Beyond Nordic noir: Filippa Wallestam looks at Viaplay’s drama ambitions
SPT’s Nina Lederman on the importance of story – whatever the language
Antony Root talks about HBO Max’s need for distinctive unscripted
News • Features • Event pictures • Speaker profiles • Comment and more...
DAY THREE – December 2 2021
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Contents DAY 3
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Welcome to Day 3 of Content London 2021
In this edition Page 18 Francesca Johnson
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he subject of training cropped up in one of Content London’s finance sessions on Wednesday, with panellists agreeing that the industry requires investment to develop new writers and upskill behind-the-camera production talent. Banijay chief operating officer Peter Langenberg spoke of how the company has launched its own scheme in Australia to train more video editors, rather than wait for the new crop of graduates, while Fremantle global drama president Christian Vesper said his firm is investing in new UK writers and hoping that, in success, they will bring their future projects to Fremantle. The point is that, as with the recent Europewide shortage of HGV drivers, instead of waiting for the TV sector training issues to be resolved by governments that don’t appear to know what to do, the industry should, and is starting to, solve what is fast becoming known as the ‘crew crunch’ by itself. Aside from training, several panellists in Wednesday’s sessions spoke of how one of the big areas of investment for 2022 will be premium factual, borrowing the same financing models and budget levels that allowed drama to make such an impact over the past five years. Oh, and more FAST channels. Lots more FAST channels. Enjoy Day 3! Ed Waller
Page 10 SVT’s Caliphate Page 13 P MultiC MultiChoice’s Reyka Page 9 UKTV’s Ragdoll Page 14 4 Kate Ward of Vice e Studios s 4-5 News round-up from day two 7 Filippa Wallestam reveals NENT-owned streamer Viaplay’s ambitions outside of Nordic noir 9 UKTV’s Philippa Collie Cousins ponders what’s next for crime drama 10-13 Q&As with Anna Croneman of SVT, Julia Weber of Global Screen, Dr Simone Emmelius of ZDF, Yolisa Phahle of Africa’s MultiChoice and Moritz Polter of Windlight Pictures
14 Kate Ward discusses Vice Studios’ plans to expand into new genres 17 Sony Pictures Television’s Nina Lederman on multilingual programming 18 Q&As with Antony Root of WarnerMedia EMEA and Francesca Johnson of Anyway Content 20-21 Content London 2021 in pictures 22 Jordan Pinto on why small firms with big ideas are now in pole position
Agenda highlights 9.30am – Commissioning: HBO Max Europe unscripted Hall 1, Kings Place Antony Root, executive VP and head of original production at WarnerMedia EMEA, and Annelies Sitvast, head of unscripted production, outline their unscripted plans and content strategies for HBO Max across Europe. 9.30am – Development: Comic IP Hall 3, Kings Place Join our A-list group of showrunners and comic creators Jed Mercurio, Adam Glass, Quoc Dang Tran and Peter Milligan to explore this exploding side of the TV business. 11.30am – Territory Focus: Africa Hall 3, Kings Place Execs including EbonyLife’s Mo Abudu and MultiChoice’s Yolisa Phahle discuss how the African drama industry is growing, what series we can expect to see coming out of Africa over
the next year and where opportunities for wider international collaboration lie. 12.15pm – Commissioning: Discovery+ Hall 2, Kings Place In this session, Discovery executives drill down into their strategies and wishlists for Discovery+ and the company’s linear channels. UK heads Clare Laycock and Simon Downing will explain their focus on “strong and noisy” originals while Myriam Lopez-Otazu will discuss her role of serving content teams across international markets. 3pm – Commissioning: Georgia Brown Hall 1, Kings Place Amazon Studios’ head of European originals Georgia Brown (pictured) outlines her scripted and unscripted content strategy and the opportunities for international collaboration.
5pm – In Conversation: Beatrice Springborn Hall 2, Kings Place Beatrice Springborn (pictured) will discuss what’s next for Universal International Studios, her content strategy and opportunities for international collaboration. 6pm – The C21 International Drama Awards Hall 1, Kings Place The C21 International Drama Awards, sponsored by Film London, recognise the best in global scripted creativity at one of the most highly regarded awards shows in the business. 7pm – The Content London 2021 Closing Party Battlebridge Networking Lounge, Kings Place After three days of sessions, deal-making and creative discussions, head over to the Content London 2021 Closing Party, sponsored by Universal International Studios.
