TV Real MIPTV 2019

REAL_0419_COVER_ALT.qxp_KID_409_COVER 3/19/19 9:03 AM Page 2

TVREAL

WWW.TVREAL.WS

APRIL 2019

MIPDOC & MIPTV EDITION

Science Docs / Medical Series National Geographic’s Gary Knell / CuriosityStream’s Clint Stinchcomb

SPREAD TEMPLATE_Layout 1 3/25/19 3:53 PM Page 1

SPREAD TEMPLATE_Layout 1 3/25/19 3:53 PM Page 2

SPREAD TEMPLATE_Layout 1 3/15/19 5:36 PM Page 1

SPREAD TEMPLATE_Layout 1 3/15/19 5:36 PM Page 2

REAL_419_TOC_ALT2.qxp_ASP_1206_MANSHA COLUMN 3/19/19 9:07 AM Page 1

6

TV REAL

CONTENTS

Real-World Impact

FEATURES 16 HOOKED ON SCIENCE Producers and distributors are upping the stakes in science docs.

The music industry is finally facing its own “Me Too” reckoning, thanks in large part to two high-profile, contentious doc series released in the last few months.

Ricardo Seguin Guise Publisher Anna Carugati Group Editorial Director Mansha Daswani Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Executive Editor Chelsea Regan Alison Skilton Associate Editors Victor L. Cuevas Production & Design Director Phyllis Q. Busell Art Director Simon Weaver Online Director Dana Mattison Senior Sales & Marketing Manager Nathalia Lopez Sales & Marketing Coordinator Andrea Moreno Business Affairs Manager

Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development TV Real ©2019 WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, #1207 New York, NY 10010 Phone: (212) 924-7620 Fax: (212) 924-6940 Website: www.tvreal.ws

The first, Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly, featured a slew of women who claimed to have been abused by the R&B singer. On the heels of that series, Kim Foxx, the state’s attorney in Chicago’s Cook County, asked victims to come forward to authorities. About six weeks later, Kelly—who was previously acquitted of child pornography charges in a long, drawn-out trial from which he managed to emerge with his career intact—was indicted on ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

The second, HBO and Channel 4’s riveting Leaving Neverland, focuses on Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who allege that Michael Jackson molested them when they were children. The two-parter led to radio stations ceasing to play his music, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis pulling Jackson memorabilia and producers of The Simpsons yanking the episode that featured the singer from all future runs.

This isn’t the first time that a documentary has forced action—think back to Errol Morris’s The Thin Blue Line, which was instrumental in overturning the murder conviction and death row sentence against Randall Dale Adams. Granted, not everyone is convinced by the explosive revelations in these two titles. Kelly’s supporters remain committed to the idea that he didn’t do anything wrong, claiming that the accusers are just seeking fame and fortune. Ditto with Jackson’s fans, who are steadfast in their belief in his innocence despite seemingly overwhelming evidence that he was engaged in inappropriate behavior with young boys (you’ll recall that these aren’t the first accusations against the late singer).

In Kelly’s case, jurors will have to weigh the evidence and determine his guilt or innocence. Jackson is not here to face his accusers, but the damage to his legacy is irreparable, the allegations by Robson and Safechuck too disturbing to ignore.

More than any other genre, documentaries, when done well, have the power to effect real change in the world. That’s the driving force at National Geographic Partners, according to Chairman Gary Knell. “A stunning set of photographs or a television program can move people to do something,” he says in an interview that appears in this edition. This issue of TV Real also features Clint Stinchcomb, the president and CEO of CuriosityStream, on his strategy for building out the SVOD platform, plus in-depth reports on the latest developments in science and medical docs.

—Mansha Daswani

16 24 DOCS ON DOCS The demand for medical documentaries has never been higher.

24 INTERVIEWS

30 National Geographic’s Gary Knell

36 CuriosityStream’s Clint Stinchcomb

REAL_0419__Layout 1 3/15/19 5:22 PM Page 1

REAL_0419_UPS_ALT3.qxp_Layout 1 3/19/19 9:09 AM Page 1

8

TV REAL

Jesus: His Life

A+E Networks Jesus: His Life / Damian Lewis: Spy Wars / Surviving R. Kelly The series Jesus: His Life tells the story of the biblical figure by looking at who he was as a man through the eyes of the people closest to him. Meanwhile, Damian Lewis (Homeland, Billions) is fronting Damian Lewis: Spy Wars. “We are capitalizing on the intense intrigue surrounding the world of espionage,” says Ellen Lovejoy, VP, head of content sales for the Americas and formats at A+E Networks. “We take that international appeal and dig into different agencies and actual stories from the past.” In the documentary series Surviving R. Kelly, women share allegations about sexual, mental and physical abuse inflicted by the eponymous music star. “Our premium factual content provides worldly stories via powerful personal testimonies and expert interviews that grasp audiences and empower them to take action,” says Lovejoy.

“Premium factual is part of our DNA and has been over our 30-plus-year history.”

—Ellen Lovejoy

Albatross World Sales Going Nuts: Tales from the Squirrel World / Wineman: The Gálvez Guide to Intelligent Wines / We Are Half the World Going Nuts: Tales from the Squirrel World is a look into the lives of the little furry creatures that takes viewers on a pintsized, albeit wild ride. The documentary focuses on various squirrel species’ survival in extreme environments. “Who doesn’t love squirrels?” asks Albatross World Sales’ managing director, Anne Olzmann. “The cuteness factor is definitely convincing.” Wineman: The Gálvez Guide to Intelligent Wines is a travel doc that follows vino-savvy host Joaquín Gálvez as he visits the vineyards and regions famous for producing the world’s best wines and learns the secrets of its creation from locals along the way. Also from Albatross comes We Are Half the World, a look into the international struggle for women’s right to vote through the eyes of 20th-century suffragettes like Emmeline Pankhurst and Marguerite Durand.

We Are Half the World

“We’re thrilled to meet existing buyers as well as connect to new potential clients out of the documentary sphere.”

—Anne Olzmann

Autentic Distribution The Woodstock Bus: Finding the Light / Terrorism Close Calls / 24H Europe: The Next Generation Autentic Distribution’s slate of new programs is led by The Woodstock Bus: Finding the Light, which follows a road trip to find one of America’s lost art treasures. Released in celebration of Woodstock’s 50th anniversary, the docuseries sees the original artist resurrect, restore and repaint the bus. Meanwhile, Terrorism Close Calls teaches viewers about terrorist schemes that military and intelligence services around the world have thwarted and includes testimony from leading counter-terrorism experts. A fly-on-the-wall expedition to explore the European continent and its young people unfolds in real time in 24H Europe: The Next Generation. “This program of parallel worlds and contradictions is a contemporary document and a manifest for a future in the making,” says Autentic Distribution’s general manager of sales, Anne Hufnagel.

The Woodstock Bus: Finding the Light

“We are always looking for the top-notch and best international documentary programs and series.”

