'Guerrilla Production,' Or How To Gain Billions Of Views On YouTube: Q&A With The Author Of Popular Children's Animations Artur Dneprovskii

The global animation market may exceed $587 billion by 2030, according to the international consulting organization Precedence Research. This growth will be driven by the rapid advancement of technology, the advancement of the entertainment industry and the rising internet penetration in various parts of the world.

In the present day, one of the most important catalysts for this trend is the video-hosting platform YouTube, which provides content creators equal opportunities to offer their products directly to the audience without intermediaries and receive candid feedback.

An outstanding example of success in this field is the animated projects for children conceived and created by Artur Dneprovskii, a creative producer and founder of the Big Papa production studio. His videos in various languages have already accumulated over 15 billion views on YouTube and continue to build a multi-national audience. The most prominent are the multi-episode stories about the cheerful characters Blue Tractor and Kote Kitty. These projects are among the top 250 most popular channels on YouTube.

In this interview, Artur Dneprovskii shares his insights on creating and promoting animated content in a highly competitive online environment, as well as his views on the industry's future development.

Artur, please elucidate the notion underlying the success of your internet projects. How do you strike a balance between business and creativity, and what, in your opinion, has been the driving force behind the expansion of your animation production?

The success of an endeavor is inexorably intertwined with its singularity. This stems from a delicate blend of the "magic of creativity" and acumen acquired over the years of how to encapsulate one's thoughts into a high-quality product that reverberates with the intended audience.

For instance, one of our studio's most popular musical compositions, "Tractor is Coming," has garnered nearly 4 billion views on YouTube and gone viral on social media. I realized that the song would be a hit as soon as I heard it, but before its release, we had to fine-tune it with the author: We sped up the tempo and enhanced the lyrics. With the right presentation, this song blew up the internet and continues to be a sensation. And if you look at YouTube statistics, less than 1% of videos reach over 1 billion views. You could say we set a personal record.

As a creative producer, I am responsible for the entire creative process, from selecting songs, developing characters and writing scripts to developing the storyboard and bringing it to the final result that we can confidently present to a wide audience. I made the Blue Tractor character memorable and charismatic, yet simple enough. I eliminated all extraneous details, making it vibrant and expressive, with big eyes and wheels and cute enough for a child to want to hold it in their arms.

My business acumen and creative skills come together in a concept I refer to as "guerrilla production." These are eye-catching concepts that are not prohibitively costly to produce, yet the outcomes can be breathtaking. We forgo investors and big budgets — on average, one video costs us $4,000 to $5,000. As a result, we have complete creative freedom while generating profit by monetizing content on YouTube.

Today, the competition in the global children's animation industry is incredibly fierce, yet your projects have garnered billions of views. What makes your content stand out from your competitors and enables you to conquer global markets one after another?

Indeed, today, we compete for viewers' attention with virtually all content creators on YouTube. The Video hosting platform has tens of millions of channels, including major studios that have brought significant budgets and virtually unlimited resources to the platform. Despite these challenging conditions, we managed to stay on top and grow consistently.

Our Kote Kitty channel has attracted over 2 million subscribers in the highly competitive English-language content market in less than two years. The channel featuring the same character in Spanish, which now has nearly 1.8 million followers, closely follows it.

Only a hundredth of a percent of all YouTube channels have more than 1 million subscribers. We are proud to say that eight of our 17 channels, or almost half, fall into this category. That is certainly a cause to celebrate.

We release content not only in English, Spanish and Russian but also dub it in German and Chinese. We plan to expand this lineup further. Our projects are already being actively watched in the CIS, India, Mexico, the USA and Europe.

In addition to the meticulously devised creative elements, we have successfully tapped into the universal interests of children in various countries. Our videos assist them in learning about the world — counting, colors, geometric shapes and animal sounds. Learning becomes more straightforward and comprehensible due to the universality of the characters: They are vehicles and animals.

Occasionally, what occurs on the screen can be understood without dialogue, thanks to dynamic and vibrant visuals and well-crafted storyboards. This aspect is critical when adapting videos to different languages.

As a professional in the field of children's content, tell us how children's video consumption is changing. Where is the industry heading? What trends do you notice, and how do you incorporate them into your work?

In recent years, children have increasingly consumed content on mobile devices. According to YouTube statistics, 70% of all users prefer this format. This trend will only continue to grow, given that video hosting platform audiences are expanding yearly.

I'm glad we initially focused on YouTube and continue following this strategy. While some other players in the market are still orienting themselves toward traditional television broadcasts, it's now evident that it is not necessary to be on TV channels to become successful. We've proven that with our example.

Television limits viewers in their choice of what to watch. Even on online streaming platforms, there isn't as much variety as on YouTube. However, we are also present on major online streaming platforms such as Kinopoisk, Start and Premier, and we distribute audio content on Spotify, Apple Music and others. However, this is their initiative, which was supported by our success on YouTube. In my opinion, the future belongs to user-generated platforms.

On YouTube, children choose which video to click on. Here, I'd like to debunk the popular myth that shorter videos are more likely to be selected by children and watched to the end. That's false because kids don't understand numbers or assess the duration. They primarily rely on the visuals that appeal to them. They can even watch multiple episodes in a row as long as they remain interesting. That's why we upload collections of episodes compilations to our channels.

When producing multi-episode content, how do you maintain the level of quality in your videos and the attention of your audience? What is the most challenging aspect of this journey?

To achieve this, I have developed my own approach. First and foremost, I search for depth in a project, that is, for a concept that can be expanded into an infinite number of episodes. Children enjoy watching stories that last. To capture and hold attention, a character must be dynamic, so the Blue Tractor is always on the move, and something interesting is always happening to him. In the case of the cartoon "Kote Kitty," I came up with the idea of introducing a "wow factor" into the storyline: something unusual happens in each episode. The kitten uses a magical garage and the vehicle that he travels on transforms before the viewers' eyes into a spaceship or a submarine, depending on the plot twist.

In addition, I always strive to achieve a balance in the video sequence. The frame should not be prolonged, but a too-rapid change in visuals can become monotonous. Children under the age of 5 tend to rewatch videos they particularly enjoy several times, and it's only at an older age that they prefer new content. Therefore, it is essential for us to create projects that they will love and enjoy watching for an extended period of time. Of course, the musical component is essential — a catchy composition. My musical education helps me to work with audio content.

The challenges we face are related to YouTube's stringent standards for creators and its constant introduction of new algorithms. The demand for high-quality content is growing. The platform will stop recommending the channel if a video fails to captivate and retain the viewer's attention. I am glad that we are able to meet these high standards.

The international children's entertainment industry is thriving and diverse. What areas of business development related to children's online content production do you consider the most promising today? What are your plans for further expansion in this market?

Our core business strategy will remain unchanged — we will continue to produce online children's content for a global audience, as we see great potential in our characters. This will include both fresh series with beloved heroes and new projects. Several ideas were put on hold during the pandemic, but now is the time to revisit them.

Currently, our "Kote Games" project is generating explosive results. It's a unique interactive format based on educational games for children. Its popularity is growing even faster than it did for Blue Tractor.

Another promising avenue is to sell merchandise featuring our characters. We actively collaborate with companies that manufacture children's products, and this part of our business is also performing well. In the near future, we also plan to enter the market with branded confectionery products.

I always have a plethora of creative ideas that I want to bring to fruition, which I find very promising and potentially successful. Of course, our results are a great source of inspiration for me.