Tonight was Nickelodeon’s night to shine with the broadcaster scoring 10 wins at the 2025 Kidscreen Awards ceremony and coming out on top in categories where it faced stiff competition from other multiple winners including Disney (five) BBC Studios (four) and DreamWorks Animation (three) Nick will share three of its wins with Netflix for Avatar: The Last Airbender Best Inclusivity and Best in Class in the Tweens/Teens Programming category And this older-skewing live-action series tied with Bluey for the most wins overall The preschool sensation from down under took home trophies for Best One-Off Special or TV Movie with Bluey: The Sign in Preschool Programming and Best YouTube Channel in the Preschool Digital category Last year’s Kidscreen Awards leader Disney did well again with both its existing franchises and new IPs Disney Frozen: Forces of Nature won Best Podcast in the Kids Programming category while Percy Jackson and the Olympians was named Best New Series in Tweens/Teens Programming The 2025 Kidscreen Awards celebrated the year’s best work in children’s television and digital media at a fun ceremony hosted by comedian TV personality and chart-topping podcaster Jessi Cruikshank and held during Kidscreen Summit in San Diego Here’s a complete list of winners in the programming categories as determined by two separate panels of judges that were predominantly made up of broadcasting execs: There’s also a set of Kidscreen Awards categories designed to spotlight the best efforts of broadcasters to build stronger connections with kids and family audiences around the world These winners were decided through an online vote by Kidscreen magazine and Kidscreen Daily subscribers that took place in December And rounding out the Kidscreen Awards program is a set of digital categories for preschool (ages zero to five) and kids (ages six and up) as determined by a panel of qualified industry judges This is just some random content to show the different layouts possible Cloudco Entertainment and WildBrain Studios are teaming up on a project that’s just as sweet in terms of revenue and licensing potential as the brands involved the two companies announced that they’re co-producing a 44-minute animated preschool special called The Care Berry Switch (working title) that unites the Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake in a content title for the very first time These brands—which have each thrived in the market for more than four decades— both have huge followings so bringing them together should be a very smart business strategy they’ve collectively racked up roughly six million social media followers generating 313 million impressions and 35 million engagements on TikTok Cloudco and WildBrain are aiming to parlay these considerable metrics into major content and consumer product wins for both companies but their alliance is also a blueprint for brand crossovers coming at a critical time for a troubled industry While studios struggle to secure commissions and financing increasing revenue potential by building complementary brand partnerships may be an option to consider This theme of coming together isn’t just playing out on the business front; it’s also baked into the premise of the special itself—which sees Strawberry Shortcake and Cheer Bear wish on the same star for a new adventure The characters then end up in each other’s worlds and must work together to protect them from villains Cloudco and WildBrain are co-developing the project and collaborating closely on all aspects of its creative evolution Spearheading the art direction is WildBrain’s Vancouver studio which is in constant communication with Cloudco to define the special’s art style This particular brand team-up works well because the Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake share a similar ethos around friendship and kindness American Greetings originated both IPs as greeting cards only a few years apart buyers increasingly want content that can support their channels and platforms with strong marketing programs and these brands both have international reach and an engaged social media following that will help spread the word And this kind of built-in popularity gives the crossover loads of value to broadcasters Although there are no broadcast deals signed yet consumer products partners have already recognized the market potential of this collab Licensing teams at both companies have started building a co-branded program that spans apparel Products started rolling out in the US and Canada in fall 2024 and will continue to launch in those markets right into the 2025 holiday season Some of the partners that are already on board include Samii Ryan (apparel) High IntenCity (fashion jewelry and accessories) CultureFly (collectibles) and FYE (food & beverage) the landscape in the kids & family market is shifting at the moment but the capacity of known IPs and their connection to an audience is more important than ever,” says Betts “We felt that the power of these beloved brands would break through the noise that consumers and buyers face.” This story originally appeared in Kidscreen’s Q1 2025 magazine issue You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed France — At the entrance to the Lycée La Salle Deforest de Lewarde in Douai in Northern France students are welcomed with a “bonjour” written on the wall in many languages: “guten tag,” “hello,” “buenos días.” There used to be the Polish “dzień dobry” as well — but it got painted over during a recent renovation we will bring ‘dzień dobry’ back!” said Diego Mercier But while it shouldn’t be too difficult to repaint the greeting re-establishing a good relationship between schools in Douai and the Polish town of Puławy could prove more problematic — especially after the Polish municipality signed an anti-LGBTQ pledge counties and regions have signed similar declarations and charters several European towns have ended twinning partnerships with their Polish counterparts the European Commission rejected grants for six Polish towns under a citizens’ program for twin municipalities linking the decision to the anti-gay declarations “Many citizens wrote letters to me saying how stunned they were about Puławy’s decision I really couldn’t sit and do nothing” — Frédéric Chéreau the rule of law and respect for human rights including the rights of persons belonging to minorities are fundamental EU values,” Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli told POLITICO in a statement “These principles must be applied transversally to all EU funding.” Decisions like that are putting a real price on the largely symbolic anti-LGBTQ declarations with many international cultural programs and youth exchanges suspended or canceled where many Polish people emigrated between the wars to work in the mines It’s had a twin partnership with Puławy in Eastern Poland since 1996 said he’d found out about Puławy’s declaration and decided to freeze the partnership I really couldn’t sit and do nothing,” he told POLITICO His immediate decision was to withhold invitations for Puławy’s officials to Douai But he didn’t exclude that future exchanges between two high schools would also be suspended “It’s unbelievable to declare a town an LGBT-free zone,” he said But he also stressed that schools had enjoyed a “perfect” partnership for four years “I hope we’ll get there to separate the youth exchange and the exchange between two cities,” he said The headmaster of the high school in Puławy “We have put a lot of work in this exchange,” she said “We should divide the exchange of young people from the [municipality’s] declaration,” she said the Dutch town of Nieuwegein also cut its ties with Puławy The trend of towns making anti-gay declarations was sparked by a decision last year by Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski to sign a city charter pledging support for LGBTQ people PiS and conservative organizations said that such initiatives would allow activists to “smuggle LGBT ideology into school” and will “sexualize children.”  