News 4
DAY 3
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Quote // Unquote Content London Daily pulls out some of the key quotes from yesterday’s sessions. “I went into a phase of not embracing The David Hasselhoff, but really learning who David Hasselhoff was. And David Hasselhoff had a need to look in the mirror and say, ‘That’s cool.’ Knight Rider is cool, but it’s old. Baywatch is cool, but it’s old.” David Hasselhoff, who was at Content London talking about his new show Ze Network “I really shied away from playing myself. But then I realised it was David Hasselhoff, not The David Hasselhoff.” Also David Hasselhoff “The two things a company needs to succeed are IP and talent. We’re leaning into deals with writers and actors. As the number of buyers and volume of TV production have increased, the available pool of talented and experienced writers hasn’t. It’s not about getting exclusivity, it’s about maintaining an organic working relationship.” Michael Lombardo, president of global television at eOne “There’s such a scarcity of content in India right now. If you make something decent, it will sell. If there are any financiers out there that want to do something interesting, come and talk to us.” Sunder Aaron, managing partner at Mumbai-based prodco Locomotive Global “It can sometimes be radical to go back to the source. Some things have been done so many times that, rather than a copy, people make an echo of it.” The Amazing Mr Blunden’s Mark Gatiss on adapting books for the screen
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Disney+ eyes ‘adult first’ co-viewing Disney+ is looking for content that targets “adults first but with co-viewing potential – projects with real scale, fun and adventure that speak to Disney’s values.” That’s according to Liam Keelan, VP of original content at The Walt Disney Company in EMEA, who discussed the SVoD service’s needs during a panel session at Content London yesterday. For Star, which is aimed at an 18plus audience, the Mouse House is in the market for “things that really grab the attention of the audience, that feel as if they’re innovative in tone, voice and a twist on genre. We feel we need to be surprised. It’s got to have something to say and, ultimately, we want people to be saying, ‘Oh my God, have you seen that show on Disney?’” Keelan said. Keelan also used the session to announce the appointment of
Liam Keelan
former Channel 4 executive Jonny Richards as a senior manager for scripted content. Starting in February 2022, Richards will report to Lee Mason, director of scripted content, and work across Disney+ EMEA while based in London. He joins a Disney+ EMEA commissioning team that also
includes Johanna Devereaux, Mason’s fellow director of scripted content, and Sean Doyle, director of unscripted content. Most recently, Richards was head of development for Normal People producer Element Pictures and Sky Studios-backed indie Longboat Pictures. Prior to that, he worked at C4 as a drama commissioning executive, where he oversaw the third season of Paul Abbott’s No Offence, AMC coproduction Humans, James Graham’s critically acclaimed single film Brexit: The Uncivil War, Steven Butchard’s six-part series Baghdad Central and the twice Bafta-nominated emerging talent anthology On the Edge. Richards began his career as a script editor at ITV Studios, where his credits include Vera, Jericho and Mr Selfridge.
Netflix’s Bajaria tells linear nets how to compete Netflix head of global TV Bela Bajaria had some advice for linear networks looking to compete with streaming services on day two of Content London: streamline your processes for greenlighting shows and working with talent. “Creators and talent now have a different kind of experience in streaming – more freedom in format, more freedom in the length of things and, hopefully, less layers and process,” said Bajaria, who had successful stints at CBS and
Universal Television prior to joining Netflix. Traditional linear networks would benefit from changing their executive structures, she added, so that the Bela Bajaria personnel charged with developing drama projects are also the ones who have the authority to decide what gets greenlit. “Our [local] teams greenlight their own shows,” she noted of Netflix’s commissioning structure.
Linear networks, she noted, have traditionally had a tendency to involve too many executives between the creator and their vision, and ultimately that can sometimes lead to a product that is “watered down in certain places.” “[For linear networks] to compete with streaming, you have to think of the entire experience – very talentfriendly and probably a little bit more liberating,” Bajaria added.
Channel 5 wants ‘soft mystery’ series, true crime drama amid scripted push ViacomCBS-owned Channel 5 in the UK is seeking “soft mystery” series and true crime drama, according to Sebastian Cardwell, senior VP and deputy director of programmes. Cardwell said he was on the lookout for more content in these genres following the success of The Madame Blanc Mysteries, from former Coronation Street actor Sally Lindsay and Mount Pleasant and Shameless scribe Sue Vincent. “We’ll do 26 weeks’ worth of these shows if we can afford the budget,” he said. Elsewhere in drama, Cardwell said that thrillers based on common anxieties, such as C5’s Cold Call, a Chalkboard TV drama from 2019 about a single mother who is conned out of her life savings by a cold caller, were a commissioning priority.
Sebastian Cardwell
News DAY 3
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Indies reassured over Sky Studios growth Jane Millichip has denied that Sky’s increasing expansion of the in-house Sky Studios production division she heads up will reduce opportunities for independent producers to work with the European pay TV broadcaster. Speaking during a Sky commissioning session yesterday, Millichip was asked whether Sky Studios would replace third-party producers as its capabilities continue to grow. The Sky Studios chief content officer replied: “Absolutely not. The indie sector is our lifeblood and will continue to be so. “Just because we’re building in-house capability, it is not at the expense of the indie community. It’s all about increasing the amount of content, increasing the quality, and the opportunity to partner. If you happen to be a writer as
All3’s Pedersen reveals FAST rights ‘nightmare’ Owning FAST channels while also trying to sell content to the FAST market is a “nightmare” for rights management, according to All3Media International CEO Louise Pedersen. Pedersen, whose company’s FAST channels include one dedicated to detective series Midsomer Murders, said: “This is just another rights management nightmare. At the moment, negotiations are nonexclusive, but when Netflix and Amazon launched, they were nonexclusive as well, so there is this narrowing down of exclusivity. “At present, we’re in the nonexclusive phase, but it’s complicated to manage it all. I’m sure we’ve all spent too long in meetings discussing rights management over the years.” On the benefits of the burgeoning FAST channel industry, Pedersen said they provided opportunities for sellers, particularly as FAST buyers seek large libraries to fill schedules.
Jane Millichip at Content London yesterday
opposed to a production company then come and talk to our inhouse team. We have a number of collaborations we can do and a number of producer deals. “None of that work is at the expense of the independent production community.” Sky Studios was launched in
Sony Pictures Television acquires Bad Wolf Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has confirmed its longrumoured purchase of Bad Wolf, the Cardiff-based prodco behind BBC and HBO dramas His Dark Materials and Industry. SPT has taken a majority stake in the business, ending the Sky, HBO and Access Entertainment minority investments in the firm. Bad Wolf was founded in 2015 by Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner.
