World Screen MIPCOM 2017

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THE MAGAZINE OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA | OCTOBER 2017

WWW.WORLDSCREEN.COM

MIPCOM Edition

STAR POWER

Andrew Lincoln Michael Weatherly Sterling K. Brown Elisabeth Moss Bob Odenkirk Tim Roth Gordon Ramsay Ryan Seacrest Edie Falco Cillian Murphy Kyle MacLachlan Kyra Sedgwick George Blagden Andrés Parra

Robert Bakish Viacom Peter Rice 21st Century Fox Guillaume de Posch & Bert Habets RTL Group Mike Fries Liberty Global Emilio Azcárraga Jean Televisa Yoshio Okubo Nippon TV Gerhard Zeiler Turner International Randy Lennox Bell Media

+Netf lix Turns 20

BENEDICT

CUMBERBATCH

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CONTENTS

OCTOBER 2017/MIPCOM EDITION DEPARTMENTS WORLD VIEW

By Anna Carugati.

Publisher Ricardo Seguin Guise

24

Group Editorial Director Anna Carugati

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE 26

By Bruce Paisner.

VIEWPOINT

By Jérôme Delhaye.

28

MARKET WATCH

By JP Bommel.

30

UPFRONTS What’s new for MIPCOM.

Editor Mansha Daswani Executive Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Managing Editor Joanna Padovano Tong

34

138

140

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH ANDREW LINCOLN

162

Associate Editor Sara Alessi Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari Associate Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Rafael Blanco

SPOTLIGHT 72 Emilio Azcárraga Jean: 20 Years Leading Televisa.

Editorial Assistant, Spanish-Language Publications Jessica Ávila

IN THE NEWS Turner International’s Gerhard Zeiler.

82

Production & Design Director Victor L. Cuevas

MILESTONES Netflix turns 20.

92

Contributing Editor Elizabeth Guider

Online Director Simon Weaver

158

MARKET TRENDS 112 Bell Media’s Randy Lennox.

TIM ROTH

TRENDSETTERS A look at the recipients of this year’s World Screen Trendsetter Awards.

SPECIAL REPORT

120

Senior Sales & Marketing Manager Dana Mattison

GORDON RAMSAY

674

Sales & Marketing Assistant Nathalia Lopez Business Affairs Manager Andrea Moreno

126 STAR STRUCK

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX 671 WORLD’S END In the stars.

Art Director Phyllis Q. Busell

This special report on TV A-listers and how networks, studios and platforms are working with them includes Q&As with Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Lincoln, Michael Weatherly, Sterling K. Brown, Elisabeth Moss, Bob Odenkirk, Tim Roth, Gordon Ramsay, Ryan Seacrest, Edie Falco, Cillian Murphy, Kyle MacLachlan, Kyra Sedgwick, George Blagden and Andrés Parra.

ONE-ON-ONE

205 VIACOM’S ROBERT BAKISH

Contributing Writers Steve Clarke Andy Fry Joanna Stephens Jay Stuart David Wood Copy Editors Amy Canonico Marina Chao Joanne Gerber Maddy Kloss Kate Norris Tamara Schechter Vivian Wick

The president and CEO of the company sees numerous growth opportunities across all of its divisions.

ON THE RECORD

359 21ST CENTURY FOX’S PETER RICE Recently upped to president of 21st Century Fox, Rice’s key remit remains oversight of the FOX Networks Group, which encompasses linear and digital brands worldwide.

IN CONVERSATION WORLD SCREEN is published ten times per year: January, February, March, April, May, June/July, September, October, November and December.

Annual subscription price: Inside the U.S.: $90.00 Outside the U.S.: $160.00 Send checks, company information and address corrections to: WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, Suite 1207 New York, NY 10010, U.S.A. For a free subscription to our newsletters, please visit www.subscriptions.ws.

431 RTL GROUP’S GUILLAUME DE POSCH & BERT HABETS The co-CEOs of the European media giant discuss the successful shift to being a “Total Video” company.

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING

503 LIBERTY GLOBAL’S MIKE FRIES The CEO of Liberty Global is bullish on the pay-TV sector as the company drives next-generation broadband rollouts.

18 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development WORLD SCREEN is a registered trademark of WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, Suite 1207 New York, NY 10010, U.S.A. Phone: (212) 924-7620 Fax: (212) 924-6940 Website: www.worldscreen.com ©2017 WSN INC. Printed by Fry Communications No part of this publication can be used, reprinted, copied or stored in any medium without the publisher’s authorization.

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CONTENTS

OCTOBER 2017/MIPCOM EDITION

THESE TARGETED MAGAZINES APPEAR BOTH INSIDE WORLD SCREEN AND AS SEPARATE PUBLICATIONS:

STATE OF PAY MTG’S JAKOB MEJLHEDE ZDF ENTERPRISES’ ALEXANDER CORIDASS

188 194 200

BUYERS & COMMISSIONERS LONG-RUNNING SERIES SUPERHERO SHOWS FACTUAL FARE CHANNEL 5’S SARAH MULLER NETFLIX’S ANDY YEATMAN TURNER’S CHRISTINA MILLER RAINBOW’S IGINIO STRAFFI

274 284 290 298 308 328 334 344

CRIME DRAMA FRENCH SERIES WOLF FILMS’ PETER JANKOWSKI PAUL ABBOTT ENDEMOL SHINE’S CATHY PAYNE HARRY & JACK WILLIAMS RIDE UPON THE STORM ’S ADAM PRICE & LARS MIKKELSEN

398 408 414 420 422 424

PAY-TV STRATEGIES NIPPON TV’S YOSHIO OKUBO ABS-CBN’S CARLO KATIGBAK

556 562 566

BUYERS DANCE FORMATS DAILY STRIPS GORDON RAMSAY FOX’S ROB WADE GARY BARLOW & GUY FREEMAN

470 478 484 490 494 498

HOME-RENO SHOWS DOC CO-PROS NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC’S COURTENEY MONROE

530 538

MBC’S FADI ISMAIL PRODUCTION INCENTIVES

578 580

LATAM CONTENT TO THE WORLD EL CHAPO’S MARCO DE LA O

610 618

20 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

426

542

LISTINGS FOR MORE THAN 140 DISTRIBUTORS ATTENDING MIPCOM 639

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WORLD VIEW

BY ANNA CARUGATI

From “Oh, no!” to “Aha!” I recently had an experience that I can describe only as confounding: an “oh” moment that turned into “oh, no,” but in reality was an “aha” revelation in disguise.

No, it didn’t happen while meditating or contemplating the beauty of a sunrise. It was during an encounter with a Verizon technician.

Our telephone at home wasn’t working and while we all have cell phones, I need a landline with a speakerphone when I do my interviews—it has far better reception and makes audio easier to record. So I call our phone provider, Verizon, and I ask for a technician to come and look into the problem. Upon entering the apartment, he looks disdainfully at the wires and cables coming into our front door and barks, I don’t deal with copper wires, but I can connect you to Verizon Fios. (Fios delivers broadband, telephone and TV services via a fiber-optic network.) We already have cable, I reply, but right now I need my phone to work because I have a series of phone interviews starting this afternoon. But all he hears is that I don’t want Fios, so he is not cooperative. He insists on installing a box that will deliver Fios and says, All I can do is pull fiber-optic wire into the apartment, and hopefully that will make the copper wire work better. He may as well have been speaking Greek. He hammers and bolts for an hour, installs three boxes in the front-hall closet and announces, OK, you are all set for Verizon Fios. Great, I say, but I need my phone to work. I offer him coffee. Be nice, I figure, and he’ll do what I want.

He finally turns his attention to the phones and I point out that we have two: one in the living room and one in the bedroom. There’s no way you can have two working phones in the apartment, he says. I show him both and pick up the receivers to let him hear the dial tones. He says, Oh. But there is no way you have two phone jacks in the apartment, he adds. I show him both jacks and he says, Oh. Oh, no, I think.

You don’t have phone wires coming into the apartment, he says. I show him the wire coming in through the entrance door and running along the floorboard.

He says—you guessed it—Oh. By now I am ready to scream. I don’t. He fiddles with one of the three boxes that he has just installed. Then he, the phone company technician, asks me if I have an extra phone cord. Amazingly, I do. I hand it to him. He does something, then says the phones should now work. Not convinced, I call my husband. I ask him to call me. Phone works, God willing.

My aha! moment hit me over the head like a sledgehammer after he left. Verizon doesn’t want to be known as a phone company. And so many of the interviews I have done for this issue added to that moment. All media companies are in various phases of transition. They’re maintaining core businesses while reshaping or adding others.

All media companies are in various phases of transition.

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The RTL Group became the leading European media company by building its broadcast business. As coCEOs Guillaume de Posch and Bert Habets explain, the group is now a “Total Video” company; they have completely incorporated digital, and they no longer distinguish between linear and nonlinear viewing. At Liberty Global, which was once defined as the largest cable company outside the U.S., CEO Michael Fries told me that the word “cable” is a bit of a misnomer, as the company is now a provider of connectivity—mainly broadband, fixed and wireless, in addition to telephony and video. Gerhard Zeiler, the president of Turner International, says that his divisions are preparing direct-to-consumer SVOD offerings. Even Netflix, the disrupter extraordinaire whose streaming service has changed the game for everyone, is shifting and evolving. We profile the platform as it marks two landmark anniversaries—20 years since its launch and 10 years since it began offering an SVOD service.

Viacom, a major media conglomerate with a broad portfolio of pay-TV channels in the U.S., is focusing on flagship brands. CEO Robert Bakish told me that Viacom is also soft-launching a skinny bundle, largely in response to changing viewing behaviors. Peter Rice at 21st Century Fox says the world of skinny bundles doesn’t worry him because Fox has narrowed its offering to four key brands, which span everything viewers and platforms want: entertainment, drama, factual and sports. Televisa’s president and CEO, Emilio Azcárraga Jean, is leading his group into digital, offering programming online and with apps.

