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First Take 8 SCENE SETTERS: Deadline takes a close look at the hot button topics affecting the global television business. - Turkey Turns Up the Volume - Australia Sees Ups and Downs - Writer’s Block for Scripted Formats - AI Setting Off Industry Alarms 16 GEORGE KAY: British writer returns to life of crime with The Long Shadow. 20 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE: Netflix feels the heat as Korean content draws new suitors. 24 SWIMMING UPSTREAM: MBC’s Christina Wayne gives Saudi women a powerful voice.
Cover Story 28 NICOLAS WINDING REFN & MATTHEW READ: The long-time collaborators put a modern spin on Enid Blyton’s much-loved, and sometimes controversial, novel series The Famous Five.
Features 34 A YEAR TO FORGET: How the international TV business was hit hard by U.S. woes. 40 WAKE-UP CALL: European commercial networks finally embrace streaming, but is it too little too late? 46 THE NEW FRONTIER: Global streamers target Africa, but can they complete with locals?
Hot Ones
P H OTO BY SARAH STE N F EL DT EXCLU S I V E LY FO R D EA D L I N E
52 HOT ONES: Deadline profiles some of the buzziest titles on the sales block at this year’s Mipcom.
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EDITORS’ LETTER IT HAS BEEN QUITE THE YEAR. As we sit up and take a breath following a tricky 12 months of strife, strikes and, lest we forget, some pretty damn good shows, it is hard to get away from the fact that the TV industry feels more in flux than ever. Luckily, we’re here to break things down for you. When we came together to start planning Deadline’s second ever Mipcom edition, we had to consider the shifting tectonic plates above all else. The first dual writers-actors strikes in more than 50 years had just been called and global economic shocks were wreaking havoc all over the world and denting local industries in a plethora of ways. Streamers scrambled as shareholders began demanding clear routes to profitability. We set about providing as extensive a guide as possible to the state of play today. At the time this magazine went to press, the WGA had tentatively struck a deal with the AMPTP but the actors remained on the picket lines. Our lead feature (on page 34) focuses on how an awful year in the U.S.—dual labor action, streamer subscriber shocks and layoffs at the legacy studios—had trickled down to the international television community. We ponder how globalization has taken hold over the sector, leading to a scenario whereby the U.S. sneezes and the world catches a cold. But to what extent? But it was also important for us to celebrate the wins this year, particularly in parts of the world that are on the up. We sat down with Don Kang (page 20), Netflix’s man charged with overseeing a colossal $2.5 billion Korean content pot and finding the
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ON THE COVER Nicolas Winding Refn photographed exclusively by Sarah Stendfeld
next Squid Game . Elsewhere, we spoke to some of the biggest players in the African content sector (page 46) for an update after a strong year in which the streamers laid down markers for growth in the continent. Amongst the strife, public service broadcasters have ploughed on, with their modus operandi feeling even more important in a world of misinformation, social media wars and over-saturation. It therefore felt apt that our cover star, Nicolas Winding Refn, is making his highly anticipated Famous Five adaptation not for a streamer but for British and German public broadcasters—BBC Studios and ZDF, respectively. Check out page 28 for our exclusive sitdown with the Drive auteur and his producer Matthew Read. Nicolas is one of two creatives we tempted away from their busy schedules for a chat, and you can check out our sit-down with Lupin and Hijack writer George Kay on Page 16. We also have a fascinating analysis of Europe’s commercial broadcasting sector, coming a few short months after the death of media mogul Silvio Berlusconi and as the continent’s networks finally appear to have embraced streaming services. This is not forgetting our dazzling array of Deadline’s Hot Ones at the back of this issue. We hope you come away from reading this year’s magazine feeling ready to enter Mipcom 2023 with confidence. See you on the Croisette. MAX GOLDBART & JESSE WHITTOCK International TV Co-Editors, Deadline
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F T
M I PCO M
TURKISH TENACITY By Diana Lodderhose
Turkey has long been one of the world’s biggest exporters of TV, with markets like Latin America, South America, the Middle East and Balkan countries historically being some of the biggest consumers of series from the nation. But when a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria in February, the widespread damage affected nearly 14 million people, with tens of thousands of fatalities. The television and film communities quickly rallied, and many were involved in the rescue efforts, which saw them lend equipment such as lighting and caravans, proving to be enormously helpful. “It impacted us profoundly,” says Selin Arat, Director of International Operations at Tims & B Productions. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a time where TV series or films weren’t shown for almost a month on television. Nobody had the motivation or the wish to broadcast something fictional.” The TV sector was one of the few industries that was able to pick up and get back to work after the devastating tragedy, with many back in production three or four weeks later. Since then, Turkish content has continued to show its muscle with product that attracts its usual international buyers but now is even piquing the interest of U.S. audiences in a way that hasn’t been seen before. According to Parrot Analytics data, as of June 6, total demand for Turkish series was 24% higher than it was a year ago. In the last half of 2022, there was a huge demand for Turkish content, leaving many to wonder if Turkey will mirror Korea’s success on the international stage and offer up the next generation of global breakouts. It’s a trend that is especially interesting considering the length of Turkish TV episodes (which are often sold internationally in smaller segments), which can be up to two and a half hours. These long episodes work well in their home market as state broadcasting mandates that there are seven minutes of commercials included for every 20 minutes of content. But it’s a format that the biggest buyers of Turkish content, such as Latin America, are very much used to. For more than a decade, Latin and South Americans have been attracted to Turkey’s sweeping epics, also “We share a similar outlook on life, relationships and family,” says Arat of the Latin and South American buying sprees. “The only thing that is different is our religion. But our cultures are very similar in that we have passion, we are temperamental and perhaps sometimes not too rational, and our shows cater to that.” Arat, who will be at Mipcom selling Tims & B’s latest production Another Love, which premiered on Fox Turkey on September 11, says that while Turkey is recovering there are still financial issues challenging the business. Inflation has rocketed, bringing the costs of production up to record highs. “The biggest challenges are financial,” says Arat of the current climate. “The costs of production is rising and licensing fees are not rising at the same level so it’s becoming difficult to finance projects, especially when you have big stars attached.” ★
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From top; A resident in the rubble in Hatay after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria in February; from left, Burak Deniz and Hande Erçel in Another Love.
YAS I N AKG U L / AF P VI A G E TTY I M AG E S / DAN I E L AS H E R S M I TH / PARA MO U N T +
known as “dizis”.
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AUSTRALIA’S TOPSY-TURVY YEAR
Then in June, Sam Esmail’s TV series remake of Fritz Lang classic
By Jesse Whittock
Metropolis became one of the biggest casualties of the WGA strike. The
Australian TV production has had an erratic 12 months. On the one hand,
project was due to bring in nearly 4,000 jobs to the state of Victoria but
Netflix and Disney+ have been ramping up their presence Down Under,
was ultimately axed amid rising production costs and uncertainty over
but on the other hand the business has been struck by the U.S. labor
the strikes. Other U.S.-backed projects were impacted when Hollywood’s
strikes, with shows like Apple TV+’s mega-budget Metropolis scrapped.
actors joined the writers on the picket lines in July, with production
Content quota plans have spooked streamers, while screen funds, which
of Peacock’s Apples Never Fall and Mortal Kombat 2 both going on hia-
have been a big driver for inward investment, are under threat.
tus. Local sources stress that the overall effect has been minimal and
Largely fuelled by the global streamers and the country’s fast handling of the pandemic, the country has been experiencing a major production
restricted to a small number of projects — a small mercy. The third major blow came last month, when the New South Wales
boom over the last few years. Shows such as Disney+’s The Artful Dodger
government, which administrates Sydney and surrounding areas,
and Paramount+’s Last King of the Cross are just two recent examples of
announced plans to put the lid on several key funding pots, including the
the types of projects the territory is able to house.
Made in NSW Fund. The fund has invested in projects including series
In the last two months, Netflix has started shooting neo-Western
The Artful Dodger and Hollywood films such as Thor: Love and Thunder.
drama series Desert King (working title), while Colin From Accounts, the
The country’s Labor government said the moves were necessary due to
edgy rom-com from streaming service Binge, was recently picked up by
a $A188 million ($120 million) hole from the Department of Enterprise,
Paramount+ in the U.S. after building steam globally since its LA Screen-
Investment and Trade’s budget.
ings launch last year.
Aussie production body Screen Producers Australia called the plan a
However, the issues facing the production sector have somewhat tem-
“disaster” that was “hard to comprehend,” and the industry breathed a
pered enthusiasm. The year began with Australia’s government unveiling
sigh of relief when it emerged NSW authorities had reversed the cuts -
plans to impose streaming quotas in 2024 as part of its “Revive” cultural
for now.
policy. The levels weren’t revealed but we hear that local and international streamers are likely to pull back on spend if levies are enforced.
What is clear is that both locally and globally, Australian TV is at a crossroads. Watch this space. ★
Clockwise from left; Lincoln Younes, left, and Tim Roth in Last King of the Cross; Thomas Brodie-Sangster in The Artful Dodger; and from left, Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer in Colin From Accounts.
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F T
M I PCO M
SCRIPTED FORMATS ON THE RISE
this point, finding that scripted formats offer a “faster and more cost-
By Max Goldbart
effective development process since the proof of concept already exists.”
Scripted formats are having quite the moment, and given the turbulent landscape in the television sector, it’s no wonder.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, K7’s study found that the top format originators of the last few years are the UK, Israel and South Korea. Israel’s
The industry is going through rocky times. Local broadcasters are
Your Honor, produced by Yes Studios, is the most successful, with seven
struggling to fund expensive scripted content, distributors can only act
remakes including that all-important U.S. version for Showtime, which
as financiers to a certain degree and the streamers have started rowing
starred Bryan Cranston.
back on spending.
Richard O’Meara, Head of Drama and Insight at K7, says scripted
And then there is the ever-growing desire to land hits almost immedi-
formats are “massively in demand” in rapidly growing markets such
ately in this world of tentpoles, franchises and IP, a desire many believe
as India, Turkey and the Middle East, where audiences are becoming
can be fulfilled if a show has already performed well in its original terri-
accustomed to “Western-style short-run drama,” while even traditionally
tory or territories.
tricky-to-translate comedy shows are starting to perform well.
Enter scripted formats, which have come into play in a big way in the
While many top scripted formats such as Your Honor and the UK’s
last few years. According to analysis firm K7’s “Tracking the Scripted
Liar (which spawned six remakes) originated with local broadcasters, the
Giants” report, it described the market as being in a “healthy state,” with
streamers have also contributed to the boom. Take Netflix’s high-profile
the number of scripted formats in the industry rising by 51% between
remake of Spanish language smash Money Heist in South Korea, or Ama-
2020 and 2022, from 51 to 77.
zon Prime Video’s various versions of Modern Love. In the case of big-
Unlike almost all other areas of TV production, K7 notes that the global pandemic benefitted the scripted format business, citing the availability
budget Amazon tentpole Citadel, the streamer started forging Indian and Italian versions before the U.S. series had even landed on the platform.
of pre-existing titles providing broadcasters with quality proven scripts,
With the strikes having negatively impacted the scripted world and big
which eliminate the need for years-long development periods. MassMe-
players seeking to keep costs down and speed up development, it feels as
dia International President Tyler Massey, a specialist in the field, echoes
though scripted formats’ moment is not over yet. ★
N E T F LI X / A N D R EW C OO P E R / S H OWT I M E
Bryan Cranston in Your Honor.
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New Scripted Series / Comedy Drama 8 x 30’
MIPCOM: Stand P4.C14 redarrowstudiosinternational.com
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M I PCO M
ALL ABOUT AI
and voice, and indeed are already doing so,” he says. “We’ve seen it with
By Jesse Whittock
James Earl Jones and I predict that model will become the standard for
AI has emerged as one of the big sticking points in the WGA and SAG-
any above-the-line actor.”
AFTRA strike negotiations across the last few months, with writers fear-
He adds that no “serious Hollywood studio or production company
ful of technology stealing their jobs and actors worried that cloning will
would ever take the legal risk of including a likeness of an actor that had
take over background acting roles and, eventually, character roles. With
been synthetically replicated without directly clearing it and paying for
deepfake videos awash on the internet and shows such as Black Mirror
it, merely based on a release form supposedly signed years before a, say,
fictionalizing the potential nightmare of future face swaps and identity
furniture commercial—even if it did contain an apparently complete and
theft, it’s easy to see why many are alarmed.
comprehensive buyout.”
Open AI’s ChatGPT can be commanded to write the first draft of a
However, voice synthesis poses more of a direct risk, Connock says.
script in record time, but anyone who has casually played with the text
“Here actors are right to worry. There have already been concerns of
input engines will know the results are not going to have Russell T.
voice synthesis use without explicit permission. That would be a hill I
Davies or Shonda Rhimes quaking in their boots just yet.
would be prepared to die on, in negotiation point terms.”
However, the WGA is deeply concerned, with Being John Malkov-
Taking SAG-AFTRA and the WGA’s lead, unions around the world are
ich writer Charlie Kaufman summing up the feelings of many scriptwrit-
attempting to add AI provisions to contracts. In the UK, ITV and actors
ers at the recent Sarajevo Film Festival when he said: “Once you give that
union Equity are progressing on a deal that would potentially pre-
up and allow the studios to use AI to write their screenplay, there’s no
vent performers’ faces from being cloned in soaps such as Coronation
going back.”
Street and Emmerdale, and these provisions will act as a blueprint for
Whatever the future holds, it is clear generative engines are going to
Equity’s broader negotiations with the BBC and producer body Pact.
change the way TV and film is developed, made and marketed (and yes,
TV execs admit that AI can help with efficiencies in many ways, such as
maybe written) in the future, but it doesn’t have to be a disaster for the
speeding up the development process with edits and assisting with mar-
industry, experts say.
keting materials. Few expect technology to substitute for real creativity.
Former Endemol Shine North boss Alex Connock, now Senior Fellow
One international co-production exec says: “Someone will eventually
at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, says that actors can future-
commission an AI-generated show as a gimmick, but that’s all it will
proof now. “Famous actors and their estates can monetize their likeness
be—a gimmick.” ★
Annie Murphy in Black Mirror.
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Just like Nelson’s character in Hijack—“He gets brought in, by big companies…when it all kicks off,” Nelson’s wife explains to a police officer in the show—Kay’s the man you bring in when you want to deliver a characterled thriller that will keep viewers hooked over several episodes. As well as holding a plane hostage for Apple, he is the co-creator of Lupin, Netflix’s smash-hit French heist drama, which returned for its third season on October 5. Ten days earlier, ITV premiered Kay’s limited series The Long Shadow, examining the fallout from the crimes of the so-called “Yorkshire Ripper,” Peter Sutcliffe. Kay fully supported the strikes but is a champion of the flourishing scene of writers in the UK and Europe, pointing out that The Long Shadow would not have been impacted by industrial action. “The WGA are wonderful, but
THE GEORGE KAY EFFECT
that’s an American union, it’s not the whole world,” he says. It’s the reason why he was happy to sit down with Deadline for this interview. That and Kay has managed to surface for air after a manic period of writing. “I was doing those three series at the same time,” he says. “That’s working full throttle for probably about two years, so I’ve been grateful for a bit of calm.”
British crime writer George Kay’s star is on the rise after a turbulent time for screenwriters. The Lupin, Criminal and Hijack scribe tells Deadline about his support for the U.S. labor action, new UK series The Long Shadow and when it’s too early to pen fact-based drama
Kay started out in documentaries as a development specialist. A self-proclaimed ideas man, he is credited with co-creating The Choir, the BAFTA-winning BBC television show in which presenter Gareth Malone transforms a group of novice singers into a lifeaffirming choral group. “The ultimate development person can tell you, moment by moment,
By Jake Kanter
how a TV show might go…and let other people make it,” he says. His taste for constructing the drama in documentaries also manifested itself in sidehustle writing projects, which later became a full-time endeavor.
George Kay looks conflicted. Speaking to Deadline before the resolution of the writers strike, the British WGA member had put down his pen on an Amazon Studios movie project and ducked a U.S. publicity round for his Apple TV+ series Hijack. But it’s fair to say that the strikes coincided with Kay having a serious moment.
Kay’s early credits include an episode of The Hour, the BBC’s beloved Cold War-era drama about a British news show, and Sky’s adaptation of The Tunnel, starring Clémence Poésy. In 2016, he created the BBC’s bachelorparty-gone-wrong series Stag with his Hijack wing-man Jim Field Smith, before moving on to the first season of Killing Eve, on which he collaborated with Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Kay and Field Smith, who met at college, also created Criminal, the Netflix anthology drama in which detectives interrogate suspects within the confines of a police interview suite. In a nod to his unscripted days, Kay jokes Criminal is not dissimilar to Total Wipeout, the anarchic physical gameshow. “It’s a format where you build a set and then invite different
Not unlike the protagonist in Hijack, Idris Elba’s brooding professional
territories to come and make their own version of the show,” he says. The
negotiator Sam Nelson, Kay has spent years manoeuvring his way between
series was remade in Spain, France and Germany.
all to launch within four months of each other.