—Anne Hufnagel

338 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

KIDS_0419__Layout 1 3/4/19 12:43 PM Page 1

REAL_0419_UPS_ALT3.qxp_Layout 1 3/19/19 9:09 AM Page 2

10

TV REAL

Distribution360 Titanic: Stories from the Deep / Born by Fire: The Secret History of Glass Blowing / WW2 Treasure Hunters Distribution360 has a factual slate stocked with history fare this MIPTV, including Titanic: Stories from the Deep. The series is “breaking new ground in historical programming,” says Diane Rankin, senior VP of international sales and acquisitions. “With the use of cutting-edge technology, the personal objects salvaged from the underwater resting site of the wreck tell us brand-new stories of love, fate, secrets and heroics.”

Born by Fire: The Secret History of Glass Blowing takes viewers on a journey through the world of glass, “tracing its origins from ancient Mesopotamia to the present day, where avantgarde artisans turn molten liquid into stunning works of art,” says Rankin. There’s a second installment of WW2 Treasure Hunters, continuing to follow missions to save buried and undiscovered artifacts that are in danger of being lost forever.

“Distribution360 is thrilled to be expanding further into the history genre.”

—Diane Rankin Born by Fire: The Secret History of Glass Blowing

Beyond Innovation

Globalive Media Beyond Innovation Globalive Media offers business content featuring leaders and innovators from all corners of the globe. “With Beyond Innovation, we’re spotlighting people whose work is having a profound impact on the way we live and do business, and we’re uncovering those next big things that are going to revolutionize the world we live in,” says Michael Bancroft, executive producer and co-host of Beyond Innovation. Globalive Media is selling the second-run rights for the series, which has 26 half-hour episodes in season one. The company is also in the preplanning and production stages for season two. “We believe the series will have great appeal for buyers at MIPTV because it’s truly global in reach, traveling to cities worldwide and speaking to the current climate of the borderless economy in which we all live,” Bancroft says.

“Globalive Media produces thoughtful television programming about business, technology and innovation from around the world.”

—Michael Bancroft

Kew Media Distribution Griff Off the Rails: Down Under / Silent Witness: Murder in Amish Country / Haunted Hospitals Kew Media Distribution is highlighting three factual programs that were each produced in a different territory. In the Australia-made six-parter Griff Off the Rails: Down Under, British comedian Griff Rhys Jones offers a modern look at the country, traversing it by train. “Griff Off the Rails: Down Under will be of interest not only to travel enthusiasts but will also showcase the beauty of the Australian landscape,” says Jonathan Ford, executive VP of sales. Set within America’s Amish communities, Silent Witness: Murder in Amish Country shows how difficult solving a homicide case can be when it involves people who prefer to mete out justice from within.

Produced in Canada, Haunted Hospitals’ second season will continue telling paranormal-activity stories that take place inside various medical facilities.

Griff Off the Rails: Down Under

“We work steadily to maintain close relationships with our buyers around the world to ensure we’re constantly offering content that will satisfy their ever-evolving requirements.”

—Jonathan Ford 340 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

REAL_0419__Layout 1 3/19/19 4:39 PM Page 1

REAL_0419_UPS_ALT3.qxp_Layout 1 3/19/19 2:37 PM Page 3

12

TV REAL

Orange Smarty The Real Prime Suspect / Dirty Vegan / Behind Closed Doors: Through the Eyes of a Child The series The Real Prime Suspect is led by Jackie Malton, who was the inspiration behind Helen Mirren’s character in the drama Prime Suspect. “Using Jackie’s unparalleled list of contacts, she will get exclusive access to case files and have credible, in-depth discussions with the police, detectives and other professionals who were at the heart of each investigation,” says Karen Young, CEO of Orange Smarty. Daredevil and chef Matt Pritchard fronts the action in Dirty Vegan, as he sets out to prove that a vegan diet can make you fitter, stronger and healthier with food that tastes “banging.” Behind Closed Doors: Through the Eyes of a Child, from director Anna Hall, spotlights children who have witnessed domestic abuse. “This program really highlights some of the quality content Orange Smarty has become synonymous with,” says Young.

Dirty Vegan

“Despite operating in a fiercely competitive environment, Orange Smarty has built a strong reputation for its high-quality catalog and secured a raft of impressive sales worldwide.”

—Karen Young When Whales Walked: A Deep Time Journey

PBS International Woodstock / Chasing the Moon / When Whales Walked: A Deep Time Journey Woodstock and Chasing the Moon, two of PBS International’s offerings, commemorate the 50th anniversaries of seminal events. Woodstock documents the gathering that turned into “a once-in-a-century cultural phenomenon that served as a coda to the ’60s and a harbinger of the decades to come,” says the company’s VP, Tom Koch. In the same vein, Chasing the Moon, a Robert Stone film, pays homage to the historic moon landing and upends much of the conventional mythology surrounding the event. Lastly, natural-history program When Whales Walked: A Deep Time Journey is a film that explores the origins of many of the planet’s most breathtaking creatures. It “takes us millions of years into the past to unravel the extraordinary lineage of awe-inspiring animals, from ferocious crocodiles to magnificent elephants,” says Koch.

“For over 20 years, the company has extended the reach of programming beyond broadcast while generating revenue for the public television system, stations and producers.”

—Tom Koch

Rive Gauche Television I Saw the Unknown / My Misdiagnosis / Something’s Killing Me Rive Gauche Television’s return to the paranormal comes in the form of I Saw the Unknown, a new series that features ordinary people retelling extraordinary experiences in which they’ve encountered the frightening and unexplained. In the medical genre, there are My Misdiagnosis— which follows the cases of those who’ve been misdiagnosed, leading to useless surgeries and sometimes even horrible mistakes as they search for medical answers—and Something’s Killing Me. “The success of Something’s Killing Me in the marketplace has brought a third season of this compelling series already,” says Jon Kramer, Rive Gauche’s CEO. Each episode of Something’s Killing Me involves investigations into medical mysteries that imminently threaten a patient’s life.

Something’s Killing Me

“We are finding the medical genre to be of great interest to our clients.”

—Jon Kramer

342 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

REAL_0419__Layout 1 3/15/19 5:27 PM Page 1

REAL_0419_UPS_ALT3.qxp_Layout 1 3/19/19 2:42 PM Page 4

Shocking Emergency Calls 14

TV REAL

TCB Media Rights Underground Worlds / Shake My Beauty / Shocking Emergency Calls Subterranean mega-structures are explored in Underground Worlds, a docuseries TCB Media Rights is bringing to the market that will lead viewers on a tour of a World War II air-raid shelter converted into an urban farm, among other impressive constructions. The series Shake My Beauty gives a platform to those who’ve embraced their physical differences and emotional insecurities to become influencers in their own right.

According to Simona Argenti, senior sales manager at TCB Media Rights, “Shake My Beauty takes viewers on a journey of acceptance and self-empowerment, delivering an inspiring message of body positivity that has already attracted millions of viewers in the online community.” Each episode of Shocking Emergency Calls revisits dramatic and disturbing calls and depicts the real human stories behind them.