In response to Warsaw’s liberal mayor many smaller Polish towns — usually governed by right-wing mayors — staked out anti-LGBTQ positions Some endorsed the “Regional Charter of Family Rights,” drafted by the right-wing Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski signed a city charter pledging support for LGBTQ people | Radek Pietruszka/EFE via EPA The charter doesn’t mention LGBTQ explicitly but calls for the “protection of marriage being a union of a man and a woman,” which is already safeguarded by the Polish constitution and says that public funds shouldn’t be spent on “projects that undermine the constitutional identity of marriage.” The statement endorsed by Puławy states that the town will aim to “stop the ideology promoted by the LGBT subculture.” The city council won’t allow special provisions to help LGBTQ students and will protect public officials According to the Atlas of Hate project the towns and regions that have signed some sort of anti-LGBTQ document cover one-third of Poland’s territory Puławy says its declaration “doesn’t trigger any specific actions” against the gay community “There has been no violence in the town,” said a spokesperson in which he argued Puławy “was the object of the media and political attack” and that there’s “no law discriminating against people because of their origin political opinions or sexual orientation.” That stance is creating painful financial consequences Six Polish towns — the Commission didn’t name them — won’t get extra funds from a town twinning program Commissioner Dalli said the rules of the program are “very clear.” They state that it should be accessible “to all European citizens without any form of discrimination on grounds of sex “It is my responsibility to ensure that EU values are respected in all our work and in all EU funds,” she added “It is our duty to protect European citizens from discrimination Inaction was not an option and would have made the European Commission complicit.” Poland’s Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro called Dalli’s decision “groundless and illegal” and said the Commission had a duty to respect the traditions and views of member countries He’s asked Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to intervene in Brussels “It is my responsibility to ensure that EU values are respected in all our work and in all EU funds” — Commissioner Helena Dalli reportedly one of the six towns that didn’t get the grant the town’s mayor asked the local council to reconsider its anti-gay decision “One can’t calculate this image loss. It’s not just €18,000 that we’re losing,” Mayor Magdalena Marszałek told Polish TVN24 television adding she fears the town’s international partners “won’t treat Tuchów seriously.” “We won’t have an annual meeting of twin towns … we won’t have the meeting But Andrzej Głaz, head of Tuchów’s local council, isn’t backing down. “I pity those EU actions. I’m waiting until somebody there wises up,” he told the NaTemat website “One can live poorly but with dignity,” he added Local leaders say they urgently need more funds to address housing crunch and build schools warning that Warsaw’s proposed reforms are merely cosmetic The country hasn’t faced energy shortages despite the war — but power companies have taken a major hit The plan aims to rapidly find alternative sources of energy while ramping up energy savings and renewables The Habitable Worlds Observatory Preliminary Input Catalog (HPIC) is a list of ~13,000 nearby bright stars that will be potential targets for the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) in its search for Earth-sized planets around Sun-like stars We construct this target list using the TESS and Gaia DR3 catalogs and develop an automated pipeline to compile stellar measurements and derived astrophysical properties for all stars We benchmark the stellar properties in the HPIC relative to those of the manually curated ExEP HWO Precursor Science Stars list and find that for the 164 best targets for exo-Earth direct imaging We demonstrate the utility of the HPIC by using it as an input for yield calculations to predict the science output of various mission designs including those with larger telescope diameters and those focused on other planet types besides Earth analogs The breadth and completeness of the HPIC is essential for accurate HWO mission trade studies and it will be useful for other exoplanet studies and general astrophysics studying the population of bright nearby stars Diagram illustrating the procedure used to construct the HPIC ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran Quebec’s animation industry is in a state of collapse following a change in the Canadian province’s animation and VFX tax credit regulations And more than half of all related jobs have disappeared since January 1 According to the Quebec Film and Television Council there were 8,000 people employed in the province’s animation/VFX industry in 2022 and more than 4,000 of them have lost their jobs in the last 20 months The strikes in Hollywood last year certainly hurt And then the Quebec government made a significant change to its animation and VFX tax credit this May increasing the base rate of the credit from 20% to 25% all eligible labor costs—including the costs of a contract with a service provider for VFX and animation—were covered Quebec VFX and animation studios sounded an alarm just before the new tax credit terms went into effect on May 31 stating that the industry “is facing a major revenue loss and reduced competitiveness” because of this change The release also predicted that thousands of jobs would be at risk and that Quebec talent would either move to other parts of Canada or to countries that provide better support for animation—a prediction that appears to be coming true According to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) a seven-time Academy Award-winning visual effects and animation studio announced it would be making significant staffing changes in the next few weeks.” Currently it’s unclear whether these anticipated job cuts represent a new round of cutbacks or are part of layoff talks the company reportedly initiated in May that are expected to result in a 5% worldwide staff reduction (affecting all offices IATSE attributes these upcoming layoffs directly to the tax credit change “The consequences have already been devastating for the province,” said John Lewis the union’s director of Canadian affairs “We’re seeing a talent and economic bleed Highly skilled workers are making plans to leave and studios are closing their doors and relocating.” The tax credit change may have also exacerbated a problem that Canada’s francophone animation industry has been facing for the past few years: there just isn’t enough supply or demand for its work “It is much more difficult for us to find content that has