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Kay’s credits suggest a preoccupation with crime—an observation he embraces because it means writing about “ordinary people doing I TV
three complex projects for Apple, Netflix and ITV/Sundance—only for them
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extraordinary things,” for good or evil. Reflecting on why TV is obsessed with true crime stories, he says: “They tend to revolve around dynamics that the audience can relate to. They happen in precincts audiences recognize.” He was drawn to the story of Sutcliffe, not because of the killer himself, but because of how his actions had a profound impact on a community in the north of England. Convicted of murdering 13 women, Sutcliffe’s crimes were beyond barbaric, but in The Long Shadow, he does not appear on screen until the final episode and his acts of brutality are never depicted. The closest the audience comes is a single-hander scene in which an emergency services operator, played by Years and Years’ Ruth Madeley, takes a call from Marcella Claxton ( Jasmine Lee-Jones), who has just been attacked by Sutcliffe. It feels like the antithesis of Netflix’s Dahmer, which was criticized for closely framing the killer and obsessing over the gruesome details of his crimes. “There is a risk that we glamorize these people,” Kay says when presented with the Dahmer contrast. “I was conscious of not wanting to glamorize Sutcliffe in any way… I wouldn’t want to make a serial killer my protagonist because I don’t necessarily empathize or understand their thinking.” The Long Shadow, produced by New Pictures in association with All3Media International, has an ensemble cast spotlighting the police who hunted down Sutcliffe and the women who were his victims. Emily Jackson, a
I TV
mother who turned to sex work when her family faced financial strife, was
Top: Toby Jones; bottom Katherine Kelly, both in The Long Shadow
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From top, Idris Elba in Hijack; Daniel Mays in The Long Shadow.
Kay’s route into the seven-part series. “In another drama, you’d start with the discovery of Emily Jackson’s body, but I spent the whole episode getting to know her,” Kay says. “That shows the ambition in terms of the pacing and the size of it.” Jackson is played by Happy Valley star Katherine Kelly, who is compelling in what is a small role for an established British TV star. Even though many of the cast only appear in one or two episodes, each actor was given the full seven scripts to understand their place in the series. “This is the long shadow of these crimes,” Kay says. “It goes into the capillaries of society. If it wasn’t so glib, we’d refer to it as a ‘Yorkshire Ripple.’ It’s such a silly phrase, but that’s exactly what it was. It was part of the north of England and affected everyone’s lives.” Having grown up in Berkshire, an English county west of London, Kay saw Britain’s north/south cultural divide as an obstacle he had to overcome in writing the series. He visited the community in Chapeltown, Leeds, on several occasions to interview people. New Pictures received some “gentle pushback” about the series from family members of the victims, the writer adds, some of whom were wary of being associated with Sutcliffe’s crimes. Kay remembers one interaction with Richard McCann, the son of victim Wilma McCann. Richard took issue with the show’s original working title, The Yorkshire Ripper, saying those linked to the murders were not comfortable with the Sutcliffe moniker. “We don’t like that verb,” he told Kay, saying it had become a “dark brand name” for the killer. “We said he was completely right,” Kay says. “We needed to change that, react, learn, and grow in our creative process. So, we changed it within a month of announcing. I want to be really open about how writers and TV makers need to change and not claim to have everything perfectly in order. If you’re researching properly, you’re learning.” just happened. Asked about recent political series in the UK, including Sky’s
18
I TV
Kay says there are dangers in factual dramas capturing events that have
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Above: Omar Cy in Lupin; Cara Theobold in The Long Shadow, below: Katherine Kelly in The Long Shadow.
Boris Johnson drama This England and Banijay’s plans to examine Liz Truss’
however, given he is under contract with Netflix. He signed up for Season
tenure as Prime Minister, he believes these events don’t yet have their full
1 of Hijack and The Long Shadow before agreeing to his deal with Netflix,
historical context. “I think there’s a real thing about going too quickly,” he
which allows him to range across different projects in Europe. “I don’t think
says, adding that he needs “perspective” in his work, or it can lead to “odd
it’s healthy, necessarily, for a single commissioner to be trapped with one
blind spots.”
writer because you want to have more flexibility than that,” he says of his
Kay is a morning writer, usually getting to his desk for 6 a.m. when he enjoys a productive “golden hour” before his house wakes up. He contin-
overall deal. After a frenetic spell of writing three projects, Kay is grateful for a quieter
ues writing throughout the morning, leaving afternoons for read-throughs
period of development work. But not unlike many writers, he will welcome
and meetings. He was writing The Long Shadow and Hijack in parallel, only
a more fulsome return to the keyboard now that the strike is resolved. “We
separating the time he spent on each script with a sandwich or a swim. Kay
all want to get started again on something else sooner or later,” he says. “So
enjoyed switching into a “completely different gear” on Hijack, which is a
yeah, I’m itching to do the next thing.”
fictional series with a “muscular” script, involving action scene descriptions in the tight confines of a plane.
His recent purple patch suggests that crime fans will be waiting and eagerly watching. ★
Kay says he was “Idris aware” as he wrote the first episode after Jay Hunt, Apple TV+’s Creative Director in Europe, floated Elba for the lead role. He pared back his script when it came to filming because Elba was able to capture Sam Nelson plotting his way out of the hijack in a single expression. “You don’t want everyone chatting too much [on the plane], because obviously you will reduce the fear,” he says. All the signs are that Hijack performed well for Apple, which may have been helped by the show’s weekly release strategy. Kay says having to wait for fresh episodes is a “forgotten treat” in television and is something writers can embrace if they are given notice by streaming services. “Provided you know in advance how you’re going to be put out, I think that’s really helpful for writers,” he explains. “We knew that we were not going to go out in one blob for Hijack, so I was able to factor that into how it was written. You know that you’re going to have a bit of a break, so you lean into a cliff-hanger a bit more here and there.” I TV
Hijack was a limited series, but Kay says there is the potential for the drama to return for a second season. It is unlikely he will be involved,
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SURFING THE KOREAN WAVE Netflix Korea Chief Don Kang on where the company is spending that $2.5 billion & Korean industry controversy By Liz Shackleton
“One of the main reasons I decided to join Netflix was because I believed
Korean content across the next four years, on top of the more than $1 billion
it was a platform that could bring Korean content to the world, especially
already spent since 2016, it made the world sit up and take notice.
with its localization abilities of dubbing and subbing in more than 30 lan-
In many ways, spending heavily in Korea is a no-brainer. Netflix has already had a global breakout Korean hit with Squid Game, followed by a slew of shows
guages,” says Kang, who joined the streamer from local studio CJ ENM in 2018 and now holds the role of Vice President of Content for Korea.
that may not have reached the same dizzy heights but are still international
“I knew that Netflix’s marketing and publicity muscle was powerful
hits such as period zombie drama Kingdom, supernatural thriller Hellbound,
and would enable global audiences to enjoy Korean content. At the same
Extraordinary Attorney Woo, about a female lawyer on the autism spectrum,
time, content doesn’t usually resonate globally if it’s not loved by its
revenge saga The Glory, and survival game show Physical: 100.
local audience, and Korean content is being very heavily consumed by
Of course, Netflix is not the only global streamer in the Korean content game, but it was arguably the first to spot its international potential. On a
Korean audiences.” That international reach puts the $2.5 billion spend into context as Netflix’s
recent trip to Seoul, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that 60% of its global
K-content is unlikely to generate big profits from the Korean market alone.
members have sampled Korean content and that Korean series and films
Netflix has not reported Korean subscriber numbers since saying it had 5
have reached the Netflix Top 10 in more than 90 countries.
million members at the end of 2021, but local legislator Byun Jae-il recently
Speaking from Netflix’s offices in Seoul during a wide-ranging exclusive
pegged its annual Korean earnings at $580 million (KRW773.3BN) in 2022.
interview, Netflix’s Korean chief Don Kang says Korean dramas have long
Korea appears to be Netflix’s biggest single territory spend within
been loved by other Asian countries, but it wasn’t until Netflix entered the
Asia. The streamer is also focused on Indian content, through a separate
game that they found a large audience beyond the region.
team headed by Monika Shergill; Japan, where content is headed by Kaata
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N E T F LI X
When Netflix announced in April that it’s planning to spend $2.5 billion on
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Sakamoto; Southeast Asia, in particular Thailand and Indonesia; and it is currently figuring out next moves in Chinese-language content out of Taiwan. But none of these territories appear to be getting the same budget as Korea. Kang says that when it comes to deciding what to commission in Korea, greenlighting power resides with him and Minyoung Kim, who heads up Netflix’s Asia Pacific content outside of India: “Ted [Sarandos] and his team are there to provide great support, for which we’re always grateful, but we decide what to commission and who to work with,” adds Kang. But what exactly are those billions being spent on? While Kang won’t be drawn on how spend breaks down between different content categories, he does say this sum is not just for production, but also covers training initiatives and operations. “Investment can stretch across anything from technology to actual manpower skills and expanding the talent pool,” Kang says. In terms of volume, he adds Netflix is currently producing around 15-20 Korean drama series a year, five or six movies, and is in the early stages of building out an unscripted slate. Then there’s also the content that is acquired rather than produced. It’s a diverse slate. Netflix can claim with some authority that it greenlights content that local studios may not have taken a flier on—and has managed to find a wide audience for that content overseas. Before Netflix entered the market, it was mostly just Korea’s romantic dramas that travelled, especially among female audiences in the rest of Asia. But Squid Game, a high-concept survival drama, changed the perception of what form K-drama could take and now many different kinds of shows are travelling. Kang points to The Glory, about a woman taking bloody revenge on the classmates who bullied her in high school, and Mask Girl, about an office worker who is insecure about her looks and becomes a masked internet personality by night, as recent examples of female-skewing shows that don’t fit the mould of traditional romance. “It’s not that shows like this never existed before, but because everything was provided through linear TV, there were structural limitations, which meant that creators weren’t able to fully unleash their creativity and their vision,” Kang says. On the horizon are the hugely
Opposite page: Believer 2. Top right, Don Kang; below Squid Game.
anticipated second season of Squid Game, again starring Lee Jung-jae and executive produced by Hwang Dong-hyuk; a second season of monster show Sweet Home; thriller Gyeongseong Creature and a slew of romantic dramas, including Castaway Diva, starring Extraordinary Attorney Woo’s Park Eun-bin. Inevitably however, this kind of success, volume and industry dominance has also drawn controversy. As Netflix has risen in Korea, the territory’s local broadcasters and streaming platforms, including TVing and Wavve, have struggled to compete, and the local industry has chafed at other ways in which the streamer has upended the domestic content ecosystem.
N E T F LI X
Producers grumble privately that all the hot talent is busy making shows for Netflix and the streamer’s
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heavy spend has driven up costs. Meanwhile, Netflix’s business model of retaining global IP and not paying residuals to creators has become a hot topic in Korea. While Netflix may not be the only culprit on nonpayment of residuals, it’s definitely the most high-profile since Hwang spoke out about his lack of back-end compensation on Squid Game. While most companies continue to take the money and work as producers for hire, at least one of Netflix’s Korean production partners is pushing back against the ‘cost plus commission’ business model. Kang will not be drawn on whether there will be a second season of Extraordinary Attorney Woo, but then Netflix only owns the show outside Korea. Following its experiences with the streamer on Kingdom, Lee Sangbaek’s AStory, the production company behind Extraordinary Attorney Woo, decided to hang on to the show’s IP and licence it to Netflix for international. Meanwhile, mirroring labor action in the U.S., several Korean guilds and unions are currently campaigning on the residuals issue, along with other industry working practices they claim are exploitative. Among recent developments, the Directors Guild of Korea (DGK) held a press conference to lobby the country’s legislature to revise the Copyright Act to make payment of residuals a legal obligation. On the issue of residuals, Kang follows the standard Netflix line that it pays its creators well: “We’re working very hard to reward our creators fairly and at the most competitive level possible. We pay upfront sums that reflect what could be calculated as residuals, which in most cases lead to compensation at a higher level than if residuals were paid.” He adds that payment of residuals is an industry wide issue, encompassing both local studios and other global streamers, “so I’m not sure it’s the best way forward for Netflix to act unilaterally and try to negotiate with certain groups.” It doesn’t help that Netflix doesn’t face the same level of competition from other global streamers in Korea that it does in some other Asian territories. Disney+ has just scored its first major Korean hit with superhero series
From top; Ballerina; and The Glory.
Moving, but the streamer is estimated to have only 10 percent of the volume of Korean subscribers as Netflix. Prime Video got to Korea late, after initially focusing on Japan and India, so now mostly acquires content for distribution
Further afield, there has been speculation that Korean shows are being
outside Korea. Apple TV+ has so far made one Korean show, Kim Jee-woon’s
lined up to fill the gap left in North American viewing schedules by the WGA
Dr. Brain, and Paramount+ is working with local streamer TVing on shows
and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Before the strikes started, Sarandos said he hoped
including A Bloody Lucky Day, Queen Woo and Bargain (see Hot Ones). But
it wouldn’t come to that—but that Netflix’s global production meant that
nobody has anywhere close to Netflix’s volume of Korean content.
members would not be without options. “We have a large base of upcoming shows and films from around the world,” Sarandos said.
consequence of “rewarding creators fairly,” but that the issue is misunder-
It could be argued that, just because 60% of Netflix subscribers have sam-
stood. He explains that Netflix is not inflating per-episode cost but ensures
pled Korean shows, it doesn’t mean the whole world is going to switch from
that its production partners on a 6-10 episode series are compensated in
English to Korean content. K-drama may be popular but is still an acquired
line with what they would expect under the traditional ad-driven model of a
taste. However, where it is filling a gap is in other parts of Asia—a recent
20-episode show.
report from Media Partners Asia found that Korean content accounted for
“Having said that, we do need to increase certain costs, for example
50% of SVoD viewership across the continent in the first half of 2023. It’s
investing more in pre-production and post-production,” Kang says. “That
probably not the U.S. that needs to worry about being overrun by Netflix’s
investment is crucial for effective storytelling and for bringing Korean con-
Korean output.”
tent to a global audience.”
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Addressing the issue of driving up costs, Kang says it’s an inevitable
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Physical 100
FILMS AND UNSCRIPTED PUSH So far, it’s only Netflix’s Korean drama series that
includes zombie reality show Zombieverse, released
upcoming film projects include historical drama
are dominating in terms of international reach and
in August; mind game survival show The Devil’s Plan,
War and Revolt, which is being co-scripted by Park
volume. There are other arenas in which Netflix still
which launched September 26; and a third season
Chan-wook and set to star Gang Dong-won and
has room for growth—but Kang says he is working
of Single’s Inferno, due before the end of the year.
Park Jeong-min.
on that.
Presumably, some of these formats can also be
globally as series so far, a phenomenon common to
content and films. Netflix has already tasted inter-
although Kang says he’s currently more excited by
most territories, Kang says they are still reaching a
national success for reality shows with Physical:
unscripted spin-offs of drama series, such as the UK-
much wider audience than they would through tra-
100, a competition survival series that topped the
produced Squid Game: The Challenge, which debuts
ditional theatrical release. “Korean film has a strong
streamer’s Global Non-English chart for two weeks,
in November. “If it’s fun, we can definitely do more of
reputation on the global stage, and Netflix is now one
and dating show Single’s Inferno, which became the
those,” he says.
of the ways audiences are accessing and enjoying
first Korean unscripted show to debut on the Global
Film is another area that Kang sees as a potential
films. Our marketing and publicity teams have a truly
area for expansion: “We see a lot of opportunity
global reach, but we also see festivals as an impor-
with film and we’re ramping up our slate, with
tant way to celebrate these stories and build buzz
forts, it was unusual for Korean unscripted shows
around five or six original films per year, and then
around them.”
to travel—although Korean formats such as King of
even more through licensing.”
Non-English Top 10. Kang says that prior to Netflix’s localization ef-
Mask Singer (aka The Masked Singer) have obviously
N E T F LI X
Although films haven’t achieved the same traction
remade in other territories in different languages,
Two of the biggest pushes will come in unscripted
Netflix launched thriller Kill Boksoon, starring
Meanwhile, the drama series pipeline is still pumping. Viewers will have to wait until next year for Squid
sold well. “We wanted to take on the challenge of
Jeon Do-yeon, at this year’s Berlin Film Festival
Game Season 2, but will get the likes of Sweet Home
unscripted because Korea makes great shows and
and has three films premiering at Busan—thrillers
Season 2 and and K-pop romcom Doona! in 2023.
we see it as fulfilling that desire for something more
Believer 2 and Ballerina, and documentary Yellow
With its deep pockets and first mover advantage, the
light-hearted, which sitcoms once had,” he says.