Canada’s Bell Media, explains president Randy Lennox, is flanking its market-leading network CTV with a range of specialty channels and digital services.

Of course, what drives channels and brands, both linear and nonlinear, is content. And lately, scripted drama is in high demand. We’ve seen feature-film directors and writers flock to the small screen, which welcomes character-driven stories—the type that isn’t finding as much of a home in film as it used to. A lot may be changing in the media business, but one fact remains: write a great story with three-dimensional, preferably flawed, characters—and actors will follow.

More and more, actors are also taking on roles behind the camera, as producers, executive producers and even directors. Our main feature looks at A-list talent that is currently gracing television with nuanced performances. We have interviews with a number of award-winning actors. Many of those interviews were done on the phone that I so desperately needed to be fixed. Once you read them, you’ll understand my urgency; I didn’t want to miss a word of their passion and dedication.

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GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

BY BRUCE L. PAISNER

It’s Not Fake News In the spring of 1961, John F. Kennedy was the new and largely untested President of the United States. He had been briefed by his military advisors on a plan, left over from the Eisenhower administration, to invade Cuba with an assorted army of Cuban refugees in Florida and some American military personnel.

The landing point in Cuba was the Bay of Pigs. A few days before the planned attack, The New York Times got wind of it and prepared to run a banner headline story. Kennedy, apoplectic, called his friend at the Times, columnist James Reston, and asked that the story be killed. They did not kill the story, although they did, at Reston’s urging, remove any suggestion (there were many) that the attack was imminent. It was no secret that the Cuban refugees were planning for an attack. The secret was its immediacy. And a few days later the attack was launched, to disastrous consequences for the Cuban exile army and President Kennedy and the United States.

To me, the most revealing part of the story is that shortly after the invasion, Kennedy ran into Turner Catledge, the Times’ managing editor, and said: “If you had printed more you would have saved us from a colossal mistake.”

The nuances of this story are endless, although there seems little doubt that Kennedy said what he did to Catledge. The broader point I have always drawn from the incident is not simply that the news media have a constitutionally guaranteed right to disseminate what they know. But that, in doing so, they will often prevent mistakes and stand in the way of stupidity.

The current administration has tended toward a position that they know what’s best, and the job of the news media is to back them up. This is not the role the Founding Fathers envisioned, nor should it be the practice today. Of course, there are times when discretion is needed. In times of war, it would be irresponsible to print planned troop movements. During WWII the United States and the other allied countries practiced press censorship, and all dispatches were read by censors before they could be printed. Some would point out that today we live in an era of endless war, but not one of the conflicts since WWII has involved a threat to the United States’ survival. I would suggest that is a very useful dividing line: Censorship

Calling reporters

idiots and losers is probably not the best strategy.

26 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

is permissible only in a time of existential war, and otherwise, the media have essentially free rein to report on affairs of state.

In today’s diffuse media environment, censorship of the type practiced during WWII is probably impossible anyway, so it behooves the government to respect and cultivate the media. Of course, we should hope that reporters will be careful and responsible with sensitive material and avoid leaks that might theoretically damage the country. But one person’s leak is another person’s scoop, and anyhow, the U.S. Constitution makes no such distinction. Calling reporters idiots and losers, and their work product fake news, is probably not the best strategy. Especially since, whether the president likes the media or not, it is certainly true that one of the few checks on an out-of-control government is a free, fearless and independent media establishment.

All democracies have some version of a free press. Press freedom is essential to democracy because without it there is no one to hold the government to account and to tell voters what is going on. Different democracies define and allow freedom of the press differently, and the United States has historically been the country that gives the most latitude to the media under the First Amendment to the Constitution. Although leakers of confidential information can be convicted and jailed in the U.S., reporters are never criminally liable for what they print or say on the air. In recent years some overzealous prosecutors have sought to intimidate reporters by demanding their sources and, if they will not reveal them, seeking out judges who will find them in contempt and put them in jail until they do. In many states, this pernicious approach has been thwarted by press shield laws that specifically give reporters the right to keep confidential sources confidential, though there is no such law at the federal level.

Independent media and an absence of media repression laws keep the United States and other democratic countries from falling victim to authoritarian rule. That’s worth remembering for those who want to continue to live in democracies.

Bruce L. Paisner is the president and CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

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VIEWPOINT

BY JÉRÔME DELHAYE

A Global Race for Creative Connections On October 16, MIPCOM will open its doors to welcome some 14,000 delegates, including over 4,800 buyers from more than 100 countries. They’ll be coming to Cannes to make creative connections.

Never more fragmented, nor more exciting, the content market is in the midst of a global race for creative connections that is shaking the foundations of the industry. Demand for the awe-inspiring shows that will be at MIPCOM has never been higher, global opportunities never greater. Lively competition is encouraging global players to devise multi-local strategies, while local players power up their global ambitions.

The end game is to unite companies with the best partners, create the best content, nurture the best talent and deliver the next generation of groundbreaking shows. It is a global race for creative connections, many of which will be forged or developed at MIPCOM. Central to this year’s MIPCOM conference program, “The Global Race for Creative Connections,” will be a series of keynote and panel sessions devoted to looking at how new connectivity can be used to deliver the shows that will thrill audiences around the world.

The lineup of keynote speakers is international, eclectic and packed with thought leaders who are shaping the entertainment sector. Among them David Zaslav, Discovery Communications’ president and CEO and MIPCOM 2017 Personality of the Year; HBO Chairman and CEO Richard Plepler; TV Azteca CEO Benjamin Salinas; National Geographic Global Networks CEO Courteney Monroe; Snap Inc’s VP of content, Nick Bell, and senior director of content programming, Sean Mills; award-winning chef and TV host Gordon Ramsay; Movistar+’s head of original programming, Domingo Corral; and Facebook’s head of global creative strategy, Ricky Van Veen, with the company’s director of video product, Daniel Danker.

Zaslav, MIPCOM 2017’s Personality of the Year, has proven to be a pioneer in the push to use increased connectivity to deliver premium content. Since becoming CEO in 2007, he has spearheaded the group’s move from being a linear broadcaster into a global entertainment conglomerate reaching some 3 billion cumulative viewers around the world. Under his leadership, Discovery has launched some of the fastest-growing cable networks in the U.S., announced plans to acquire Scripps Networks Interactive and invested in vibrant digital distribution platforms and content formats.

With the growth in high-end, international series continuing apace, MIPCOM will turn the spotlight on what is

It is a global race for creative connections, many of which will be

forged or developed at MIPCOM.

28 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

being termed the “Russian Content Revolution,” 100 years after the October Revolution. October 17 sees Channel One and Sreda present Trotsky as a World Premiere TV Screening. In addition, MIPCOM delegates will have the opportunity to see international screenings of NTV Broadcasting’s The Road to Calvary and TV3’s Gogol. Russian producers will also be out in force to meet their international colleagues and showcase the latest in Russian drama.

The World Premiere TV Screenings have established themselves as a high point at MIPCOM and MIPTV and this year delegates will head into the Palais des Festivals’ Grand Auditorium to see some outstanding drama. In a Pre-Opening World Premiere TV Screening on October 15, Sony Pictures will unveil Counterpart, in the presence of cast and crew, while on Monday, October 16, Sky’s first co-production with Amazon U.S., the epic historical drama Britannia, takes over the Grand Auditorium. Fans of Japan’s most famous painter Katsushika Hokusai will be treated to the Asian World Premiere TV Screening of NHK’s Kurara: The Dazzling Life of Hokusai’s Daughter on October 17, with lead actress Aoi Miyazaki attending.

The Japanese actress will join a host of international talent attending MIPCOM to support a plethora of projects with international distribution ambitions. These include Catherine Zeta-Jones, James Norton, Zoë Wanamaker, David Morrissey, Harry Lloyd, J.K. Simmons, Michael Kelly, Sean Bean, William Fichtner, Claire van der Boom and Pallavi Sharda.

Confirming its all-inclusive reputation, MIPCOM 2017 is offering a wide-range of thought-provoking panels and networking events covering everything from developing winning OTT strategies to the latest news from the VR sector, how to distribute in Africa and the best ways to gear up for UHD and High Dynamic Range technologies.

MIPCOM’s annual Women in Global Entertainment Power Lunch, now in its sixth year, will discuss how best to address young female audiences and cultivate female representation and meaningful storylines for women. Attendees will hear from Emmy-winning producer and director Stephanie Laing; executive producer and co-founder of New Pictures, Willow Grylls; and former French Culture Minister, entrepreneur and Canneseries president, Fleur Pellerin.

With some 2,000 exhibiting companies attending MIPCOM, the central activity of the event remains the deal-making that takes place. The exhibition zone is packed with a who’s who of international companies selling every genre imaginable. MIPCOM continues to be the world’s entertainment content market.

Jérôme Delhaye is the director of the entertainment division at Reed MIDEM.

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MARKET WATCH

BY JP BOMMEL

Seeing the Bigger Picture As we are graced with the beauty of Cannes here at MIPCOM 2017, it is no secret that the world is riding a tide of real change and that our industry is not indifferent to these shifts. That is not to say the playbook has changed.

At its core, the content industry maintains the same goal to keep pace with the ever-increasing demands of the audience and the challenges presented by the myriad platforms and business models that are being creatively devised to take advantage of the movement we are experiencing. Change can cause confusion and doubt can set in, but good tele vision is still good television—and regardless of the screen it’s being accessed on, that is still what people want to watch and what distributors want to buy and sell. The great thing about all the change taking place is that rather than changing the core of our industry, it is creating opportunity across all parts of the business.

NATPE, after 55 years of near-constant evolution, remains one of the industry constants, but that doesn’t mean we have not been adapting and preparing for each new phase of this exciting journey. With NATPE Miami it has been our mission to create an event—the first major event of the year—that showcases the best content the industry has to offer, bringing people together to learn from one another and creating relationships that will open up new doors. NATPE Miami’s goal is, as always, to be a beacon ready to guide anyone who needs it.