“With a market space that becomes more competitive every year, we have been busy at TCB.”

—Simona Argenti

Terra Mater Factual Studios

Borneo: Earth’s Ancient Isle

Whale Wisdom / The Sun: Inferno in the Sky / Borneo: Earth’s Ancient Isle Guided by director Rick Rosenthal, Whale Wisdom, a Terra Mater Factual Studios highlight, dives down into the ocean depths to learn about the intelligence of whales. Shifting the focus upward, The Sun: Inferno in the Sky combines the latest solar research and insights from international scientists and solar storm footage to create a close-up portrait of the sun for viewers. Borneo: Earth’s Ancient Isle explores the biodiversity of the Malay Archipelago’s tropical rainforests and sprawling cave systems, and features giant apes, pygmy elephants, airbreathing fish and thousands of different species of plants.

“From the coast to the island’s highest point—Mount Kinabalu, rising over 4,000 meters—Borneo, Earth’s ancient isle, is a place quite unlike any other,” says Sabine Holzer, Terra Mater’s head of specialist factual.

“Borneo: Earth’s Ancient Isle visits one of the most biodiverse places on Earth.”

—Sabine Holzer

ZDF Enterprises The Greatest Race / Planet of Volcanoes / Just Animals The 4K/UHD production The Greatest Race shines a light on the chariot races at the Circus Maximus, which held more than 150,000 spectators. “This documentary gives viewers incredibly rich, new insights,” says Ralf Rückauer, VP of ZDFE.unscripted at ZDF Enterprises. From the science and knowledge subgenre, Planet of Volcanoes takes viewers on an expedition to one of the world’s most active lava lakes. “We want to find lifeforms living inside the volcano that can tell us more about the origins of life on Earth as well as the likelihood of finding life elsewhere in our universe,” says Rückauer. Meanwhile, Just Animals celebrates the world’s wildlife. Rückauer calls it “a visual feast, which tours the globe and intrigues, surprises and enthralls audiences.”

“The impressive list of partners on each of these productions alone is proof of their international appeal.”

Just Animals

344 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

—Ralf Rückauer

REAL_0419__Layout 1 3/15/19 5:25 PM Page 1

REAL_0419_SCI.qxp_REAL_408_NIGHT 3/19/19 9:17 AM Page 2

16

TV REAL

Autentic’s Out of the Cradle.

346 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

REAL_0419_SCI.qxp_REAL_408_NIGHT 3/19/19 9:17 AM Page 3

TV REAL 17

HOOKED ON

SCIENCE Jay Stuart explores how producers and distributors are upping the stakes in science documentaries.

I

n today’s digitally fragmented market, broadcasters like nothing better than highprofile programming based on the anniversary of a famous historical event to cut through the content overload and win big audiences. This year the science docs business has a golden opportunity with a megaanniversary to celebrate—man’s landing on the moon in the summer of 1969. The attention-grabbing anniversary has generated some outsized documentary projects.

SPACE RACE One of Smithsonian Channel’s biggest productions this year is Apollo’s Moon Shot, a six-part series drawing on the unique strength of the company’s affiliation with the National Air and Space Museum, the world’s largest and most popular space museum. “It’s the repository of NASA artifacts,” says David Royle, chief programming officer and executive VP at Smithsonian Networks. “That helps us both in telling the story by using the archives and by enabling us to bring the viewers closer than ever to the story. With 3D scanning, we can explore objects in fantastic detail—for example, Neil Armstrong’s space suit or the lunar module. You can get right inside the module. Did you know there’s graffiti on the wall that the astronauts wrote? We can show that kind of detail.”

At PBS, the moon mission anniversary has delivered a big sales push. “Science has always been a very popular genre for us,” says Tom Koch, the VP of PBS International, which distributes the long-running science series NOVA. “The anniversary of the lunar landing has generated huge interest in Chasing the Moon and Apollo’s Daring Mission.”

High-profile anniversaries like the moon landing are competitive. “Anniversaries are tricky,” says Céline Payot Lehmann, the head of international distribution at ARTE

Distribution. “Broadcasters want the doc on the subject.

There are lots on the market and they want the best one— and they need it on time.”

The competition of moon-sized anniversaries is not for everyone. “In 2019 we didn’t focus on the moon,” says Patrick Hörl, the founder and managing director of Autentic.

“Because big players like PBS and BBC are doing moon shows, we’re going for another 1969 anniversary with a sixpart series on Woodstock, with a psychedelic bus.”

Hörl continues, “There are only so many events in a year.

I think television series are actually more in-demand than the big anniversary-based ones. They have a greater impact on the perception of a channel than event programs. The fact is that an event program requires a lot of marketing even to get any recognition. With a series, you can build awareness over time.”

“The thing about anniversaries is that they create an atmosphere and a momentum,” counters Smithsonian’s Royle. “The press and the media talk about the anniversary and people start to focus on it. Suddenly it’s the subject people want to talk about and they become interested in the subject. They get excited and want to learn more.”

In addition to Apollo’s Moon Shot, Smithsonian has other NASA-related docs, including America’s Secret Space Heroes, about the scientists inside the space program.

PBS has found that the interest in the big anniversary has extended to other space-related programs, such as Rise of the Rockets, exploring the promising new renaissance of space travel.

Terra Mater Factual Studios is catching the momentum around the anniversary with its The Moon: Our Gateway to the Universe. Parent company Red Bull Media House, meanwhile, has its eyes on actually going to the moon. Last year at MIPTV, a partnership was announced with private space company PTScientists in its project to land the first private spacecraft on the moon. Red Bull will develop, 4/19 WORLD SCREEN 347

REAL_0419_SCI.qxp_REAL_408_NIGHT 3/19/19 3:00 PM Page 4

18

TV REAL

Terra Mater’s Aurora: Fire in the Sky covers the history of aurora research and recent scientific discoveries.

produce and license the Mission to the Moon project’s live broadcasts, behind-the-scenes footage, feature documentaries and additional content.

Event-oriented shows aren’t always about anniversaries.

For Albatross World Sales, the strongest science sellers have been The Equalizer and its sequel Champions vs. Legends. The Equalizer enjoyed the high-profile boost of the Summer Olympics and performed well at the time of the event as a one-off special. Anne Olzmann, the managing director of Albatross World Sales, observes that one-offs in general work slightly better for free-TV and public broadcasters with a very broad audience, while longer-running factualentertainment series are more at home on pay-TV or niche-oriented outlets.

Albatross is bringing Naked Mole-Rat: Nature’s Weirdest Superhero, the winner of the NHK Science Award at Wildscreen Festival, to MIPDoc and MIPTV this spring. The one-off is produced by Taglicht Media for ZDF, ARTE, Smithsonian Channel and National Geographic.

REAL DISCOVERIES In the competitive science-docs space, having exclusive access to things that have never been seen before is also a significant advantage. ARTE is offering up Sapiens: The New Beginning, about the discovery of fossil remains in Morocco.