Door: ‘90s Lo-fi Film Club, about the search for
K-wave as driven by Netflix is unlikely to slow down
Bong Joon-ho’s unreleased first short film. Other
any time soon. ★
The streamer’s current Korean unscripted slate
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WAYNE ENTERPRISES MBC Studios Chief Christina Wayne on amplifying female voices, altering long-held perceptions & entering the “growth & maturation phase”
are bringing us fabulous stories,” she says. “There are book series here with
By Jesse Whittock
‘sportswashing’ claims, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has spear-
fanbases that are young and female, and they are surprisingly interested in fantasy and sci-fi.” Despite being criticized for a litany of human rights abuses and headed opportunities and greater freedoms for women in Saudi Arabia since 2017 when major reforms began taking place as part of his Vision 2030 sought to position itself as a major regional TV and film hub with the burgeoning Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah and the much-publicized location hot spots of Neom and Film AlUla. Indeed, Hollywood bigwigs have become increasingly intrigued by what the nation has to offer in terms of talent, locations and that generous 40% tax rebate. Women have since taken active creative and executive roles in a territory that, until very recently, would not let them drive or file for divorce. Western involvement is becoming more prevalent, and the country’s filmmakers are
In her first major interview since replacing Peter Smith in February, Ameri-
beginning to be recognized on the international stage.
can producer Wayne, who shepherded Mad Men and Breaking Bad for AMC
Katie Holmes is mentoring three female filmmakers through a Film AlUla
Networks, tells Deadline how the Riyadh-based media giant is encouraging
Creates program, which was unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival this year.
work from “across all genders” but lasering in on new female talent. “We have lots of amazing female writers and directors in the region who
24
Wayne doesn’t directly address the role LGBTQIA+ stories can play in a nation where homosexual activity remains illegal but instead says the focus
M BC/O P E N ROA D FI LM S/ MBC ST U D I OS
In a country where women’s freedoms have historically been marginalized (a nationwide ban on female drivers was only lifted five years ago), new MBC Studios boss Christina Wayne is determined to seek out the strongest female creative voices Saudi Arabia has to offer.
agenda. That year, the country lifted its 35-year ban on cinema and has since
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From left; Gerard Butler in Kandahar; and Anthony Mackie and Aiysha Hart in Desert Warrior.
is on “telling stories that are culturally relevant to the area, and that are
operation. He focused on setting up the structure for the business, leading to
going to resonate with the audience.”
the likes of big-budget fantasy series Rise of the Witches, The Devil’s Promise
“We are looking at diverse points of view in all the ways we tell our stories. Our teams look at books, formats, IP and everything that is out there in the world, just like any other studio, and then bring ideas to our buyers [the MBC networks and streaming service Shahid].”
Taking MBC to the next level
rer Desert Warrior, which filmed in Neom. Notably, MBC moved its headquarters from Dubai to the Saudi capital of Riyadh last year as the latest step in its multimillion-dollar strategy, a move signaling that huge investment in high-end production was here to stay. MBC had originally launched in London as a dongle satellite channel and
Wayne’s role is intriguing. She’s the head of a major studio organization
today runs more than 20 linear channels, production operations and a train-
attached to the Gulf region’s biggest television network, MBC, in a country
ing facility that’s educated more than 18,000 people.
desiring to be the region’s content powerhouse after decades spent refusing M BC/O P E N ROA D FI LM S/ MBC ST U D I OS
from British producer Tony Jordan and mega-budget Anthony Mackie-star-
to play the game. Just over five years ago, MBC Studios was launched as bin Salman’s
Now, MBC Studios is an established player regionally and is the beating content-creation heart of MBC’s linear networks and Shahid, which is available across the region and in countries such as the U.S., UK and Australia.
reforms got underway. Led by the new Crown Prince (who is now also Prime
As a result, it presents a new and unique challenge for Wayne, a Hollywood
Minister), embracing entertainment seemed a sure-fire way to change the
seasoned industry exec who played a significant role in developing big hits
image of the country and attract investment, so MBC made a leap into the
while at AMC Networks.
high-end TV and film world.
Having begun her career under the tutelage of Chinatown scriptwriter
The group, led by long-serving Brit CEO Sam Barnett, hired ex-NBCUni-
Robert Evans, Wayne wrote and directed films in the U.S. and later joined
versal International and Antenna Group content chief Peter Smith—who was
AMC, where she produced the ratings-spinning miniseries Broken Trail and
Wayne’s boss at Cineflix Studios during the 2010s—to head up a new studio
developed several of its most popular titles. She later ran Cineflix Studios,
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F E AT U R E
which made BBC America drama Copper and then moved into indie produc-
summer pitch to us in the past few weeks,” though she declines to reveal
tion at Assembly Entertainment, which made the likes of Showtime’s under-
their identity.
rated LA stand-up drama I’m Dying Up Here.
Indeed, U.S. stars, directors and studios have flocked to shoot in the coun-
More recently, she had a spell as Amazon Studios Head of Canadian
try as more and more investment has rolled in, drawing comparisons with
and Australian Originals but left last year after helming a local remake of
the sport sector, which has had a similar boost. Just this year at the Cannes
unscripted format LOL and dramas such as Three Pines, starring Alfred
Film Festival came the announcement of a pair of state-backed film funds
Molina. She has now relocated from North America to Riyadh and is learning
worth a total of $180 million that are aimed at local talent and attracting
a new culture on the job—albeit most things still feel somewhat familiar.
more international projects.
“Saudi was a territory I’d done some work in while at Amazon, so it piqued my interest when MBC reached out to me,” she recalls. “Pete had set up
Neom, the northern Saudi area being built to be an industrial powerhouse and futuristic urban metropolis, has attracted numerous projects
all the different departments, developed a strong slate and launched some
such as the Gerard Butler-starring Kandahar, Tomb Raider director Simon
shows. That was the start-up phase and now it’s really the growth and matu-
West’s upcoming epic film Antara and Shah Ruhk Khan’s Bollywood fea-
ration phase.”
ture Dunki.
Though she’s still broadly overseeing Smith’s slate while new ideas are
Still, MBC Studios has rules of engagement. “The stuff we get involved
drummed up, Wayne says operationally her new company “works pretty
with has to have an authentic local lead voice and that does limit some of the
much like any studio I’ve worked at—the relationship between MBC and
things we can we do, but people are open-minded and welcoming of Arab
MBC Studios is the same as the relationship of Prime Video and Amazon Stu-
lead characters and storytelling,” says Wayne. “Then we can get writers and
dios. They tell us their mandate, the genres they want and the demographics
directors who can make that authentic, so it’s not a Western writer or direc-
they have and we look to fulfil that.”
tor who is telling that story.”
This manifests in stories designed specifically for the Saudi audience and others that attract viewers from the wider Middle East and North Africa region. Most production is in Arabic, though there is a small focus on Eng-
Wayne says that to the U.S. labor strikes had an impact on a “smaller number of global projects in English that have WGA deals.” “We couldn’t work on them,” she says. “Most of our projects are set within
lish-language projects that “are still told from the region through authentic
the region so are not affected as they use local writers and directors, but
points of view.”
even when you tried to work with people from overseas, say in the UK, they
International business and co-productions are ramping up. Wayne says she had an “A-list, top-tier producer who had a big blockbuster hit this
Desert Warrior
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were reluctant to work, even if they’re not WGA. When we worked on a WGA project, we adhered to the strike.”
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From top; Gerard Butler and Navid Negahban in Kandahar; Butler and Negahban.
Next steps It’s early days but what is clear is that Saudi Arabia needs to mature its production business to achieve its lofty goals. With this, the talent base and skillset requires time and investment. Encouragingly, more Saudi talent is emerging thanks to the MBC Academy, which is training local writers, directors and other below-the-line talent. Each student works across MBC productions as they learn, creating strong CVs and providing hands-on experience for their future careers. “It will continue to grow here and be like other developed areas,” Wayne says. “There will always be an interest in coming to the region, because of what it can offer in terms of location. The weather’s great for most of the year, but one of the fun things I’ve learned since being here is the number of different climates in the Middle East. In the mountains, it snows. Some of [the region] can look like foggy England to me.” Relaying the opportunities to the wider international community and changing long-held perceptions of the Gulf region will be one of Wayne’s key O P E N ROAD F IL MS/ MBC ST U D I OS
challenges going forwards. “There’s a lot of education to be had about the reality of what it is to live and work in the Middle East,” she says. “It defies a lot of the preconceived notions that people are misinformed about. I probably work with the most diverse group of people I’ve ever worked with—I have women leading all the departments under me, which I’ve never had before. These are super-strong, independent and talented women with diversity from every country in the Middle East, and from beyond.” ★
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Nicolas Winding Refn is adapting Enid Blyton’s beloved series The Famous Five for TV alongside long-time collaborator Matthew Read. Max Goldbart learns more…
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Nicolas Winding Refn
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here is a little-discussed Hollywood rumor, explains Nicolas Winding Refn and his long-time collaborator Matthew Read, that Scooby Doo only came to be because Warners failed to land the rights to adapt The Famous Five. And when you look at the two properties and their uncanny similarities, this argument does begin to hold some weight. Both have daring female characters from a bygone era, ridiculous story-of-the-week capers that always end neatly, and, of course, those lovable pooches—in the former case Scooby and in the latter, Timmy. If the rumor is true, Winding Refn is thankful for how things played out, as he credits both generation-traversing works with influencing his career and driving his love for the screen. Now, more than 50 years on from when Warner Bros. allegedly failed to land the rights, the Denmark-born director has become the latest to take on best-selling English children’s writer Enid Blyton’s iconic novel series, pairing with The Pursuit of Love producer Read. Speaking exclusively to Deadline as BBC Studios readies to launch sales on the BBC/ZDF series at Mipcom, Winding Refn, who is creator and executive producer on the project, casts his mind back to his moving to the U.S. as a scared, dyslexic child who spoke little English. “I didn’t read until I was 13 so TV was a big thing for me as an eight-year-old coming to the States,” explains the Drive and Bronson director. “Scooby Doo had something that just magically transported me into this adventure land, so this feels like a very full circle that’s coming to completion. And I’m finally making something that my kids would actually watch.” Through watching Scooby Doo, which has spawned more than 300 episodes that continue to air as well as movies and specials, Winding Refn says he was “visually and literally very much indoctrinated by a Famous Five iconography.” Blyton’s 21 novels from the series are perhaps her best-loved work, although not uncontroversial (more on that later). Today, millions of kids continue to read the children’s adventure books, proving they are standing the test of time. Kicking off with 1942’s Five on a Treasure Island, they follow Julian, Dick, Anne, George and, of course, Timmy, who get caught up in an adventure each time they come together—experiences that often involve criminals or a lost treasure. They are pure escapist classics and have been adapted for the big and small screens multiple times—most recently airing on the BBC in 1995, an adaptation penned by Brit scribes Richard Carpenter, Helen Cresswell and Alan Seymour. “I’ve always liked the concept of not really wanting to be an adult; staying in ‘adventure land’ forever,” Winding Refn says. “The Famous Five feels like one of the very few things that you literally hand down the generations.” Forging a TV version has been at the back of Winding Refn’s mind throughout a two-decades-long career. Last year, Read picked up the rights for the book series via his BBC Studios-backed Pursuit of Love producer Moonage Pictures, eventually bringing on board Winding Refn’s outfit byNWR. For Read, who worked with Winding Refn on Only God Forgives, Pusher and Valhalla Rising, and who even named one of his children after the director, there was only ever one person for the gig. “To bring these stories to the screen and make them relevant for a modern audience, I was very aware you needed someone with real vision,” says Read, who is a co-creator, EP and wrote the first episode of The Famous Five. “I knew from my friendship with Nicolas that there was an opportunity to do something in this space and create something for a broad audience that retains the ‘fantastique,’ the adventure, the uniqueness of the vision that’s in his work. It was always in the back of my mind, but I didn’t want to talk about it until we had the rights.” Having aired a fun-for-all-the-family version of Oliver Twist last year titled Dodger, the BBC is keen on stories like The Famous Five and landing a greenlight for three feature-length episodes was relatively straightforward, with ZDF also boarding and France’s TF1 pre-buying. Deadline understands that more deals are in the offing. Several times during our chat, Winding Refn and Read, who previously bonded over their love of British filmmakers like Hitchcock and Pressburger, stress the element of “fantastique” they wanted to imbue on their version. That “fantastique” has been present in some form in many of Winding Refn’s works throughout the years. He has nurtured a reputation for a dark,
underground, highly stylized approach that has spawned the likes of Ryan Gosling-starring Cannes breakout Drive, opinion-splitter Only God Forgives and, more recently, TV shows such as Netflix’s Copenhagen Cowboy. But Winding Refn shrugs off the notion that his Famous Five will be overly stylized, stressing a commitment to making the show “exciting, entertaining, thoughtful and inspiring.” Read notes that “scholars [of Winding Refn] will enjoy spotting the thematic connections.” Winding Refn and Read say they balanced the need for authenticity with a desire to retool works published as long ago as the 1940s for a modern audience. “We were asking ourselves how we take something that has obviously been duplicated multiple times and refresh it while retaining the DNA,” Winding Refn says. “Kids are so much more assaulted with stuff nowadays, so growing up has become much more complex and challenging than when the books were published.” The pair sought inspiration from surprising places, including The Who’s iconic mod movie Quadrophenia, which became, for them, the inspiration for heroine George Kirrin’s “countercultural standpoints.” She is the de-facto leader of the gang, a tomboyish adventurer with a fiery temper. Winding Refn brands her “the anchor for the narrative, the foundation for The Famous Five.” “The UK has such a countercultural significance,” he says. “At that time [when Quadrophenia was released], touching upon gender, class structure and all those things gave us a lot of material that today you can really develop into a clearer direction. Maybe further in the past this was more hidden in the shadows but here there was a lot of material to go with.” Recently, the so-called culture wars have led to alterations made to books from the past and The Famous Five has not been immune to that trend. While it was Roald Dahl reworks that really dominated headlines, recent editions of The Famous Five have been stripped of words such as “gay” and “queer,” and phrases including “don’t be an ass” and “shut up.” From left: Diaana Babnicova, Flora Jacoby Richardson, Kit Rakusen, Elliott Rose and Kip (the dog) in The Famous Five.
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Did Winding Refn and Read much pay attention to the chatter? “Most things related to the alternation of past culture unfortunately come down to financial gain for the institutions monetizing them,” says Winding Refn. “You can’t run from what history was and is—nor should we like it or agree with it—but we can’t deny its existence. Every generation rebels against its past definitions. There’s nothing new here.” Read, intriguingly, tells us the “expression of our attitudes towards the controversies that have arisen from Blyton’s work in the past is in [our] adaptation.” He took a more hands-on approach than Winding Refn during filming of the Tim Kirkby-directed series, attending most of the shoot in the southwest of England, while the Danish director remained in his home country (he speaks to Deadline from his mother’s house). “Sometimes you need to give people the freedom to interpret and run with what you give them rather than breathing down their necks,” Winding Refn says. Casting was integral and the team were rigorous. Winding Refn describes finding the four main characters as “a puzzle.” “It all had to match,” he says. “You find something you fall in love with but then that doesn’t equate with something else, and then you have to redesign the entire thing. It can be a tedious process.” They settled on relative newcomer Diaana Babnicova in the “anchor” role of George, alongside Elliot Rose as Julian, Kit Rakusen as Dick and Flora Jacoby Richardson as Anne. For the adults, Ted Lasso star James Lance was cast as George’s scientist father Quentin, while the creators were keen to throw some fresh antagonists into the mix. Jack Gleeson, best known as Game of Thrones’ Joffrey Baratheon, is a major draw as Wentworth, a Moriarty-esque figure who will act as a foil in multiple episodes and, hopefully, for many seasons down the years, if the BBC and ZDF choose to hit the recommission button. Winding Refn hasn’t made a show for a public broadcaster since directing an episode of ITV’s Marple 15 years ago and his last two projects have been for streamers: Copenhagen Cowboy for Netflix and Prime Video’s Too Old to Die Young. Last month, he had some choice words for the global streaming behemoths, blasting them during a Venice Film Festival Masterclass as being “overfunded and rotten with money and cocaine,” according to reports. Qualifying these comments, Winding Refn—who has also previously forecast the death of cinema—stresses that he would be happy to work with the SVoDs in the future but “was confirming something that we are all struggling with in our media landscape.” “We are maybe speaking less about why we are making content rather than just making content,” he elaborates. “So much money is rolling into something that essentially is becoming more click-based. The global debate is around why people are tuning out so quickly rather than tuning in, and I believe that has a lot to do with what we are producing.” Winding Refn believes a conversation around the “oversaturated” content market needs to take place between streamers, broadcasters, producers and distributors alike, facing up to the question of why “people
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Every generation rebels against its past definitions
are spending more time figuring out what not to watch [than what to watch].” “Failing to see the emperor’s new clothes is obviously a big mistake,” he says. As this magazine goes to press, however, the dual labor strikes have slowed Hollywood production to a standstill. (WGA has settled its strike, but SAGAFTRA is still in negotiations with AMPTP.) Winding Refn, who has been working in America and with Americans for years, describes the unions’ actions as yet “another representation of the enormous inequality that our modern world is heading towards.” “I believe that’s a great catastrophe,” he says. “So, it’s time for us to unite because the world is a lot happier when we share, rather than fight, over resources. We need to be a bit more [It’s a Wonderful Life character] George Bailey.” Citing a famed underdog character like Bailey is apt when we come back to the project that Winding Refn and Read have come together to promote. It is precisely that romanticism—the dream of a simpler time when families could gather Famous Five-style to take on the world’s ills—that is driving them forwards. “We both grew up with analog television and this idea of a certain time and a certain day when everyone gathered round an event,” Winding Refn says. “That doesn’t exist anymore, and so we throw things back to a romanticized ideology, where television was a collective experience.” ★
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AMERICA’S ANNUS HORRIBILIS How a year to forget in the U.S. hit the international TV sector and what the world did in response
Deadline has spoken to around a dozen creatives, producers, sellers and analysts from around the world—some of whom preferred to remain anonymous—to piece together how a year to forget for the U.S. has
By Max Goldbart
impacted the international TV biz. At the same time, a global economic downturn has deepened its grip. Major European players such as Viaplay and ProSiebenSat.1 have been forced to shed hundreds of staff members which has run concurrently with the strikes, buttressing an across-theboard commissioning slowdown. Sources vary in their position on the doom-and-gloom spectrum but they leave Deadline in no doubt that the ripple effects from the U.S. have, at times, felt like tidal waves.