Though there is a comfort level to playing it safe, there is also a shelf life.

Now is the time to adapt and see the bigger picture, not continue to make the same types of deals and have the same conversations. This will only lead to your business sitting on the sidelines.

At NATPE, we are ripping silos apart and helping the different sectors of the industry find those common grounds that breed opportunity. For example, a producer specializing in making short-form content for a new SVOD player may find many parallels with a major international production company selling their format to a large broadcaster. These are the types of invaluable conversations that need to happen more often for our industry to successfully evolve into the next chapter. An executive learning about technology that is changing exponentially faster by the day is sure to stay ahead of

Our primary purpose is to lead by creating a

framework to reframe, reflect and refocus on the future of the media industry

across all global platforms.

30 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

the curve and remain active in this industry. A producer finding out how to create content specifically for a niche audience that is capable of getting the kind of returns previously reserved for a traditional television audience could help shape a future project. Conversely, there are also more preventative ways of protecting our bottom line through encryption; watermarks and other technologies could set the bedrock for a world where piracy becomes obsolete.

Just look to Latin America, where the rapid growth of SVOD and AVOD, as well as OTT niche and local platforms, is changing the marketplace.

Demand for content that is globally relevant and universal continues. Distributors are doing panregional and local deals. There is a growing demand for locally produced shows, from telenovelas to comedy and reality. This growth has been helped by an investment in infrastructure to grow broadband capabilities.

Content is content no matter how it is accessed.

There are differences in every platform, but the more we talk with each other and learn about the way we are creating and selling our programming, the less alien the evolving TV ecosystem is going to appear.

The next Game of Thrones could come from anywhere. There is money coming from new sources, but at the end of the day, the core of what we are all trying to accomplish is clear—creating wonderful stories that resonate and finding a place for audiences to connect with those stories. Our primary purpose is to lead by creating a framework to reframe, reflect and refocus on the future of the media industry across all global platforms, including TV, OTT, digital and mobile.

Exciting is an understatement when speaking about the state of today’s industry. With insight from those outside their normal circles, every content producer right now has the chance to find their way to new successes. At NATPE in January, we know that the ideas flowing from room to room on the conference floor will set the attendees up to understand that piece they were missing from the current shift, the one that will help them create a strategy that bridges their past achievements with their triumphs of the future.

The winter can be harsh, but at NATPE Miami in January we turn to the sun and the optimism it brings.

We hope to see as many of you down there as possible so you can be a part of something special, learn something new and make 2018 our best year yet.

JP Bommel is the president and CEO of NATPE.

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UPFRONTS

ABS-CBN Corporation La Luna Sangre / Wildflower / Lost Hearts One of ABS-CBN’s biggest series to air this year, La Luna Sangre marks the third installment in an epic saga involving werewolves and vampires. “The show gives viewers the chance to continue their magical journey with well-loved characters of the trilogy and gives them an upgraded viewing experience with its special effects and action scenes,” says Cecilia “Macie” Imperial, the officer in charge of integrated program acquisitions and international distribution at ABS-CBN Corporation. Meanwhile, Wildflower is a revenge drama in which the main protagonist “keeps getting bolder, fiercer and wilder in her quest to avenge her family and destroy the powerful Ardiente clan,” Imperial says. The company is also presenting Lost Hearts, set against the backdrop of the fashion world.

Lost Hearts

“We hope to introduce our content to new territories so that international audiences get to appreciate what makes our stories well-loved: authenticity.”

—Cecilia “Macie” Imperial

Alfred Haber Distribution

Grammy Awards

Help! My House is Haunted! / 2018 60th Annual Grammy Awards / Top 20 Funniest From Zak Bagans (Ghost Adventures), comes Help! My House is Haunted! “Together with MY Entertainment, Zak Bagans will introduce audiences to Help! My House is Haunted!, the new series that goes beyond the ghostly activities famously found at historical monuments and tourist attractions and focuses instead on everyday people who have encountered supernatural phenomena in their homes,” says Alfred Haber, the president of Alfred Haber Distribution. The company is also presenting the 2018 Grammy Awards, which will feature popular music performers, global superstars and newcomers at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York. From Nash Entertainment, Top 20 Funniest is now in its third season. The show charts viral videos, home movies, surveillance clips, event footage and news bloopers.

“The Grammy Awards is the world’s most popular annual televised music awards show.”

—Alfred Haber

all3media international

Spa Wars

Escape / Spa Wars / Undercover Celebrity In Maverick TV’s new series Escape, each week a small group of highly skilled engineers finds themselves at a crash site and are left to devise a way to escape by creating a means of transport using the debris surrounding them.

There is also Studio Lambert’s Spa Wars, which sees beautysalon owners battle it out to be named the best salon experience as they visit each other’s establishments and undergo treatments. Undercover Celebrity, produced by Studio Lambert for CBS, follows as celebrities go undercover to find undiscovered talent in their industry and make dreams come true. “As with Undercover Boss, it’s the warmth and humanity at the heart of this new format that set it apart from other shows,” says Caroline Stephenson, the senior VP for EMEA North at all3media international.

“We have highlighted only three series from over 96 new factual-entertainment titles that all3media international is launching in 2017.”

—Caroline Stephenson 34 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

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AMC Networks International AMC Global / SundanceTV Global

Fear the Walking Dead

AMC Networks International has continued to roll out AMC Global and SundanceTV Global in new markets around the world. AMC recently launched for the first time within a basic cable package in Croatia for subscribers to Vipnet TV as part of a continued expansion in the Adriatic region. An exclusive deal was signed to launch SundanceTV on DStv in South Africa for the first time, featuring original drama, independent feature films and documentaries. Regarding programming, several of the dramas seen on AMC Global and SundanceTV Global are going into production for new seasons, including Into the Badlands, Hap and Leonard and The Son. Coming up is the new original series The Terror, starring Jared Harris. Further highlights include fresh episodes from season three of Fear the Walking Dead.

American Cinema International The Black Prince / Love Is All You Need? / Runaway Romance The feature The Black Prince was released theatrically in several territories this summer and interest in the title has been high, according to Chevonne O’Shaughnessy, the president of American Cinema International (ACI). “All rights are still available worldwide, excluding the theatrical rights for the territories where the film was released. Now, there are more demands for the four-episode miniseries version that we also distribute.” ACI also has Love Is All You Need?, based on a short film that went viral in 2013 and reached more than 50 million views internationally. “Like the short, the film will start a conversation that promotes equality and reduces bullying and discrimination,” says O’Shaughnessy. Meanwhile, Runaway Romance is the first of a three-film series based on the works of writer Miralee Ferrell.

“Our main plan is to understand the market and the current demand so that we can supply what the buyers need.”

—Chevonne O’Shaughnessy

Runaway Romance

Artist View Entertainment Mistrust / Chasing Gold / Chokehold Jane Seymour and Parker Stevenson star in the feature film Mistrust, a romantic adventure movie that Artist View Entertainment acquired for its catalog. The company also has in its slate Chasing Gold, a murder mystery that stars Paul Sorvino, Matt Bushell and Fiona Dourif. Then there is the female-driven action movie Chokehold, which follows a young MMA fighter from rough underground street fights to her shot on the professional circuit. The film stars Casper Van Dien, Kip Pardue and Lochlyn Munro. “We are very proud of our diverse catalog,” says Scott Jones, Artist View’s president. “It is our belief that as the market continues to expand more into the digital world, we are ready to supply our wide range of titles to this ever-growing client base.”

Chokehold

“Each of these films has strong talent, both in front of and behind the camera.”

—Scott Jones 36 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

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ATV Love and Hate / Orphan Flowers There is a second season of the Turkish drama Love and Hate being presented by ATV. The series tells the story of Ali, who spent his youth in prison and never learned to love, and Mavi, who has never loved anyone. They get to know each other only through the letters they exchange.

Now it’s time for them to meet face to face. There is a third season of Orphan Flowers from ATV as well. The drama features a young girl, Eylül, who winds up in an orphanage and is trying to overcome the bad days. “These are strong dramas with quality production values, and the stories can touch everyone’s hearts,” says Emre Gorentas, the content sales deputy manager at the company. “Also, they draw attention from international buyers because of their great performances in Turkey.”

Orphan Flowers

“We’re planning to bring our [star talent] to MIPCOM so that international buyers can meet them.”

—Emre Gorentas

Bandeirantes Communication Group Ana Paula Padrão.doc / 180 o / Kitchen Nightmares (Pesadelo na Cozinha) Diversity is what Bandeirantes Communication Group is touting with regard to its MIPCOM slate, according to Elisa Ayub, the company’s director of international content.

Band will be at the market with such titles as Ana Paula Padrão.doc, a documentary series with timely themes such as digital influencers, longevity and surrogate motherhood. There’s also the movie 180o, which Ayub describes as “an incredible psychological thriller with a great cast.”

The company is promoting the Brazilian version of Kitchen Nightmares (Pesadelo na Cozinha) as well. The show is hosted by Érick Jacquin. Ayub says that the aim for MIPCOM is to strike new partnerships with various platforms, “as well as to strengthen our relationships with existing customers even more.”

Kitchen Nightmares (Pesadelo na Cozinha)

“We are offering Brazilian productions with great diversity and style.”

