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Indie Survey 2014 ■ Twofour
among winners in year of consolidation ■ Broadcasters: indies sing praises of ITV ■ Nations & Regions: hitting a five-year high
21 March 2014
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D Wright: grieving for BBC3 Page 22 ■ Behind the Scenes: the business of sex toys Page 28
Shed signs joint venture deal with De Mol’s Talpa
Indies blame broadcasters over diversity BY ROBIN PARKER
BY CHRIS CURTIS
John de Mol’s Talpa Media has struck a joint venture deal with Shed Media Group to make its long-awaited UK debut. The two companies have created Talpa UK, which will have exclusive access to the Dutch company’s formats and co-produce them with Shed’s indies. This means the likes of Twenty Twenty, Ricochet, Renegade Pictures and Wall to Wall will be able to pitch Talpa shows, including Utopia, its ambitious attempt to reinvigorate the reality genre. Shed and Talpa will assess which UK indie is most suited for a particular show, based on its genre and the potential broadcaster. A decision has not yet been made about Utopia, a year-long social experiment that has already been picked up by Fox in the US
and TV8 in Turkey. Talpa’s slate also includes a raft of gameshows suitable for daytime or peaktime, such as The Winner Is… Wall to Wall already works with Talpa on the The Voice UK, and the strength of that relationship helped Shed become Talpa’s “preferred partner” in the UK. Talpa previously launched JVs with Shine Group in France, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand and Australia, with Nordisk Film TV for Scandinavia and Finland, and with Axel Springer’s Schwartzkopff TV in Germany. It also works with Sony Pictures Television Arabia in North Africa and the Middle East. Shed Media chief operating officer Claire Hungate hailed Talpa’s “groundbreaking formats”. She said: “The diversity of Talpa’s offering fits perfectly with the diversity we have across our seven UK production companies, which
Ricochet, Twenty Twenty, Renegade and Wall to Wall will all be able to pitch Talpa shows span every genre from entertainment to scripted series.” De Mol first mooted his ambition to create a UK arm of Talpa in mid2012, but at the time his plans were complicated by uncertainty over Endemol’s future. This January, he told Broadcast: “It’s still on the agenda. Once we find the right partner, we’re ready to go. We’ll decide in the next few months.” Shed Media is majority owned by Warner Bros International Television Production. De Mol’s format credits include Big Brother, Deal Or No Deal and Fear Factor.
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The Voice UK: Shed’s Wall to Wall has already formed a close relationship with Talpa while working on the show
The indie sector believes that broadcasters’ refusal to take risks on new production staff and onscreen talent is holding back diversity in the TV industry. Broadcast asked about diversity for the first time in the Indie Survey 2014, and 99 companies responded with their views. The consensus was that more training schemes and wider support are required – and many laid the blame at broadcasters’ door. Accusing commissioners of being “hypocritical”, one BBC and Channel 4 supplier said: “They say they want diversity and then they don’t allow indies to hire series producers or producer/directors of their choice.” Claiming that skilled black and Asian PDs are not getting the breaks, the respondent said it was “too easy” to focus on the entry level. “It’s time for broadcasters to create opportunities for people in the middle of their careers. As a producer, you’re between a rock and a hard place: you need the commission, so you can’t argue.” Another indie boss summed up the common theme: “We need to address why entry level diversity does not translate into middleranking experienced programmemakers and then industry leaders.” Turn to page 3