Midway through 2022, the industry was rocked by an unanticipated Netflix
“The year the bubble burst”
subscriber slide that sent shockwaves through Wall Street. Since then, there
“This was the year the bubble burst,” says Frank Spotnitz, The X Files exec
have been a series of struggles for virtually all legacy studios and streamers,
who has been based in Europe for more than a decade, running an indie and
thousands and thousands of layoffs across the sector and dual labor strikes
training writers. “These huge American corporations suddenly realized they
for the first time since a young Ronald Reagan was helming the actors’
were in a money-losing business. They realized they had to change tack and
union.
at the same time the strikes hit, so it’s really been a perfect storm—a tough
When it rains, it pours, as they say, but what did this all mean for the
year for everyone.”
industry outside the States? As globalization has taken hold, the interna-
Spotnitz’s summary is reflective of the view of almost every Deadline
tional business has become more intrinsically linked with the U.S. and is
source interviewed for this piece. All acknowledge that these once-in-a-
also largely driven by the streaming revolution.
generation tectonic shifts have hit them in some way.
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G E T T Y IM AG ES
Queen Elizabeth II may have popularized the phrase “annus horribilis” decades ago, but the Latin term feels more relevant than ever when thinking about the state of the U.S. TV sector in the last year.
and cull hours and hours of shows in response to economic turmoil,
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From left: SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher; studio executives Tony Vinciquerra, Ted Sarandos, Bob Iger, David Zaslav and Donna Langley.
The majority identify the Netflix subscriber dip as a never-to-be-forgot-
phrase ‘local for global,’ (or, rather sickeningly, ‘glocal’), which echoed
and streaming services, plenty of which fell outside the States. The streamer
round Covid-era confab halls and Zoom calls throughout Europe in 2021.
formerly known as HBO Max (now Max), for example, rolled out numer-
The virtues of non-English language hits such as Squid Game, Lupin and
ous European commissioners at Series Mania 2022 with a “We are open for
Money Heist were extolled at many a trade show, while newer players such
business” message, before Warner Bros. Discovery pulled the plug on origi-
as Paramount+ committed big to spending outside their home nation.
nals in a number of these nations just a few months later. Sources flag this cautionary tale as setting the pace for things to come.
“But then we suddenly felt these guys shift away from what had been a very aggressive [local] commissioning stance,” says the boss of an interna-
“What has been painful this year on this side of the pond is seeing
tionally facing indie that makes shows in a number of territories. “It’s not as
streaming platforms, which were augmenting our local markets signifi-
dire as in the U.S., but there is now this general uncertainty and reticence
cantly, pulling back or freezing entirely,” adds Spotnitz, who also cites Sky
for the streamers to move forward or commit to anything interesting. The
Deutschland’s recent shift away from originals. “HBO, in particular, was
scale at which producers thought we could operate at is no longer the case
nurturing so much local talent in places like Central and Eastern Europe
and we are having to readjust, which is shitty.”
and that has really been curtailed.” The Hebrew saying “far from the eye, far from the heart” springs to mind
G E T T Y IM AG ES
growth in local commissioning that preceded the downturn, birthing the
ten catalyst, leading to major strategic rethinks across the legacy studios
The streamers, for what it’s worth, have consistently sought to downplay these local pullbacks, with the likes of Disney+ confirming at the Edinburgh
when Danna Stern, who used to run Fauda and Shtisel outfit Yes Studios,
TV Festival that it has “pretty much” hit its target of creating 50 original
ponders the approach of the big U.S. giants during the subsequent period.
international titles, although this came just a few days prior to Deadline
“It’s easier to target people on the ground in other countries and terri-
revealing the high-profile canning of UK live-action series Nautilus and a
tories, who are far away from those sitting down the hall from the decision
few weeks after German drama Sultan City was axed. Netflix has simulta-
makers,” she says. “There is less money, less commissioning, fewer execu-
neously continued to greenlight series from its various local hubs and has
tives and less risk-taking all round, and that filters its way through to other
committed big to territories such as Korea (see our Don Kang Interview on
markets. When the U.S. does badly, we all do badly.”
page 20), while a small number of projects have been quietly put to bed.
The sentiment Stern raises feels ever more pronounced due to the sharp
But chatter abounds about shows that have been taken out of early-stage
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From top: Money Heist; and Squid Game; right, Abbott Elementary.
development across the streamers, who were seeking to protect their coffers by culling projects before they got too far down the road. Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival in August, Ian Katz, Chief Content Officer at Channel 4, declared grandiosely that the industry could be “heading towards a reset that sees lower levels of production globally” due to Wall Street’s lost confidence in the streaming behemoths. (A number of streamers declined interviews for this article.) For Tom Harrington, Head of Television at media analysis firm Enders Analysis, the international community should have been more cognizant of the slowdown when the sun was shining in the pre-Covid era. He isolates the troubles as beginning not after the Netflix subs drop but rather when the likes of Netflix and Prime Video began taking “their foot off the pedal,” bringing an end to a ‘blank cheque’ culture. “We wrote a report years ago saying this was coming and people at the time disagreed, and then it happened,” he says. “In a mature market, the streamers worked out how much they needed. First, they cut budget and then they cut volume.” While Squid Game, Lupin and Money Heist no doubt hit global popularity heights unimaginable for an international show of yesteryear, replicating that success has been much harder than some would have believed at the time they were breaking records around the world. “Squid Game is a huge international show, but I don’t think many viewers can name another one This realization has led the streamers to retrench and focus on hero titles, according to Kantar Media Global Consumer Insight Director
good reception, but then the days when consumers signed up to streamers for an overall programing solution are behind us,” he adds. A senior exec at an international drama indie concurs with Sunnebo.
Dominic Sunnebo. He flags Amazon’s big bet on the likes of Lord of the
After conversations with local SVoD execs, they conclude that the “in
Rings and Citadel as an exemplar here and ponders the subsequent effect
between” has been taken out of the international streaming market. “It feels
on local content.
like the streamers only want the really low budget stuff or the stuff that
“It’s a fairly dangerous strategy given that these shows might not get a
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works globally,” they say.
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from Korea,” adds Harrington.
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Dual strikes These shifts have been further compounded by the dual writer-actor strikes, which led to a virtual Hollywood shutdown in a case of rather poor— or, some may argue, fortunate—timing for the studios and streamers.
While Harrington spotlights several intriguing licensing tie-ups such as Channel 4’s deal with Disney for shows including The X Files and Abbott
As Deadline went to press, the WGA had finally secured a deal with
Elementary, he says his research has only found “a bit of an uptick in licens-
the studios and writers went back to work, but the effect was yet another
ing, but not a massive one.” That’s a notion echoed by several in the inter-
example of the interconnectedness of the global industry. Sources are
national distribution community.
torn as to the extent of the damage outside the U.S., while being united in
On the other side of the coin, U.S. buyers are only just beginning to
agreement that the current strikes are more impactful than the previous
splash out on content from around the world to fill those all-important
labor action, which took place 15 years ago.
schedules. “The likes of ITV may have said that they will license a bit more
The 2007-2008 strikes saw the unscripted sector boom in lieu of scripted, and content licensing flourished. Not this time, sources say, with our international producer source citing the “perfect storm between the
but that doesn’t mean ABC is suddenly going to put [long-running ITV drama] Vera on at 9 p.m.,” Harrington says. Budget cuts and a desire to buy ‘fewer, bigger, better’ “ratings chasers” have
strikes and streamer re-examination” leading to a commissioning slow-
combined to keep the international distribution market fairly quiet, accord-
down across all genres.
ing to Jonathan Ford, whose Abacus Media Rights outfit shops the likes of Dan
“Because this is such a foundational dispute about really huge matters,
N E T FL IX/ABC
The landscape for licensing and distribution has therefore been complicated to say the least.
Reed’s Leaving Neverland and buzzy upcoming Australian drama Scrublands.
you are seeing unscripted people show solidarity [with scripted],” says the
“When the market is buoyant, U.S. buyers are more interested in interna-
boss of a well-known unscripted indie. “Things might change when net-
tional programming, but when it is not, they want stuff that hits the spot for
works look at their schedules and say, ‘We have a gap.’ I’m respectful of the
U.S. audiences,” adds Ford. “This creates a catch-22 when we try and sell to
strikes and wouldn’t want to do anything to undermine that.”
the U.S. during a strike.”
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Canaries in the coal mine
sectors, while many have used their experience of Covid-19 slowdowns to
For what it’s worth, Ford is confident the market will broadly “pick up from
good effect.
Mipcom onwards,” but local territories are nevertheless feeling the pinch. In the UK, the strikes have thrown into focus the success that the British acting and writing community has had in Hollywood. Conversely, this has
“[UK broadcasting union] Bectu has cautioned against an over-reliance on the U.S., and this is a good reminder to make sure our local industry is in the best shape possible,” says Boden.
been one of the factors that has led to a slump for the local sector, as high-
He has also observed big U.S. players on some productions “holding on
profile projects such as Disney+’s Andor and Apple TV+’s Silo were forced
to [international] crew,” which he says is no bad thing. He cites examples
to a halt. A petition pleading for the UK government to forge an Income
of productions in English-speaking nations that are keeping their teams
Replacement Scheme to help freelancers with lost earnings had amassed
employed during the strikes, sometimes by extending pre-production. In
tens of thousands of signatures by the time of press.
countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, local crew bases are “far less
“The canary in the coalmine will be the impact on crew bases,” considers a UK drama exec who has been closely surveying the scene. “Suddenly,
reliant on U.S. studios, and are protected by their local language,” he adds. Marcus Ammon, managing director of content for Das Boot indie Bavaria
the next 12 months look quite bleak. Only time will tell how much of that is
Fiction and former Sky Deutschland content chief, backs Boden when he
down to the strikes and how much is down to the streamers not playing the
says, “the less reliant a platform or broadcaster is on American product, the
game as much as they used to.”
smaller the impact of the loss.”
Alex Boden, the former chair of the Production Guild of Great Britain and a producer on HBO’s Tokyo Vice, which filmed mainly in Japan, has had a
He adds that the “demand for local productions over the past years has established a TV industry in Europe that is less dependent on U.S. product.”
360-degree view of the labor conflict’s global impact. He worries that diver-
Furthermore, a rise in co-productions has been another positive out-
sity gains made in the past few years since the Black Lives Matter protests
come, with U.S. buyers showing more interest in putting smaller amounts of
will be hit hard by the loss of work, a sentiment shared by Spotnitz, which
funding towards larger projects to secure some domestic rights.
the latter describes as “tragic.”
“In Europe specifically there is a lot of this going on,” says Stern, who is
Boden strikes an optimistic note when considering the short-to-
consulting on a number of such projects. “Local broadcasters and interna-
medium term impacts of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA shutdowns and says
tional players are being really creative on windowing, understanding that
he’s observed some crew returning to the local TV or independent movie
rights need to be given up and that they can also access public funding.”
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JO H N N AC I O N /G E T T Y I M AG ES/ M AX
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From top: Actors walk the picket line in New York; a still from Tokyo Vice.
One indie boss says that three of his recent greenlights were only possible due to the strikes pushing U.S. players to seek out co-productions. He believes the consequences of the co-pro boom will be U.S. players reconsidering the premiums they pay for domestic content once the strikes are done and dusted. “The two-tier price system that has developed between the U.S. and rest of the world will be equalized hugely by all this,” adds the source, who has worked on some of the biggest UK shows of the past two decades. “In the U.S. you pay ten times more for a script and that just isn’t sustainable.” The nature of the U.S. strikers’ demands could also have been a boon for working conditions around the world. UK actors’ union Equity has very similar demands to SAG-AFTRA in its upcoming negotiations with producer trade body Pact and is pushing hard in areas like AI provisions, while the Korean actors union has based its own talks with Netflix on SAG-AFTRA’s
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desired residuals structure. Many sources indicate that the international industry will slowly correct itself amidst the doom and gloom and that a reduction in commissioning may be just want the sector needs. “While painful in the short term, the bursting of the bubble could be good in the long term,” Spotnitz says. “There is way too much TV. A lot of programs shouldn’t have got made and a lot of good stuff got lost in the churn. We will find a more rational business model to proceed with that will be better for all of us.” ★
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COMMERCIAL INSTINCTS How Europe’s leading commercial networks finally woke up to streaming… but was it too late? By Jesse Whittock
When ITV switched on its new streaming service ITVX in December 2022, the initial promise was to deliver 10,000 hours of free content, including originals such as Damian Lewis drama A Spy Among Friends, which the commercial broadcaster hope would establish the platform as “the UK’s freshest streaming service.”
global streamers in their local market. They even trailed public broadcaster services such as Britain’s BBC iPlayer and Italy’s RaiPlay by a distance, according to many analysts and market watchers. “My view is broadcasters initially underestimated the impact of the streamers and there’s been a hesitation to shift to digital, which has put them at a disadvantage,” says Neil Anderson, senior analyst at Ampere Analysis. Francois Godard, senior media and telecoms analyst at Enders Analysis, puts it another way: “European TV had it too good for too long.” However, ITVX’s startling numbers in the 10 months that followed its
It certainly marked a big step up from its previous streaming incarnation,
launch may prove to be a turning point in the story. In August, ITV trum-
ITV Hub, which mainly served as a catch-up TV service rather than a con-
peted 2 billion views and was named Best On-Demand Service at the Edin-
tent destination. But still, industry onlookers were sceptical.
burgh TV Awards. ITV’s best total for a full year prior was 1.9 billion for 12
In Europe, the wider narrative has been that the continent’s big com-
months in 2022. The metrics were up significantly. Monthly active users
mercial beasts have focused far too many resources on retaining their aging
grew 29%, while 93% more ‘light’ users—a lucrative group for advertisers—
linear audiences and, as a result, had left it too late to catch up with the
had used ITVX in the first six months of 2023.
I TV ST U D I OS / M G M / RTL / F R E M AN T LE
Damian Lewis in A Spy Among Friends.
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Left: RTL CEO Thomas Rabe; below: Fremantle’s The Hand of God.
“The numbers don’t lie, and they are really good in all metrics,” Radcliffe says. “TV is on the one hand very complicated and the other it is not: we want people to watch longer.” Similar stories have been playing out across Europe. Amid a brutal advertising downturn that’s whacked turnover and earnings at all major media companies, RTL’s streaming revenue was up 17% and ProSiebenSat.1 has placed streamer Joyn at the center of its operation as part of a massive restructuring of its business. This isn’t to paint an overly positive picture—virtually every major European commercial TV operation’s share price is considerably down on pre-Covid trading—but there’s a sense companies are coming to grips with the issues, and specifically how streaming will dictate their futures. “We’ve seen a change of pace recently with ITVX and RTL+ in Germany,” Enders’ Godard. says “ITVX is releasing more content online before the linear channel. It is conceived as a destination rather than ITV Hub, which was catch up.” The question now is really whether Europe’s big dogs took too long to respond. Huge falls in revenues have led to redundancies at many companies, with ProSieben shedding 400 staff in one instance. Meanwhile, many of the global streamers are still investing into their European markets to consolidate their subscriptions, despite their well-documented struggles of the past 12 months. When probed about the step-change in digital approaches, senior network execs provide myriad reasons—some necessity, others future-looking—but Henrik Pabst, Chairman of Seven.One Entertainment Group and CEO of Seven.One Studios, puts its more simply: “We used to be frightened of cannibalizing our content, now we are not.” For ITV, that has meant guaranteeing long, exclusive debut windows and brand extensions on ITVX for many shows, while ProSiebenSat.1 has focused on developing formats that are “optimized” for both streaming and
ad solutions that build revenues at digital services, while still focusing on
feed for its upcoming Big Brother reboot, while episodes of The Voice launch
the large, though dwindling, audiences on the flagship linear channels.
behind the paywall on ProSieben’s Joyn seven days before their linear I TV ST U D I OS / M G M / RTL / F R E M AN T LE
The challenge then becomes one of balance—investing in addressable TV
linear, according to Pabst. For example, ITVX will run a continuous live
“No doubt, there are long-term structural shifts in video viewing,” says
launch, which still garner millions of overnight views, and then join catch-
RTL CEO Thomas Rabe, who is also Chairman and CEO of the Luxembourg-
up services for free.
based broadcaster’s parent, Bertelesmann. “The share of linear TV viewing
“The answer for us is to really concentrate on catching broad audiences
is still significantly higher in our key European countries compared to the
who like our program brands, which are extended into digital,” Pabst says.
U.S., but we face similar trends: decreasing usage of linear TV and increas-
“This interplay hasn’t been seen at streamers.”
ing usage of streaming and online video.”
The goal is to differentiate the product from current global streaming
RTL’s answer is to consolidate its huge reach in countries such as Ger-
models by using AVOD services to reach broader audiences and ultimately
many and the Netherlands and invest in new advertising and data tools to
attract advertisers, while also offering subscription options for those who
better monetize.
want earlier access. “Broadcasters do have a chance to capitalize on subscription fatigue,” says Ampere’s Anderson.