The finds suggest that our species is older than previously thought and originated not in East Africa but in North Africa.

ARTE has done over 15 presales.

“It’s a real scientific scoop,” Payot Lehmann says. “This sort of discovery will change schoolbooks. Scoop documentaries

are good for presales when you are in development or production. But they can have a limited shelf life because they might be overtaken by new scoops. Science moves fast.”

And scoops aren’t always exclusives, and they may even contest other discoveries. Albatross World Sales, for example, is looking for presales on Europe: The New Cradle of Humankind?, a one-off about the latest developments in our understanding of human evolution in Europe, challenging the general belief that Africa is the cradle of humankind.

Albatross has sold the visionary series Islands of the Future worldwide, leading to two sequels, Water Is Our Future and Paradise Preserved, which will be launched at MIPDoc and MIPTV.

EUREKA! “Revelatory science continues to perform,” says PBS’s Koch. New archaeological evidence takes center stage in Decoding the Great Pyramid, which sheds light on the stunning engineering of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Such big docs have become showcases for innovation and high-end production. “Technology is enabling us to show things that couldn’t be seen before,” says Smithsonian’s Royle. “It’s not just the way we tell the story that’s evolving or the better formats like 4K; it has made the science so much better. With DNA interpretations, we can show new theories in detail.”

Royle adds, “Technology has made viewers more demanding. It’s almost an arms race. The audience wants more and more. The old days of showing diagrams are gone.

You have to use high-end computer graphics and drones.”

348 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

REAL_0419__Layout 1 3/15/19 5:24 PM Page 1

REAL_0419_SCI.qxp_REAL_408_NIGHT 3/19/19 2:45 PM Page 5

20

TV REAL

Talesmith and Zee Entertainment Enterprises on Life of Earth: From Space. Smithsonian is partnering with PBS to produce When Whales Walked: A Deep Time Journey, which will feature 3D animation.

PICTURE PERFECT

PBS International has done brisk business on Chasing the Moon, a six-parter about the space race.

ARTE’s Payot Lehmann agrees. “There’s a race to be impressive.” As an example, she references 700 Sharks, which featured scientists diving at night in Polynesia to study sharks. Production took two years and used the latest technology, including bullet-time cameras that allow the action to be stopped and looked at from different angles, like the effects used in The Matrix.

Tech innovations, however, don’t come cheap.

FINANCIAL FORMULA

Producing in 4K Ultra HD has become the norm for many companies, even though the actual 4K market is still small.

“Ultra HD content is already a basic requirement in the field of blue-chip documentaries from first shot to master,” says Armin Luttenberger, the head of international content sales at ORF-Enterprise. “For visually attractive content it means a significant increase in image quality in all stages of production.”

Smithsonian started making all of its originals in 4K a few years ago. “It’s not just that it looks great,” Royle says. “It allows you to show things in detail.”

Albatross’s Olzmann agrees that demand for 4K content is becoming essential for programs with strong visuals.

“We concluded several deals for the 4K version of The Borderless Sky, which would not have happened if it were an HD program,” she says. “Astro photographers armed with high-tech cameras gathering spectacular images of phenomena in the night skies—that makes for the very strong visual experience that needs to be in 4K.” Koch says that 4K is becoming increasingly important in science documentaries for PBS International. “Some key clients look to take advantage of it as the USP in their programming lineup. For a number of our platform partners, 4K is the way they can distinguish top science programming in an otherwise crowded content landscape.”

For distributors, 4K has an added benefit. “4K is really important for shelf life,” says Autentic’s Hörl. “Science shows can last for five or six years. 4K gives you added security.”

“Science is expensive,” observes Autentic’s Hörl, “for two main reasons. One, it requires research. That is costly. Second, visualization is a challenge. Often the solution is animation. And animation is very expensive because the viewers are demanding. They want animation up to the standard of feature films, and well they should.”

Autentic co-produced Out of the Cradle, a show about early humans, with NHK. The production broke ground by bringing in a new kind of animation partner, gaming company Square Enix, the creator of the Final Fantasy franchise.

“The level of detailing in gaming is breathtaking,” Hörl says. “We’re finding a new business model, putting together a broadcaster and a gaming company in production. The animation looks real.”

Sabine Holzer, the head of specialist factual at Terra Mater Factual Studios, agrees that “animation is hugely important. Doing great animation is part of the game.

Yes, the cost is high if you do it right, but either you do it right or leave it. I’m not a fan of cheap animation.”

Given the costs involved in highend science docs, international coproductions are common in the genre. They have been fundamental for the Smithsonian Channel, which worked with ITV on The Day We Walked on the Moon and with Smithsonian Channel’s America’s Secret Space Heroes features NASA engineers.

350 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

REAL_0419__Layout 1 3/6/19 11:57 AM Page 1

REAL_0419_SCI.qxp_REAL_408_NIGHT 3/19/19 9:18 AM Page 6

22

TV REAL

ARTE’s 700 Sharks utilized bullet-time camera work.

At Terra Mater, 4K is seen as a must for just that reason.

“We have to do everything in 4K,” Holzer says. “It’s the way to make sure our programs have shelf life.”

Another element that adds value to a science doc is having a credible, compelling presenter. “A good charismatic science presenter can make all the difference, as in the case of Bill Nye Saves the World on Netflix,” says Royle. “Science is complicated and requires explanation, but you don’t want the viewers to feel they’re being given a lesson, they want to feel smart and learn about the world they live in.”

“Having a famous English-speaking presenter can add a lot of value,” agrees Payot Lehmann. But ARTE tends to go without presenters, offering an English version and a clean international version. “Many of our buyers subtitle,” she adds. “They can’t afford to do a voice-over.”

Terra Mater partnered with the BBC, among other partners, on David Attenborough’s Light on Earth. It also made Richard Hammond’s Miracles of Nature and Wild Weather with Richard Hammond. For the international market, Terra Mater offered versions without the presenter.

“In trying to appeal to a global audience, we find buyers often seek out presenter-free science, but a good, authentic presenter can bring valuable knowledge, and audiences, to a program,” says PBS’s Koch. “In NOVA Wonders, a series where researchers are tackling some of the biggest questions about life and the cosmos, there is a knowledgeable, diverse set of presenters who successfully guide the programs and interpret the science for a wide audience.”

VIRTUAL REALITY So what’s the next big frontier in science docs? VR, potentially, assuming it doesn’t suffer the same fate that befell 3D. There’s general agreement that, like that other much-hyped technical innovation, VR has not taken off as fast as some people expected. But location VR is showing its potential in science,

according to Smithsonian’s Royle. “You can put the viewers inside a location, like a museum. They can disappear into a different world. The Science Museum in London is doing successful things, and of course, we had David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef Dive.”

ARTE has about 20 VR productions. These are short-form products of 2 to 10 minutes each. “It’s a completely different market from television,” Payot Lehmann says. “It’s not the same buyers, not the same people. We’re mainly talking about museums or aquariums. There’s no business model yet. The price on these things is low, $1,000 or $2,000.”