originally been created in French,” Lambert said our preference would be to buy original French content but it’s hard to secure the rights as there is not much available and all francophone Canadian broadcasters need the content there’s a similar story being told in France where animation sales were down by 11% (to US$56 million) in 2023 because of a decrease in market demand from North American buyers and fewer deals for worldwide rights animation is still France’s second-biggest genre in terms of exports making up 25% of the content it sells abroad (behind fiction) Animation also accounted for a big portion of French presales last year (59.8%) and co-production investment in the genre was up by 54% to US$40.2 million In total, French program sales generated US$225.6 million in revenue last year, representing a 5.3% decrease from 2022. Still, this is only the third time in 30 years that program sales have exceeded €200 million, according to data released yesterday by Unifrance and the CNC Image of Montreal courtesy of Michael Beener via Unsplash. Toronto-headquartered 9 Story Media Group has inked a deal to co-develop and coproduce its first-ever TV series based on a Roblox game The company will join forces with Baobab Studios (The Witchverse Baba Yaga) to turn the latter’s Momoguro games where creatures use magical powers to fuse together and become powerful beings into an animated series for six- to 12-year-olds A spokesperson for 9 Story said that the “companies will both use their creative development and production experience and 9 Story also brings its distribution and merchandising experience to the deal.” Martin Allais and Nico Casavecchia (BattleScar) created the IP with Baobab two kids born on opposite sides of an ancient feud learn to work together to transform their world for the better have collectively racked up more than 21 million visits This story originally appeared in Kidscreen Image courtesy of Baobab Studios and 9 Story Media Group A lot of people in the industry know I have a particular love for Australian teen/YA series And I don’t know whether it’s the accents the beautiful coasts or the stunning surfing—but I have fallen hard for Netflix series Surviving Summer Aussie hitmaker Werner Film Productions (Dance Academy Crazy Fun Park) dropped the second season of this live-action show in September and its romance/coming-of-age story picks up with Aussie surf hopefuls and spunky Brooklyn-born expat Summer navigating new waves and relationships finding your voice and teamwork through the lens of competitive surfing and Netflix has renewed it for a second season that will drop sometime in 2024 While I obviously have a fondness for Australian teen dramas my favorite new series of 2023 actually comes from the UK Netflix’s Everything Now is a powerful and not-at-all-clichéd live-action take on a 16-year-old girl’s struggle with anorexia to clearing up misconceptions (it certainly shattered several of mine about eating disorders) the series does a stellar job of illustrating how people are more than their diagnoses This is one of London-based Left Bank Productions’ only shows for younger audiences—the studio is much better known for its work on Outlander and The Crown Me with The Long Walk (note the shelf of Stephen King books behind me I’ll be keeping an eye on the recently announced Lionsgate adaptation of one of my all-time favorite books Stephen King’s seminal YA novel The Long Walk The Long Walk (1979) is basically a proto Hunger Games that tracks a group of teens competing in a twisted walking challenge—those who stop are instantly killed the director of 2023’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes The Long Walk has changed hands a few times over the course of its lengthy journey to the big screen But I’m betting that it could become the next hit film franchise for teens Top image is Ryan Tuchow moderating the Putting the AI in Animation panel at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in September Cartoon Forum has unveiled 12 nominees for its annual Cartoon Forum Tributes awards with a London-based company notably making the list now that the UK’s eligibility has been restored The event’s 1,000-odd attendees will vote onsite to determine this year’s winners for Broadcaster of the Year Investor/Distributor of the Year and Producer of the Year with producers Blue Spirit Productions (Alice & Lewis) and GO-N Productions (Simon Super Rabbit) and distributor APC Kids all shortlisted In recent years, kids producers from the UK have faced daunting domestic challenges including local broadcasters commissioning fewer kids projects and the government ending the BFI’s Young Audiences Content Fund which supported the development of more than 140 kids projects Having a chance to attract and secure international co-pro partners financing and broadcasters could be a major boon to some Brit studios This year’s Cartoon Forum will feature 77 series from 16 European countries these projects have a combined budget of US$426 million and represent 479 hours of potential new content In 2022, Germany’s KiKA won Broadcaster of the Year Spain’s Goldbee was named Investor/Distributor of the Year and Peakaboo Animation (also based in Spain) took home the Producer of the Year prize Here’s a full list of this year’s Cartoon Forum Tribute nominees Pictured is French studio GO-N Productions’ Annette which it’s presenting at Cartoon Forum 1. Moonbug awarded US$23 million in major copyright case by: Ryan Tuchow  The company wins its lawsuit against China’s Babybus for “blatantly copying” CoComelon characters 2. FEATURE: An oral history of PAW Patrol by: Cole Watson and Sadhana Bharanidharan  As Spin Master’s juggernaut turns 10 the execs and creative talent behind this iconic preschool franchise share the story of how it took over the small screen 3. Moonbug Entertainment lays off CoComelon staffers by: Cole Watson  Moonbug has let some writers go as it wraps up long-term projects for its biggest franchise and additional positions have also been eliminated in the restructuring 4. Basic Fun! to relaunch Hasbro’s Littlest Pet Shop by: Cole Watson  The toyco is working on a new range of toys playsets and accessories for the collectible critters that will hit shelves in 2024 5. Peacock unveils a Jurassic park LEGO special by: Sadhana Bharanidharan  Dino content finds a way—onto NBCUniversal streamer Peacock 6. Netflix, Disney leading the kids TV pack in LGBTQ representation by: Ryan Tuchow  Netflix was the streamer with the most LGBTQ characters in its kids content last year but there was a slight dip in representation overall 7. And the 2023 Kidscreen Awards winners are… by: Jeremy Dickson  Netflix walked away with 15 trophies tonight and two of its kids shows—Deepa & Anoop and Heartstopper—tied for most wins 8. The Daily Wire launches a kids streaming app with originals and pick-ups by: Ryan Tuchow  Bentkey is in the market for more children’s programming as it looks to spend US$100 million in three years 9. Five predictions that could define the kids market in 2023 by: Ryan Tuchow  TikTok becoming the next big search engine and a linear comeback are some of The Insights Family’s latest prognostications 10. WildBrain workers move to form a union by: Ryan Tuchow  Hundreds of animators at the Vancouver studio have signed union support cards and they’re running a town hall next week to talk about next steps The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is