June 2019 to further the satcaster’s original content ambitions. It is currently working on shows including The Rising for Sky UK and Blocco 181 for Sky Italia. The company recently hired Preethi Mavahalli from ITV Studios-backed Mammoth Screen to lead its inhouse drama commissioning team.
Kalle outlines StarzPlay focus amid ownership uncertainty Starz is focused on the expansion of streaming platform StarzPlay, and particularly its Spanishlanguage, South Asian and SouthEast Asian strategy, despite the uncertainty surrounding its future ownership. Parent company Lionsgate said last month that it was considering spinning off or selling the company as it looks to capitalise on a redhot M&A market, but that has done nothing to diminish the global ambitions for StarzPlay, said Superna Kalle, president of international networks at Starz. While its recent focus has been on Spanish-language originals, including crime thriller Express and Nacho Vidal, An Industry XXXL, about the life of the Spanish porn star, the streamer is expanding its focus to find projects originating in South Asia.
IN BRIEF
Superna Kalle
Through Lionsgate Play, a Lionsgate-owned streaming product available in India which is also overseen by Kalle, the company recently commissioned its first Indian original, Hiccups & Hookups. Kalle said she could see immense potential in the Indian content space and intends to commission more projects out of the country. Next up is South-East Asia, said Kalle, with the company beginning to explore projects it hopes will appeal to audiences in the region.
C More, TV2 give green light to Headhunters Swedish streamer C More and Norwegian channel TV2 have ordered a crime drama called Headhunters, based on the novel by Jo Nesbø, with US-based Endeavor Content on board as a copro partner. The dark corporate thriller is produced by Yellowbird Norway. Endeavor Content will handle sales outside the Nordics.
Netflix visits Berlin for Money Heist spin-off Netflix has ordered a spin-off from its soon-to-conclude hit drama Money Heist for a 2023 launch. Titled Berlin after the code name of one of Money Heist’s main characters, the spin-off series comes as the second part of Money Heist’s concluding fifth run is due to debut on December 3.
High End dramatises Maximilian of Mexico Austria’s High End Productions is developing a miniseries about Emperor Maximilian of Mexico and his wife Charlotte of Belgium with writer William Boyd. Filming on Maximilian & Carlota will start next summer.
FROM THE PRODUCERS OF PLANET EARTH II, TINY WORLD AND NIGHT ON EARTH
FOUR SEASONS. ONE WORLD. EPIC STORIES.
Speaker Profile: Filippa Wallestam DAY 3
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Viaplay ready to play
Nordic Entertainment Group’s streaming service Viaplay doesn’t exist simply to take Nordic noir around the world, its chief content officer Filippa Wallestam tells Nico Franks.
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utside of the Nordics, Viaplay may not be known well enough as a brand to take on the likes of Disney+ and HBO Max in the battle to appear on consumers’ lists of monthly outgoings. But as the leading streamer in Scandinavia, it is at the forefront of the OTT revolution sweeping the industry, while its move for top sports rights in countries such as the Netherlands highlights its growing ambitions outside the Nordics. It landed recently in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland and is soon to launch in the US, while its arrival in the UK is due in the second half of next year, after which it is set to land in Canada, Germany, Austria and Switzerland during 2023. This will take the total number of countries where Viaplay is available to 16, beating the target of 15 that its owner, Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT), initially set last November.
Close to Me
NENT also upped its 2025 subscriber target to 12 million recently, including six million in overseas markets, which president and CEO Anders Jensen has described as “fairly humble” compared with the likes of Netflix, which boasts 13 million subs in the UK alone. With the language a show is recorded in seemingly no longer a barrier to whether an audience will watch it, Viaplay is racking up the number of originals it offers, building on its existing slate which includes Pørni, Shadowplay, Honour and Swedish Dicks. Viaplay’s offering comprises Nordic, local and international series, films, documentaries and kids’ content as well as live sports in some markets, including exclusive rights to the Premier League in nine European countries. Its originals push is being led by Filippa Wallestam, executive VP and chief content officer at NENT, who takes the stage at Content London later today. While Nordic ha proved so noir – those dark dramas that have popular with international audi audiences – will always be key to Viaplay, Wallesta Wallestam is keen to its “beyond” see the SVoD service position itself the genre. Viaplay has produced 50 origi original shows in 2021 and Wallestam says the pla plan in 2022 is to have at least 60 more, with sho shows targeting young adults another key are area of focus dram featuring alongside those dimly lit dramas d immaculately dressed but dysfunctional detectives. Moreover, Wallestam b believes that Nordic noir has moved on in the 10 years since hits like The Killing helped bring the phrase into the TV industry lexicon and i shape the international business drama business. “In the beginning, w typically Nordic noir was a dark and gloomy crime shows with misunderstood o police officers. Now it has expanded and is a lot more innovat innovative,” says
Filippa Wallestam
Wallestam, pointing to Viaplay’s Forhøret (Face to Face) as an example of a Nordic noir “with a new twist.” For Wallestam, Nordic noir no longer refers only to crime shows, but any drama, for example, that is particularly gritty and raw. “Nowadays even producers outside of the Nordics are interested in showing real people and not making everything so glossy.” NENT has set up a distribution arm to shop its Viaplay originals in markets where the service isn’t available. NENT Studios is already working on English-language originals, such as recent Channel 4 collaboration Close to Me. In the pipeline are Lasse Hallström’s biopic of the revolutionary Swedish artist and feminist pioneer Hilma af Klint, starring Lily Cole, and six-part drama North Sea Connection, with Irish pubcaster RTÉ. As Viaplay’s international ambitions grow and it reaches beyond the Nordics, Wallestam hopes an appreciation of the true value of local programming will differentiate it from its US-based competitors. “We really understand the importance of local. We are trying to find local executive producers on the ground who can be our representatives and gain from their experience,” she says. And in the not-toodistant future, Wallestam is also keen to see Viaplay mirror the innovative work it does with unproven local talent in markets such as Sweden with new creatives outside of the Nordics. Catch up with Filippa Wallestam in the European Drama Commissioners session today at 4pm in Hall 1.