IMMERSIVE APPROACHES Luttenberger of ORF-Enterprise notes, “VR content as an addon to linear perception can offer immersive experiences, but there are still questions about storytelling and the availability of suitable devices in the consumer’s living rooms.”

Koch is more optimistic than some others on the progress of VR. “It’s the exciting next step in science programming, promising to engage audiences on a truly unique, proactive level,” he says. “We have participated in a couple of VR projects that helped us navigate the challenge of bringing content alive in a meaningful way. As with any format of delivery, it always comes back to the simple premise—do you have a good story to tell?”

Whatever the format, the key, says Smithsonian’s Royle, is to be both educational and entertaining. “We have the resources of the Smithsonian and the museum is definitely involved. All our programs are sent to the museum experts and if there’s something not quite right, they send it back for us to fix.

“The world we live is so full of fake news and bad information,” he says. “It’s important to be able to give the public programs to believe in. But we also work very hard at being entertaining. We want people to watch and enjoy our programs and say to themselves, that was really a fun hour and I learned something.”

352 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

REAL_0419__Layout 1 3/15/19 5:32 PM Page 1

REAL_0419_MEDDOCS.qxp_REAL_408_NIGHT 3/19/19 9:25 AM Page 2

24

TV REAL

TVF International’s Medical Revolution.

354 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

REAL_0419_MEDDOCS.qxp_REAL_408_NIGHT 3/19/19 9:51 AM Page 3

TV REAL 25

The demand for medical documentaries has never been higher, resulting in a drive for ever more innovative programming, Neil Crossley reports.

C

ompassion, empathy and a growing awareness of health and wellbeing are among the factors driving demand for medical documentaries. From hospital docudramas chronicling the challenges of medical staff to deeply personal and inspirational accounts of suffering, these very human and emotional stories of life-and-death struggles hold enduring appeal for audiences across the globe.

“Health and medicine have always been strong performers for us,” says Harriet Armston-Clarke, director at TVF International. “But we have seen an increase in the number of channels and platforms dedicated to this genre over the past few years, for example, S+ in Portugal. There is more information—and misinformation—than ever before. So the hunger for quality, well-researched content is greater than ever.”

As the medical documentary genre has become an increasingly crowded space, producers and distributors are honing their techniques to deliver more innovative and engaging productions.

“There are so many medical programs out there, you have to work hard to stand out from the crowd,” says Nick Tanner, the director of sales and co-productions at Passion Distribution.

“As audiences are becoming increasingly aware and informed in terms of their lifestyle choices, medical has grown in scope. Programming with a more holistic approach that encompasses health and wellbeing, diet and mental health is increasingly popular, as well as content that explores extraordinary medical conditions.”

One of Passion’s strongest sellers is Don’t Tell the Doctor, from Arrow Media. The series follows a team of doctors who come to the aid of people who have made their medical problems worse by self-diagnosis. Another success is Darcey Bussell: Dancing To Happiness, in which the former ballerina examines how dancing can improve mental wellbeing. Tanner says this one-off documentary reflects how medical programming is responding to growing concerns about mental health. Other Passion series doing brisk business are the celebrity-fronted series Emma Willis: Delivering Babies and Dr Christian Will See You Now.

UNIVERSAL THEMES Patrice Choghi, the senior VP of international at GRB Studios, says the best medical documentary series are rooted in universal themes that appeal to the human condition. “More and more programs are beginning to throw in spectacular elements to help make a splash in an ever-crowded field,” he says. “However, the simplicity of a well-created story structure cannot be overstated. Ultimately, people will tune in, or choose not to, based on the hook the underlying stories are anchored by and the revolving cast of compelling characters.”

Choghi says that GRB’s strongest seller “without a doubt” has been the long-running Untold Stories of the ER, a docudrama series that airs on TLC and Discovery Life.

“The show generally highlights the most fantastical elements of working within the emergency room environment,” he says. “The opportunity for viewers to take a peek behind the curtain into one of the most intense work

4/19 WORLD SCREEN 355

REAL_0419_MEDDOCS.qxp_REAL_408_NIGHT 3/19/19 2:48 PM Page 4

26

TV REAL

The slate of medical docs at Rive Gauche includes Egg Factor.

you see the patient’s inspirational journey, as well as the doctor’s commitment and compassion. In the face of staggering obstacles, both patient and physician often get a positive ending.”

Jon Kramer, the CEO of U.S. sales house Rive Gauche Television, likens the appeal of his company’s medical documentaries to that of crime series.

Suspenseful, innovative storytelling and improved reenactments are driving demand in the medical docs space, he says.

“Medical is a universal subject and an alternative to crime programming, as it caters to the same demographic. Two of our medical-related series, Something’s Killing Me and My Misdiagnosis, have been very well received. After launching these last year, we feel like there is certainly an appetite.”

Both series delve into the investigations of life-or-death medical mysteries, explains Kramer, examining puzzling behaviors that result in near-death struggles. Each episode chronicles a race against time to discover what, or who, is killing the patient.

Doctors, scientists, and in some cases, federal investigators, act as medical sleuths to solve the mysteries.

“Both series are very well done and keep the audience guessing until the very end,” he says. “The audience loyal to crime is the same for medical mysteries: 25- to 54year-old women.”

environments, with those at the front line describing their stories, has proven to be of sustained interest for years.”

Holly Cowdery, sales manager at TCB Media Rights, believes “the human aspect” of medical documentaries is driving this kind of content now, far more so than new scientific discovery-themed series. She cites as an example True Medical, one of the titles from TCB’s extensive deal with Transparent TV. The show was made for Nine Network in Australia. “True Medical shows a blind woman seeing for the first time, and a man previously confined to a wheelchair walking again. Although this is due to new technology, it’s the human emotions these stories conjure up that keep the viewer gripped.”

Advancements in technology are indeed boosting the medical docs space. Series such as Dr Christian Will See You Now use fixed-rig filming techniques to create an unfiltered and intimate feeling. Science-based productions also continue to have global appeal. Armston-Clarke Pivotal to the success of medical documentaries are the at TVF International says the company’s strongest sellers personality traits of the central characters who front them. have been The Truth About Vitamins, The Science of Sleep, Producers need to ensure that audiences will trust, believe The Cholesterol Question, MS Wars: Hope, Science and the in and warm to the doctors, consultants and other medical Internet and Medical Revolution. She attributes their success staff at the core of the series. They also need to exude natuto being “universally relevant, well-researched films with ral personality and charisma on-screen. cutting-edge new science and technological innovations.”

“In the modern TV environment, doctors need to stand out Breakthroughs in science and “myth-busting” have been the from the crowd,” says Jes Wilkins, the chief creative officer of predominant innovations in the genre, she says.

Firecracker, a sister production company to Passion Series that focus on unusual or extraordinary illnesses are Distribution. “Personality and diversity are key. They need to also strong sellers. One of Passion’s successes is The be engaging, show empathy and be credible.”