gearing up to host its third-annual Children’s & Family Emmy Awards ceremonies in LA this Saturday So we ran a fun poll earlier this week asking you to pick this year’s winners in the three biggest award categories Keep an eye out for our post-awards coverage on Monday to see how your picks fared And good luck to everyone who’s in the running either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content Two separate teams of scientists have looked at the question of what makes a planet outside the solar system—or an exoplanet—habitable arriving at answers that could redefine how and where we search for life in the Universe University of Cambridge Institute of Astronomy professor Nikku Madhusudhan considered Hycean planets a term he coined to define a water-rich planet with a surface covered entirely in ocean and an atmosphere that is made of mostly molecular hydrogen Penn State University Astronomy and Astrophysics Ph.D graduate student Noah Tuchow questioned how the regions of habitability around stars themselves can change over time Both studies could break the mold of what we consider a habitable planet and where within star systems other than our solar system astronomers look for such worlds this search has focused on Earth-like terrestrial worlds in the zone around a star that has the right temperature to allow liquid water to exist The fact that this means a region that is neither too hot nor too cold has led to it being dubbed the Goldilocks zone by astronomers Considering Hycean worlds expands the possible range of habitable planets because they can hang on to liquid water outside what is considered the traditional Goldilocks zone "Hycean planets can be both significantly larger and significantly hotter or cooler than the planets that have been considered for habitability in the past," Madhusudhan told Newsweek Madhusudhan, who is the lead author of a study discussing Hycean worlds in The Astrophysical Journal said that there are more of these planets beyond the limits of the solar system than there are rocky worlds like Earth and that their atmospheres are ideal for analysis As Hycean planets are large and abundant in the exoplanet population it is easy to detect them and to study their atmosphere "All these properties allow for a much broader range of planets that can be potentially habitable and majorly boosting our chances of finding life elsewhere "This work could be a paradigm shift in our search for life." Madhusudhan and his team have already identified 11 Hycean world candidates orbiting nearby stars, with the conditions of a Hycean world first spotted by the astronomers in the water-rich atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b in 2020 The exoplanet which is identified as a Super-Earth—a planet like ours but much larger—orbits a red dwarf 124 light-years from Earth and the characterization of its atmosphere by Madhusudhan and his team pointed them to this exciting new class of exoplanets "Hycean planets greatly expand and accelerate our search for life on exoplanets beyond just focusing on an Earth-twin," Madhusudhan said a researcher at Portugal's Institute of Astrophysics and Space Science who was not involved with the research told Newsweek: "The new class of potentially habitable planet that the study presents could quite quickly affect the search for life There are still several open questions regarding the real habitability of these planets and they are not as promising as terrestrial rocky planets in this regard their larger atmosphere is much easier to detect and study It significantly increases our capacity to detect biosignatures if they are present." a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State took a different approach to the definition of habitable worlds In a paper published in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, they pointed to the fact that star systems are dynamic and change over time. This means that Goldilocks zones can change too and planets may not remain habitable throughout their entire existence "The habitable zone only gives a snapshot of the current day This is a problem because the brightnesses and temperatures of stars evolve over time causing their habitable zones to change with them," Tuchow told Newsweek "Just finding a planet in the habitable zone doesn't tell you whether it has been habitable for billions of years or if it just entered the habitable zone recently." Tuchow and Wright say this means there are two types of planets in habitable zones, planets that form there and stay there, and belatedly habitable planets that form outside Goldilocks zones and find themselves within them due to changes in their parent star. "These belatedly habitable planets have often been overlooked to the extent that they didn't even have a name prior to this study but they may comprise many if not most of the planets that will be found in the habitable zone," Tuchow said "When we search for life on planets around other stars we need to reevaluate whether these belatedly habitable planets would make good targets." Astronomers should not only focus on whether a planet is in the current day habitable zone but they should also take the host star's evolution into account and consider how long a planet has remained in the habitable zone and whether it has remained habitable for its entire lifetime said: "The fact the researchers have found a quite convincing name for these worlds might help to disseminate the idea as they also wrote the real question is: does being in the belated habitable zone affect the capacity of a planet to have the conditions to host life?" The next major step in the redefinition of habitable worlds and the regions around stars they exist will likely come with the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) which will have the observational power to properly assess the atmospheres of distant exoplanets Demangeon thinks that Hycean worlds will be a prime target for ground-based telescopes too "I am expecting that in the near future several of these planets will be targeted by space and ground-based facilities for atmospheric characterization," he said Madhusudhan already intends to train the space telescope on K2-18b and search its atmosphere for signs of life The researcher says that the debate regarding the habitability of Hycean worlds could be settled in as little as 20 hours of observation with the JWST "We know that planetary systems are extremely diverse in the universe so there is no reason to think that life will be limited to Earth-like environments," Madhusudhan said "The discovery of a biosignature in a Hycean planet will naturally be transformational not only signaling the existence of life elsewhere but also its presence in environments very different from our own." Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all A Torah scroll that since 1942 has been hidden in a Tuchow monastery was returned to the synagogue in Dabrowa Tarnowska in southern Poland The Torah was returned earlier this month but reported for the first time on Saturday It had been brought to the monastery in Tuchow by an anonymous person who asked the Redemptorist priests to hold the scrolls until the synagogue in Dabrowa again became a place of prayer according to Father Kazimierz Piotrowski of the Redemptorist monastery in Warsaw “After the war for many years the synagogue was systematically devastated The Torah was thus kept in a monastery in Tuchow,” Piotrowski told the Catholic News Agency The synagogue in Dabrowa Tarnowska was built in the second half of the 19th century; during World War II the Germans turned it into a workshop Over the past few years the building was renovated and it is now the House of Cultures in Poland the Redemptorists decided to donate the Torah scroll there the mayor of Dabrowa Tarnowska gave the scroll to conservationists and today it can be seen in the prayer hall of the former synagogue I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward American Jews need independent news they can trust At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S rising antisemitism and polarized discourse This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up Copyright © 2025 The Forward Association Except for minor tweaks here and there in their option offenses Darby and Davidson keep few secrets when they meet in the Battle of Hilliard Except for one third-quarter collision Friday night with Davidson linebacker Ryan Tuchow Darby quarterback Nick Powers gained the upper hand on the great majority of those challenges capped by a 55-yard touchdown run with 5:16 remaining to rally the Panthers past the Wildcats 15-10 The start was delayed 50 minutes because of intermittent lightning strikes >> Videos | Football highlights from around central Ohio >> High-school football results, box scores from Week 2 “We made little adjustments in order to try to establish some things in the second half namely Nick Powers,” Darby coach John Santagata said and we expect that kind of performance out of him.” Darby opened the third quarter with an impressive drive Tuchow stormed in and hogtied Powers on a sneak for no gain The Wildcats used that momentum to tack on a field goal for a 10-3 lead at the end of the third quarter “We didn’t let that get to us,” Powers said “We knew we had plenty of time to come back The coaches saw something in the press box and we made some adjustments We started pushing the ball down the field The offensive line really started opening up things for me I know I’ve got to carry the team being a senior leader.” With his 29-yard keeper on third down leading the way Darby mounted a 65-yard scoring drive to open the fourth quarter Powers’ 8-yard keeper for a touchdown with 10:02 pulled the Panthers to 10-9 Powers broke free down the sideline for a 55-yard TD that secured the victory for the Panthers (2-0) had a great block to spring me,” Powers said “We had perfect blocking assignments all the way around.” but its drive stalled on fourth down when quarterback Jack Klein was intercepted by Malcolm Mock near midfield Darby outgained Davidson 343-178 and limited the Wildcats to 48 yards after halftime when Klein hit Nathan Rose on a 48-yard touchdown strike The Wildcats managed just seven first downs “Whenever we did seem to get some momentum penalties really slowed us down,” Davidson coach Brian White said fundamental team like Darby and expect to get away with it.” one of the area’s premier quarterbacks as a junior He showed the speed to get out on the edge for some big gainers especially on the one that broke our back in the fourth quarter.” Tuchow played a brilliant game on defense for the Wildcats (1-1) with four tackles for loss Blake Sawicki added a 45-yard field goal for Darby which avenged its only regular-season loss from last season Despite a year that can best be described as challenging the kids content industry is doing its best to be a model of optimism and determination and their heroic efforts to get projects off the ground against all odds are worth showcasing Here’s a look at some new shows designed for preschool and bridge audiences that got their start in 2024 And tomorrow we’ll look at what’s gone into development for older kid viewers Method Animation’s Pango and the Treehouse Club is a comedy toon based on a series of popular educational preschool apps from Studio Pango The concept revolves around a blue raccoon and his four friends who dress up in fun costumes to try out different occupations (firefighters etc.) as they work on helping the residents of Pangoville solve their problems This show stars a neurodivergent frog named Dots who starts her first year at boarding school in Singalong Swamp and learns to do amazing things her own way with the help of her friends which animates ZeptoLab’s On Nom Stories series is behind this new comedy-adventure about The Fabulous Piglini a porcine magician who uses his whole bag of tricks to protect his town from a baddie named LeBrun Max & Ruby) is on board as a story editor Marty Knox (Skunk Fu!) is producing this Thai comedy created by Pongpisit Tammakoon (LEGO Friends) A young girl named Teewa must master her knowledge of the magical fruits that grow in the forest near her village in order to live up to her role as Fruit Doctor This unique concept was recognized as a project “with international market potential” at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest where it earned an ADATA Future Innovation Award and a cash prize of roughly US$9,000 (TWD$300,000) Today’s kids are disruptors themselves a researcher and trends analyst at Sydney-based McCrindle Spending their time gaming on Roblox and Fortnite and watching videos of other people playing games Gen Alpha’s main differentiator is that they’re “digitally integrated,” said Fell Producers need to acknowledge the fact that TikTok is their top search engine and most want to be famous YouTubers when they grow up Doing business for this demo—which is so large that by 2025 Gen Alphas (born 2010 to 2024) will be the largest generation in the history of the world—means embracing their “co-creator spirit.”   kids want to be part of creating the media they consume adding that engaging these kids means providing content that helps them find their values and purpose a media expert and professor at NYU Stern School of Business His pitch was for producers to take a “yes and” approach with content strategies developing content digitally first instead of waiting for a TV deal With all the time kids spend watching people playing games on the platform it’s inevitable that someone will launch a TV series there Companies should be moving into the lucrative world of gaming sooner rather than later “Be brave enough to greenlight yourself,” said Shapiro “Instead of spending US$100,000 on a sizzle reel develop content on TikTok and YouTube and establish an IP online.”  Some creators are starting to parlay TikTok success into TV deals live-action series Nikki’s Makeup Mansion featuring TikTok celeb Nikki de Jager (nikkietutorials) launched on Dutch kids broadcaster NPO Zapp launched in January TV isn’t dead, however. Kids worldwide still enjoy watching scheduled linear broadcasts at times so they can have a lean-back viewing experience, said Adam Woodgate, SVP of media trends at Dubit. (See Sky Kids’ new linear strategy as evidence of this.)  One of the main undercurrents of the event’s presentations was that kids need positivity and inspiration “Producers need to make content that interests involves and inspires the kids,” Fell said And Shapiro put it even more bluntly: “Stop greenlighting the apocalypse; we need to greenlight inspiration.”  