—Elisa Ayub

BBC Worldwide

Astronauts: Toughest Job in the Universe Patrimonio mundial - Herencia de la humanidad

Blue Planet II / Astronauts: Toughest Job in the Universe / McMafia BBC Worldwide will be screening the first episode of Blue Planet II to the international market for the first time. The sequel to 2001’s The Blue Planet is a top highlight of the company’s MIPCOM slate, alongside Astronauts: Toughest Job in the Universe. The factual-entertainment series follows participants as they try to pass a grueling space-agency selection process. BBC Worldwide’s key drama for the market is McMafia. “There has been a huge buzz around McMafia ever since it was announced by the BBC back in 2015,” says Paul Dempsey, the company’s president of global markets. “A fastpaced thriller with a phenomenal writing team behind it, starring top-class talent, all adds up to an epic drama.” The eight-part series stars James Norton as the English-raised son of Russian exiles with a Mafia history.

“Premium content is what makes our slate stand out in a crowded marketplace.”

—Paul Dempsey 10/17 WORLD SCREEN 37

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Blue Ant International Rooted / Sarah Off the Grid / UFOs: The Lost Evidence Presented in 4K, Rooted reveals five of Southern Africa’s most iconic trees and the unique collection of animals, insects, birds and environmental elements that have created their own roots in and around them. Design icon Sarah Richardson is featured alongside her husband Alex and co-conspirator Tommy Smythe as they attempt to build an off-the-grid dream home in Sarah Off the Grid.

UFOs: The Lost Evidence features the accounts of current and former government officials, pilots, astronauts and astrophysicists as they reveal new evidence about unidentified flying objects. “The quality of our content continues to grow exponentially with bigger budgets and globally recognized talent,” says Solange Attwood, the senior VP of Blue Ant International.

UFOs: The Lost Evidence

“These series are entertaining and thrilling, tell compelling stories and are highly promotable in markets all over the world.”

—Solange Attwood

Calinos Entertainment Our Story / Woman / Relationship Status: It’s Complicated The two key launches for Calinos Entertainment are Our Story and Woman. The Turkish drama Our Story stars Hazal Kaya, known from the series Feriha. She plays Filiz, a young woman struggling to survive in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Istanbul who catches the eye of Baris, a man with a dark and mysterious past. Woman tells the story of Bahar, a single mother who manages to fall madly in love, only to have her husband die unexpectedly. “We believe that these two new titles will see big demand this year both locally and abroad,” says Ismail Dursunov, Calinos’s deputy general manager. In the romantic series Relationship Status: It’s Complicated, an aspiring scriptwriter experiencing betrayals and hard times crosses paths with a handsome actor.

Woman

“We have always liked to be pioneers in what we do.”

—Ismail Dursunov

Canada Media Fund

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Funding / Research / Promotion of Canadian content The Canada Media Fund (CMF) is a unique private-public partnership created to support television and digital media production in Canada. “Through funding received by the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors, the CMF develops policies and funding programs that directly impact the country’s audiovisual production industry,” says Valerie Creighton, the president and CEO of the CMF. She says that maximizing the potential of co-productions is one of the CMF’s goals for the current year. “This is why we are developing and renewing partnerships with funding organizations similar to ours in countries around the world,” Creighton notes. She adds that, “in addition to funding content, we provide research that contributes to Canada’s competitive advantage.”

Mohawk Girls, which the CMF helped fund

“Developing new international partnerships and co-production opportunities for Canadian producers continues to be a top priority.”

—Valerie Creighton 38 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

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CBS Studios International SEAL Team / Wisdom of the Crowd / Valor

Valor

David Boreanaz (Bones) stars in the new drama SEAL Team.

The series follows the professional and personal lives of the most elite unit of Navy SEALs as they train, plan and execute the most dangerous, high-stakes missions. Entourage alum Jeremy Piven is front and center in Wisdom of the Crowd, playing a visionary tech innovator who creates a cuttingedge crowdsourcing app to solve his daughter’s murder and revolutionizes crime solving in the process. CBS Studios International (CBSSI) is also presenting The CW’s new military drama Valor. “CBS Studios is known for producing highquality, broadly entertaining series that are great for linear broadcasters around the world, and our new fall network shows are no different,” says Barry Chamberlain, CBSSI’s president of sales.

“We place tremendous value on the relationships we have with our clients and partners.”

—Barry Chamberlain

Cisneros Media Group Mysterious Earth / Cursed Bloodlines / Science Uncovered The docuseries Mysterious Earth invites viewers to uncover the Earth’s secrets, explore ancient architecture and hunt for hidden tombs and lost civilizations. Cursed Bloodlines, meanwhile, explores the dark histories of prominent families that appeared to have had it all. “Historical series have been taking over the scene for years,” says Jonathan Blum, the president of Cisneros Media. “We offer a refreshed take with new and updated information on some very popular and evergreen topics with both Mysterious Earth and Cursed Bloodlines.”

The company is also presenting Science Uncovered, which Blum calls “a journey that visually harnesses the power of science, expands our senses and broadens our imaginations.” He adds, “Now more than ever, science is at the top of everyone’s interest. It is a bold and witty product for all science lovers.”

Cursed Bloodlines

“We’ve gone global on all platforms and all genres.”

—Jonathan Blum

CJ E&M

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Stranger / Shadow Singer / Youn’s Kitchen The legal thriller Stranger centers on a prosecutor who does not have the ability to feel human emotions. CJ E&M is presenting the title to international buyers in Cannes alongside Shadow Singer, a music entertainment series that gives undiscovered singers a chance to shine under the guise of a celebrity clone, and Youn’s Kitchen, a travel/food reality show in which amateur celebrity chefs open a Korean restaurant on a foreign island for ten days. The latter highlight comes from the creator/producer of Better Late Than Never. “Our top priorities are always in creating new IP,” says Jin Woo Hwang, the company’s head of formats and global content development. “We are still receiving a lot of co-development requests from U.S. and European partners, and are looking forward to working more on the co-creation and co-development of global IP.”

Stranger

“We are looking into new markets such as Turkey or CEE where CJ E&M formats could stand out.”

—Jin Woo Hwang

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Comarex Just Looking / Paramedics / Runaways The telenovela Just Looking follows the daily lives of characters living in the same apartment building. Viewers witness their joys, sorrows, triumphs, failures, love and pain.

None of them know, though, that they are all at the mercy of a psychopath who has hidden cameras in their apartments. Comarex also has in its catalog Paramedics, based on real events. The series, which has a third season coming in 2018, spotlights a group of Red Cross paramedics learning to work as a team in order to save lives. The cast is led

by Irene Azuela and Raúl Méndez. Runaways, meanwhile, is a novela about four women who wind up in jail for different reasons yet band together to escape and try to restart their lives. They learn about love, friendship and forgiveness while on the run.

Runaways

Crown Media International Distribution Love at the Shore / Sun, Sand & Romance / The Perfect Bride Crown Media International Distribution markets and distributes Crown Media Family Networks’ original signature content. “Our networks in the United States include the Hallmark Channel, our flagship network; Hallmark Movies & Mysteries; the new linear channel Hallmark Drama; and the SVOD platform Hallmark Movies Now,” says Francisco González, the company’s senior VP of international distribution. Programming highlights for MIPCOM feature Love at the Shore, about a writer and single mother on deadline to deliver her next novel who must avoid getting distracted by her handsome new neighbor. Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer stars in Sun, Sand & Romance, about a publishing exec who runs into her old high school flame while at a summer resort with her fiancé.

The Perfect Bride features Pascale Hutton of Royal Pains.

“Our programming lineup features a high-quality and diversified mixture of new, original content and signature franchises from our networks in the U.S.”

The Perfect Bride

—Francisco González

dick clark productions International

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Golden Globes 75th Anniversary Special / Fail Army / The Best FIFA Football Awards 2018 dick clark productions (dcp) International is offering the Golden Globes 75th Anniversary Special, “which will be an incredible two-hour [event] highlighting the best moments from the show’s incredible history,” says Mark Rafalowski, the company’s executive VP of international distribution. There’s also Fail Army, which features blooper-style videos from around the world. “The YouTube and Facebook short-form versions continue to deliver weekly raw video documenting fails across the globe, giving us an unending choice of hilarious clips to create the half-hour series, which is getting better and better,” Rafalowski says. The company also has in its catalog The Best FIFA Football Awards 2018. “FIFA, dcp and Infinity Creative Media have crafted perhaps the most entertaining awards show with The Best FIFA Football Awards,” Rafalowski adds.

Fail Army

“Fail Army is a show that can go on forever.”

—Mark Rafalowski 42 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

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Dumb

Dori Media Group 5 Stars / The Road to Calvary / Dumb The romantic comedy 5 Stars (Las Estrellas) sees five sisters tasked with running a boutique hotel left behind when their father passed away. The series “has the look, pace and content of a contemporary comedy, but is catchy and addictive like a classic daily drama,” says Revital Basel, the VP of sales at Dori Media Group. “The format can travel and be successful worldwide.” Another highlight from the company is the period drama The Road to Calvary, which is based on a Tolstoy novel and commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia. The crime drama Dumb, meanwhile, is about an actress who goes undercover as a student to help her ex-boyfriend after he is arrested for dealing drugs. A third season of the series has been ordered for 2018.

“Dori Media’s catalog consists of more than 100 titles, offering each client the best solution for their needs.”

—Revital Basel

Dutch Features Global Entertainment The Fix / Black Tulip / The Swell The dark side of football is exposed in the crime drama The Fix when international sports star Johnny de Graaf becomes entangled in a shady world of corruption and match-fixing. Money struggles, family drama and romance add fire to a feud between two families in Black Tulip. The Vonks and the Kesters are embroiled in a battle to see who can cultivate a rare flower. In The Swell, the most powerful storm in history is en route to the Netherlands and Belgium. “We plan to highlight the quality and originality of our drama series to buyers and commissioning editors,” says Pim van Collem, the CEO and president of Dutch Features Global Entertainment. “We want them to know that our creative product is comparable to the highest levels of Scandinavian drama series.”

Black Tulip

“These high-end drama series stand out...thanks to outstanding production values, fantastic storytelling and great original subject matter.”

