Animaj’s Gregory Dray, Evan Shapiro, Ampere Analysis and Glance headline a programme exploring the audiences, business models and next generation companies redefining entertainment for young audiences.
MIP Junior (10-11 October), the international market and conference for kids and family entertainment, today unveiled its 2026 programme, bringing together leading creators, analysts, entrepreneurs and decision-makers shaping the future of kids and family entertainment.
Reflecting where growth and innovation are happening across the industry, this year’s programme expands beyond preschool and children’s content to embrace the full youth entertainment landscape, from preschool and kids through to tweens and teens, while introducing a more practical, businessfocused conference programme.
As audiences discover, consume and engage with content in entirely new ways, the MIP Junior 2026 programme will equip delegates with practical insights into how companies are already adapting to changing audiences, platforms and business models through real-world examples, market intelligence and actionable strategies.
Lucy Smith, Director of Mipcom Cannes and MIP Junior, said: “The next generation of audiences are redefining how content is discovered, consumed and valued. Kids and family entertainment has become one of the most dynamic and innovative sectors of the media business, where new platforms, digital-first brands and evolving business models are constantly reshaping how successful IP is created, distributed and monetised. As the industry evolves, MIP Junior is evolving with it.”
“This year’s programme broadens our editorial focus to better reflect where innovation is happening, across entertainment for young audiences, and places an even greater emphasis on practical business insights. Our ambition is to help the industry not only understand what’s changing but learn from the companies already driving that transformation. Increasingly, the trends emerging in children’s entertainment are influencing the wider entertainment industry, making MIP Junior an essential forum for understanding where the future of content is headed.”
Reflecting MIP Junior’s broader editorial scope and more practical business focus, programme highlights include:
MIP Headliner: Gregory Dray, Co-Founder, Animaj and Chairman of LUMEE – Embracing a New World: Reinventing Legacy IP for the Digital Generations
One of the industry’s leading next-generation media entrepreneurs, Gregory Dray will explore how nextgeneration studios are reinventing legacy IP for digital-native audiences, redefining audience engagement and building global entertainment franchises.
Gregory Dray, Co-Founder, Animaj, and Chairman of LUMEE added: “Understanding young audiences today is essential to building the global entertainment brands of tomorrow. As our industry reinvents how IP is created, produced, distributed and eventually monetised, MIP Junior is the pre-eminent forum for bringing together the global kids and family entertainment community to share ideas and explore the trends and business models that are not only reshaping our sector, but increasingly shaping the future of the wider media and entertainment industry.”
The Kids Content Business in the Affinity Economy
Renowned media strategist Evan Shapiro will present exclusive new data and insights into how families and children consume content, examining the commercial models emerging in an increasingly fragmented media landscape and what they mean for the future of kids and family entertainment.
Kids Content Trends Watch: A Year-End Market Snapshot
Ampere Analysis Senior Research Manager Cyrine Amor will provide an essential overview of the global kids’ content landscape, examining production and commissioning trends, broadcaster and streamer strategies, shifts in AVoD, and social media, and what the latest data reveals about the world’s leading kids’ YouTube channels and content owners.
Next-Gen Viewing: Trends Shaping Children’s Content
Glance Senior Research Analyst Romy Nicolas will explore how viewing habits evolve from preschool through kids, tweens and teens and how young audiences are engaging with stories across multiple platforms, examining what changing audience behaviours mean for content strategy, commissioning and distribution, while highlighting the trends and strategies driving the next generation of global children’s hits.
Through practical case studies and commercial examples, delegates will explore how emerging technologies, evolving audience behaviours and new business models are transforming the way kids and family entertainment is created, financed, distributed and monetised.
Held immediately ahead of Mipcom Cannes (12-15 October), MIP Junior is expected to welcome approximately 900 delegates from over 60 countries this October, which attracts more than 10,600 delegates from over 100 countries and remains the world’s leading international marketplace for entertainment content.
