▼
yncScreen.TV –
Marc first came up
with the idea in
June 2012 but itʹs
taken a long time
to get all the ducks
aligned. And this,
says Marc, is the reason: “Part of
that has been about being 100%
sure we were doing this
responsibly. We didnʹt want to be
accused of adding to Attention
Deficit Disorder so have made
multiple prototypes and had each
testing round evaluated by child
development experts at a leading
academic institution.”
Initially funded by the UK
Technology Strategy Board,
SyncScreen.TV is focused on Pre‐
schoolers and Tweens (7‐12s) and
their main clients are producers,
broadcasters and brand owners.
The first project was an R&D
project with The Foundation (part
of Zodiak) and currently they are
working on a second screen play‐
along game show for 7‐12s.
As a bootstrapped start‐up Marc
and his team are developing tools
to help other creatives deliver what
he calls ʹgenuinely sympatheticʹ
synchronised app services that
make people ʹfall back in love with
the first screenʹ. This is how he sees
it: “Kids are already on second
screen devices. TV is increasingly
becoming ambient, or if you like, a
background track to what they are
doing in a tablet or smartphone. We
want to pull the two back in sync so
that childrenʹs attentions are drawn
back to the story. Itʹs not about
either screen being first or second,
itʹs about making the narrative
experience primary again.”
KIDS GET LEFT BEHIND
“Generally the kids audience gets
left behind, because no‐one can
make the financials work or the
compliance factors are too hard...
Yet this is an audience who will
embrace a new tech instantly if it
works for them and help set a new
norm. We believe that if we can
demonstrate quality second screen
services can be developed
responsibly for children, it wonʹt be
long before parents will be
clamouring for the same treatment
for their favourite shows.”
“We believe you need to support
both asynchronous and
S
THE CHANNEL
|
ISSUE 1 2014
|
27
SYNC
SCREEN
During his tenure as
Head of Digital for
CBBC, Marc Goodchild
led the online and
interactive TV teams
through a period of
great creative renewal,
winning countless
awards. When the
BBC’s Children’s
department relocated
to Manchester in 2011,
Marc decided to leave
the corporation to work
in the commercial
sector. As co-founder
and Creative Director
of second screen
consultancy and
authoring company
SyncScreen.TV he is
still committed to
delivering excellence
for children - Richard
Kastelein spoke to him