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Speaker Profile: Philippa Collie Cousins DAY 3
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Taking up a life of crime UKTV’s first drama commissioner, Philippa Collie Cousins, tells Ruth Lawes what’s next for crime drama and considers why the demand for UK content is on the rise.
Ragdoll
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ith a long-standing reputation in comedy programming, which includes the bragging rights to being the first commissioner of hit format Taskmaster, UK-based multichannel broadcaster UKTV has now set its sights on the next genre to conquer: original drama. While the BBC Studios-owned broadcaster has acquired scripted content for years, especially classic comedy such as Only Fools & Horses, it first branched out into originals in 2013. UKTV’s opening move was commissioning sitcom You, Me & Them for Gold in that are vocal and lively about year, followed by drama Legion procedure in the show. It can for Watch, before cementing be difficult for directors but its ambitions by hiring its first we find that audiences love drama commissioner, Philippa it,” Cousins explains. Collie Cousins in 2018. As for other trends, Cousins The former head of says global demand for UK development at Fresh Pictures content continues to grow, Philippa Collie Cousins and head of drama and comedy particularly in large markets development at Hartswood West was behind such as the US. Among UKTV’s original original dramas such as crime series The dramas to have piqued the interest of US Diplomat from Line of Duty producer World networks are Ragdoll, which was jointly Productions and detective series Annika. The commissioned by AMC and produced by latter is a Black Camel production for UKTV’s Killing Eve production company Sid Gentle crime drama channel Alibi, coproduced with Films, and We Hunt Together, which was Masterpiece in North America in association acquired by Showtime. “US partners no with All3Media International. longer seem to ask for changes as there’s no Crime drama, Cousins says, is a genre need to Americanise content now,” she says. that will never cease to have popular appeal Over the past year, Cousins says one of the among international audiences but needs a biggest shifts to occur across the industry modern update. “Crime drama can seem old- is greater access to key players, owing fashioned and present a world we don’t live to coronavirus-induced Zoom meetings. in anymore,” she explains. “We also need to “Because we’re all online it really is content think about how to change the space and give without borders,” she says. “Executives are it a fresh perspective, perhaps by combining now available who you wouldn’t necessarily it with another genre.” have reached out to or been contacted by Procedurals should also evolve to previously.” It means more opportunity for include more authentic and accurate police producers, particularly those searching for processes on screen, according to Cousins. homes for niche content, she adds. This is because audiences are interested While the size and number of competitors in the machinations of forensics, she adds. battling each other in the streaming wars is “In our drama Traces we have real forensics growing, Cousins says deep-pocketed global via two professors based in Dundee who players aren’t necessarily a threat to their
smaller counterparts. “Having a huge amount of money doesn’t make content better,” she says. “It all comes down to the idea. I don’t think directors get as much credit as they should do, because it’s all about them having a vision that plays out confidently on screen.” Similarly, major players signing exclusive and lucrative contracts with established onand off-screen stars isn’t causing a talent drain, Cousins argues. “Famous people will have lots of fans and automatically get publicity for the shows they star in, which is great for broadcasters and streamers,” she says. “But buying off well-known actors and writers gives the opportunity for less established people to come through elsewhere.” The desire for new talent – from both audiences and commissioners alike – has also been accelerated by the pandemic, according to Cousins. Having watched more television that ever, viewers have become more open-minded about content, she says. “In lockdown, people watched things they hadn’t normally, like shows in a foreign language,” Cousins explains. “Viewers became more evolved, which is great, as I love to break new talent.” Philippa Collie Cousins and others from the UKTV team will be speaking in the Commissioning: UKTV session today at 11.30am in Hall 2.
Speaker Q&As 10
DAY 3
Julia Weber
Head of international sales & acquisitions, Global Screen, Germany What are your company’s plans and priorities for 2022? With the sea-change in media brought about by the global streamers, we believe our priority for 2022 is to unite creatively across all ways of co-operation, either traditional broadcaster copros or straight-to-platform deals, or combining both. With our shareholders at Westbrook Inc, Will and Jada Smith’s new media venture, we are a European studio with global reach and expansive scale, but we are determined to retain our boutique approach.
Caliphate
Anna Croneman
Head of drama, SVT, Sweden What were the biggest changes in the international TV business in 2021? For us in the Nordics, it’s the number of international streamers establishing themselves in the region. It does feel like we’re a testing ground. The switch to D2C streaming by the US majors means that for us as a commissioner there’s added difficulty in financing through pre-sales and minimum guarantees. We need to build alliances and coproduce more. How has the growth of local streamers impacted the market? The competition is fierce, not only when it comes to ideas, IP and the best creatives, but the volume of production is tremendously tough for a small industry in a small territory. There is a lack of qualified film workers and we see a lot of junior people in senior positions at the moment. How has the recent round of consolidation changed the industry? For us, as a public service broadcaster, the consolidation of the production market – meaning global companies acquiring several production companies in a small territory – is a growing challenge. We cannot put all our funding into the pockets of the same corporate group.