However, there isn’t a unified approach to the future amongst Europe’s commercial players. Many see local dominance through domestic
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From top: Sonja Zietlow on Die Verräter (The Traitors); the cast of Echte Meisjes In De Jungle (Real Girls in the Jungle).
consolidation as paramount, while the likes of MediaForEurope, which
Italy and Spain and is the biggest shareholder in ProSiebenSat.1. With
owns Mediaset and a 28.7%% stake in ProSiebenSat.1, call for more cross-
the passing of company founder Silvio Berlusconi this year, there are
border collaboration.
unknowns around how his children, Piers Silvio and Marina, will pro-
Encouragingly, older viewers are finally beginning to move to streaming
ceed after taking control of the media empire. Rumors of a company
platforms, perhaps encouraged to experiment by the boredom of lockdowns
sale have been rubbished, while MediaForEurope recently took the
during Covid. Ofcom’s Media Nations 2023 report revealed that for the first
shares it didn’t already own in Mediaset España, a near €800 million
time a “significant” decline in daily linear TV viewing among Britain’s over-
($850 million) transaction. Others have been much more focused at local level. RTL’s businesses
proportion of the demo using streaming services grew across the board.
remain hyper-focused on local consolidation but have found progress
“That’s a big opportunity,” says ITV’s Radcliffe.
tough. Attempts to merge the company’s French network M6 with commer-
The bigger picture
cial market leader TF1 and RTL Nederland with Talpa Network in the Netherlands were stopped on anti-competition grounds by watchdogs.
As Europe’s commercial networks come to grips with streaming, they are
“In both countries, the competition authorities blocked the transactions
also wrestling with shape of their wider businesses. Analysts expect consoli-
because they did not take into account the speed and extent of the changes
dation of one form or the other to follow over the coming decades, as scale
in European media,” says RTL’s Rabe. “I still see these as missed opportuni-
becomes ever more decisive. Enders’ Godard says it’s a “trial-and-error
ties—for us, but also the European media industry as a whole.”
environment” right now but adds he would be “reassured” if the thinking was “more collective.” For example, Mediaset owner MediaForEurope has broadly favored cross-border consolidation—it owns leading broadcast channels in
42
Analysts broadly agree. “In the case with TF1-M6, regulators have seen it through a narrow prism of the TV advertising market, which doesn’t reflect the wider scale of the challenges on commercial broadcasters,” Ampere’s Anderson. says “The regulators have been tested in their ability to
RT L/ RE D A RROW STU D I OS I N TE R N ATI O N A L / S B S
65s, down 8% year-on-year and 6%on pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, the
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German series The Voice.
understand market dynamics, and they need to make their minds up how they want to support broadcasters,” he says.
RT L/ RE D A RROW STU D I OS I N TE R N ATI O N A L / S B S
Broadly, regulators have been far more comfortable with pan-European
Line of Duty maker World Productions and Gomorrah producer Cattleya. “For ITV, Studios has been a really big strategic advantage,” says Ampere’s Anderson.
consolidation. Comcast-owned Sky and France’s Canal+ have both built
RTL owns Fremantle and has set its production subsidiary the lofty tar-
European pay-TV businesses and MediaForEurope now has two seats on
get of €3 billion ($3.14 billion) in revenues by 2025—one Rabe himself calls
the ProSieben board and has begun to collaborate more closely with the
“ambitious.” It posted a turnover of €2.3 billion ($2.4 billion) in 2022, up 22%,
German company on advertising and tech over recent months. Its stake
and has spent heavily on companies such as The Elon Musk Show maker 72
in ProSieben is now very close to the 30% that would automatically trig-
Films, Normal People producer Element Pictures and Devils prodco Lux Vide
ger a mandatory takeover bid. The Warner Bros.-Discovery deal was waved
during a sustained acquisitions spree that we estimated earlier in the year
through by the EU at the end of 2021.
hit €250 million ($262 million).
Content is key
broadcasting and streaming.” He adds that the company spends more than
As ITV, RTL and co reshape their futures, the role of content remains be cen-
€2 billion ($2.1 billion) each year on content above and beyond Fremantle
tral to their futures. ITV has invested heavily in ITV Studios. The production
productions—it ordered the German version of The Traitors, known as Die
and program sales division recently posted half-year earnings of £1 billion
Verräter from All3Media’s Tower Productions, for example.
($1.2 billion) that outperformed the group’s Media & Entertainment division, which houses its linear networks, for the first time. The Julian Bellamy-led division makes the network’s hit UK soaps, most of its local versions of Love Island and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, and has a burgeoning global scripted arm that houses the likes of
“Content is the lifeblood of RTL Group,” Rabe says. “It drives audiences in
In France, TF1 Group has followed a similar strategy. Its subsidiary, Newen Studios, has more than 50 labels, most of which are in France but are also based in the UK, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and the Middle East. Meanwhile, ProSieben has taken a different approach. It sold its U.S. production assets to former Fox boss Peter Chernin, who used the
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From top: ITV’s Love Island; NFL Live studio moderator Jana Wosnitza.
Should Amazon channels, for example, become the dominant ‘EPG’ [elec-
cused on its local production teams. The Red Arrow Studios moniker was
tronic program guide] of the future, incumbent networks will “lose scale
dropped and in came Seven.One Studios, which now houses eight German
and risk being marginalized. I’m not sure they completely realize that,”
production companies, sales arm Red Arrow Studios International, and
Godard says.
producers in Israel, Denmark and UK (including Married at First Sight UK firm CPL Productions).
Europe’s commercial network chiefs argue they’re more than aware of the challenges ahead.
“We tried to be a true global production house but when ProSieben
“The media industry is amid a fundamental transformation,” says RTL’s
wanted to become the local market champion we had to be honest,” Pabst
Rabe. “This comes with significant challenges‚ but also huge opportunities.
says. The rationale was that while its U.S. producers were making shows
I encourage our teams to embrace creativity and entrepreneurship, and to
such as Love is Blind and Life After Death with Tyler Henry, their content
take decisive action. We have the investment capacity to future-proof our
didn’t fit on ProSieben services—and didn’t fit the business model.
business and seize opportunities in streaming, content production and
He says the slimmed down group “has experts in every genre,” adding: “I’m confident that the group delivers what we need.”
advertising technology.” ITV’s Radcliffe says: “We can’t influence the broader macro-economic
If the post-Covid era marks the beginning of a truly digital-first future
picture, but we can continue to be a fantastic platform for advertisers. What
for Europe’s commercial networks, the next debate is who has made the
marketeers and ad people want is to shift their business through advertising
right moves. Innovative TV advertising partnerships, investment in free-
and ITV remains an incredibly effective platform. Our digital transforma-
streaming propositions and M&A will all play their part, but Enders’ Godard
tion has brought a lot of new business in—we attracted 400 new advertisers
says there is another existential question to answer: how they will remain
digitally in 2022.”
prominent in a digital era. “If you go into a digital world where everyone is one their own, you run the
Radcliffe contends that it boils down to staying “relentlessly focused” on the streaming strategy and listening to what your advertisers have to say. “In
risk as ending up as an app like many others,” he says. “The European chan-
an economic downturn, when marketing budgets are discretionary, being
nels set the rules of the TV advertising market of today more or less, but they
the biggest place in town with the scaled commercial audience becomes
could lose control over this and end up on a Google or Amazon platform.”
even more important.” ★
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E R I C M C CAN DL E SS / ABC / Q U E L LE N AN G AB E U N D B E AC H T U N G D ER U N T ER / I T V
acquisition as a propeller to form The North Road Company and refo-
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ALL EYES ON AFRICA Global streamers are hoping Africa is the next frontier of growth but can they compete with local players?
According to a report from Digital TV Research, Africa is expected to reach 18 million SVoD subscriptions by 2029, up from 8 million in 2023, bucking the U.S. trend. These are encouraging figures for global players who are
By Diana Lodderhose
already well established in Western and European countries. While there are of course challenges (more on that later), what has become clear is that in order to harness even a portion of Africa’s 1.2 bil-
46
lion population, you have to give the audience what it wants: local content. And that’s what the major streamers in the market have been rolling up their sleeves to do. In the last few years both Netflix and Prime Video have been keen to establish themselves in the market and have been making homegrown series and films across the continent in the hopes of competing with local players. “Growth in Africa has been a priority since we opened in the market in 2016,” says Ben Amadasun, Director of Content for Netflix in the Middle East and Africa, which launched its first African original Queen Sono in 2020. “We’ve been investing in great local stories and creatives in the market in the last four years and even from the time we started Queen Sono, we have really seen the impact of African storytelling in the continent as well as beyond.’
SH OW M AX/ M A RVE L LO & M IL L
Africa is one of the fastest growing continents on the planet so it’s no wonder that global streamers have viewed the vast territory as the last frontier of growth in recent years. A young population coupled with a growing middle class and increasing internet connectivity (albeit the latter very slowly) has seen companies like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Canal+ battle it out with more established local players such as MultiChoice’s SVoD platform Showmax.
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Far left: Donkerbos; Left: Prime Video Africa Director Gideon Khobane.
In 2022, Prime Video signed its first African content deal with Nigerian production outfit Inkblot Studios in a move that it hopes will expand its
than 20 African languages and other projects include The Real Housewives of
footprint on the continent. It also signed a three-year deal with Sugar
Lagos, drama Adulting, true-crime series Rosemary’s Hitlist and Devilsdorp.
Rush and Isoken creator Jáde Osiberu, which includes original scripted
Last year, seven out of the 10 most-watched shows on the service in South
dramas and feature films from her Greoh Studios This year, the global
Africa were local shows while in Ghana, nine out of 10 were local hits while
streamer launched its first African original movie Gangs of Lagos before
Kenya and Nigeria each saw eight.
it brought aboard former Multichoice Group exec Gideon Khobane as
Showmax also has a strong sports presence and recently obtained rights
director for Prime Video Africa. The seasoned industry boss is overseeing
to the English Premier League soccer games. Last year, Comcast’s NBCU-
what Prime Video describes as “continued, long-term investment in sub-
niversal and Sky stuck a deal with MultiChoice for a content partnership,
Saharan Africa.”
seeing NBCU take a 30% stake in the company for a new Showmax group,
“Amazon sees that Africa is a great opportunity for growth, just like any
which is revamping and preparing for launch in March 2024. These kind
other territory such as southeast Asia, Latin America as well,” Khobane says.
of offerings plus third-party content from HBO, Warner Bros International
But these players are not coming into an underserved market: African
and Sony, say Jury, have seen Showmax subscribers increase by 26% year-
pay-TV giant MultiChoice launched its streaming service Showmax eight
on-year for the last four years. Moving forward, the company’s key focus
years ago in South Africa and now operates in 50 countries in sub-Saharan
will be on South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, it says.
Africa. It has offices in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana and is the
SH OW M AX/ M A RVE L LO & M IL L
Zulu brothers and the women they marry. Showmax has content in more
biggest producer of African content in the last three decades, creating 6,500
Territory targets
hours annually. Marc Jury, CEO for MultiChoice South Africa and interim
Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, however, are putting their efforts into
CEO for Showmax says that figure “will double in the next three years.”
growth in South Africa and Nigeria to start, mainly because production
“The number of Showmax originals we are producing is growing rapidly,” Jury says. “Series on Showmax were some of the biggest winners at the most recent AMVCAs in Nigeria, SAFTAs in South Africa and Kalasha Awards in Kenya—so we’re winning the local content game.”
infrastructure is strong in both. Amadasun says that Netflix is also licensing titles across countries such as Zimbabwe, Senegal and Zambia. “We’ve had some really interesting titles that have come from those markets, which have travelled such as Can You See Us? which we launched
The streamer’s most popular series to date is The Wife, which has been
recently about a person living with albinism and it was very impactful in
viewed more than 50 million hours. The project follows criminal family the
terms of our members,” he says. “It was consumed in its local country in
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Thoko Ntshinga in Donkerbos.
Zambia but also all across the region in countries like Nigeria, Kenya and
thriller Blood Sisters also was a strong series for African audiences
South Africa so we’re very encouraged by that. We’ve been very happy with
on the streamer. Vivendi-owned media group Canal+ (which has just over a 30%
Netflix recently released new young adult series Miseducation from Burnt
stake in MultiChoice) has taken a different approach, focusing its
Onion Productions (How To Ruin Christmas) and is set to release Season 3 of
efforts on the 29 French-speaking countries on the African con-
pan-African reality series Young, Famous & African.
tinent as well as some non-francophone countries such as Sierra
For Prime Video, Nigeria and South Africa are the key targets for now.
Leone, Nigeria, Ghana and Cape Verde. It’s been showing its muscle
“We are looking at the broader continent but those analyses will be made
by trying to grow subscribers to its satellite platform Canal+
at a later date,” Khobane says. “Nigeria is a vibrant filmmaking industry so
Afrique. In 2019, it acquired production, content distribution and
we license a lot of those movies straight from theatrical releases, but we are
channel assets of iRoko Partners. (Canal+ declined to contribute to
also creating our own local content.”
this article).
He points to crime drama Gangs of Lagos, as a show that did “particularly
But there’s a difference between what’s going on in the English-
well” as well as recently launched series She Must Be Obeyed and upcoming
speaking countries versus the French-speaking countries, says Simon
South African original LOL: Last One Laughing, an unscripted comedy series
Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research. He points to Canal+’s
hosted by Trevor Noah.
recent decision to offer its SVoD service for free to existing satellite TV
As ever, the hope is that local content will travel, such as Netflix’s Blood & Water, which the streamer says fared “very well” in South Africa
subscribers as an interesting sign of how some streamers are viewing growth potential.
and then traveled broadly within the rest of sub-Saharan Africa and
“Canal+ gave up the idea of making any money out of SVoD,” he
beyond to big territories like the U.S., UK and France. Nigerian crime
says. “Meanwhile, U.S.-based platforms are being questioned by the
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SH OW M AX
the growth we’ve seen in key markets.”
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Above: Mark Jury; right: Ben Amadasun.
financial analysts about how much money they’re making from new services
drought from 2015 and 2018 was followed by the Covid-19 pandemic, an
so the currency—which used to be subscribers—isn’t the same.”
electricity crisis and 10 consecutive interest rate hikes.
As for other international entrants to the market, Disney+ expanded into several African markets in 2022, such as Egypt, Algeria and South
that Africa is “not a simple place to do business.”
Africa. The streamer made its 10-part anthologies series Kizazi Moto:
“You can’t take for granted things like credit card or internet access or
Generation Fire, a pan-African animation. “But Disney+ has yet to really
reliable power,” he says. “MultiChoice has learnt those lessons over the last
show it’s hand,” says Murray. “And I think it’s going to be limited to South
three decades. Showmax was built with these realities in mind and was the
Africa and Nigeria.”
first streaming service in Africa to make mobile downloads possible for
The challenges Africa is booming but “from a very low base,” Murray says.
SH OW M AX
“We’ve had to really innovate to sustain our growth,” says Jury, adding
offline viewing and the first to launch a mobile-only plan. Showmax also introduced the lowest data streaming option on the continent and accepts payments in most local currencies and payment platforms.”
“There are quite a few obstacles to overcome before we get toward pene-
The issue of broadband connectivity in Africa is a huge challenge. Kho-
tration,” he says, pointing to issues of poverty and a lack of fixed broadband.
bane says that household broadband is much less compared to the U.S. or
“People have to be more pragmatic about how they approach it and realize
Western Europe and most streaming happens on a mobile phone.
that there’s not going to be loads of money coming very quickly. You have to
“Africa has one of the highest levels of mobile penetration in the world so
take a long-term view and you have to establish a presence there if you want
young people are online in many countries and there are more people with
to make any money.”
mobile accounts than the people in the population, which tells you that our
Jury notes that it’s been “a tough time for our South African audience” across the last few years. The market was hit badly after Cape Town’s
role really is to work with telcos across the continent to say it’s in our interest to help digitize Africa,” Khobane says.
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LOL: Last One Laughing
“Because when we digitize Africa, all kinds of commercial transactions
Furthermore, the advertising market in Africa is a small one which con-
can take place. And that’s what young people are looking for so our efforts in
trasts to other markets such as India, where platforms are cheaper because
the sphere is to really work with telco operators.”
of the advertising model. And budgets are not as high as in other continents. “Budgets remain a challenge in Africa, but we are increasingly co-producing
operators in Africa, as well as Vodacom in South Africa and Khobane says
with international partners, which is allowing us to work at higher budgets
that the company is “working with many others across the continent to
than ever before,” Jury says.
make sure that we can create bespoke partnerships that can offer trials to our customers at a subsidized rate. He adds: “We recognize that we can’t wait for the infrastructure challenges
What is clear is that Africa has a wealth of content and new stories but there is a long road ahead and entrants into the market need to be there for the long-game.
of fiber into the home because that will take forever but we understand that
“We don’t want to rush the process,” Khobane says. “We want rich,
Africans are all on their mobiles and mobile penetration is very high so that’s
multidimensional stories and we will invest in stories with young pro-
why it’s in our interest to make sure that we partner with the telcos in Africa.”
ducers, emerging producers and seasoned producers to make sure we
There’s also the issue of scaling up the sector’s talent pool. According to
are actually able to create stories that are authentic and that will delight
Amadasun, “the biggest areas we face challenges in are mainly in that production skills area. But we are continuing to invest in guiding and growing and nurturing the talent pipeline.”
our customers.” Jury adds: “The content that resonates the strongest with our audiences isn’t always the biggest budget content—it’s the content that feels the most
Netflix recently partnered with UNESCO for a short film competition
authentic. We have great relationships with our local filmmakers because
called African Folktales Reimagined, to promote African cultures by retell-
we’re empowering them to make content for their communities, in their
ing folktales for modern and global audiences while supporting young talent
local languages, without the need to overexplain or dilute anything. And
in the business.
there’s something incredibly exciting and freeing about that.” ★
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IN SIG H T P RO D U CT I O N CO.