the event’s closing press conference revealed that 5,650 delegates attended this year’s event Next year’s event will be held from April 15 to 17 “I know there’s been talk around uncertainty with markets but I can tell you that MIPTV is here to stay,” said MIPTV director Lucy Smith at the market’s closing press conference CP growth for YouTube brands and older nostalgic IPs getting new content made some of the biggest headlines in kids entertainment news this year we’re taking a look back at our top-10 Kidscreen Daily stories for the year Coming in first by quite a margin was the news that mobile game Subway Surfers (pictured) would roll out an exclusive North American consumer products program at Walmart the popular endless runner game grew its US retail presence with toys Other stories that resonated with our readers included news about YouTube darling CoComelon (100 million subscribers) SpongeBob and Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir Our Kidscreen Awards results always make for a popular story when we announce the winners in February an editorial about Black Lives Matter also garnered a lot of attention #5: CN & Boomerang crawl onto Lucas the Spider by Alexandra Whyte was picked up by both WarnerMedia broadcasters in a worldwide deal Polish towns that were refused EU money because of their anti-LGBTQ views can count on financial support from the government in Warsaw, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said Tuesday leader of the ultra-conservative United Poland — the junior coalition party in the government headed by Law and Justice (PiS) — and author of sweeping and controversial changes to the judiciary said he would grant the southern town of Tuchów which last year signed an anti-LGBTQ charter 250,000 złoty (€57,000) — three times as much as the town was supposed to get from the European Commission under a citizens’ program for twin municipalities In July, Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli rejected grants for six Polish towns linking the decision to anti-gay declarations counties and regions have signed such declarations and charters Ziobro on Tuesday called Dalli’s decision “persecution” and “ideological revenge,” claiming that local authorities such as Tuchów’s don’t discriminate against anyone but protect traditional family values Dalli’s actions were illegal and unauthorized,” he said “We can’t leave such municipalities on their own in a legitimate reaction condemning the European Commission’s action will stand together with the local authorities and the citizens.” The row over LGBTQ rights is another chapter of Warsaw’s fight with Brussels Ziobro said he’d talk to the country’s prime minister about setting up a special “financial mechanism” to help those towns that have been “harassed” by the Commission He also admitted that the ministry couldn’t identify the other five towns that hadn’t received the EU money Earlier this month, the Polsat television station reported that some towns that applied to be part of the twinning program and were rejected did not sign anti-LGBTQ declarations Ziobro on Tuesday said that Dalli might have “punished some of the towns in advance.” The Commission did not disclose the names of the six towns that didn’t receive the money It did say that some of the rejected applications came from towns elsewhere in Europe that had partnerships with Polish regions that had signed anti-LGBTQ declarations The row over LGBTQ rights is another chapter of Warsaw’s fight with Brussels. Discussions on the EU’s long-term budget and coronavirus recovery fund contained a proposal to link funding to the rule of law which proved one of the most contentious in the negotiations as Hungary and Poland opposed a strong link The final agreement watered down earlier language on the topic On Monday, a group of famous names — including film director Pedro Almodóvar, writer Margaret Atwood and philosopher Slavoj Žižek — sent a letter to the European Commission calling on Brussels “to take immediate steps to defend core European values — equality respect for minorities — which are being blatantly violated in Poland.” Also On POLITICO Polish police crack down on LGBTQ protesters By Jan Cienski Polish towns pay a steep price for anti-LGBTQ views By Zosia Wanat Final Fantasy IX is perfect It’s a tale that starts off with some swashbuckling hijinks but quickly develops into a tale about loss It’s about eight characters each trying to find their purpose in life and carve out their space in the world It’s rare that Final Fantasy IX is acknowledged outside of a few little references and the odd port this PlayStation One gem is going to reach a whole new audience Paris-based animation studio Cyber Group Studios has reportedly signed a deal with Square Enix to create an animated series aimed at 8-13 year olds. And honestly, that sounds perfect. I think of shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender and know that cartoons that tackles hard-hitting issues can do so delicately This is also the age range where I played Final Fantasy IX for the first time and none of those themes went unnoticed by me and colourful locations lends beautifully to an animated show as well We’re obviously still a ways off of the show being a thing Tuchow reports that episode length or count have yet to be finalised and that production won’t start until the end of this year at the earliest Source: Kidscreen Alana Hagues Alana was with RPGFan for nearly seven years and did a little bit of everything A lover of baking and animals (especially dogs and reptiles) It feels like the perfect age group to hit to be honest I'm just delighted FFIX is getting some extra love You must be logged in to post a comment This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. RPGFan is a gaming website focused on roleplaying games and related genres such as graphic adventures Advertise on this site. © 2025 Emerald Shield Media LLC | Designed by Valkyrie Studio and MPT Creative Kidscreen wants to know if you think the UK’s eligibility to participate fully in Cartoon Forum should be reinstated co-pro partners and participants are still permitted to attend the event as as they traditionally have UK-based companies have not been eligible to serve as lead producers on project submissions for the last five years because the country’s government withdrew from the Creative Europe MEDIA funding program in 2020 as part of Brexit The UK Screen Alliance has been lobbying the government to rejoin (which would restore its previous status with Cartoon Forum) Meanwhile, as a workaround, Cartoon Forum established an Animated UK Meets Europe showcase in 2023 to give a handful of UK-led projects a separate presentation opportunity. Five concepts were featured that first year, but the initiative wasn’t run in 2024. And it’s back this year Share your thoughts with us: Should Cartoon Forum do more to make the UK a bigger part of the event Or is it already a crowded enough event without the UK Many planets that have the right temperatures for liquid water on their surfaces used to be too hot or too cold which may affect their ability to host life now By Leah Crane Illustration of two planets orbiting a red dwarf star A large proportion of planets in the so-called habitable zone – the area in orbit around a star where conditions are right for liquid water on a world’s surface and thus potentially for life – weren’t always there That might mean that we are vastly overestimating the number of worlds that could host life While researchers often think of the habitable zone of any given star as being relatively static it actually changes as the star evolves and its brightness and temperature change That means that worlds born well outside… Oksana Platero's family arrived in Tuchów after a horrific seven-day-long escape journey from Ukraine Robert Rinder has been hailed as 'remarkable' by his Strictly Come Dancing partner after finding her Ukrainian family in Poland.  