What content are you developing that will define the next phase of your strategy? SVT’s plan is to continue to develop and deliver series that tell the ongoing story about Sweden and the people who live here. Recent titles include Caliphate, Thin Blue Line, Snow Angels, The Hunt for a Killer and Dough. These are also titles that have travelled. This Christmas we’re launching The Royal Secret, a miniseries on the affair between Kurt Haijby and the Swedish king in the 1930s, when homosexuality was illegal. At SVT Drama, we keep particular focus on the audience aged between 30 and 44 and more niche content for our on-demand player. Snow Angels
What content are you developing that will define the next phase of your strategy? We’re focused on scripted in different genres, mainly drama, crime and thriller. Tunnel 29 is an example of where we are heading. We joined forces with [prodco] Elsani & Neary Media to develop the series. Crime and action are popular, but because of the pandemic there is a growing need for escapism. A great example of this is The Palace. Set against the backdrop of Berlin’s great revue theatre, in a divided Germany in 1989, we follow two women searching for their roots. Trends: Navigating Rights & IP in a Global Coproduction Marketplace, 9.30am, Hall 2.
Dr Simone Emmelius Senior VP of international fiction, coproduction & acquisition, ZDF, Germany
What were the biggest changes in the international TV business in 2021? The concentration of companies in the market, which will lead to a dramatic decline in independent producers. In combination with the changes due to the pandemic, this also means a lack of professionals in front of and behind the camera caused by an increasing number of productions as well as by an ‘artificial’ shortage due to exclusive contracts. Identifying, training and developing young talent is going to be a real issue.
What will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for Nordic TV drama in 2022? The biggest challenges are not having enough funding for high-end productions and competition for consumer time from streamers, gaming, podcasts and social media services. The opportunities are collaboration in all forms and, finally, a new national tax incentive.
How has the switch to D2C streaming by the US majors impacted the market? Access to licensed programmes has become more difficult. Independents have become even more important, production costs are rising, not through creative need but from ‘pocket competition,’ and even beginners are overpaid.
European drama commissioners, 4pm, Hall 1.
European drama broadcasters, 10.30am, Hall 1.
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Speaker Q&As DAY 3
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Yolisa Phahle CEO of general entertainment & connected video, MultiChoice Group, South Africa Why is this the right time to rev up more African representation on the global screen when it comes to scripted content? Africa has a very long history of storytelling; it is a hugely creative continent. Music from Africa has made global headlines around the world for many years. What Africans haven’t done as well is take African film and television to the world. What’s exciting is that broadcasters and audiences in the rest of the world actually now want to hear our stories. So it feels like the right time to be doing what we’re doing. Over the past 10 or 20 years, the world has become much more diverse and much more multicultural. What has been MultiChoice’s role in this? The idea of coproduction is an exciting strategy that we started focusing on around three or four years ago. At Content London two years ago, we announced a copro deal with Fremantle for Reyka, a South African series written by a South African. We also completed Trackers, a copro with HBO’s Cinemax that was an adaptation of a Deon Meyer novel. All of that reassures me that
Moritz Polter Executive producer & MD, Windlight Pictures, Germany What were the biggest changes in the international TV business in 2021? We’ve definitely seen a greater number of local productions being ordered, due to the quotas for the international streamers. Catering for this demand is one of the reasons why we set up Windlight Pictures [in April this year, with backing from ITV Studios]. What are the most significant changes to the TV industry brought about by the pandemic? Due to the backlog of projects that were pushed because of the pandemic, plus
e for African Affri rica an stories stor o ie ies outside ou uts tsid id de there’s an appetite e pursuing pu urrsu uin i g this thiss strategy. str trategy. of Africa, so we will be odu duct ctio ion model mode mo del being being How is the coproduction o MultiChoice’s M ltiC Mu iC Cho hoiic ce’ e s scripted scripted sc ed d incorporated into strategy? g our ou ur local productions, pro oduc od ucttions ons, w on h ch hi We are increasing which our strategy, year ye ear on on year. ye ea arr. is a core part of our n excess of 5,000 5,0 000 0 hours ho ou urs rs We’re producing in duc u ti t ons are the th he tentpole te entpole e a year. The coproductions the e shows shows that that ha at we productions. But the tha hat we hat we have hav avve historically hiisttorric ca allly commission and that m incredibly inc cre redi diibl dibl blyy well. we w elll. We e produced perform hiing g as as a coproduction; copr co prod oduc od uc u ction o ; on cannot do everything ally created crea cr ea ate ed for f r particular fo p rrttticullar pa ar they are specifically spe p ci pe cifi ific objective ob bje ect ctiv ive e partners to meet a specifi us. s What’s Wha h t’s for them and for us. ng for fo or us is is these th hese ese es particularly exciting n our our ur markets marrkke etss stories originate in allissed e and are conceptualised d our ourr by our writers and rea ealllly creatives, so we really ry. y. are telling the story. rsstt Possibly for the first es time, African stories d to to are now being told e the world from the e perspective of the African storyteller.r.r fric fr fric ca, a, Territory Focus: Africa, 11.30am, Hall 3.
the additional demand for content from the international streamers, we have a real shortage of crew and drastically rising production costs. We therefore need to be more creative than ever when it comes to the realisation of projects. In addition, the international appetite for European content seems to have risen during the pandemic, which helps with financing bigger-budget productions coming out of Europe. How has the growth of local streamers impacted the market? First of all, it helps with diversifying local content and thereby making this more interesting for the global market. In addition, it is counterbalancing the desire of global streamers to do all-rights deals, allowing producers to finance projects
Reyka
by a combination of local streamers and distributors and build their content library. What will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for TV in 2022? Following all the lockdowns, TV viewers have become more open to trying dramas made in different countries. There will be great stories coming from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Nordics and it will matter less where they come from. At the same time, it means you have to cut through the clutter. In 2022, it will become even harder to be seen, as more content is being produced to an international level. There will be fewer true coproductions but more co-financing opportunities. Development: International Drama Coproduction Models, 10.30am, Hall 2.
