From kids’ TV to crime dramas. Jan Daniel is figuring out what kind of television he’ll enjoy making most

At Czech Television, he’s involved in shows for children aged six to twelve, including educational formats such as Tamtam and Zvěd. He sees children’s content as important – even socially necessary – but he also feels an increasing need to stretch beyond it. “Kids’ TV matters,” he says, “but I want to understand how serial storytelling works today, how you build a series structure that holds an audience episode after episode.”

He once considered studying abroad. In the end, CME Content Academy felt like the better choice. Not because it was easier or closer, but because it promised something rarer –  a serious link to practice without narrowing his curiosity. “It felt close to the real world, but still open to what I’m interested in,” he explains.

The Academy, hosted at FAMU, gave him a new way of seeing television as an ecosystem not just a creative discipline. “After a few weeks, I felt like I was building an entirely new mental map,” he says. “Not only in terms of art, but production too.” Compared to Písek, which he describes as strongly craft-oriented, what he values here is constant proximity to the decision-making centre. “We meet producers, screenwriters, directors, creative leads… people who shape what actually gets made. That kind of insight is priceless.”

Directing still matters to him, but writing has started to claim more space. “I love writing. And I can’t separate it from thinking about the topic and the audience,” he says. What fascinates him is not only how stories are built, but why certain stories earn the right to exist and others don’t. “I’m interested in how a story is born and how people decide what makes sense to tell.” That’s also why he’s increasingly attracted to the role of a creative producer. Not as a managerial step up, but as a way of carrying responsibility for the whole. “It’s not about control,” he says. “It’s about accountability. I like thinking about a project as a complete system – what we’re telling, who it’s for, when it should exist, and what it can do.”

Even as his interests expand, his emotional centre remains with storytelling for young audiences. He believes it’s one of the most underestimated fields in Czech television. “It’s still treated as marginal,” he says. “But young viewers want strong stories too. And if they don’t find them here, they’ll look elsewhere and maybe never develop a relationship with domestic work at all.” He points to international series such as SKAM, Sex Education, and Normal People as proof that youth storytelling can be both entertaining and meaningful without talking down to its audience. “I’d like to help build formats that speak to young people in their own language,” he says “and offer perspective on themes they’re almost certainly living through.”

Next, he will begin an internship with Braňo Holiček, and he’s looking forward to seeing development and production from close range. “I want to understand the entire process,” he says. “How decisions are made, how teams are built, how communication works across all the different parts of television. I’m interested in everything – from the first idea to the finished format.”

Looking ahead, he imagines a future in television, ideally in an environment that isn’t afraid to take risks and look for new routes. “I can see myself working on something like a Friday-night family series,” he says. “Accessible to a wide audience, but still smart. Formally inventive and socially relevant.”

For now, he’s resisting the pressure to define himself too early. He sees this year as a testing ground. “I want to find out what I’m good at, what I truly enjoy,” he says. “And where I can actually be useful.”