Woman Who Ate a House, about a woman with pica syndrome, an eating disorder that involves ingesting non-food items, including, in this case, the plaster walls of her home. TCB Media Rights reports brisk business with The Boy with No Brain, the story of Noah Wall, who was born with less than two percent of his brain.

Cowdery also cites Transparent’s catalog of similarly moving medical documentaries, such as Erick: The Boy with No Face and The Incredible Hulk Woman.

“I think people are always fascinated by unusual illnesses as they affect all of us,” says Cowdery, “but what separates these documentaries from the pack is that TCB’s True Medical goes behind the scenes of groundbreaking medical advances.

HOT DOCS

356 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

REAL_0419__Layout 1 3/15/19 5:21 PM Page 1

REAL_0419_MEDDOCS.qxp_REAL_408_NIGHT 3/19/19 2:52 PM Page 5

28

TV REAL

Commissioned by UKTV’s W channel, Dr Christian Will See You Now has been a strong seller for Passion Distribution.

GRB’s Choghi also highlights the importance of authenticity. “In this era of ‘fake news’ and fabricated personalities, credibility is key. Taking the time to truly vet the focal characters at the center of a series is not only imperative, but absolutely necessary for the integrity of the show,” he says.

Rive Gauche’s Kramer says that “relatable characters” are essential to the success of medical documentaries, while TCB’s Cowdery highlights the importance of medical staff being able to relay information in a straightforward way.

“Contributors and presenters need the ability to translate often complicated medical language into something easily understandable and engaging to the viewer,” she says. “The audience also wants to see their empathetic side and feel the passion for what they do shine through.”

When it comes to filming medical staff and patients in hospitals, the challenges can be profound. Film crews need to be granted access. Hospitals, meanwhile, have to make sure they are complying with legal and ethical consent procedures. The goals of a production company and medical staff frequently conflict.

Clinical teams often need privacy to focus on patient problems, which restricts the footage that is allowed to be captured.

to get in the way of actual people performing their jobs. You need to create your environment as best as you can and, to the best of your ability, map out what you are aiming to capture prior to any shoot.”

The challenges of filming in hospitals were highlighted in 2012, when an article by medical staff at one of the hospitals featured in the BBC Three series Junior Doctors: Your Life in Their Hands was published in the British Medical Journal.

“During filming, the hospital followed robust procedures to assure legal and ethical consent processes for patients and staff,” the article states.

The hospital conducted a survey one month after filming started to collect views on how the filming affected doctors, clinical teams and patient care. Staff reported an overwhelming desire to maintain “normality” wherever possible. But some of the clinical teams allegedly felt underprepared and “thrown into” filming, which led to increased anxiety and stress. One consultant reported: “They asked, ‘Would you do one final interview?’ and I said, ‘Do you know what, I can’t. I really cannot go through that. It’s actually quite traumatic.’ ” All of which prompts the question, Why would hospitals agree to participate in a medical documentary series? The answer lies in their desire to promote the work of their staff and to highlight their own struggles for survival in an underfunded age.

“They provide a valuable opportunity to communicate and explain their work and the issues that they face to audiences in a relatable way,” says Wilkins of Firecracker, the company that produced Emma Willis: Delivering Babies.

“For example, there is a crisis in midwife recruitment in the U.K. The hospital trust where Emma Willis: Delivering Babies was filmed believed that the series could—and did— have a positive impact on recruitment.”

RESTRICTED ACCESS “Access can be extremely challenging indeed,” says Cowdery. “A hospital is not only a place of work but a place where life-and-death decisions are made daily. The idea that a camera crew could in any way impede this work is a huge concern and requires very detailed discussions. Privacy is also a big consideration; you are often filming people at their most vulnerable. There is a duty of care to all those who may appear both willingly and incidentally.”

It’s a view echoed by Choghi.

“As a producer, you never want

Sold by GRB Studios, Untold Stories of the ER wrapped its 13th season in 2018.

358 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

REAL_0419__Layout 1 3/15/19 5:18 PM Page 1

REAL_0419_KNELL_1.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 3/19/19 9:33 AM Page 1

30

TV REAL

360 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

REAL_0419_KNELL_1.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 3/19/19 2:54 PM Page 2

TV REAL 31

N

ational Geographic is expected to be one of the pillars of the Disney+ direct-to-consumer service that will launch in the U.S. later this year. Its positioning alongside other iconic names—including Star Wars and Marvel—is a testament to how much National Geographic’s new owners value the storied brand. The move to Disney will be the second major transformation for National Geographic in the last few years, following 21st Century Fox’s $725-million deal with the National Geographic Society, in 2015, that brought together the cable channels, publishing, travel and more, under one entity. Gary Knell, chairman of National Geographic Partners (NGP), is leading the multifaceted group through its next big transition while remaining focused on the brand’s commitment to science, conservation and education.

By Mansha Daswani TV REAL: It’s been a couple of years now since the deal that brought the National Geographic publishing and television arms together. What have been the significant benefits of combining all the assets under one umbrella?

KNELL: The motivation was to try to scale up and integrate the assets. Fox and National Geographic had a joint venture on the cable side for nearly 20 years. Three and half years ago we decided to merge the print and digital assets with television so that we would have one National Geographic media group that could integrate messages, creative, marketing, etc., and not speak with a forked tongue. The idea was, especially because so much is becoming digital and more on-demand, it was all going to come crashing together anyway, so we might as well get ahead of the curve and try to pull it all together. And we could harness Fox’s global reach, led by Peter Rice, to greatly expand our footprint.

TV REAL: What overall strategy did you put into place when you became chairman last year?

KNELL: I was running the nonprofit for the first two years of its new iteration and we were trying to create a culture there of being a more impactful NGO that was focused on conservation, grantmaking and education. When I was asked to come over here, it was to help get NGP through the transition with Disney and to try to better rationalize the assets we have towards a more cohesive and coherent message around our creative catalog, and making National Geographic more of a must-have and less of a nice-to-have.

That was the agenda. It’s running two fundamentally important businesses, one on the television side and one on the media side—print and digital—and then pulling those together where appropriate.

TV REAL: Nat Geo’s Instagram feed recently topped the 100-million-follower mark. How has this 130-plusyear-old brand managed to stay so relevant in a fragmented marketplace?

KNELL: It’s pretty cool that a 131-year-old brand is now more popular than Nicki Minaj and Khloé Kardashian! Part of it is we have captured the magic of photography. Millennials entered the world as digital natives and visual learners.

Even though photography in many ways has become a commodity through things like the iPhone, great photography is not a commodity. People admire and respond to brilliant images from the world’s greatest photographers, sometimes more than the written word. We happened to be in the position to capture that if we could execute on some of these social media platforms appropriately, and fortunately we have. I can’t tell you how many people come up to me and say, I follow you on Instagram! It’s people of all ages. It’s pretty amazing. And not just in the U.S. We have huge numbers in India, Europe, Indonesia, other countries around the world.

TV REAL: What are the challenges of operating a fact-based brand in an environment where “fake news” and misinformation are so widespread?