Speaker Profile: Kate Ward 14
Den of Vice Kate Ward, president of Vice Studios, is looking at expanding further into premium documentaries, scripted series and even formats as the youthskewing brand emerges from the pandemic. Clive Whittingham reports.
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alk about Vice at television industry events used to conjure very specific images and stereotypes. Roughly cut, self-shot, shortform factual content on YouTube targeting the ‘yoof’ market, for example. Or Shane Smith using his 2016 MacTaggart Memorial Lecture in Edinburgh to gleefully tell us our industry was dying on its arse and we were all idiots for pretending otherwise. Fast-forward to 2021, after the company’s own #MeToo scandal in 2017 swept aside a lot of its former bravado and management, and Vice Studios is a very different beast. Its factual content is now more high-end, bluechip, headline-grabbing festival favourites like Netflix’s 2019 hit Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, or 2021’s coproduced animated feature doc Flee, which will be Denmark’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the Acadamy Awards. Kate Ward, who spent eight years in various roles at Shine Group before moving to Vice-backed Refinery29 in 2015, became president of Vice Studios in November 2019. While careful to acknowledge the Covid-19 pandemic was a “massively shocking moment for all of us in so many ways,” Ward does say it gave Vice Studios a chance to “stop and focus on development,” with more collaboration between its hubs in India, London, Toronto and LA. “We’re seeing tremendous growth because we had an unprecedented moment to stop and pick up some new ideas,” Ward says. “Although we weren’t there in person, thanks to the power of our screens we were able to do that and made a big effort to connect globally, so it’s been a creatively fertile period for us with a lot of innovation,” she says. “Looking forward into 2022, we’re enormously busy with a huge number of shows in production and things coming out we’ve been working on for a long time. As far as our strategy is concerned, there are three things we’re really excited about: production and continuing to grow our business globally
– how we continue our growth story in India is really important; scaling our business in North America, not only through the boom in unscripted content but we also have our first scripted series, Tell Me Lies, coming to Hulu; and continuing to expand our distribution business and thinking about the global distribution of our FAST channels, which we launched this year.” With Vice behind feature films such as 2019’s The Report with Adam Driver, Tell Me Lies is
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We’r always acutely aware that, We’re while there is a moment for more levity, we’re trying y g to refl flect subjects j and issu ues that matter. Finding that balancee and sense of purpose within the fun is i important for us. Kate Ward d, Vice Studios
ill the first of what Ward hopes will be many scripted series emerging from Vice Studios in the coming months and years. But how much of Vice’s traditional edgy, entated style bleeds from youth-orientated d into fiction productions unscripted o be seen. remains to hing that connects our “The thing scripted and unscripted is a sense of time and place,” ys. “We want to Ward says. ng our audience firmly bring ds in a way that into worlds is super entertaining but fferentiated. We also differentiated. want to have a different alent but also to view on talent ese subjects reflect these ues that and issues haping are shaping world the oung for young
The Report
people. We want to understand them through content, not in a worthy way but a way that’s entertaining, differentiated and has a slight edge, and if not a left-of-centre point of view then certainly a point of view.” The expansion isn’t restricted to scripted content, though. Vice is also straying into formats and the entertainment space. Ward says we “may be surprised to hear” she has a gameshow in development – she’s tightlipped about that but promises it’s not a reallife Squid Game, which would feel very Vice. “We’re excited about the breadth of genre and bringing a sense of fun. But we’re always also acutely aware that, while there is a moment for more levity, we’re trying to reflect subjects and issues that matter. Finding that balance and sense of purpose within the fun is important for us,” Ward says. “The majority of our business is with streamers but it’s not exclusiv exclusively so,” she says, when asked whether wh a youth-skewing prodco like h hers even bothers pitching to public service broadcasters or linear cha channels at all these days. “We have a fantastic partnership in the U UK with Channel 5 and we’ve be been doing some really great wo work with Channel 4’s teen strand, so it’s a mix. But we are leaning heavily into the strea streamers as that premium factual and premiu premium doc boom is ha happening predominant predominantly on those services, servi so we’re responding respon to that.” Hear more from Kate Ward a at the In Conversation session today at 12 12.30pm in Hall 3.
YLE’S UPCOMING SERIES HIGHLIGHT
Drama, 8 x 45‘
www.studio-hamburg-enterprises.de
Speaker Profi P le: Nina Lederman DAY 3
17 Leonardo
Speaking the same language
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he global television industry has evolved drastically over the past three years, to the point that any received wisdom about audience tastes and viewing habits needs to be rethought and re-examined. Amid this new world order, where monster hits can seemingly come from anywhere, regardless of country, culture, colour or creed, Sony Pictures Television (SPT) believes it is well positioned to serve up projects with truly universal appeal. SPT has long viewed itself as a key supplier of content in the global TV space, thanks to its vast production and distribution resources, major overall deals with writers and showrunners and, crucially, its lack of affiliation with a major streaming platform. The pandemic did little to slow SPT’s momentum, and it was relatively quickly able to return to production on series such as Leonardo, the period coproduction with partners from Italy, Spain, France, the US and the UK, and Anne Boleyn, another period piece involving UK and US partners. As the globalisation of the content industry has continued to gather pace, SPT is leveraging its resources in an increasingly strategic way to identify new stories and tell them in innovative and authentic ways. So says SPT’s executive VP of global scripted development and programming, Nina Lederman, whose role is to facilitate creative and logistical partnerships between SPT’s US and international production teams. That independence and freedom is becoming particularly beneficial as SPT works to build its slate of multilingual programming. “As sellers, SPT has the opportunity to sell storytelling for the masses in various languages, and our showrunners have the ability to create for everywhere and anywhere, whether it’s in English or other languages,” she says.
