Crazy Delicious
Katz shares his recipe Channel 4’s director of programmes, Ian Katz, tells the RTS how he seeks to put clear blue water between the broadcaster and the SVoD giants
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ike every broadcaster, Channel 4 is feeling the heat from the streaming giants. But, at an RTS early-evening event, the network’s director of programmes stated that, despite their bigger budgets, he can offer producers the personal touch that Netflix et al lack. Ian Katz said: “If you ask drama producers what is it like dealing with the streamers, they tend to say two things. On the plus side, you get quick answers and big budgets; on the negative side, they swallow up all your rights and you have a five-minute window.… “We can’t compete on money and
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we have to be quicker.… What we can compete on is TLC and impact. You get our bespoke attention from development through to marketing. We desperately want a show to land. “What I’m finding, particularly with writers, is that the appeal of these, weighed against the money and the other things the SVoD world can offer, is growing.” Katz added that UK writers were showing their frustration with the streaming world: “There is a sense that you can toil away for years and drop something into the SVoD pond and it just disappears. It’s much better to work with a PSB.” As evidence, he highlighted a new
E4 comedy, Maxxx, written and starring actor OT Fagbenle, who appeared in The Handmaid’s Tale. “OT has never written a comedy before. It’s been a labour of love over two or three years. Those are the kind of soft things that we can deliver that those with more money than us are not that interested in.” Judged by a clip from Maxxx that had the audience laughing noisily, the story about a former boy band star who becomes a drug-raddled, tabloid laughing stock, could take its place alongside other Channel 4 comic gems such as Catastrophe, Peep Show and Father Ted. It’s been two years since Katz succeeded Jay Hunt at Channel 4. By all accounts, the experience has been