Prime Video has worked with MTN in Nigeria, one of the biggest telecom
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Welcome to Deadline’s The Hot Ones, our guide to some of the best television being sold at Mipcom this year. Our editorial team has done extensive research in the run-up to the 2023 market and has handpicked what we think are sure to be the shows that will be big talking points at this year’s event in Cannes. In between meetings and cocktail parties, you’re sure to hear whispers about the next potential global hit and The Hot Ones is here to guide you. Across the next few pages, you can read our pick of the standout shows across scripted, documentaries and entertainment, which feature some of the biggest names in television from the top distribution players. SCRIPTED Bargain Paramount Global Content Distribution Length: 6x35’ Producers: SLL, Climax Studio Bargain’s star has been ascending all year, following the Korean drama’s Best Screenplay win at Canneseries in April and the Critics’ Choice gong at Germany’s Seriencamp in Cologne a few months later. “This show is one of the best things I’ve seen in a long time,” says Dan Cohen, Chief Content Licensing Officer at Paramount Global Content Distribution. “For my team, it’s really exciting given the popularity of Korean content.”
Estonia
The series was born out of a wide-ranging strategic deal
Bargain has an extreme premise.
Paramount struck with South Korean
Noh Hyung Soo (Jin Seon-kyu) pays
While Korean content has been
maritime accidents of all time, and so
powerhouse CJ ENM for film and
Park Joo Young (Jeon Jong-seo) for
booming, it can still be a gamble for a
forging a limited series out of a tragedy
television, one element of which
a sexual service, only to find she’s in
U.S. studio. Cohen says his “biggest
that killed 850 people was bound to be
would see Paramount co-finance
cahoots with an illegal human organ
concern” when striking the CJ deal
a challenge.
and licence CJ shows for its global
trafficking auction house and he has
was whether audiences would actually
Estonia is an eight-part series
steaming service Paramount+.
been tricked. As people fight over the
locate it. “I’m 100% certain if people
created for a number of Scandinavian
“Part of the appeal for us
price of his body parts, an earthquake
can find it they will watch it,” he says.
and German networks that looks set
on Bargain and the CJ deal was
hits and collapses the building. Hyung
considered one of the greatest
because we really feel Korean content
When Paramount+ execs
to dominate scripted sales chatter
Soo and a group of survivors have
showcased the first show from the
at Mipcom this year, following the
has cut through,” says Cohen. “We’ve
to make their way through a never-
pact, sci-fi drama Yonder, on the
success of Beta-distributed series The
not done other deals like this.”
ending road to safety.
streamer’s homepage, it performed
Swarm in 2022.
As such, Bargain launches on
Cohen points to director and
Paramount+ services in numerous
co-creator Woo Sung-jeon’s stunning
Cohen hopes will be the same for
credits include Chernobyl and Snabba
territories, including the U.S.,
long takes, often running for more
Bargain. —Jesse Whittock
Cash, describes the ship’s sinking
UK and Germany. Cohen says
than 10 minutes. “It is wild to watch
the reason for showcasing the
as the camera just moves with the
Estonia
that needed to be approached with
series at Mipcom now is because
action,” he says. “It almost feels like
Beta Film
the utmost sensibility, given that
there are “plenty of markets that
you’re watching in real time.”
Length: 8x60’
authorities are still investigating the
Producers: Fisher King, Panache
case 30 years on.
are unspoken for.” He adds that BE TA FI LM
way. This just works.”
Cohen notes that while the drama
strongly for the platform, something
Director Mans Månsson, whose
in 1994 as “a total national trauma”
his team will be entertaining
is eye-catching, the award-winning
Productions & La Compagnie
second window enquiries in the
script should not be overlooked. “The
Cinematographique Amrion
involved with wars so rarely have loss
Paramount+ territories.
plot twists will make you think, ‘What
Production and Kärnlm AB
of life on this scale,” says Månsson.
am I watching?’ but in a really cool
The sinking of the MS Estonia is
Based on a 2015 short film,
“We Scandinavians tend not to be
With a budget estimated at around
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production could access the country’s generous 30% tax rebate. “As we get Season one lined up, we are trying to bring together partners in a way that gives everyone a piece of the IP,” Barth says. Bluemhuber of Swiss TV financier and producer Silver Reel struck a deal to make a series based on the novels, which have sold more than 10 million copies to date, before bringing in Eccho parent Night Train Media for development. The characters have been aged up and Eccho, which was sold to Night Train in 2022, is heading to Mipcom to do deals for Season One and find “one or two key partners who can help us get season two up and running.” Despite the supernatural elements, Barth says Fallen is “a love story at its core, and though there is fantasy, it is incredibly grounded.” He adds: “It’s for buyers who want Machine
something a little different, fresh and exciting—the type of thing a studio
€15 billion ($16.4 billion), Estonia charts
with multiple producers and networks,
to unscripted, indies pounced on
would make internally and premiere on
what happened after midnight
which helped ease the burden on one
the opportunity to make headway
their service and nobody would ever
on September 28, 1994, when a
specific territory while also boosting
in the genre,” says Adam Barth,”
get a chance to buy it.” —JW
catastrophic storm off the coast of
the budget.
Eccho’s Director of Co-Productions,
Beta will now be pitching to a
enormous ship—one of the worst
multitude of territories and is hopeful a
The show, which is based on Lauren
tragedies to befall such a vessel since
U.S. buyer will swoop. “The shipwreck
Kate’s YA popular book series, follows
Length: 6x52’
the Titanic.
is almost an eternal genre, so I think
play 20-year-old Luce, a girl who is
Producer: White Lion Films
we have a lot to say for every kind of
sent to a cult-like reform facility called
International interest in French drama
audience,” adds Månsson.
Sword & Cross for a horrific crime she
has been steadily picking up thanks to
can’t remember committing. Armed
shows such as Call My Agent!, Haven
happen? Was it human or technical
And while acknowledging that
Mediawan Rights
failure? And who can be held
the dual writer/actor strikes are an
officers guard the building and nobody
of Grace and HIP and Mediawan Rights
accountable? The investigation
“important issue and we are not trying to
inside has any recollection of who they
is hoping that its upcoming six-part
committee, including acclaimed marine
compete with the U.S.,” Oikonnen hopes
are. She soon develops a connection
limited series Machine will be following
engineer, yet novice inquirer, Henri
that the upside of this means there could
with enigmatic inmate Daniel (Gijs
their lead.
Peltonen, is subsequently determined
be “some room for European shows
Blom), as Siddig, who looks on as the
to unveil the cause of the disaster.
in the U.S. or other English-speaking
sinister chief doctor. “From the first
Mediawan-owned White Lion Films
markets.” —Max Goldbart
minute in the facility, it’s clear there’s
and for Arte France, follows Margot
something off,” Barth says.
Bancilhon as a former French special
“I remember hearing of the accident when visiting my family,”
The upcoming series, which is from
says showrunner Miikko Oikkonen.
Fallen
“We heard the ferry had sunk and my
Eccho Rights
powers and she realizes that she is
avoid her former military intelligence
father’s response was ‘No way, this
Length: 8x60’
a key protagonist in a supernatural
unit colleagues, who wrongly blame
is not possible.’ Those words have
Producers: Silver Reel, Night Train
conflict that begins to intrude on the
her for a disastrous overseas mission
burned in my mind.”
Media, Globoplay (Co-producer)
human world. Siddig, Sarah Niles,
failure. She takes a menial job at a
It soon emerges Luce has strange
ops soldier hiding in a small town to
In a similar vein to Chernobyl, the
New crime drama Fallen is targeting
Jessica Alexander, Blom and Timothy
Korean-owned factory but soon finds
team took a highly ethical approach to
what distributor Eccho Rights calls the
Innes star, with Rachel Paterson and
herself caught up in a dispute between
the series, avoiding pitfalls that have
“new adult” market — slightly older
Roland Moore writing and co-exec
the workers and their paymasters,
beset previous shows about disasters
than young adults but broadly still
producing alongside exec producers
despite her lack of interest and desire
by ignoring the mountain of conspiracy
in their 20s and 30s. The show has
Claudia Bluemhuber and Hastings, who
to keep a low profile. Pursued by
theories that exist about the tragedy.
pedigree too with co-showrunner Matt
is also director.
her ex-colleagues, she is drawn into
They instead focused on precincts
Hastings, who has worked on projects
Fallen was made using an indie
such as the police and investigating
such as The Originals and The Vampire
financing model more akin to the
The project is created by Fred
committee, while also embracing
Diaries for The CW, aboard the project.
film industry. Shooting took place
Grivois and Thomas Bidegain and is
collaboration and tackling the story
“After the U.S. network pivoted
on location in Hungary, meaning the
a heady mix of genres, which should
54
conflict on two fronts.
W H IT E L IO N F IL MS/ Z E BR A P RO D U CC I O N ES/ST U D IO CAN AL
As the tragedy unfolds, pressing questions surface: How could this
Acquisitions and Development.
Machine
Finland caused the sinking of the
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project finally coming together. Based on the bestselling novel of
mid-sized city in Spain, this is the kind
the same name by Pérez Gellida, the
of story you would never expect to
thriller follows detective inspector
happen in this place.”
Ramiro Sancho who one Sunday
Memento Mori
comes from. “Because Valladolid is a
She adds that music will be a
morning is called to a murder scene.
big draw to people: “There’s a lot of
His worst nightmare has just begun.
contemporary music and international
The victim, a young Ecuadorian woman
songs that people will recognize.”
whose eyelids had been mutilated, has
Newen is showing a promo to
been found next to threatening verses.
buyers in Mipcom this year and Connell
But she was only the first. As the
says that she’s sure buyers will find it
murders mount up, Sancho involves
“quite cinematic.”
Armand Lopategui, an expert on serial
“We feel very optimistic that we’ve
killer behaviour. These two men form
got something very exciting on our
stand out as an unusual but attention-
shows that are exportable and less
a complex emotional triangle with the
hands and we feel it should appeal
grabbing Mipcom title.
Franco-French. If it has international
killer, Augusto, a narcissistic sociopath.
to not only platforms and pay-TV
“We love straightforward
flavor, you can export it and potentially
It stars Yon González (Beguinas,
channels internationally but also
crime shows and thrillers that are
get more money for production.” —JW
Gran Hotel), Francisco Ortiz (Garcia!),
sublinear broadcasters who will look
Juan Echanove (Desaparecidos), Olivia
at these kind of high-concept, intense thrillers.” —Diana Lodderhose
easy to pitch but every once in a while, broadcasters and streamers
Memento Mori
Baglivi (Dancing on Glass), Manuela
need something outside of the
Newen Connect
Vellés (Cites) and is directed by Marco
box and Machine has all of those
Length: 6x45’
A. Castillo (The Legend of El Cid).
elements,” says Randal Broman, Head
Producer: Zebra Producciones
of International Sales, scripted at
Upcoming high concept crime thriller
has all the ingredients to work
Length: 12x52’
Mediawan. “It’s not a comedy but there
Memento Mori has been in the works
internationally as it’s based on a novel
Producer: Curiosa Films
are light moments—that’s what you get
for a while and now, nearly eight years
that many are familiar with, so that IP is
International financial crime thriller Of
mixing unions and kung-fu. It’s in some
since Spanish production outfit iZen
a big draw.
Money and Blood arrives at Mipcom
ways a light thriller.”
optioned the bestseller by leading
“We generally love a high concept
Spanish crime writer César Pérez
crime thriller,” says Newen Connect’s
the Venice Film Festival. The French-
play on words as France’s John and Jane
Gellida, it has finally come to fruition.
Leona Connell. “So, when the
language 12-parter marks the first
Does are often called Machine, which
The series, which is produced
opportunity came for us to work on
series for cinema writer-director Xavier
doubles as the show’s description for
by iZen’s Zebra Producciones, was
this, we jumped at it.”
Giannoli. It’s produced by Giannoli’s
Bancilhon’s special forces-trained lead
first optioned in 2015 and after a
She adds, “It follows this cat and
long-time producer Olivier Delbosc
character. “She’s not your ordinary
number of financing models didn’t
mouse game between the sociopath/
at Paris-production company Curiosa
woman,” says Broman.
lift off, iZen, which recently sold a
psychopath and the obsessive
Films and stars Cannes Best Actor-
majority stake of its business to
policeman and that’s always fun to
winning star Vincent Lindon.
won the Best Actress award at Series
TF1 subsidiary Newen, saw its new
watch and means that you have a
Mania earlier this year for her turn in
partner step in. Newen licenced the
certain pace attached to it. And it’s
period adaptation Lost Illusions and
family crime drama Haven of Grace,
project to Prime Video in Spain and
character driven.”
contemporary miracle mystery The
which is also an Arte drama that
Newen Connect boarded as the
Fernández notes that the location
Apparition, while Delbosc’s plus-100
Mediawan Rights sells internationally.
project’s international distributor.
is one of the things “that makes this
productions span early François Ozon
story very special.” It was shot in the
films 8 Women and Swimming Pool,
city of Valladolid, where Pérez Gellida
and recent titles such as Making
The show’s title is even a French
Bancilhon herself is a draw, having
“She is so good in both shows,” Broman says.
“I think the timing was just perfect, says iZen’s Sara Fernández of the
Newen is confident the series
Of Money and Blood Studiocanal
after a glitzy red-carpet launch at
Giannoli’s previous credits include
He describes the action scenes W H IT E L IO N F IL MS/ Z E BR A P RO D U CC I O N ES/ST U D IO CAN AL
as closer to “real fights” than “Jackie Chan-style action,” and adds another notable point is there is no central romance, “which is key to the story.” Paris-based Mediawan will be heading to Cannes with two almost finished episodes. Filming has completed so buyers will effectively be looking at a straight tape deal and it’s unlikely to launch before Series Mania 2024, which only features shows that haven’t been broadcasted. “The French have come a long way in terms of writing and producing shows,” says Broman. “There are more
1016 - Hot Ones.indd 55
Of Money and Blood
10/3/23 6:16 PM
Of Money and Blood is liberally
that have done what we’ve done.”
which is the centerpiece of the John
wants to understand the beginnings
Canal+ financed 50% of the
Wick film universe. The show will be
of the universe.”
adapted from investigative journalist
development costs, bringing in
seen through the eyes of a young
Fabrice Arfi’s 2018 book about a real-
writer Jean-Baptiste Delafon (Baron
Winston Scott as he’s dragged into
includes Colin Woodell, Mishel Prada,
life carbon tax scam that robbed the
Noir, Promises) to co-write alongside
the hellscape of 1970s New York City
Hubert Point-Du Jour, and Nhung
French treasury of billions of euros in
Giannoli, and buying the rights to
to face a past he thought he’d left
Kate. Writer Ken Kristensen wrote
2009 and was later dubbed the “fraud
Arfi’s book. Development was under
behind. Logline reads: “Winston charts
episodes alongside Coolidge, Ward,
of the century.”
the watch of former Canal+ Head of
a deadly course through the hotel’s
and Simmons. Executive producers are
Lindon, who previously starred in
Fiction Fabrice de la Patellière, with
mysterious underworld in a harrowing
Thunder Road Pictures’ Basil Iwanyk
Giannoli’s The Apparition, plays Simon
production overseen by his successor
attempt to seize the hotel where he will
and Erica Lee, Albert Hughes, Kirk
Weynachter, a magistrate with an
Olivier Bibas, who arrived in January
eventually take his future throne.”
Ward, Greg Coolidge, Chad Stahelski,
obsessional streak who sets up an
2022. Budgeted at €30 million ($28
off-the-grid unit to investigate the
million), the show shot on and off over
Wick universe with fresh eyes and a
Simmons, Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese
fraud. Popular French actor Ramzy
the course of a year.
new cast that includes Mel Gibson,
and Marshall Persinger. —Zac Ntim
While the show takes on the John
Alongside Gibson, the cast
Derek Kolstad, David Leitch, Shawn
Bedia plays a small-time crook who
Of Money and Blood launches
Kapouranis says that the series
joins forces with a high-finance trader,
first in France this October on Canal+,
“embraces the originality that Chad
The Doll Factory
played by Niels Schneider (recently
which is also distributing in Poland,
Stahelski created with his films.”
Cineflix Rights
seen in Woody Allen’s Coup de
Africa and the Asian territories of
Chance), to set up the fraud across
Myanmar and Vietnam.