KNELL: We’ve always had a position here to follow the science. It’s a scientifically-based organization that is not political in the sense of partisan politics. But we have not shied away from controversial topics. We did a big issue on the war on science a couple of years ago that talked about the things that people from the left and right challenge for different reasons—climate change, vaccines, GMOs or other issues that people tend to pick and choose which science they want to believe based on their political beliefs. Our

4/19 WORLD SCREEN 361

REAL_0419_KNELL_1.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 3/19/19 2:55 PM Page 3

32

TV REAL

Free Solo won National Geographic an Oscar and a BAFTA this year.

view is to debunk those myths and lay out the science. People can make up their own minds on what they want to believe. We’ve got to be engaged in stating the facts around these important scientific realities.

TV REAL: Can you give us some examples of how the various divisions are collaborating?

KNELL: We’re working across the company on an initiative around space this year, because of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, called Starstruck. It began with the second season of MARS in November and includes an entire week of programming this summer, including a twohour Apollo documentary, books, magazine content, live events, space photography and educational materials.

In the future, we’ll be working on an initiative around oceans, which will be a major one for us with content across all of our platforms. We have a lot of programs about protecting marine areas around the world through the National Geographic Society’s Pristine Seas project. So it’s educating people about the oceans and telling the stories of the heroes of the ocean who are doing amazing things to protect places under tremendous pressure.

We look at our toolkit and try to think about what could be used to add to our storytelling capabilities. Those could be documentaries, print—magazines or books—social media, short-form videos, live events, travel, museum exhibits or educational materials in schools. We’re trying to look at our entire 360-degree approach, which is something that Disney likes as well, to figure out how we can surroundsound our consumers with the topics we want to promote.

TV REAL: How are you attracting talent, be it explorers and scientists at the Society or Ron Howard at the channel?

KNELL: Courteney [Monroe, president of National Geographic Global Television Networks] has led a push towards excellence. We doubled down on trying to attract world-class talent on shows like One Strange Rock [with Darren Aronofsky], and working with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer from Imagine on Genius and MARS, Brett Morgen on Jane, and our latest documentary, Free Solo, which just [won] an Oscar. This is a leap that I would argue National Geographic should have made some time ago. And under Courteney’s leadership, I think we’ve been able to do that well. To me it’s recapturing a space we have been in in the past and we should always be in.

The fact that we [won] an Oscar is pretty amazing given that we just rebooted the documentary film unit two years ago.

We’ve won a BAFTA and last fall we became the only network in history to win three cinematography Emmys in one year. It shows that the creative community is responding to the call of National Geographic.

TV REAL: You’ve had a commitment to mission-based organizations throughout your career with roles at Sesame Workshop and NPR before joining National Geographic.

Has that been by design?

KNELL: I guess that has been my calling. I grew up in L.A., so I grew up learning about the world through movies! I’ve always believed in the power of storytelling to change the world. It’s about coming up with compelling human stories that emote for people. [At Sesame Workshop] we were using the power of those muppets to get kids to learn letters, numbers and social and emotional lessons. At NPR we had to tell people such compelling stories that they would have what we called a “driveway moment” and stay in the car to hear the ending even after they’ve arrived at home.

And at National Geographic, a stunning set of photographs

362 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

REAL_0419__Layout 1 3/15/19 5:31 PM Page 1

REAL_0419_KNELL_1.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 3/19/19 9:34 AM Page 4

34

TV REAL

or a television program can move people to do something.

The world has a lot of challenges and we don’t have a lot of time to waste. I believe that there are a lot of people like me who want to be engaged and not just passively entertained.

TV REAL: What tech innovations are you most excited about in the doc space right now?

KNELL: I think that when you see Free Solo on an IMAX screen, it’s pretty breathtaking! Most importantly, the planet has some challenges that are unfortunately exacerbated by the inability of people to be in nature. We’ve done some pretty amazing virtual reality experiences that do bring you as close as you possibly can be without being there. [VR provides] that ability to give people in daily urban existence an appreciation of what’s happening in our oceans and in the wild. Those are opportunities and even, I would say, responsibilities for National Geographic to engage around.

If National Geographic doesn’t do that, who will?

Running Wild with Bear Grylls moves from NBC to Nat Geo this year.

TV REAL: What are your key priorities for the 12 to 18 months ahead as you guide the organization through its transition to Disney?

KNELL: The biggest advice I’ve given the staff is that this will be an opportunity for National Geographic to grow our presence. Disney is a huge leader in kids, in technology, in understanding consumers, in live engagement like the parks and travel businesses. Even the retail operations Disney has, with National Geographic having a presence in those. And they are betting a lot on the direct-to-consumer Disney+ and Hulu platforms. They’ve already said National Geographic is going to be one of the five brands they’ll be out there promoting,

along with Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel and Disney. That’s a big deal for us! We’ve now got to come up with a programming slate that meets the challenge, for both linear and on-demand.

We want to keep our publishing enterprise healthy. A lot of that is driving our subscription base more to a membership environment, in which people are “investing” in National Geographic as a cause rather than just a passive product to buy. We have a lot of work in front of us, but I think we’re well positioned in an on-demand environment. In media, we’re moving from a pre-fixe world to an à-la-carte world. The days of pre-fixe anything are certainly behind us. The sooner we can adjust to an à-la-carte world, the better. We need to be able to reach people wherever they are. Some people will want a cable package, some will want to watch our shows ondemand, other people will want to buy a photograph, other people will want to take photographs and submit them to us.

All of these avenues need to be driven by the consumer and their engagement with our brand.

National Geographic, through all of its media, as well as its nonprofit activities, is a unique construct as an organization.

There are no others like this, where you have a media company married to a nonprofit organization that is doing incredible work out in the world. The World Wildlife Fund is doing great work, but they don’t have a media enterprise. Discovery is doing some interesting shows, but they don’t have a nonprofit enterprise that is making a meaningful impact. That’s where we can drive an agenda that people will respond to, especially younger people who are magnetically attracted to brands that are impact-driven and making a difference in the world. That’s why we think we’re well positioned to grow in the future. The new partnership with Disney will give us the scale and opportunity to do that.