—Pim van Collem

Eccho Rights

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Heaven / Phi / Trotsky From Süreç Film, Heaven is a brand-new Turkish drama series that is launching at MIPCOM. “We think Heaven is going to be massively successful,” says Fredrik af Malmborg, the managing director of Eccho Rights. “It is based on a script from CJ E&M in Korea that we distribute as a format.

The original is a fantastic story and drawn from an increasingly strong scripted catalog we have been building from Korea.” Eccho Rights also has the second season of the original digital series Phi, produced by Ay Yapim for Puhu TV. “Phi had great reception at MIPTV, where it had its world premiere,” says af Malmborg. “Since then it has become a real cultural phenomenon in Turkey.” Another brand-new title for the market is Trotsky, from Sreda Production Company in Russia.

Trotsky

“Once again, Eccho Rights is bringing the best in drama from all over the world.”

—Fredrik af Malmborg 44 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

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Electus International The Toy Box / Bellator / Who Shot Biggie & Tupac?

The second season of The Toy Box launches in October on ABC in the U.S. “Thanks to our great partners at Mattel and our host Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family), we’ve created a show that combines the best of a business format with the entertaining world of kid judges, all the while giving toy inventors an opportunity to fulfill their lifelong dream of seeing their toy produced for children all over the world,” says John Pollak, the president of worldwide television and international at Electus. “It really is a show that can play for any broadcaster in any country globally.” Two other highlights from the company are Bellator, which has continued to dominate the MMA landscape, and Who Shot Biggie & Tupac?, a brand-new FOX special that reinvestigates the murders of two of the world’s most successful rappers.

The Toy Box

“Our mission is to continually deliver the best content from the biggest broadcasters around the world.”

—John Pollak

Endemol Shine Group All Together Now / Armchair Detectives / Family Food Fight Among the highlights from Endemol Shine Group are three formats making their debuts at MIPCOM. From the U.K. are All Together Now and Armchair Detectives, which are both being produced for BBC One. From Australia, there is Family Food Fight, which is coming up for Nine Network. “All Together Now is a big new prime-time entertainment format with a unique twist,” says Lisa Perrin, CEO of Creative Networks at Endemol Shine Group. “There are no judges; instead, the contestants must impress ‘The 100,’ a group of talented performers who will join if they like the act.” She adds, “Armchair Detectives is a genre-busting format that combines the playalong element of a whodunit with a game show.” Family Food Fight brings together multigenerational families, “and things really heat up with passionate home cooking,” Perrin adds.

Armchair Detectives

“All of these shows are wonderfully positive and optimistic, which is a real trend with viewers and broadcasters at the moment.”

—Lisa Perrin

Entertainment One

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Burden of Truth / The Detail / Caught Kristin Kreuk stars in the serialized drama Burden of Truth.

The show is “in the same vein as Erin Brockovich, in that it’s big corporation against community,” says Stuart Baxter, the president of Entertainment One (eOne) Television International. The Detail is a more classic precinct procedural, led by two females, “that is nostalgic with tones of Hill Street Blues and Cagney & Lacey,” Baxter says. Caught is a high-stakes series that follows an escaped prisoner. “It’s riveting with betrayal, complex characters and an exciting twist you won’t see coming,” he notes. MIPCOM marks eOne’s first market since combining its film and TV sales units into one global team. “We’re looking forward to meeting with clients as we take on a more holistic approach to our content business,” says Baxter.

The Detail

“In the last 12 months, our business has doubled in size as we’ve continued to grow and invest in creative partnerships.”

—Stuart Baxter 46 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

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FilmRise My Friend Dahmer / Marjorie Prime / Learning to See: The World of Insects FilmRise’s library includes My Friend Dahmer, about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s high school years, and The Boy Downstairs, starring Zosia Mamet as a girl who relocates to New York only to find out that her ex lives in the apartment below her. Learning to See: The World of Insects is about Robert Oelman, who left his psychology career in the early 1990s to pursue photography. Marjorie Prime stars Jon Hamm, Geena Davis, Tim Robbins and Lois Smith. The movie explores memory and identity, love and loss. “As a well-capitalized company, we are able to acquire a plethora of outstanding films and offer them to our current partners,” says CEO Danny Fisher. “At this year’s market, we look forward to creating new opportunities with our present partners, while also entering into new partnerships with others.”

Marjorie Prime

“FilmRise has successfully become a leader in the digital market by embracing the opportunities surrounding the content-driven industry.”

—Danny Fisher

Fox Networks Group Content Distribution City of Secrets / Warriors / Man Up Fox Networks Group Content Distribution is representing new series from content partner FOX Turkey. City of Secrets (Kayitdişi) is about a secret government agent tasked with taking down Turkey’s most notorious crime lord. Warriors (Savaşçi), a Limon Yapim production, is FOX Turkey’s firstever action-adventure drama. It tells the story of the dedicated heroes in the Sword Team, a specialist unit in the Maroon Berets, Turkey’s elite fighting force. Man Up (Şevkat Yerimdar), a comedy, again comes from Limon Yapim. “Turkish drama is a big focus for Fox Networks Group Content Distribution internationally, and we work very closely with the team at FOX Turkey, who always ensure we have a constant pipeline of great content,” says Prentiss Fraser, the executive VP and managing director of Fox Networks Group Content Distribution.

“FOX Turkey is an incredibly successful and wellrespected broadcaster, and these three titles show how the channel is constantly evolving and taking risks with new types and styles of programming.”

Man Up

—Prentiss Fraser

Gaumont The Art of Crime / 48 Christmas Wishes / Relationship Status Scheduled to debut on France 2 this season, The Art of Crime pairs a hot-headed detective with an art historian from the Louvre. “With the procedural drama The Art of Crime we are taking crime series to a new level of intrigue for audiences all over the world,” says Vanessa Shapiro, the president of worldwide TV distribution and co-production at Gaumont. The company is also presenting its first holiday TV movie, “and we expect strong demand for 48 Christmas Wishes,” Shapiro says. Relationship Status, produced for Verizon’s go90, is also in the catalog. The show stars and is executive produced by Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us). “It is sure to appeal to a wide range of millennials coming into, contending with and looking back at their dating experiences,” Shapiro says.

Relationship Status

“Relationship Status does a wonderful job of blending the humor and drama of dating in the digital age into a captivating story that draws you in from the very first episode.”

—Vanessa Shapiro 48 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

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Global Agency Queens / Beat the Wheel / Cash or Splash The period drama Queens tells the story of two powerful women—Elizabeth I of England and Mary Stuart of Scotland— fighting each other in a man’s world. Global Agency will be making a big push for the English-language drama at MIPCOM. There, the company will also be showcasing the game shows Beat the Wheel and Cash or Splash. Beat the Wheel sees contestants going up against a giant hybrid physical/digital wheel—the goal is to raise its maximum value up to $1 million. Cash or Splash features water traps set under the stage, where contestants may be dropped.

“The contestants are always uneasy, not knowing when or if they will be dropped,” says Izzet Pinto, Global Agency’s founder and CEO. “There is a lot of tension but it is also very funny.”

Queens

“Queens is originally produced in the English language with English actors and a very high budget.”

—Izzet Pinto

Image Nation Abu Dhabi Justice / History of the Emirates While Image Nation Abu Dhabi had traditionally been a film company, it has now made a considerable push into the TV space. On the scripted side, the company has Justice (Qalb Al Adala), which made its regional debut on OSN in September.

“It’s an Arab-language courtroom drama, which I like to describe as L.A. Law meets Dallas in Abu Dhabi,” says Michael Garin, the CEO of Image Nation Abu Dhabi. “The quality of the series matches anything you’d see on top-tier international broadcasters, and it’s an important step for Image Nation and the industry in the UAE.” On the documentary side, there is History of the Emirates, which explores the ancient history of the United Arab Emirates. Stretching back 125,000 years and culminating in the union in 1971, the five-part series profiles the very foundations of the country’s civilizations.

History of the Emirates

“This fall, we are making our biggest move into television yet with the launch of two tentpole series.”

—Michael Garin

Incendo

Sleeper Patrimonio mundial - Herencia de la humanidad

Separated at Birth / Sleeper / Second Opinion Paige Turco (The 100, Person of Interest) stars in Separated at Birth, a new movie from Incendo. The company is also presenting Sleeper, starring Kara Killmer, and Second Opinion, featuring Joanne Kelly. Sleeper centers on Jennifer Jones, who catches her husband in a few unassuming lies. When he winds up in a coma, a larger story begins to unfold. Second Opinion is about Ivy Fisher, an attractive thirtysomething upstartbusiness owner who is suddenly overcome with dizziness and a crippling headache. Enter Dr. Mark Ryan, a corrupt doctor ready to feed his desire for power, and Ivy is his perfect subject.

Incendo is heading to MIPCOM with an eye to “build, develop and expand our relationships with our friends and clients around the world,” according to Gavin Reardon, who oversees international sales and co-productions.

“Incendo will always be associated with quality television programming.”

—Gavin Reardon 50 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

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Intellecta Strange Love / The Wait for Love / The Love Gamblers Intellecta has been working as a syndication partner of Star India for Indian drama series and movies for the last six years. “So, the European market feels like home, with a lot of success stories, and at the same time holds a lot of potential for Indian content,” says Christina Vlahova, the general manager at Intellecta. The company arrives at MIPCOM with the newest season of Strange Love. “To all the channels in Europe that have seen their ratings quadruple when they broadcast the original [seasons], this is an opportunity to have the same success and give the same joy to their viewers,” Vlahova says. The Wait for Love tells the love story of a Bollywood actress and a present-day Indian prince. The Love Gamblers is from the producers of Strange Love.

Inter Medya

Strange Love

“We bring the best Indian drama series and Bollywood movies to Europe, offering European viewers the opportunity to rediscover how colorful and romantic life can be.”