Sony Pictures Television’s Nina Lederman tells Jordan Pinto how the independent US studio is looking to feed the streaming sector with multilingual programming. A case in point is XRey, the eight-part multilingual drama about the life and reign of Spain’s King Juan Carlos I, who abdicated abruptly in 2014 after four decades. Based on a critically acclaimed Spanish podcast, the project is creatively led by Howard Gordon (24, Homeland) and Alex Gansa (Homeland), founders of US production company Gordon & Gansa, with Spanish prodco Weekend Studio. Lionsgateowned streamer Starzplay is on board as the distribution platform. Multi-partner, cross-territory projects like XRey are set to become increasingly common for SPT, says Lederman. In addition, in the coming months SPT will announce “numerous projects that come from creators and showrunners who are based in the US but are not necessarily American and not necessarily writing about themes that are American.” Lederman says she thinks bilingual and even trilingual series will become more common in the years ahead, creating space for languages that haven’t been heard as often in big-budget drama series. “English plus another language is a fairly easy coproduction, but there might be other languages that mix and match too.” SPT has an embarrassment of riches on the production front, including wholly owned or joint-venture production companies such as the UK’s Left Bank Pictures, Eleven, Eleventh Hour Films, Fable Pictures and Blueprint Pictures; Brazil’s Floresta; Colombia’s Teleset; and US-based Embassy Row.
Nina Lederman
Lederman says creative “marriages” between production companies within the SPT group will also happen more often, noting that it has various projects in the works between its UK- and Latin America-based production companies. Aside from its broad stable of production companies, another key source of stories for SPT is its partnership with Nigerian broadcaster EbonyLife, through which three projects are currently being packaged and are set to be taken out to buyers. The partnership has brought SPT into the orbit of a plethora of new IP and creators, notes Lederman. More recently, the companies partnered on Àló (which translates as ‘once upon a time’ in the Yoruba language), a new programme offering a unique platform for writers of African heritage. “It’s our creative responsibility to tell stories and make content that attracts viewers worldwide,” says Lederman. “We’re in the culture business, and we’re in the ‘otherness’ business – these audiences are all others to someone else. We believe that if you make the best content, with authenticity of storytelling it will resonate with a broad world market.” Hear more from Nina Lederman in the Navigating Rights & IP in a Global Coproduction Marketplace session today at 9.30am in Hall 2.
Speaker Q&As 18
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Antony Root
Executive VP and head of original production, WarnerMedia EMEA Why is non-English-language content growing in popularity among global viewers? In some cases, it's due to availability because, prior to the streamers, there wasn't much foreignlanguage material available via free-to-air or cable. But there's also been a change in audiences’ tastes, and that has perhaps to do with a generation of people becoming more disposed towards watching content in languages other than their own. How has the transition of HBO Europe to HBO Max changed your commissioning strategy? HBO Max is a broader service with local original programming that can be used to expand the audience beyond the viewers who would automatically come to HBO for its taste and sensibility. That means expanding into new genres and formats, whereas we’ve only been a scripted and documentary house before. In creating a more diverse slate, we also want to have a greater variety
Gergely Váradi in The Informant
Francesca Johnson Executive VP of content, Anyway Content
What were the biggest changes in the international TV business in 2021? The planned merger of Discovery and WarnerMedia; the roll-out of Disney+, HBO Max and Paramount+ to most global markets; and, overall, the ramp up in production postpandemic. The most significant changes brought about by the pandemic are the shift from linear and theatrical to streaming, and the subsequent decline of linear cable ratings. It’s also interesting to see how the established non-scripted brands have become even bigger during this time. How has the switch to D2C streaming by the US majors impacted the market? Worldwide rights are increasingly the ask,
of price points. We will have opportunities to make programmes at a price point that works for just the single market it is being produced for, as well as the more expensive programmes, whether it’s scripted or unscripted, that will have the potential to travel. What unscripted content do you want to commission? We need a full spectrum of content. However, the unscripted shows need to be distinctive because we might only greenlight one or two of these programmes in a smaller country. As a result, they need to punch through, so it’s unlikely we’ll buy hyper-niche shows that are only of interest to a narrow audience. We’re looking for shows that land in popular culture. How do you balance working with both established producers and new voices? We absolutely want talent from both ends of the spectrum. New talent is essential to keep us fresh and I’m keen that there continue to be opportunities for producers to break through. Nine years ago, we commissioned a miniseries called Burning Bush written by Stepán Hulík, who had written the first version of that script as a graduation project at university, and it was one of our most successful shows. We’ve also got a spy drama from Hungary called The Informant from up-and-coming creator and director Bálint Szentgyörgyi, which will be supporting HBO Max’s roll-out in Eastern Europe. Commissioning: HBO Max Europe Unscripted, 9.30am, Hall 1
making it even more important to have a desired rights position firmed up well in advance. But it is a starting point, and flexibility is key, as each project comes with a unique set of partners and considerations.
will allow brands and content creators to rise above the fold with strong networks and the momentum from honest, authentic creative dialogue that always pushes to make things better and stronger for the global audience.
How has demand for US content changed over the past 18 months? With the move toward more cultural diversity in the wake of BLM and other social justice movements, as well as the shift to streaming with global platforms expanding, just USfocused content simply won’t cut it anymore. Stories need to resonate globally, or they seem out of touch and out of date.