The renowned British judge successfully tracked down Oksana Platero's grandparents and aunt in the Polish town of Tuchów on Wednesday confirming their safe status to the world with an emotional update.  and Lidya—who are aged between 75 and 90—escaped from wartorn Ukraine after a brutal seven-day-long journey this week The Eastern European country was invaded by Russia on 24 February and has now been under the attack of President Putin's troops for 22 days.  'Auntie Lidya' and 'Grandma Zoya' can be seen tearfully hugging the broadcaster at their new temporary residence was partnered with the criminal lawyer back in 2016 when he competed on the 14th season of Strictly Come Dancing She is currently unable to travel to Europe because of work commitments in the US but has expressed gratitude to Robert after discovering he'd located her family.  "I can’t say thank you enough to my wonderful SCD partner @robrinder and his team for being there for my family and so many others," she wrote on Instagram "You are a truly remarkable man and my love for you is limitless Sign up to our free daily email for the latest royal and entertainment news expert advice on styling and beauty trends and no-nonsense guides to the health and wellness questions you want answered A post shared by Oksana Platero (@oksanaplatero) “They’ve welcomed us with loving arms to this tiny place that they’re found shelter in," Robert told TalkRadio shortly after he arrived at Tuchów "There are her two grandparents in one small room Vasiliy has Parkinson’s—he’s barely able to get out of bed Zoya greeted us all like a loving grandmother.”  We made it here thanks to our brilliant fixers.. Both called Oksana. ❤️ ❤️ @RickyJFreelove https://t.co/f4SmCeT2WX pic.twitter.com/CvR8BlJGueMarch 16, 2022 A post shared by Robert Rinder (@robrinder) Robert also explained that they had managed to 'purchase' Vasily a wheelchair and basic medical supplies adding that the Red Cross is running out of the essential resources.  “I have to tell you it’s a pretty rough journey to get here," he continued They are going to stay here until they can go back to Ukraine Emma DooneySocial Links NavigationLifestyle News WriterHailing from the lovely city of Dublin Emma mainly covers the Royal Family and the entertainment world as well as the occasional health and wellness feature she has a passion for interviewing everyone from A-list celebrities to the local GP - or just about anyone who will chat to her Emma holds an MA in International Journalism from City and a BA in English Literature from Trinity College Dublin photos and original descriptions © 2025 worldatlas.com Neither coach Brian White nor his Hilliard Davidson players had any inkling heading into two-a-day practices in August that the defense would emerge as one of the best in program history we’ve had more talented players at their various positions there isn’t one Division I prospect in the whole bunch you can’t argue with the results they’ve produced They’ve done it game in and game out against some really good offenses.” Heading into a Division I regional semifinal matchup against potent Huber Heights Wayne (12-0) on Saturday in Dayton Davidson (11-1) is allowing just 5.1 points per game Davidson has reached the playoffs 13 times including 11 trips to a regional final and highlighted by state championships in 2006 and 2009 The cornerstone of his program has been a strong defense complemented by a ball-control running game out of the triple option our defense should always be the strength of the team or else we’re in for a long season,” White said “Our philosophy is to put our best players on that side of the ball with the exception of the running back and quarterback.” Coming off a 6-5 season — its worst since 2002 — Davidson was under the radar Dublin Coffman and Central Crossing were considered the favorites in the Ohio Capital Conference Central Division has four shutouts and allowed only two opponents to reach double figures while coasting to the No.?2 seed in the region I didn’t think our defense was anything special,” senior linebacker Andrew Kozman said “We just kept surprising ourselves from one game to the next and kept gaining confidence There’s definitely a competitive pride about playing defense here that drives you to get better.” Senior all-district linebacker Ryan Tuchow said preseason practices often were an exercise in futility “I thought we might struggle some coming out of the gate,” he said “It just took a while for us to figure out our schemes and connect as a unit.” in which Panthers quarterback Nick Powers broke two long touchdown runs The Wildcats allowed only three touchdowns the remainder of the regular season “That loss was a wake-up call and showed us we weren’t as good as we thought we were,” Tuchow said “We go into every game with the mindset that it’s going to be close and we can’t allow anything.” because of its cohesiveness and willingness to play within the structure of co-defensive coordinators Ryan Aleshire and Scott Snyder “They just go out and do their jobs very well and that’s the ultimate compliment you can pay someone,” White said “It’s a really tightknit group that works well together They know where each other should be and where they fit in the big picture." Tuchow and Kozman have anchored the middle of the defense Zac Uphouse and two-way starter Dylan Day have been stalwarts on the line while cornerback Jacob Ross leads the secondary White said comparing this defense with others during his tenure is an apples-and-oranges proposition the 2011 regional finalist that allowed 4.8 points per game was the best The 2006 and 2009 state title teams yielded 10.1 and 9.6 points “People always ask me which team was better between the ’06 and ’09 teams and I tell them we won in ’06 because of our offensive line and we won in ’09 because of our front seven on defense,” he said The point I would make is that teams are spreading it out and playing a much more wide-open game now than they were back then Just look at what we did against some really good offenses.” Davidson limited a Central Crossing team that averaged 31.1 points per game to three points and nine points held Upper Arlington (30.1) to seven points and 10 points and shut out Dublin Coffman (31.5) and Olentangy Liberty (25.9) “I think one of the strengths of our defense is our preparation,” Kozman said but we watch an unbelievable amount of film looking for tendencies and I think we’re able to adjust to all kinds of offenses.” Toronto’s Sheridan College is suspending a number of programs and undergoing role reductions due to decreased student enrolment Sheridan is pausing a total of 40 programs arts and design faculty: visual and creative arts journalism and visual merchandising design Students currently enrolled will be able to graduate but these programs will be off limits for new enrolment Sheridan said it is anticipating a 30% decrease in enrolment in the coming years it is conducting “a comprehensive organizational review to streamline operations transform processes and enhance our ability to adapt with greater agility.” The college also stated that there will be role reductions as part of a budget management strategy