of Europeans, Russians, Koreans and Singaporeans. There were fewer Americans than in years past, and I’m not sure we were missed. 

It’s become all-too-apparent to me that we Americans could do better in the area of “cultural awareness” (as we used to call it on Sesame Street). Case in point: A colleague from one of the bigger US media groups confessed to me, “We often joke that our idea of a ‘win-win’ deal in China is we win, and then we win again.”

Years ago, I had a quote taped above my desk in New York that said, “Partnership is difficult, but it is more honorable than dominance.” This line has been on my mind all week in China.

In these volatile times, when arm-wrestling could easily escalate into something far more serious, I believe partnerships of all kinds, including in animation, are more important than ever. And conversely, not learning to live and work together could one day threaten not just the Jenga tower of global media, but also (in Disney China parlance) all walks of life.

Thanks for listening. This is my stop.

This wraps up our Making Sense of China Now coverage. Selig started this series off on Wednesday by exploring the general outlook of the massive Chinese market, and yesterday he tackled the challenges that domestic companies are facing when they try to work with Western ones. 

Pictured is kids cosplaying outside of the CICAF event. Courtesy of Josh Selig.