“We never strayed from the core
Length: 6x52’
mythology. So it feels, behaves, and
Producer: Buccaneer Media
Studiocanal will be looking to
acts like John Wick, except it›s set in
A stylish high-end proposition for
systems. Weynachter and his agents
sell to European territories, the
1970s New York City, and there›s a
buyers this market, The Doll Factory is
follow an international paper trail,
U.S. and Canada at Mipcom, where
little bit of London,” Kapouranis says.
an adaptation of Elizabeth
taking them to Asia, the U.S., the
the presence of Franco-Canadian
The show will debut over three
Middle East and back to Europe.
actor Schneider is a draw. —Melanie
nights in the U.S. on Peacock. Episodes
Commissioned by Paramount+
Goodfellow
1 and 3 are directed by Albert Hughes,
in the U.K. and pre-selling to SBS in
multiple countries and banking
Delbosc partnered with French pay-TV giant Canal+ on the production,
Macneal’s bestselling period thriller.
while Charlotte Brandstrom helmed
Australia and NZTV in New Zealand, this
Episode 2. Amazon Prime Video will
story of dark obsession has a host of
Création Originale team. While the
The Continental: From the World of John Wick
take the show international from
territories on offer via Cineflix Rights.
team has produced a number of
Lionsgate
September 22. Lionsgate will be
The Doll Factory is set in 1850
French dramas involving directors
Length: 3x90’
shopping second window rights at
London where Iris (Esme Creed-Rose)
better known for cinema—such as
Producer: Thunder Road Pictures
Mipcom Cannes, for when the Amazon
paints dolls for a living alongside her
Zaid Doueiri’s Baron Noir, Rebecca
“John Wick has become one of the
window runs down.
twin sister, Rose (Mirren Mack), and
Zlotowski’s Savages and Thomas
biggest parts of the cultural zeitgeist, so
“It›s going to be a day-and-date
dreams of becoming an artist; she
Liltl’s Hippocrate—Delbosc suggests
it was a no-brainer for us to develop the
premiere, so it will debut over three
secretly paints self-portrait nudes
that Of Money and Blood breaks fresh
IP for television,” Lionsgate President
nights in every territory for Amazon the
at night. Silas (Eanna Hardwicke) is
ground in terms of international scope
of International Television and Digital
same way it will premiere on Peacock,”
an ambitious taxidermist and Louis
and ambition.
Distribution Agapy Kapouranis says of
Kapouranis explains.
(George Webster) is a painter and
working closely with the Canal+
“We wanted to appeal to the whole world, both in the spectacular way its shot and in terms of the countries
spinoff The Continental: From the World of John Wick. Developed, written, and executive
“The thing about John Wick is that
member of the Pre-Raphaelite
it’s got a global fan base. With every
Brotherhood searching for his next
movie, it kept growing, unlike most
muse. When Iris meets Silas, and then
that we visit,” he says. “The financial
produced by Greg Coolidge, Kirk
franchises, which usually shrink. John
Louis, she is offered an opportunity to
scam involves several countries and
Ward and Shawn Simmons, the
Wick just kept getting bigger. And
escape and start a new life. To do so,
governments. In the history of French
three-part series explores the origins
that›s where The Continental fits in
she must abandon her sister, sacrifice
series, I don’t think there are others
behind the hotel-for-assassins,
for this fanbase, which is thirsty and
her reputation, and launch herself
The Continental: From the World of John Wick
56
LI O N SG AT E /ABO UT P RE M IU M CO N T E N T
Of and The Taste of Things.
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Marcella, Crime and Whistable
of intelligentsia. The team wanted
alongside Idit Avrahami (H2: The
North London pub, he seems like
Occupation Lab), and the show for
the kindred spirit she has been
public broadcaster Kan 11 stars rising
searching for. She has no idea he is
star Mor Dimri as lead, opposite
a killer, but as his artistic, anti-
established Israeli names.
establishment persona gives way to
Emmanuelle Guilbart, joint-CEO &
a darker side, he becomes violent
founder of Wolf outfit APC, says The
and finally confesses to murdering
Truth “delves deep into a high-
his former girlfriend. Sweeney is
stakes investigation.”
arrested, but then released on bail
“Israeli series are known to be bold
after a catastrophic failure by the
and excellent in characterization,” she
court to recognise how dangerous
adds. “The Truth is a real illustration of
he really is, leaving him free to
that, weaving a tapestry of intriguing
subject Delia to a near-fatal attack,
characters and a complex narrative
and what follows is gruesome. The ITV Studios-distributed show
themes such as teenage angst, crime
will be a flagship for the seller at
sensationalism, family woes and
Mipcom and the team has been on the
local corruption.”
road shopping it in the week’s leading
to create that kind of atmosphere of
Guilbart will be targeting North
Pearl indie Buccaneer Media
exciting young people breaking out
America and key European territories
Louisa Forsyth, the outfit’s VP
produced the drama, which will
and breaking away from that Victorian
when the show launches at Mipcom.
Global Content for Scripted, describes
join the lineup of Paramount+
shackle.” —Nancy Tartaglione
She says Israeli shows have
the show penned by Pembrokeshire
Originals available on the streaming
up to the confab.
benefitted “from a reputation for being
Murders’ Nick Stevens as a “blueprint for success in the true crime genre.”
service for audiences in the U.K. and
The Truth
high quality” and is hoping to strike
Ireland in late fall.
About Premium Content
multiple deals across broadcast and
Length: 8x52’
streaming. But, more broadly, she
and World felt had to be told,” she
for Cineflix, says he expects the six-
Producer: Endemol Shine Israel,
predicts Israeli commissioning may
says. “What I like about it is knowing
part series to sell on a territory
Elvie Production and Place du
soon start suffering from the local
that they have hit it again with
or regional basis during Mipcom.
Marché Productions
European streamer quotas, which are
portraying the truth around someone,
“With the market changing as quickly
French boutique distributor About
leading the major players to order more
Delia, who is absolutely incredible.
as it is, global deals are less frequent
Premium Content (APC) is hoping that
from the continent—and therefore less
This is a fascinating insight from
and less desirable. I’m not sure they
it has unearthed the next big Israeli
from developed nations such as Israel–
the perspective of a woman who
have the impact financially and
hit in this true-to-life detective series
in order to meet these requirements.
survived attempted murder where
creatively that they did three years ago
created by Euphoria’s Daphna Levin.
APC is also shopping Obituary at
or so. I feel The Doll Factory is one that
No Mipcom market would be
Mipcom, an Irish crime drama about a
is probably more likely to go territory-
complete without a plethora of
small-town obituarist who resorts to
Stevens spent “hours and hours”
by-territory, barring anything that
breakout hits from the Middle
murder when work dries up. —MG
with Balmer in order to make her feel
Paramount+ does.”
Eastern nation that has punched
James Durie, Head of Scripted
“Delia’s story was something Nick
others didn’t.” To that end, Forsyth explains how
comfortable with how the show would
The dark and somewhat gothic
above its weight for decades and The
Until I Kill You
be written and gain her trust. “They
series boasts a young female creative
Truth looks set to be no exception.
ITV Studios
have kept it very close to the real story
team including writer/creator
Length: 4x60’
and checked with her down to the
Charley Miles, director Sacha Polak
parter starts on the day the most
Producer: World Productions
title of the show to make sure she was
and producer Suzanne McAuley.
controversial murder case in Israel
ITV’s latest true crime offering
comfortable,” Forsyth says.
Macneal was also heavily involved
is to be given a highly anticipated
tackles one of the biggest U.K.
with the creative team.
final verdict. But 10 years on, another
miscarriages of justice of the
show to “all the usual suspects,”
identical murder takes place. With only
past generation. From indie
Forsyth adds, with BritBox a key
of the MeToo movement, and Durie
two weeks for the police to present
World Productions (Line of Duty),
target along with buyers in the likes
says that although this is a period
their findings to the judges while the
which has made some of the
of Australia, Canada, the U.S. and
piece, “we really wanted to wrap some
first verdict is on hold, young Detective
network’s biggest series of the
Western Europe.
of these modern themes and modern
Racheli Zabatani must revisit the
past decade, Until I Kill You tells
Along with “story and subject
ideas into that.”
past, the events that changed her
the harrowing story of how Delia
matter,” the cast will be a big draw,
He continues, “We know Victorian
life and the old case her own father
Balmer, played by Anna Maxwell
she adds, comparing Line of Duty star
London as this sort of Sherlock Holmes
investigated. She has many questions
Martin, survived a series of violent
Maxwell Martin’s recognizability with
gothic era but this was when lots of art
to consider, including whether this is
attacks at the hands of a man who
the way in which Pembrokeshire
and artists were filtering in and London
a copycat killer or whether it was a hit
should never have been free to commit
Murders star LU.K.e Evans was a key
had a bit of a renaissance period
ordered by the man convicted for the
his heinous crimes.
driver for sales of that top-rated series.
when the drinking dens and those sort
first case.
The novel was penned at the height
LI O N SG AT E /ABO UT P RE M IU M CO N T E N T
Sweeney (Shaun Evans) in a local
while not shying away from serious
The Truth
into the unknown.
File duo Aurit Zamir and Dror Misha’ani,
of places were becoming hotbeds
1016 - Hot Ones.indd 57
Inspired by true events, the eight-
When Delia meets John
ITV Studios will be shopping the
—MG
Levin is creator with The Missing
10/3/23 6:16 PM
Joining Dormer are Brendon
White Lies
Daniels (Trackers), Langley Kirkwood
Fremantle
(Warrior), Morgan Santo (Raised by
Length: 6x30’
Wolves), Daniel Schultz (Upon the
Producer: Quizzical Pictures
Edge), Jane de Wet (The Girl from St.
Following 2021’s Reyka, Fremantle has
Agnes), Katlego Lebogang (Wounds),
returned to South Africa and reteamed
Robert Hobbs (District 9) and
with local producer Quizzical Pictures
Athenkosi Mfamela (Knuckle City).
and Mnet for White Lies, a six-part
Richter adds: “This is a rollercoaster
drama series starring Natalie Dormer
of a series that is well-crafted,
(Game of Thrones).
beautifully shot and features great
Set in the wealthy neighborhood of Bishopscourt, Cape Town, the series follows investigative journalist Edie Hansen (Dormer), who gets caught
performances from Dormer and Daniels.” —ZN
FORMATS
up in the city’s ugly underbelly, which ultimately drags her to a turbulent
Hot Yachts
past life. Her estranged brother has
Fifth Season
been murdered in his luxury home,
Length: 6x60’
While the Men Are Away
Own, which he says “give that modern
and his teenage children are the prime
Producer: Curve Media
Red Arrow Studios International
twist on period drama.”
suspects. As Edie investigates, she
The modern viewer is of course
Length: 8x30’
He stresses that it is “very much
finds herself at loggerheads with
partial to a binge watch and there
Producer: Arcadia
for SBS,” however, which made “bold
veteran detective Forty Bell while
is something about watching elite
“Love is a battlefield!,” cries the
choices” throughout production via
grappling with the crumbling local
sellers of niche products go about their
logline of Australian World War
local indie Arcadia.
police force, a corrupt political system,
business that really gets people going.
II dramedy While the Men Are
“It’s a personal favorite of mine,”
and the secretive world of extreme Cape wealth.
Fifth Season has identified
Away. Australian network SBS’ eight-
Ibarguengoytia says of the show. “We
exactly this penchant with recent
part series, which is helming Red
were intrigued by the concept from the
“White Lies is a riveting and
additions to its unscripted catalog
Arrow Studios International’s (RASI)
outset and were tracking it from the
unpredictable murder mystery with
including Hot Yachts, Paramount+
scripted slate at Mipcom Cannes, flips
early stages.”
a shocking conclusion that explores
U.K.’s latest big entertainment bet
layers of race and privilege, inequality
that sees the streamer take a deep
the traditional World War II romance
Ibarguengoytia was amazed by the
on its head by focusing on the women
topicality of the series and the way in
and identity,” says Jens Richter,
dive into the center of the luxury
left behind.
which it “resonates with lots of modern
Fremantle CEO of commercial and
boating world in South Florida.
concerns around equality, identity and
international. “The audience joins
Phoebe Grainer, Max McKenna, Jana
Starring Michela De Rossi,
tolerance” while simultaneously sticking
Edie on a quest for the truth, which
between them, Miami and Fort
Zvedeniuk., Matt Testro, Benedict
to an “irreverent, subversive tone.”
takes her on a journey into the ugly
Lauderdale are home to the largest
Hardie and Shaka Cook, While the
“From the very opening it is
underbelly that lies beneath the
yacht brokerage in the world and the
Men Are Away takes a witty approach
not afraid to poke fun at the social
beautiful city of Cape Town.”
biggest number of luxury yachts in
to telling the stories of those who
dynamics of the time,” he adds.
The series is produced by
Many wouldn’t know this but,
the world. In Hot Yachts, which
suddenly found themselves running
The show skews even more
Harriet Gavshon and Nimrod Geva
launched in August, an elite group
the show when their significant others
female behind the camera as it does
for Quizzical Pictures, with Dormer
of super-competitive, good looking,
headed to the battlefield. Frankie is
in front and Ibarguengoytia hails the
and Bristow-Bovey also serving as
party-loving, yacht brokers compete
forced to step up and take charge of
producers’ choice of creative team,
executive producers. The series’
ruthlessly to sell everything from
her struggling farm when her husband
which he says adds to the richness of
lead director is John Trengove,
$1 million motor launches to $100
is sent to war. She enlists Gwen and
the series.
whose latest film Manodrome,
million super yachts. Viewers
Ester, two freshly joined city-recruits of
Red Arrow is yet to reveal any
with Jesse Eisenberg and Adrien
are given a sneak peak into this
the Women’s Land Army to join herself,
territory deals for the eight-parter but
Brody, debuted at Berlin. Directing
glamorous, exclusive and gated world
local indigenous farmhand Kathleen,
will be shopping it mainly to English-
alongside Trengove are Thati Pele
amidst the high-volume lifestyle
and certified coward Robert.
language buyers at Mipcom, with some
(Lerato), Catharine Cooke (Reyka), and
show, which features big characters,
The series was created by
non-English speaking territories in mind.
Christiaan Olwagen (Poppie Nongena).
huge deals and a taste of the
Alexandra Burke, Kim Wilson and
Ibarguengoytia feels it would work
Julie Hodge is executive producing
Instagram lifestyle.
Monica Zanetti and penned by a team
better as a bingeable series than on
on behalf of Fremantle, who is also
Liz Tang, Fifth Season’s
of female writers.
linear and his Mipcom conversations
distributing the series internationally.
Executive Director, Acquisitions,
Richter says White Lies “presents
is shopping Hot Yachts outside
RASI’s VP of Scripted Acquisitions and
Rodrigo Herrera Ibarguengoytia,
will very much include global platforms, which could take rights in
themes in a unique way,” which should
the U.K. and brands the “personal
Co-Oroductions, compares the show’s
several territories.
“translate globally.”
favorite” a cross between Netflix
tone to recent streamer hits such as
RASI is also shopping Icelandic
“Even the city itself becomes a
smash hit Selling Sunsets and
Apple TV+’s Dickinson and Amazon
family drama Descendants at Mipcom
character in this fascinating thriller,”
Bravo’s Below Deck, both of
Prime Video’s A League of Their
this year. —MG
he says.
which have dominated streamer
58
F RE M AN T L E / F E RN AN D O M ARR E RO/C BS/ BAN I JAY RIG H TS
White Lies
D E A D L I N E .CO M
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Levan says the series is the first time a dual-language gameshow
temple, where time seems to be
has aired on U.S. primetime and
standing still, the series features
CBS has secured a top presenter to
a celebrity cast who immerse
deliver on the historic moment. Jane
themselves in an intense training
the Virgin star Jaime Camil is
program under the guidance of two
both hosting and exec producing,
Shaolin masters.
bringing a “theatrical spectacle” to
Lotería Loca
“By surrendering to the ancient
proceedings,” according to Levan.
and respected traditions of the
“For diversity, equity and
legendary Shaolin Warrior Monks,
inclusion this is so important,” he
the celebrities will find unexplored
says. “It serves an underserved
facets of themselves they never
American TV audience and does so
knew existed,” James Townley, Chief
in a way that is celebratory.”
Content Officer, Development at
Levan’s team is selling both format and finished tape but is
Banijay, says of the series. Townley hails Shaolin’s “unique
unscripted charts over the past
Lotería Loca
prioritizing the former. While some
concept with high-production values”
few years and take a somewhat
Warner Bros. International
territories, both Spanish and English
that will “educate, inspire, and
‘upstairs- downstairs’ approach to
Television Production
language, may embrace the original
inform audiences” about the ancient
reality. Last year Fifth Season’s Hot
Length: 12x30
iteration, Levan imagines buyers will
practices of the masters, which could
One was Blowing LA, which similarly
Producer: Warner Bros. Unscripted
ponder the ways in which they can
generate big audiences.
dove deep into the cut-throat world
Television in association with
adapt the idea to fit their culture.
of celebrity hairdressing.
Warner Horizon and Apploff
“At the end of the day this show
“There are, of course, multiple layers to this format with great
Entertainment
is about celebrating your country
talent participating in the challenges,
get enough of high-volume upmarket
Those in the Spanish-speaking world
and culture so a British version, for
to test them both physically and
reality and therefore Fifth Season
will be familiar with the uber-popular
example, might want to celebrate
intellectually,” Townley says. “The
identified Hot Yachts, which is
card game Lotería, and those in the
Buckingham Palace or Beefeaters,”
experience was life-changing for
produced by U.K. indie Curve Media,
English-speaking world are about to
he says.
the celebrities, as they truly learned
from early on in its development.
discover it.
Tang says viewers simply cannot
about the Shaolin culture and how
“most scalable show” he’s ever
these practices can influence life
dual-language gameshow to play
been involved with, and budgets can
positively. It will be a journey for
world,” she says. “It’s that blue-sky
on primetime U.S. TV and Warner
therefore be brought up and down
viewers as they learn more about the
long-running reality that we know
Bros. International TV Production
with ease in line with how much any
celebrities, and even reflect on their
buyers are looking for right now.