—Christina Vlahova

Mrs. Fazilet and Her Daughters

Mrs. Fazilet and Her Daughters / Money Monster / The Tactic A pair of formats leads the slate that Inter Medya brings to MIPCOM. One is Money Monster, a quiz show in which a contestant tries to win as much cash as he or she can count in one minute, while the other is The Tactic, an adventure program that gives participants the chance to showcase their strength and endurance. Another highlight is Mrs. Fazilet and Her Daughters, a new drama from Turkey’s Avşar Film. “Mrs. Fazilet and Her Daughters tells the story of an ambitious woman, whose biggest dream is to become rich and famous,” says Can Okan, the company’s founder and CEO. “Determined to settle her anger and misery, she uses her daughters’ beauty to achieve her goal. The series has started to attract a lot of attention from various territories.”

“In addition to our new drama series, we have been constantly working on creating fresh formats to broaden our catalog.”

—Can Okan

Kew Media Group Frankie Drake Mysteries / Crawford / Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge Kew Media Group’s distribution division—formerly Content Media Corporation—has a slate of drama and comedy series, as well as factual fare. “We are extremely excited and proud to be attending MIPCOM under our new Kew Media Group banner, and have an outstanding lineup of content that we look forward to showcasing to new and existing clients throughout the industry,” says Greg Phillips, the company’s president of distribution. Highlights include the period drama Frankie Drake Mysteries, which follows Toronto’s only female private detectives, and the comedy series Crawford. There is also the documentary series Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge. “Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge will show the emergence of the iconic magazine, the superb and groundbreaking work of its writers and its impact on society,” says Phillips.

“Frankie Drake Mysteries offers international audiences strong, intelligent female lead characters.”

—Greg Phillips

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Frankie Drake Mysteries

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Lionsgate Ten Days in the Valley / Little Women / The Rook Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) stars as an overworked TV producer and single mother in Ten Days in the Valley. “In her return to prime-time television, Kyra Sedgwick delivers a powerful and compelling performance in Ten Days in the Valley, a tense and dynamic thriller series that will have audiences gripped from the very start,” says Peter Iacono, the president of international television and digital distribution at Lionsgate.

The company is also promoting Little Women, a three-part coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the Civil War. “Little Women will have strong appeal to global broadcasters and platforms looking to create a ‘must-view’ event for their channels,” says Iacono. The Rook, meanwhile, is a supernatural thriller executive produced by Stephenie Meyer (the Twilight saga) and Stephen Garrett (The Night Manager).

Ten Days in the Valley

“Offering our clients an eclectic mix of highquality, premium programming, we continue to be completely platform- and network-agnostic.”

—Peter Iacono

MarVista Entertainment Eruption LA / Mr. Christmas / House of the Witch A struggling screenwriter joins forces with his sister, colleagues and renowned seismologists to save Los Angeles from a catastrophic natural disaster in Eruption LA. “With Eruption LA, we have a classic disaster action-thriller movie with great special effects,” Fernando Szew, the CEO of MarVista Entertainment, says. In the holiday movie Mr. Christmas, a man must decide whether to follow his heart or be true to his buddy when he falls in love with his best friend’s significant other. On Halloween, a group of teens is trapped inside a house by a demonic witch in the movie House of the Witch. “Established and up-and-coming talent, as well as storylines that resonate with target audiences, are all key elements that make our lineup attractive,” Szew says. All three films are being made available internationally for the first time.

“We continue to assess market needs and produce and distribute content that meets the varying and ever-changing demands of buyers and viewers all over the world.”

Mr. Christmas

—Fernando Szew

Miramax

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Series / Miramax library / Revolution Studios library The Miramax catalog is home to shows such as From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series and the Japanese horror/drama Crow’s Blood. From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series is a supernatural crime-horror title developed by Robert Rodriguez, who is the director of the original film the show is based on. The company will be at MIPCOM also presenting new movie titles and iconic Miramax library properties, with highlights such as Bridget Jones’s Baby, Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, Chicago and the Scream franchise. The Revolution Studios library, including xXx and xXx: State of the Union, is represented

by Miramax as well. “Our films and series span every genre, from comedy to drama to romance to thriller to action to horror to documentary,” says Joe Patrick, the executive VP of worldwide TV sales and home entertainment at Miramax.

xXx

“With diverse, international stars both on screen and behind the camera, our titles have a uniquely global appeal.”

—Joe Patrick

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MISTCO You Name It / Jade MISTCO boasts a diverse catalog of Turkish titles, including content from TRT, spanning dramas, animated series for kids, documentaries and TV movies. “Also, we have included a new genre in our catalog: entertainment formats,” says Aysegul Tuzun, the company’s VP of sales and marketing. At the market, MISTCO is launching a major new epic drama from the producer of the ratings hit Resurrection: Ertugrul.

“The new series will be based on a true story, and we will announce further details at MIPCOM,” says Tuzun. Another highlight is the successful drama You Name It, “which has a romantic and touching scenario,” according to Tuzun. In the children’s arena, the company is presenting Jade, about a happy little girl who sings and learns math. “The series is expected to become a hit among kids,” she says.

You Name It

“TRT has, by far, the most extensive know-how in epic-drama storytelling and producing.”

—Aysegul Tuzun

Multicom Entertainment Group Generational Sins / The Things We’ve Seen / It’s a Rockabilly World Two estranged brothers are brought together by the death of their mother in Generational Sins. Darrin Holender, the president of Multicom Entertainment Group, believes the movie will “capture audiences with themes of home, grace and forgiveness.” The Things We’ve Seen, meanwhile, is a “film festival favorite,” according to Holender.

The story takes place in a town awash in the turmoil of a fledgling economy, where conditions are made worse when the local mill catches fire. Multicom is also bringing two new music documentaries to the market: It’s a Rockabilly World and Turn It Up! A Celebration of the Electric Guitar.

The former dives into rockabilly life, while the latter tells the history of the electric guitar. Turn It Up! is hosted by Kevin Bacon.

“As a producer of original content, Multicom collaborates on joint ventures with leading broadcasters and entertainment companies.”

—Darrin Holender

Turn It Up! A Celebration of the Electric Guitar

NTV Broadcasting Company SuperYou! / The Road to Calvary / The Secret for a Million NTV Broadcasting Company’s SuperYou! is an international social project for children deprived of parental care. “It became one of the most popular [programs] on Russian television and on the internet,” says Timur Weinstein, general producer of the NTV channel. “The project has developed [from] a prime-time program into a real social movement in less than a year.” One of the main October premieres for NTV will be the screen version of the Tolstoy novel The Road to Calvary, timed to the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia. “We have already shared exclusive rights to distribute the series with Dori Media Group,” says Weinstein. NTV also has the game show The Secret for a Million. “It is a provocative show in which celebrities win money for openhearted answers about their own private lives,” Weinstein says.

The Road to Calvary

“We not only sell our formats and serials in the international market, we also look for foreign ones.”

—Timur Weinstein 56 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

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ORF-Enterprise

“At MIPCOM, we will offer a wide range of fiction and wildlife titles.”

Wild Ireland / Sky River of the Himalayas: Brahmaputra / Urban Comedies

—Marion Camus-Oberdorfer

Ireland’s wild wonders are on display in Wild Ireland, a highlight from ORF-Enterprise. The 4K film features everything from humpback whales breaching off the country’s southern shores to golden eagles fighting the gales of the northern highlands to raise their young on the steep cliff sides. Viewers are transported to Asia’s hotspots of biodiversity in Sky River of the Himalayas: Brahmaputra, a 4K production. Also in the way of factual, there is Untamed Albania. The four-part Urban Comedies is another ORF-Enterprise highlight. “We enjoy hilarious stories with truly emotional, cheeky characters in Urban Comedies,” says Marion Camus-Oberdorfer, the company’s head of international content sales. She adds, “We are ambitious [and wish to] keep our aim high in terms of discovering more and more of the many secrets and wonders of our planet and its inhabitants.”

Sato Company

Wild Ireland

Death Note

Ghost in the Shell / Bruce Lee movies / Death Note Sato Company is presenting Ghost in the Shell, which is set in a post-2029 world where brains easily fuse into computers and technology is present everywhere. It features Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg with military experience who commands an elite squad specialized in fighting cybercrimes. “Ghost in the Shell is one of the most classic and acclaimed titles ever created,” says Nelson Akira Sato, the company’s CEO. “It is a unique title and proposes a futuristic story about body and soul.” Sato Company also owns the rights for the films of martial arts icon Bruce Lee in Latin America. The movies have been remastered in HD. In addition, the company has in its catalog Death Note, which Sato says “to this day is one of the best franchises ever created.”

“We can learn important lessons from Death Note, a saga that questions morality and religion.”

—Nelson Akira Sato

Sky Vision

Patrimonio mundial - Herencia de la humanidad

Britannia / The Plague / I Don’t Like Mondays The original drama Britannia will have its World Premiere TV Screening at MIPCOM. The series is set in 43 AD, when Britannia was ruled by powerful Druids and warrior queens.

Sky Vision will also be presenting The Plague. “Britannia and The Plague are the most ambitious commissions to date for Sky and Movistar+, respectively, making them this year’s landmark dramas,” says Jane Millichip, the company’s managing director. “But these incredible series are not defined solely by their scale; they both boast incredible writing talent in Jez Butterworth (Britannia) and writer/director Alberto Rodríguez (The Plague). They combine complex and gripping narratives with exquisite visual templates and color palettes that pay homage to their cinematic DNA.” There is also the entertainment series I Don’t Like Mondays, hosted by Alan Carr.

Britannia

“We believe that great entertainment and high production values should always coexist in the content we produce, fund and distribute.”