president and vice chancellor of Sheridan College said the changes “are required for Sheridan to remain a financially sustainable and vibrant community in response to chronic underfunding Centennial College’s dean of the School of Communications told Playback Daily that its children’s media program was cancelled for January 2025 due to low enrolment but Centennial will be offering the program in September He said the program is open to international students A previous version of this story inaccurately stated Sheridan College’s computer animation visual effects and honours bachelor of film and television programs were paused It also inaccurately stated that Centennial College had cancelled the next academic year of its children’s media program A version of this story originally appeared in Kidscreen Pictured: Sheridan College’s campus in Mississauga Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker 2023 Winner Scott Martin with presenter Negin Khodayari 2022 winner Yutang Song with presenter Abeer Khan 2017 winner Sarah Krichel with presenter Sierra Bien 2016 winner Ryan Jeffrey Tuchow with presenter Nicole Schmidt 2015 winner Deni Verklan with presenter Sean Westlaar For the student demonstrating excellence in political studies and journalism Journalism student Jay Sussman died of cancer in November 1984 before he was able to complete his final year in the program. Described as “bright inquisitive and humorous,” he made a lasting impression on those who knew him. Remembering his devotion to human rights and his belief that journalism and politics could contribute to eliminating injustice and inequality his family and friends set up this memorial award; later extended by a generous contribution from the Eyeopener The winner is chosen by the Department of Politics and Public Administration Undergraduate office.journalism@torontomu.ca 416-979-5319 Graduate mj@torontomu.ca It’s almost impossible to comprehend the sheer volume of people displaced by the Ukrainian conflict who need transport – but seeing three hundred buses in Warsaw loading up with refugees from Ukraine was one sight that struck Mullingar man Colm Smullen as he made his way back to Ireland two weeks ago after delivering a van rammed full of medical supplies to a small village on the Polish-Ukrainian border Preparing already to repeat the almost 4,600km round trip this weekend Colm says that what he has been told is most urgently needed is more medical equipment and supplies It was through reading of the various efforts under way locally to collect for Ukraine that professional courier Colm got involved in the effort to help – firstly by donating the use of warehouse space so items could be sorted for dispatch and then by getting the items collected transported from Mullingar to Poland “They had been bringing black bags of donations to houses and trying to sort it there – you can’t send it out without having to repacked and sorted into boxes of food and of medicines or whatever,” says Colm businesses and individuals all started donating more and more items and then collections that had been happening through the efforts of Kilbeggan Motor Factors and collections from places locations such as Killucan Rochfortbridge and Ballymore were added to the mix “Then the chemists got involved taking donations and turning them into medical supplies,” says Colm but worrying then that he is leaving some names out “That saw all the medical stuff grow and then Natalie Glennon who is from Ukraine and married to a fellow in Ballinalack was doing collections everywhere and anywhere from nurses and people who work in hospitals who were able to get their hands on medical supplies between all the chemists and all the people who brought stuff “We guesstimate it was worth about 120 grand “But that’s just the medical items – we had all the other stuff as well and I got another truck driver – Norman Weir from Gaybrook – to bring them to a warehouse on the Naas Road belonging to Harris Trucks where everything is being put on trucks for shipping to Poland,” says Colm adding that he understands that 100 pallets of donations a day are being shipped from Ireland: “That’s general aid – everything from dog food to medical stuff and clothes.” Colm and his brother Trevor left Ireland the Tuesday before St Patrick’s week to begin the long journey eastwards: “We basically drove to Rosslare and got the boat at 12 o’clock that Tuesday night and 24 hours later we got off the ferry at Dunkirk after very little sleep and we started driving through France “We were originally going to the capital – Warsaw: all the trucks go to the capital because there are a couple of aid depots there,” says Colm lots of small towns and villages right on the border are dealing daily with refugees who have just escaped from Ukraine and were in immediate need “So I sent a Facebook message to a Polish girl in Cavan who was collecting up stuff to ask where she thought we should go and she said: ‘If you don’t mind doing an extra four hours’ drive could you come to my home village – Tuchów - 50kms from the border with Ukraine’ “She then said: ‘I’m actually here at the minute’ “Herself and her two daughters had flown over the day before.” That meant Colm and Trevor had a definite destination the local fire crew was awaiting for them and ready to unload the stock “The volunteers unloaded the van in half an hour; then they opened up the pub to get us something to eat and they got some woman to put us up for the night and then next morning after breakfast we met the mayor.” Through a translator they were told the items they had sent over were badly needed at the local hospital The ferry trips and the seven full tanks of diesel meant mammoth journey cost over €2,000 and the ferry costs came from other donors Happily donations of supplies are still coming in: the day after St Patrick’s Day alone seven pallets of donations were sent up from Galway Everything goes to the warehouse and it is all being readied for dispatch to Poland “After sorting it over St Patrick’s weekend I have ended up with another van load of medical supplies and we have 40 pallets of other stuff – and there’s more coming in.” The non-medical items will be delivered to the Harris depot in Dublin Colm reckons that the clothes collected are probably not needed in Poland - but that they will be needed by the refugees who arrive here He is looking into the possibility – as is being done in Dublin – of setting up a free ‘shop’ where Ukrainians who arrive in this area will be able to choose clothes Colm’s getting ready for this weekend’s return journey: “I’m actually going out this time with no co-pilot I’m bringing two people back with me,” he says explaining that the two women he is bringing have been unable to secure flights to Ireland Colm admits that he has been hugely impressed at the levels of generosity he has witnessed locally he got to deliver a load of buggies to the reception centre at Dublin Airport which is the first port of call for Ukrainians arriving in this country: from what he has seen a lot of the arrivals are young parents with children Other examples are a furniture shop in Longford is giving €500 towards the cost of diesel for this week’s trip: “I have had other calls from random business around town and from other people Revoluting me money for the travel costs,” he says adding that special thanks are due to Whelehans Pharmacy Fagan Office Supplies and Kilbeggan Auto Factors