What content are you developing that will define the next phase of your programme strategy? We are increasingly looking at the areas where content and commerce collide, at smart ways to use brand partnerships and identify new opportunities. We’ve a healthy development slate for a recently established company that we are in the process of taking out – a mix of big-ticket properties with worldwide resonance, US/UK-led formats and authored local stories that have universal appeal and the potential to travel.
How will the international TV business in 2022 be different from 2021? There is a clear need to be smarter, faster, bigger, better and more plugged into social platforms and the trending conversations to remain relevant and entertaining. Partnerships
Development: International Formats, 10.30am, Hall 3
In Pictures 20
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David Hasselhoff (right) with Sigi Kamml, producer of The Hoff’s new show Ze Network Execs discuss Hot Properties
Yi Qiao of ZDF Enterprises
CBS Studios International’s Meghan Lyvers
Dutch novelist Mano Bouzamour
In Pictures 21
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Drops of God writer Quoc Dang Tran
L-R: Finger Awards host Cally Beaton, winners Dogukan Dogan and Jacqueline Hedge, and Gary Carter of K7 Media Actor Mischa Eckersley
Shaftesbury founder Christina Jennings
Christian Vesper of Fremantle
Writer, director and actor Mark Gatiss Photos by Will Palmer and Charlie Forgham-Bailey (SWpix.com)
Last Word 22
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A good time to be small
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he content business is at a fascinating Jordan Pinto looks at how the global streaming revolution is putting small point in its history. The rise of streaming companies with big ideas in pole position. has initiated a period of sweeping consolidation, as even the biggest In this seller’s market, production companies companies in the history of entertainment of all sizes are seizing the opportunity to sell are looking around and realising they need to shows to buyers that, until just a few years ago, get bigger if they are to survive this period of either didn’t exist or weren’t geographically In this seller’s market, prolonged disruption. accessible. production companies The ‘big’ media industry news has come thick It’s true that the situation around IP retention of all sizes are seizing and fast this year: the mega-merger between is contentious when it comes to working the opportunity to sell shows to Discovery and WarnerMedia; the ongoing row with the streamers, but as the coproduction buyers that, until just a few years over the privatisation of Channel 4 in the UK; market has evolved, producers have become ago, either didn’t exist or weren’t Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs’ acquisitionincreasingly deft at working within a mixed hungry media venture shelling out billions for economy of selling and retaining IP. geographically accessible. companies like Moonbug and Hello Sunshine; As the intensity of the streaming wars has Jordan Pinto Amazon buying MGM; CJ ENM buying picked up, so too has the opportunity to strike Endeavor Content. And, um, the metaverse. it big with career-defining projects, both for While these grab headlines and have a production companies and talent. tendency to suck some of the oxygen out of the Disney+, Peacock, Discovery+ and the rebranded Take Netflix’s South Korean drama hit Squid room, the race for scale is, conversely, creating Paramount+, to name a few) has significantly Game, which was reportedly made on a budget a dual reality where being small, nimble and enhanced the prospects for production of US$21.4m. The nine-episode show has gone independent is one of the biggest advantages companies looking to get their shows financed, some way towards redefining the phrase ‘highavailable to content producers and creators. greenlit, produced and beamed across the world. end drama’ – a term that has come to denote The TV business has always been about scale, Throw in all the local content quotas that many projects with budgets two, three or four times but the past five to seven years have seen a streamers now face and it starts to feel like boom higher than Squid Game’s. pronounced elevation of the stakes. This is only time for producers. In terms of viewership, it has also created a expected to increase in the years ahead, with Some have speculated that the streaming new tier for what is possible in the streaming many industry watchers forecasting further bubble will eventually burst. But based on era, if we are to believe Netflix’s viewing metrics. consolidation as media companies bulk up everything one hears and sees, that point seems Since launching in September, it has become to give themselves a fighting chance in the distant. If anything, the investment in content Netflix’s most-watched series to date and the streaming wars. only looks set to increase. most viewed programme in some 94 countries. But the monumental investment While not every company has a being ploughed into stocking dark and brutal survival drama on its streaming shelves is only a good thing development slate, many have a scripted for producers and content creators, property they believe can tap into the who now have the opportunity to sell zeitgeist, if given the right platform. content in their local markets and also Small to medium-sized production to the plethora of streamers setting up companies have never been closer to production hubs and commissioning achieving that goal amid this sea of teams in local markets around the globe. buyers and opportunities. The next allThe ability to sell to both local consuming streaming hit has got to come broadcasters and international SVoDs from somewhere. The chances are that has been around for several years, when it does emerge, you won’t have but the arrival of the second wave heard of the production company that Squid Game of streaming services (HBO Max, makes it.
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The official Content London Daily magazine is published by C21 Media Ltd (www.c21media.net). Editorial director: Ed Waller. Reporters: Jonathan Webdale, Clive Whittingham, Nico Franks, Jordan Pinto, Karolina Kaminska, Michael Pickard, Gün Akyuz, Ruth Lawes, Oli Hammett. Chief sub editor: Gary Smitherman. Senior sub editor: John Winfield. Photographer: Simon Wilkinson. Production: Eleanore Hayes, Courtney Brewster. Events: Gemma Burt, Chloe Hocking. Content London Daily client contacts (C21Media): Odiri Iwuji, Peter Treacher, Hayley Salt. Editor-in-chief & managing director, C21Media: David Jenkinson. Meet the Content London Daily editorial team in the Horsfall Room (Kings Place) or via press@c21media.net. © C21Media 2021
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