—Jane Millichip 58 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

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Smithsonian Channel America in Color / Sacred Sites / The Mountain Lion and Me Another season of America in Color has already been commissioned by Smithsonian Channel. There will be more Sacred Sites, a 4K/UHD series, coming to the network as well. In the way of wildlife programming, there is The Mountain Lion and Me. “We want our viewers to feel entertained and to know that when they watch Smithsonian Channel programming, they are always experiencing the best in true, factual storytelling,” says David Royle, the executive VP of programming and production for Smithsonian Networks. “America in Color is probably the most ambitious colorization project ever undertaken by a U.S. factual broadcaster. Sacred Sites delivers on our promise to [showcase] the ultimate 4K visual experience. The Mountain Lion and Me is a wondrous film that immerses the audience in the life of one of the most elusive cats in the world.” Royle also notes, “We have forged ahead with our push into 4K/UHD production and are a market leader in this technology. We are determined to give our audience the ultimate visual, audio and storytelling experience.”

“We see a real audience thirst for entertaining factual programming that can be trusted and has integrity, and we are one of the few channels available to meet that need.”

—David Royle

The Mountain Lion and Me

Sonar Entertainment Mr. Mercedes / The Son / Das Boot The crime drama Mr. Mercedes follows a demented killer as he taunts a retired police detective with a series of lurid letters and emails. The show is based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King and adapted for television by David E. Kelley. “Mr. Mercedes premiered this summer in the U.S. on AT&T Audience Network to critical acclaim, and we’re excited to take it to audiences around the world,” says David Ellender, the company’s president of global distribution and coproductions. The Son, which stars Pierce Brosnan, has already sold into a slew of territories, and there is a second season in production. The 10x1-hour series tells the saga of a bloody battle for power, following the rise of one ambitious family that is as resilient and dangerous as the land they claim. Sonar is also presenting the WWII drama Das Boot, which expands on the story from the novel and movie. “With an eye for compelling source material and great production partners, we’ve been able to pinpoint what’s missing from today’s TV marketplace and fill the gaps with great content,” says Ellender.

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“These programs, and all of the series in Sonar’s upcoming slate, draw audiences because of their premium production values and global storytelling.”

—David Ellender

The Son

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SPI International Gametoon / FunBox UHD / FightBox HD Part of the SPI International bouquet, Gametoon is a new eSports and gaming channel for millennials. The company also has FunBox UHD, a worldwide entertainment channel with native Ultra HD programming, and FightBox HD, a flagship sports channel with live MMA events from Europe and the U.S., as well as other martial arts disciplines from major international leagues. “All these channels are part of SPI’s worldwide TV portfolio, and they are available for distribution anywhere in the world—for delivery via satellite, cable, IPTV, mobile TV, etc.,” says Berk Uziyel, SPI/FILMBOX’s executive director. “In many cases, they also come with multiple language versions: Spanish, Arabic, French, Russian and more.” SPI is looking to emphasize its achievements and new developments in Ultra HD channel and content distribution, Uziyel says.

Blue World on FunBox UHD

“Our main goal for MIPCOM is to develop new partnerships, strengthen our existing ones and make important alliances.”

—Berk Uziyel

STUDIOCANAL

The Lawyer

The Child in Time / The Lawyer / Paris etc.

Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, The Imitation Game) stars in The Child in Time. The 90-minute drama feature is adapted from Ian McEwan’s Whitbread Prize-winning novel. “The Child in Time is a lyrical and heartbreaking exploration of love, loss and the power of things unseen,” says Beatriz Campos, the head of international sales for TV series at STUDIOCANAL. The company also has a new ten-part Nordic noir crime thriller, The Lawyer, and the Canal+ original dramedy Paris etc. “We know that our global clients are seeking high-quality event drama that delivers subscribers and increases viewer numbers,” says Campos. “Our wide-ranging and brand-new MIPCOM programming offers strong, engaging and universal storylines with exceptional talent both in front of and behind the camera.”

“We have seen that there is a global demand for high-end series and that, with the right marketing and scheduling, language is just not an issue anymore.”

—Beatriz Campos

Synergy88 Group

Barangay 143

Barangay 143 Basketball, love and crime come together in the anime series Barangay 143. “Designed for young adults, the series is a drama, a crime thriller and a love story all united into one extraordinary animation,” says Jackeline Chua, managing director and co-founder of Synergy88 Group. “We have created a series that is not only true to the form of anime but is also reflective of the increasing popularity of animated shows among young adults and the popularity of basketball worldwide.” Chua is confident that Barangay 143 “will not only appeal to basketball fans in the Philippines, where the game and anime have millions of fans, but to global audiences as well.” Synergy88 Group is bringing members of the voice cast, including Cherie Gil and John Arcilla, to MIPCOM.

“Barangay 143 has a lot of heart, but it also has a sharp and dangerous edge, which is portrayed in its look and visual style.”

—Jackeline Chua 62 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

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Tek Gear Device creation & development A Canada-based high-tech device creator and development company, Tek Gear is attending MIPCOM for the first time specifically to unveil the new business-to-business program VID. Tony Havelka, the CEO of Tek Gear, describes VID as “the only B2B marketplace designed with the intention of enormously simplifying the buying and selling of episodic content from producers to streaming services of their choice.” He explains that VID is meant to “literally make the licensing of episodic content as simple as a click of a button,” and that it gives content providers “a simple and easy gateway to putting their content in front of any and all audiences without the usual lengthy difficulties.

VID streamlines the process, effortlessly converting interest into revenue.”

“It’s the right time for us to introduce our new platform due to the ongoing expansion of streaming platforms available to content creators and distributors.”

—Tony Havelka

Televisa Internacional

Love, Divina

Wild Lands / The Rose of Guadalupe / Love, Divina Televisa Internacional is presenting the melodrama Wild Lands, which tells the story of three men who are in love with the same woman. She must choose which one of them she loves. Stories of tragedy and misfortune mark The Rose of Guadalupe. The characters are based on real people who find themselves in desperate situations, ranging from domestic violence to drug addiction to extreme poverty and terminal illness. The idea is to showcase problems that afflict people in every country in the world. For kids and teens, Televisa Internacional is presenting Love, Divina. The show is about a street child who watches over a group of abandoned kids; they exist as a family in a slum.

The law threatens to split them up, so Divina is left with no other choice but to hide them.

The Story Lab

Don ’t Say It Bring It!

Don’t Say It Bring It! / All Star Driving School / Travel Ink From Phileas Productions, Don’t Say It Bring It! is a fast-paced urban game show that happens on the city streets. The contestants are not allowed to say the answer but instead have to find an item that best represents it, “giving the show a hilarious twist,” says Luci Sanan, the format director for The Story Lab Global. All Star Driving School, from Rumpus Media, shows celebs going through the process of trying to get their driver’s license. “It’s funny, heartwarming and relatable,” says Sanan.

“The format has a unique daily structure and is cost-effective to produce.” Another highlight is Travel Ink, which comes from Tuvalu Media. “Travel Ink gives the audience a chance to learn about a tattoo artist or culture through the eyes of a tattooed celebrity looking to cover up some more of their superstar skin.”

“The Story Lab brings a range of entertaining formats with a track record to the market that we are ready to innovate with and roll out across the globe.”

—Luci Sanan 64 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

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TV Azteca International Bad Maids / Two Lakes / El César The TV Azteca International series Bad Maids is a melodrama about a journalist who loses her mother at a young age. She later discovers evidence that her biological mother was actually the maid who used to work in her home and was sent by an agency that has a dangerous reputation. The company’s catalog also includes Two Lakes, which tells the story of three families inhabiting the same house during different time periods (1944, 1975 and 2015). The families also share a chilling problem: the spirit of a girl who died in a strange way in 1944 and won’t rest in peace until the mystery surrounding her death is solved by the inhabitants of the house. Meanwhile, El César is a dramatized biographical series about Mexican legend and worldwide boxer Julio César Chavez.

El César

Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution The Orville / The Gifted / The Resident From Emmy Award-winning executive producer and creator Seth MacFarlane, The Orville is a live-action space adventure series set 400 years in the future that follows the U.S.S. Orville, a mid-level exploratory spaceship. “There is nothing like The Orville on TV today and that, combined with the high production value of every episode, makes this a show not to miss,” says Kristen Finney, the executive VP for EMEA at Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution. The Gifted, produced by 20th Century Fox Television in association with Marvel Television, is set in the X-Men universe and centers on a suburban couple whose ordinary lives are rocked by the discovery that their teenage children possess mutant powers.

The Resident is a new medical drama that reveals the truth about what happens behind the scenes at hospitals.

“Each year, we not only showcase our brand-new series but also remind our clients just how strong our entire slate is at Fox.” The Gifted

—Kristen Finney

Twofour Rights Change Your Tune / A Night with My Ex / Extreme Cake Makers Twofour Rights has another time-travel format to offer the market: Change Your Tune, which sees terrible singers go through weeks of training, but their vocal transformations are revealed instantly to the viewers. “It’s a popular genre delivered in a new and surprising way,” says Holly Hodges, the company’s head of sales operations and VP of sales for North America, the U.K./Eire, Australia and New Zealand.

Further highlights include A Night with My Ex and Extreme Cake Makers. Hodges says, “We’ve once again fallen in love with cake and are returning to our special group of cake makers for a second season. The first season of Extreme Cake Makers sold into 60 territories, and we’re delighted to offer another 30 new hours of this highly addictive show.”

“We deliver adaptable programming that rolls out across the globe but also has the scope to be truly relevant to viewers internationally.”

Extreme Cake Makers

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—Holly Hodges

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VintasMedia International Miss Earth 2017

Miss Earth 2017

The Miss Earth competition is more than just a beauty pageant; it also promotes environmental awareness. “The candidates and winners actively promote and get involved in the preservation of the environment and the protection of Mother Earth,” explains Blanca Oca Pertierra, the CEO of VintasMedia International. “Apart from a strong emphasis on environmental protection programs, Miss Earth also aims to showcase and promote various tourist destinations.” Every year, 80 to 90 candidates from all over the world compete with their beauty and knowledge of environmental issues. The winner of Miss Earth goes on to serve as the ambassador to environmental protection campaigns worldwide. The 90-minute coronation event will take place November 4, live from Manila. The Miss Earth pageant is produced by Carousel Productions.

