---
type: source
title: "Claynosaurz at MIPJunior 2025: The Informal Co-Creation Model for Community IP"
author: "Claynosaurz.com / Variety / Conductor Tech"
url: https://claynosaurz.com/news/MIPJunior-2025
date: 2025-11-01
domain: entertainment
secondary_domains: []
format: article
status: enrichment
priority: high
tags: [claynosaurz, community-governance, co-creation, mipjunior, nicholas-cabana, informal-governance, ip-bible, uGC]
processed_by: clay
processed_date: 2026-03-18
enrichments_applied: ["community-co-creation-in-animation-production-includes-storyboard-sharing-script-collaboration-and-collectible-integration-as-specific-mechanisms.md"]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

Synthesized from Claynosaurz's MIPJunior 2025 presentation, Variety VIEW Conference article, and ConductorTech brand-building analysis.

**Nicholas Cabana's co-creation model — specific mechanisms identified:**

1. **Avatar casting in shorts** — Community members' digital collectibles (NFTs) appear as characters in animated shorts. Owning an NFT means your character can literally appear in the show. This is asset inclusion, not narrative governance.

2. **Fan artist employment** — "Hiring prolific fan artists onto the team." Community creation pipeline feeds into professional production team. Exceptional fan creators are absorbed into the organization.

3. **Behind-the-scenes transparency** — Sharing rough storyboards, concept sheets, desk videos. "Building in the open" sparks "comment-driven micro-iterations." Community sees work-in-progress and leaves comments; team responds to high-signal feedback.

4. **Social media as test kitchen** — "The banner treats social media as a test kitchen to find out what's sticking and what's not sticking." Community engagement signals (views, comments, shares) directly inform creative decisions. No formal vote — but a continuous engagement-feedback loop.

5. **IP bible updated "weekly by community"** — The most ambitious claim: the IP bible (the internal document governing character rules, world logic, narrative consistency) is described as being updated with community input on a weekly basis. Mechanism unclear — likely community Discord discussions informing the team, not formal editorial authority.

6. **UGC + AI as participation layer** — AI tools enable community members to create derivative content. UGC "opens the door for fans to actively participate in shaping an IP." This is participation through creation, not governance voting.

7. **Shared achievement system** — Gaming mechanics + social media interaction + collectibles + community engagement. A gamified engagement layer that may eventually integrate with a future token.

**Key Cabana quote:** "From day one, Claynosaurz has been about flipping the traditional model — building IP directly with the fans, not just for them. In a shifting entertainment landscape, that kind of community-first development isn't just different, it's necessary."

**What the model is NOT:**
- No formal on-chain voting mechanism for narrative decisions
- No token governance over character lore
- No documented veto power for community over creative direction
- No quorum-based proposal system

**Governance tier:** Informal/cultural co-creation. Community shapes through engagement signals; team retains editorial authority. The "co-conspirators" framing is accurate but misleading — community members influence direction without controlling it.

**Series metrics:**
- By late 2025: 450M+ views, 200M+ impressions, 530K+ online community subscribers
- "Nearly 1B social views" at Annecy 2025 (June)
- 39-episode animated series in production with Mediawan Kids & Family (co-production)
- Gameloft mobile game in co-development
- Mediawan's Jesse Cleverly (Wildseed Studios) as showrunner

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** Claynosaurz represents "Tier 2" community governance — informal, engagement-signal-driven, with team retaining editorial authority. This is qualitatively different from Azuki/Bobu (Tier 3: formal on-chain voting) and Doodles/DreamNet (Tier 4: distributed authorship). The informal model may be MORE effective for maintaining narrative coherence (editorial authority preserved) while LESS effective for genuine community creative agency. It's co-creation theater with real signal extraction.

**What surprised me:** The "IP bible updated weekly by community" claim is the most interesting. If true, this means community engagement is directly shaping the canonical rules of the universe — not just production aesthetics. But the mechanism is opaque. Is this Discord discussion → team interpretation → bible update? Or actual community editorial authority? The ambiguity matters: one is community-informed creation, the other is community-led creation.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Any formal governance mechanism. The Claynosaurz model is entirely informal — it works because Cabana's team is actively listening, not because there's a system that forces listening. This creates a sustainability question: what happens when the founding team is less responsive? The informal model is founder-dependent in a way that formal governance isn't.

**KB connections:**
- [[progressive validation through community building reduces development risk by proving audience demand before production investment]] — the "social media as test kitchen" model IS progressive validation
- [[fanchise management is a stack of increasing fan engagement from content extensions through co-creation and co-ownership]] — Claynosaurz is at the co-creation rung, but co-creation through engagement signals rather than governance authority
- [[ideological adoption is a complex contagion requiring multiple reinforcing exposures from trusted sources not simple viral spread through weak ties]] — community co-creation builds strong-tie relationships that enable this kind of contagion

**Extraction hints:** Primary claim: "Community IP co-creation operates on a governance spectrum from informal engagement-signal co-creation (Claynosaurz) to formal on-chain voting (Azuki/Bobu) to distributed AI-mediated authorship (Doodles/DreamNet) — and each tier has different implications for narrative coherence, community agency, and founder-dependence." This is the key synthesis claim from this session.

**Context:** Cabana presented at MIPJunior (major kids/family TV industry market, Cannes, November) — this is B2B positioning to potential co-production and distribution partners, not community communication. The framing is strategic marketing as much as operational description. Treat the governance claims as aspirational, not operational, until they can be independently verified.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)

PRIMARY CONNECTION: [[progressive validation through community building reduces development risk by proving audience demand before production investment]]

WHY ARCHIVED: Provides the most specific description of Claynosaurz's informal co-creation model, establishing it as "Tier 2" on the governance spectrum. Critical for the governance spectrum claim that synthesizes this session's main finding.

EXTRACTION HINT: The key claim to extract is about the GOVERNANCE TIERS, not just Claynosaurz specifically. Use Claynosaurz as the evidence anchor but extract the broader pattern. Also flag the founder-dependency sustainability question — informal governance works only while founders are listening. What happens when the founding team changes?


## Key Facts
- Claynosaurz achieved 450M+ views and 200M+ impressions by late 2025
- Claynosaurz community has 530K+ online subscribers across platforms
- Claynosaurz reported nearly 1B social views at Annecy 2025 in June
- Claynosaurz has 39-episode animated series in co-production with Mediawan Kids & Family
- Gameloft is co-developing a Claynosaurz mobile game
- Jesse Cleverly from Wildseed Studios (Mediawan) serves as showrunner for Claynosaurz series
- Nicholas Cabana presented Claynosaurz model at MIPJunior 2025 in Cannes