364 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

REAL_0419__Layout 1 3/6/19 11:54 AM Page 1

REAL_0419_STINCHCOMB_ALT2.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 3/19/19 2:58 PM Page 1

36

TV REAL

to John [Hendricks, founder and chairman] about how to let the world know that CuriosityStream existed. When you’re a start-up, you can’t spend a billion dollars [on marketing]—that’s not the best use of your money! I had read about Liberty Global doing a deal with Netflix. They decided that since people were going to subscribe to Netflix, it’s better they do it in their ecosystem. So as I was talking to John, I said it might make sense to work with third-party distributors. That will make it easier for more people to subscribe, and you benefit from the promotion of working with these partners. Working with our current COO, Tia Cudahy, we did about 30 third-party agreements in a year. That increased the awareness of CuriosityStream, and it increased our subscriber count dramatically. If you only have one line of revenue, SVOD, it’s a hard business. I thought we could branch out into multiple lines. We’re a direct-toconsumer subscription service, have been from day one and will always be, but we also work with MVPDs like Comcast, Cox and DISH; virtual MVPDs like Sling TV and YouTube TV, and they package us like they would HBO or Showtime; and internationally [operators are] looking to package us more like an ESPN or Discovery in a basic bundle. We look at all the different opportunities. We intend to take CuriosityStream and get it, over time, into hundreds of millions of households. And in addition to the MVPDs, we sell to colleges, universities, libraries and corporations. And we take a light sponsorship touch on the network. It’s a fantastic time to be CuriosityStream because, as you know, over the last ten years, so many networks that started with a factual charter moved hard into reality programming. That created a

By Mansha Daswani

O

n the heels of a buzzy appearance at TCA, cable TV pioneer John Hendricks announced that his four-year-old factual SVOD platform CuriosityStream had raised $140 million in private-placement funding to fuel its growth. As Clint Stinchcomb, the president and CEO of CuriosityStream, tells TV Real, that capital injection will be used to build on two priorities: ramping up the content lineup and international expansion.

Stinchcomb articulates his strategy for how CuriosityStream is breaking through in an increasingly competitive SVOD landscape.

TV REAL: When you joined the platform, what were the major strategic initiatives you identified in order to drive expansion?

STINCHCOMB: I came in to help with distribution and development in May 2017. I noticed a terrific customer proposition, with an incredible collection of the best factual programming in the world. There were about 1,300 titles. I had been talking

significant gap for a pure factual provider. It also enabled us to acquire a lot of programming from some of the best factual producers in the world because it was a buyers’ market.

The second area I identified was ramping up the programming, both the quality and the quantity. We now have over 2,100 titles on the service. We’re growing that to 3,000 by the end of this year, staying true to our charter—science, history, nature, lifestyle, technology, society, etc. At the same time, we’re going to augment our kids’ and lifestyle programming, you’ll see us do a few feature docs, and some great classic factual programming will also become part of the service.

TV REAL: Integrations with partners can take time and can be complicated. What are the biggest challenges of those partnerships and what has become easier the more you’ve done?

366 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

REAL_0419__Layout 1 3/19/19 10:10 AM Page 1

REAL_0419_STINCHCOMB_ALT2.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 3/19/19 2:59 PM Page 2

38

TV REAL

Sacred Spaces. At TCA we premiered a clip of SPEED. We’ll do that kind of brand-definitional factual programming. And then we’ll have some fun with the culture as well.

We have a special leading up to the Woodstock anniversary that premieres in August. We’re optimistic that will generate a fair bit of attention. We have a lot cooking!

Premiering in April, SPEED is an original series for CuriosityStream about the history of transportation.

STINCHCOMB: Our CTO Andre Silva, Peter North [chief digital advisor] and the whole engineering team built a platform that is strong, solid and built to scale. We’ve never let integration or technology be a gating factor for anything we’ve done. We’ve worked with the biggest partners in the world. Some are more challenging to work with than others, but we have a great group of people and they’ve always been able to clear every technological hurdle. We have a linear feed for distributors who want that. It’s a great complement to on-demand. When John launched Discovery internationally in the ’90s, you had to open up offices and had to lease transponder space and do all these things. Today, provided you have the proper content rights, you can push a button and shoot [the service] out all over the world.

It’s exciting to play on a global scale.

TV REAL: You have carriage on StarHub in Singapore. What is the international expansion strategy?

STINCHCOMB: Today we have customers in 175 countries. We do a bit better in the English-speaking countries, but we see that [leveling] out. The same dynamic that exists in the U.S., where so many networks abandoned their factual charter, has happened in Latin America, Europe and Asia. So distributors are looking for factual providers. Those agreements tend to take longer than others, often 6 to 12 months, but we’re longterm focused. And the direct-to-consumer service serves as additional promotion; it gets the name out there. We’re incredibly excited about the international opportunity. We work with Niche Media Global in EMEA and China, Simma Media in Latin America and Monty Ghai in Asia. And we have a board member who has been working in China for 35, 40 years, so we have some good relationships there.

TV REAL: I understand the content slate is still about 70 percent acquired. Now that you’ve had this $140 million financing injection, are you looking to ramp up your original lineup?

STINCHCOMB: We’ll be opportunistic on the acquisition side, and we’ll do more hours as it relates to original programming, but I don’t know if the [original-to-acquired ratio] will necessarily change. There is a lot of great stuff out there. That’s the beauty of it. We’re doing some original short-form content, developing a newsmagazine-style show for the mobile age.

Working with NHK, we just released a series called The Body.

The graphics are incredible. We have a great original called

TV REAL: What goes into developing a user interface that promotes stickiness and discovery?

STINCHCOMB: One thing that is at the core of what we do is trying to incentivize people to sign up for annual subscriptions. Getting someone to sign up for 12 months gives us the opportunity to learn what they like, learn how they like to interact with the service, and ideally serve up exactly what they want to see.

Since August, about 70 percent of new subscribers signed up for annual subscriptions. We love that. Also in that area, our marketing people and our agencies tell me that within the next four to six months, more than half of our new sign-ups will occur on mobile. That means you need to simplify your mobile site. We have a lot of messages we want to communicate, but you have to force yourself to bring it right down to the most minimal level. We’re trying to make the mobile site ultra simple, ultra clean, because we know a lot of people will sign up there. These YouTube influencers that we’ve been working with are fascinating to me. They’ve been incredible for us. They’re so credible, authentic and genuine, just like the characters we want on our air. When they suggest something to their followers, people often take that suggestion—and sign up! We love that.

TV REAL: You also have those gorgeous TV spots.

STINCHCOMB: That’s the other end of the spectrum. Obviously, we have to be aggressive on the digital side with YouTube influencers and Facebook and Google display search. We’re trying to get smarter and more efficient about this every month. At the same time, there’s real value in traditional TV advertising. Part of the calculus is, what’s the right level? At a certain point, we’ll get to a tipping point where more people have heard about CuriosityStream than haven’t, and traditional TV is crucial to getting us there.

TV REAL: For your programming teams, how much are decisions based on data analytics versus just having a gut instinct about a show?

STINCHCOMB: I don’t think [the gut instinct] ever comes out of the equation. Our data scientists and engineers look at information like completions versus abandonments—did somebody watch 80 percent or more—and total views and viewers. We try to account for programming that gets promoted and programming that doesn’t get promoted. The bottom line is Steve [Burns, chief content officer] has been doing this for 40 years. We’d be foolish not to rely on his gut.

Steve and I will sprinkle in our opinions. It’s vital to use data, and it’s awesome to have that kind of data. That’s the wonderful thing about having a direct-to-consumer business. We can then share our learnings with our MVPD partners.

368 WORLD SCREEN 4/19

ASIA_0419__Layout 1 3/20/19 1:20 PM Page 1

REAL_0419__Layout 1 3/18/19 4:48 PM Page 1