(WBITVP) is tasked with selling it at
given territory is willing to spend.
own life.” He adds Shaolin Heroes
Even though it’s not relatable in the
Mipcom Cannes.
Plans are afoot to build a European
“perfectly captures our strategy to
production hub, from which multiple
create innovative TV that is unique,
versions could be made. —MG
bold, offers new perspectives, and
sense that most of us don’t own $100
CBS’ Lotería Loca is the first ever
Levan says Lotería Loca is the
premium and reveals a mysterious
“This is so on brand because it’s
Lotería is the Latin game of
million yachts, this is a concept that
Chance. In each episode of the
people remain aware of.”
gameshow, two players go head-
entertains.”
to-head and take turns picking
Shaolin Heroes
of the show several times and says the
cards to get four-in-a-row, which is
Banijay Rights
Programmes at Metronome, and
trend has continued well beyond the
Lotería. Each time a card appears
Length: 8x60’
Peter Hansen, Chief Creative Officer
pandemic, when viewers demanded
on their unique Bingo-style card,
Producer: Metronome
at Banijay Nordic, created the original
this manner of blue-sky fare to forgot
they bank big money. Landing on
Banijay is hitting the Croisette
format, which draws directly from the
about their everyday woes.
one of the Loca Cards creates a
this year with Shaolin Heroes, an
history of Shaolin monasteries and
twist in the game and gives players
unscripted adventure series from
East Asian culture.
in Canada and a number of finished
the opportunity to bank even more
Danish label Metronome.
tape deals are incoming for the series,
cash by competing in interactive
with Tang revealing format rights are
challenges, and the player who gets
also up for grabs and that Curve would
the most Loterías moves on to the
produce all local versions.
dramatic final round for a chance to
Tang stresses the “escapist” nature
Paramount+ has also taken rights F RE M AN T L E / F E RN AN D O M ARR E RO/C BS/ BAN I JAY RIG H TS
Set within a 1,000-year-old
She also believes Hot Yachts can work as a bingeable streamer show
Authenticity was therefore key,
win the prize. “Go into any Mexican family’s
or on linear. “It’s nice to have the
house and they will have a Lotería
binge option but there is enough
set,” says Ed Levan, WBITVP’s VP
drama in each episode to keep you
of Creative, Format, Development
coming back,” Tang says.
& Production. “And bingo is played
Now, we wait with bated breath
all over the world. So, what you have
for which new world Fifth Season will
within this show is a universal game
ask us to dive into next year. —MG
turned into crazy bingo.”
1016 - Hot Ones.indd 59
Henrik Rasmussen, Head of
Shaolin Heroes
10/3/23 6:16 PM
kept certain things, why they were
International is launching
important and who they would like to
in Cannes. The U.K. series,
have them once they are gone.”
commissioned for youth channel
The psychologist is key to setting
(or Alan in this case) into a reality
who sees it standing out in the
show winner.
streamer factual entertainment
The concept, developed in the U.K.
sphere. “It’s life-affirming, positive
under the working title Alan Must
and informative about both the
Win, sees The Underdog placed
organizational side of things as well
in a Big Brother-style reality TV
as the psychology of our relationships
house with a group of contestants
with people, memories and object,”
you’d much more readily associate
she adds.
with the genre—think whitened teeth,
Although Gentle Art airs
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning
E4, sets out to turn an Average Joe
the show apart, adds Langenberg,
models and thousands of social
on a global steamer, the
media followers—who all believe they
majority of territories are up
are on a show called The Favourite.
for grabs, while Langenberg’s
What none of them, including
NBCUniversal compatriots are also
Alan, know is directly next door
shopping the finished tape.
a group of veteran reality show
Townley says “With a show of this
Swedish Death Cleaning, which
She talks up the scalability and
nature, it is extremely important it is
provided the perfect platform for
relatively low budget of the format,
stars are pulling the strings, manipulating the games and votes
respectfully created and produced,
the U.S. streamer to make a fact-
which could travel well “especially
every step of the way to try to
and great care has been taken
entertainment show with heart about
in European territories such as
make the normal guy the winner.
to ensure the Shaolin culture is
the practicalities and philosophies
France, Germany and the Nordics
authentically represented.”
behind de-cluttering.
that have lots of primetime fact-
chasm from the first minute
entertainment slots and are keen to
minute the Underdog goes in,”
buy these formats.”
says Primal Media managing
“There is a gaping
Of the show’s sellability, Townley
The show follows the genuine pra
says the format has “all the makings
ctice of Swedish death cleaning, as an
of a traveling success” due to
organizer, designer and psychologist
NBCUniversal is also selling
director Adam Wood. “They are
“responsible story making at its
help individuals at a crossroads to
Peacock reality format Queen’s
not the type of person who would
heart, relatable celebrities, and
declutter their homes and minds,
Court and CTV Drama Transplant at
usually get a look in and thrive
authentic representation of the
thinking about how best to enjoy
Mipcom. —MG
in that environment. The job
Shaolin community, paired with
life in the here and now. Narrated
stunning visual effects and the
by Amy Poehler, each episode
The Underdog
this person have a presence
production know-how of our teams.”
takes on a different and difficult
All3Media International
in the house.”
challenge, delving deeper into
Length: 10x60’
TV2 on the project. Metronome
themes of transformation and growth
Producers: Primal Media, Motion
Show element,” adds Primal founder
is behind Banijay’s dating format,
as people’s lives are reordered.
Content Group
Mat Steiner. “In a sense, Alan is their
Banijay partnered with Denmark’s
Alone Together, as well as
Gentle Art follows in a recent
of the celebrities is to make
“There is a slight Truman
Since the success of The
baby. The celebrities feel responsible
relationship series, Fabulous Dads.
tradition of cleaning and hoarding
Traitors, there’s been a spate
and that makes them incredibly
The Danish outfit also produces
hits such as Netflix’s Tidying Up with
of reality formats that put
emotionally invested.”
a range of long-running non-
Marie Kondo and the BBC’s Sort
subterfuge, trickery and
scripted series including The Island,
Your Life Out, but Ana Langenberg,
deduction at their core. None,
acting as the voice of the producer
MasterChef, Taskmaster, The Block
who is tasked with selling the format
though, have taken the approach
in the game’s ‘diary room’ (known
and Ex on the Beach. —ZN
for NBCUniversal Format Rights,
of The Underdog, which All3Media
as The Snug), entering the house
This manifests in the celebrities
says it stands out from the crowd
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning
with real purpose.
NBC Universal Formats
she had had these conversations with
Length: 8x60’
her father before he passed away. “The reason I like it so much
Scout Productions, Universal
is because it’s based on such an
Television Alternative Studio
interesting, different approach,”
Shows about cleaning, clutter and
she says. “We are so used to just
hoarding have been all the rave in the
gathering stuff and then thinking,
recent past and Peacock wanted to
‘Well someone will just have to deal
take this a step further.
with it when I’m gone.’ Having done
This is where Swedish writer
that with my dad’s stuff I know how
Margareta Magnusson’s
difficult it is when you haven’t had
bestselling book The Gentle Art of
those conversations about why they
60
The Underdog
P E ACO C K/ P RI MA L M E D I A/A MOS P ICT U RES
Producer: Paper Kite Productions,
The show made Langenberg wish
D E A D L I N E .CO M
1016 - Hot Ones.indd 60
10/3/23 6:16 PM
hilarity, as they take over the store’s
DOCUMENTARIES
operations and manage the inventory,
of disco records was blown up on the field in between a doubleheader
dining area for local residents to
Disco: Soundtrack Of A Revolution
peruse, eat and socialize.
BBC Studios Distribution
the Detroit Tigers, which led to a riot,
while overseeing the kitchen and
But never content with being
between the Chicago White Sox and
Length: 3x60’
the cancellation of the second game
too local, CJ ENM has pivoted
Producer: BBC Studios Productions
and effectively the end of disco era.
Stateside for Season 3. The latest
Documentary Unit
run has been renamed Unexpected
This landmark doc series for BBC
PBS providing editorial guidance
Business in California and sees the
Two and PBS exists to remind people
during development and production.
celebrated Korean pair relocate to
of how disco became a cultural
The series is a strong pick for
California to successfully run a U.S.
phenomenon around the world,
any network or streamer looking
grocery store.
while only actually existing as a
to attract music doc fans, but Leith
The BBC led on production, with
Cha and Jo therefore become
sub-culture for a decade from circa
points to another, less expected
temporary owners of a local Asian
1970-79. “Disco burned brightly and
benefit. “I have an excellent Spotify
Market shop in San Francisco,
then burned out,” says BBC Studios’
disco playlist now,” he says.
close to a large and diverse Korean
Alexander Leith, Executive Producer
BBC Studios will shop the series
in disguise and occasionally
immigrant community. As hosts, they
on Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution.
in Cannes, along with big ticket blue-
as themselves, and also sending
engage with diverse local customers,
The three-part series sets out to
chip factual such as Mammals and
other celebrities into the house
listening to their captivating
tell the colorful story the music genre
to shape the outcome of tasks
“American Dream” stories and
that has influenced the world ever
and challenges.
forming connections with them.
since New York DJ David Mancuso
(In) Famous: The True Story of Andrew Tate
However, the other contestants
“We believe the immigrants can
several new dramas. —JW
began throwing rooftop parties in the
(In)Famous: The True Story of Andrew Tate
early seventies.
Abacus Media Rights
aren’t shown in a bad light and
resonate with the stories that the
instead have been picked for their
guests will share with the hosts
likeability and popularity. They
during the show,” says Sebastian Kim,
form of EDM owes something to
Producer: Amos Pictures
believe they’re competing for
CJ ENM’s Director of Content Sales.
disco,” notes Leith.
Just a few days before Andrew
£10,000 ($12,500) but if Alan is
“With the current boom of K-content
crowned the champion the prize
and K-pop, we are strongly positive
tunes, dance moves and flamboyant
suspicion of human trafficking, rape
money increases ten-fold so that
that this show will sell worldwide.
fashion, Disco will chart how the
and forming an organized crime
every contestant takes home that
But, most importantly, we believe the
genre pioneered a social movement
group, he was chatting to Dan Reed
amount, regardless of when they
title will resonate with U.S. audiences,
and provided what Leith calls “a safe
about a documentary profile.
were voted off.
as the background of the title is set
space on the dance floor” for many
The shape of Reed’s doc—
in the U.S. and the cast is popular
marginalized groups, such as black
(In)Famous: The True Story
throughout Asia.”
and Hispanic people, the LGBTIA+
of Andrew Tate—changed the day
community and women.
the news broke about the highly
“We are massively excited about this show,” Steiner says. “You aspire to move a genre on from time to
Unexpected Business follows the
“[U.S. DJ]David Morales said every
Besides revelling in the thumping
Length: 1x47’/1x80’
Tate was detained in Bucharest on
time, and this does that.” He says
“humanist reality” format that has
“We think of disco as music
controversial influencer in late 2022
that the show straddles the line
been so successful for the Korean
but it’s much more than that—it
and Leaving Neverland creator Reed
between reality and entertainment
producer-seller in the past, says Kim,
was a cultural phenomenon,” Leith
has pushed on with the definitive
and is in the “mid-range” price
who flags the “chemistry of the two
says. “Marginalized communities,
tale of one of the world’s most
point, making it an option for many
hosts” as one of its key selling points.
particularly in New York at the time,
well-known internet personalities,
networks. —JW
With Unexpected Business, CJ is
were having a rough time of it, being
speaking to supporters, family
focusing on finished tape sales rather
persecuted in different ways, and
members and detractors alike.
Unexpected Business In California
than format and Kim reveals multi-
were looking for a means of self-
That doc is now being sold at
territory deals in SEA, Europe and the
expression.” Many of the issues are
Mipcom Cannes by Abacus Media
CJ ENM
U.S. are in the offing.
still relevant and live today: Black Lives
Rights as it prepares to air on the
CJ will be taking a nine-strong
Matter, LGBTIA+ identity and female
U.K.’s Channel 4, with a string of pre-
Producer: CJ ENM
team to Mipcom Cannes and will
empowerment are three examples.
buys set to be unveiled soon.
Korean media giant CJ ENM is taking
giving a big push to Unexpected
The series will chart how
its Unexpected Business franchise
Business and other formats
disco spread to Europe and gave
and asked his team to make a film
for streamer tVn to the States and
including similar offering Bro &
rise to megastars such as ABBA,
about him and, prior to his being
is hoping to make a noise about it at
Marble in Dubai and couple survival
Grace Jones and Boney M before
detained, Dan had already made clear
Mipcom Cannes.
program Wedding Fighters.
mainstream music took hold of disco
that it wouldn’t be a puff piece but
Length: Unspecified
P E ACO C K/ P RI MA L M E D I A/A MOS P ICT U RES
Park in Chicago in 1979, when a crate
“Andrew Tate approached Dan
Unexpected Business follows
The company is also bringing a
and saturated the global market
would only show the truth,” says
two Korean stars, Cha Tae-hyun (My
representative from its FAST/
with the sound, leading to a hate-
Abacus Managing Director Jonathan
Sassy Girl) and Jo In-sung (It’s Okay,
AVoD team, and will be speaking to
fuelled backlash that quickly killed
Ford, who has sold numerous Reed
That’s Love), who unexpectedly
clients extensively about expansion
off the genre commercially. The
shows including Four Hours at the
become the bosses of a countryside
in this space. —MG
culmination is a recollection of the
Capitol and Escape from Kabul. “The
Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey
full exposure of Andrew’s life needs to
grocery store for 10 days. Cue
1016 - Hot Ones.indd 61
10/3/23 6:16 PM
The Playboy Bunny Murders
be out there in one go so people can
with CEE, which has become
Lynne Weedon had led him to
how as the cases are unsolved, they
make the right decisions about him.”
more familiar with Tate due to his
conduct his own research and audio
needed to work closely with ITV
Romanian detention.
interviews with many involved and
lawyers and editorial compliance
affected by the events.
team. They also note duty of care to
obtained worldwide fame—especially
“Pre-buyers know with Dan
among younger people—with
that this will be a balanced but
hyper-misogynist rants that handed
cautionary story,” Ford says. “There
Playboy Club in Mayfair, which for a
paramount. “We never forgot about
him instant name recognition and
is a huge influence here that needs
time was the golden goose of Hugh
the people involved,” Farrar says.
a swelling following on platforms
to be explained.”
Hefner’s empire. “The time period
For ITV, the series is the sort
was fascinating—a sexual revolution,
of noisy true-crime doc series its
like TikTok prior to his arrest. He
As with Reed’s previous fare, Ford
The murders centered around the
the victim’s friends and families was
is currently awaiting trial and was
believes the doc will work better
feminism and it all centered around
streaming service ITVX needs to
recently released from house arrest
on linear as part of an event-driven
the club,” Farrar says.
draw people in and present them with
by Romanian authorities.
schedule. —MG
Reed has set out to answer
The series will see Theroux
a wider archive of programs. Lamarra
travelling around London’s W1
describes it as part cinematic journey
questions around where Tate
The Playboy Bunny Murders
postcode and beyond to track
back into the West End’s past and
really came from. The fast-car-
Blue Ant International
down police files, examine new
another part unfolding investigation.
driving, cigar-smoking hyper-male
Length: 2x60’
breakthroughs and find key figures
appears to have been in the public
Producers: Soho Studios,
linked to the case.
consciousness for a very long time
Future Studios
Theroux had told Ian Lamarra,
it to buyers, with Global Head of
but where did he in fact spring from,
The Playboy Bunny Murders is a story
founder of Soho Studios and former
Acquisitions and Partnerships Lilla
and how did he engineer such a
so pressing that its presenter Marcel
co-chief at Alaska TV, about the
Hurst saying it will equally be a
meteoric rise? (In)Famous will also
Theroux was “going to do it whether
story some time back and together
“package driver” for networks and
cover the life of his brother, Tristan,
there was a TV commission or not,”
they went about developing the
global streamers.
who has also been arrested.
says Executive Producer John Farrar
project before drafting in Farrar’s
“This is at the intersection of
of the ITVX two-parter.
Future Studios as co-producer. “It
where crime and glamour meet.
was great that he knew the story
British crime can be challenging
As the world prepares for potential trial, Ford says the doc has
Theroux, older brother of recent
At MipcomCannes, Canada’s Blue Ant International will be presenting
a “commercial proposition as it is
MacTaggart lecture giver Louis
inside-out, but the story is forwards-
at times to sell, but the setting
topical and relevant but is also an
Theroux, had been following the
looking,” Lamarra says. “He finds new
and precinct of this immediately
important story to get out there so
story of disturbing murders of three
evidence, but he treats the audience
eradicated that.”
people are aware what is going on.”
young women in London the 1970s.
with respect. At no point is he telling
Tate’s influence is broad and
The journalist, author and filmmaker’s
you the answers. Marcel is a great
Lamarra. “We’ve spent months
Abacus will be pitching into key
long-time obsession with the killings
talent—already quite well known but
investigating. It’s not just a run-of-
territories including North America
of Playboy Bunny Eve Stratford,
he could be a new talent for ITV.”
the-mill factual show.” —JW
and major European nations along
croupier Lynda Farrow and schoolgirl
62
Lamarra and Farrar both note
“This is a premium story,” says SO H O ST U D IOS
Tate is an ex-kickboxer who
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