Vivicast Media

“Now in its 17th year, Miss Earth is setting a legacy of beauty and responsibility.”

—Blanca Oca Pertierra

Cuba

Cuba / Big Engineering / Bring Your Own Board There is a wealth of 4K and HDR content in the Vivicast Media catalog. “We have so many more productions that we could have chosen, but we are proud to highlight this year Cuba, Big Engineering and Bring Your Own Board (BYOB),” says Stuart Smitherman, the company’s president. “Each of these productions, although very different, reflects common themes of our interconnected world.”

Cuba, done in 4K and HDR, looks at an unvisited portion of the country and its ecological treasures. Big Engineering, in 4K HDR, spotlights marvels of the manmade world.

BYOB, also in 4K, looks at a passion for sport and the sacrifice and joy entailed. “Each of these titles…tells a story that anyone, wherever they are from, can identify with,” says Smitherman.

“Vivicast represents some of the very best producers and productions in 4K and HDR across all genres from all over the world.”

—Stuart Smitherman

Voxx Studios

Voxx Studios facilities

Language dubbing / Automated dialogue replacement / Voice-over Armed with a state-of-the-art production facility, Voxx Studios offers full-service dubbing and subtitles for TV series, films, telenovelas and multimedia. “We have the unique ability to really understand and execute the needs of clients from all over the world because we are from all over the world,” says Tunde Skovran, the company’s co-founder and partner.

“There are eight languages spoken fluently between our office staff alone, not to mention the myriad of languages spoken by our actors and other affiliates. The fact that we are located in the cultural hub that is Los Angeles allows us to speak your mind with experienced Hollywood talent, in just about any language, for a highly competitive price. We have cultural synergy on our side.” Voxx Studios has been focusing on expanding its presence outside of the U.S.

“We are a one-stop shop for all localization and audio postproduction needs.”

—Tunde Skovran

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ZDF Enterprises School of Roars / Size Matters / Tabula Rasa The animated kids’ show School of Roars is meant to help little ones prepare for academic life through the relationships and experiences of a group of mini-monsters. ZDF Enterprises (ZDFE) is offering the title at the market alongside the factual series Size Matters, which “explores a fascinating web of scientific concepts to uncover not just why things are as they are, but why they could never be any different,” says Alexander Coridass, the company’s president and CEO. On the scripted side, ZDFE is highlighting the psychological thriller Tabula Rasa. “Our objective for MIPCOM is to offer our clients successful program presentations and events, the strengthening of existing customer relationships, the acquisition of new partners and, of course, the successful launch of our new titles through first sales,” adds Coridass.

School of Roars

“We have a lot on our plate, but we know that the quality we are proud of in our programs will also be shared by others.”

—Alexander Coridass

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Hum Paanch / Moksha / India’s Asli Champion Zee Entertainment Enterprises is bringing 40 hours of fresh lifestyle content produced in the U.S. to MIPCOM. The company is also offering the sitcom Hum Paanch, which has been adapted in the U.K. as Lala’s Ladiez. Zee is showcasing two new formats as well: Moksha and India’s Asli Champion.

India’s Asli Champion sees contestants undertaking physically challenging tasks to prove their strength. The show is hosted by famed Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty, who is often referred to as the “Real Steel of Bollywood.” Moksha is based on the Snakes & Ladders game show. “Our licensing catalog appeals to multiple territories, and we are continuously innovating to adapt and reflect new lifestyles and audience demands,” says Sunita Uchil, the company’s chief business officer for international ad sales, global syndication and production.

India’s Asli Champion

“This October we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Zee in the television business.”

—Sunita Uchil

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SPOTLIGHT

By Anna Carugati

Televisa is the leading media company in the Spanishspeaking world. It owns four broadcast channels in Mexico; a majority stake in the direct-to-home satellite service Sky, which has 8 million subscribers in Mexico, Central America and the Dominican Republic; and cable operators in Mexico.

Televisa also produces and distributes 26 pay-TV brands, owns the OTT service blim, and has a stake in the U.S. Hispanic broadcaster Univision. Fueling all these outlets— and a healthy international-distribution business—is Televisa’s huge production capacity: 90,000-plus hours in 2016.

Emilio Azcárraga Jean, Televisa’s chairman of the board, president and CEO, took the helm of the company in 1997 when his father and Televisa’s founder, Emilio Azcárraga Milmo—known as “El Tigre”—passed away. Although Televisa was already the largest producer of Spanish-language programming in the world, the company was in disarray at the time. Azcárraga Jean restructured it and implemented cost controls. He also understood the value of content and focused his team on finding multiple ways to get programming to consumers, which today includes Televisa’s free-TV and pay-TV linear channels, as well as nonlinear services and apps.

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Azcárraga Jean also looked to the enormous potential held by the U.S. Hispanic market, which currently possesses a purchasing power of more than $1 trillion a year. Televisa already had a relationship with Univision, but Azcárraga Jean built on it, and today Televisa owns a 10-percent stake in the company, with the option to increase it to up to 49 percent. He has also aligned production operations in Mexico and the U.S. Despite recent challenges—including increased competition in Mexico and the U.S. Hispanic market and the devaluation of the peso—Azcárraga Jean remains committed to his conviction that people want quality content and convenient ways to access it, often bundled together with broadband and telephony. Today, Televisa’s businesses are divided into four main segments: content production and distribution, the Sky DTH platform, cable and other operations, which include publishing, gaming, radio, soccer and feature-film distribution.

Azcárraga Jean, who is being honored this year with the International Emmy Directorate Award, tells World Screen about Televisa’s plans for the lucrative U.S. Hispanic market; the group’s production-and-distribution businesses; and its continued investment in cable, Sky, broadband and OTT.

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Angeles, Miami and New York—to learn which themes might resonate both with U.S. Hispanics and [viewers] in Mexico.

We discovered that even though sometimes there is common ground, younger audiences want faster-paced and more dynamic storylines, though many viewers still want the classic telenovela. So while data is important, we also have to study trends and audiences to program our content at the right time and on the correct platform: broadcast, pay TV or OTT.

Televisa Internacional licenses Televisa’s prolific output to platforms worldwide, arriving at MIPCOM with highlights like Wild Lands.

WS: What is your strategy for Univision and Televisa in the U.S. Hispanic market? The FCC has cleared Televisa to increase its equity stake in Univision to up to 49 percent.

AZCÁRRAGA: For Televisa, the U.S. is a growth market with serious potential. The U.S. Hispanic market has a combined purchasing power of $1.3 trillion per year and growing. With the help of our content, Univision has positioned itself as the top broadcast network for the 57 million Hispanics living in the U.S. And in the last quarter, the joint work between Televisa and Univision has paid off with great content and soaring ratings. So, as we have done this year, we will explore new ways to ensure that both companies keep working together with a very focused strategy.

Regarding the FCC authorization that we received in January of this year, we have not made a decision yet, but without a doubt, it was very well received.

WS: Tell us about the appointment of Isaac Lee as chief content officer for Televisa and Univision. How are the development and production of content being aligned between the two companies?

AZCÁRRAGA: Televisa is a major shareholder in Univision, so it makes sense for us to combine executive functions where possible, and to tap into the best talent from both companies. Also, tailoring programming for Univision and Televisa has helped us tremendously ratings-wise. For instance, we did a joint production and airing of Premios Juventud (Youth Awards) with very high marks audience-wise for this simulcast, in both Mexico and in the U.S. Actually, in the U.S. it was the best-rated Spanishlanguage program during the first week of July.

These are exciting times for content creators and consumers alike. Together, Televisa and Univision are pursuing the best possible content for our audiences.

WS: What elements were considered when you chose to focus on series with modern stories, fewer episodes and faster narratives?

AZCÁRRAGA: Data was very important. We conducted extensive audience research in four major U.S. cities—Chicago, Los

WS: What results have these series garnered on Televisa and Univision?

AZCÁRRAGA: We are very happy with the information that Nielsen has reported for our content in Mexico and the U.S. In Mexico, we increased our ratings by 37 percent during the first half of 2017. And we are leading across the board: news, novelas, series and sports. Furthermore, we also led the ratings in the [FIFA] Confederations Cup, where soccer matches aired on many channels.

Univision is doing a superb job in the U.S. In some cases, Univision is even beating the ratings of the major English-language broadcast networks. And we are happy to be part of such success. Our production Vino el Amor, a series about wine country that was shot both in Mexico and Napa Valley, was the mostwatched program on Spanish-language TV in the U.S. Another one of our shows, La Doble Vida de Estela Carrillo, which revolves around identity theft, has done very well. La Piloto, a series that tells the story of a flight attendant who gets involved with the drug underworld but later repents and helps the police, has also been at the top of ratings.

WS: Will you continue to develop and produce the classic novela?

AZCÁRRAGA: The novela continues to be one of the most successful and profitable formats in the entertainment

Pantelion Films released How to Be a Latin Lover in the U.S. this year.

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was the top box-office draw in its weekend debut in the U.S. in April.

Televisa is also presiding over the Ibero-American Telecommunications Organization (OTI). This organization brings together 31 companies, ranging from AT&T and Telemundo in the U.S. to Argentina’s Clarín and Spain’s Telefónica and PRISA. Executives from these companies meet twice a year to discuss new business and advances in technology, as well as the everchanging media and digital-news landscape. We also work very closely with the Inter-American Human Rights Commission to foster freedom of speech in the 22 countries where OTI members operate.

Televisa has a contentlicensing deal with U.S. Hispanic broadcaster Univision, in which it owns a stake, covering titles like Mi Adorable Maldición.

Love, Divina is among the series airing on blim, Televisa’s VOD platform.

world. It’s a [genre] that forges a strong emotional connection with the audience. The demand for novelas remains huge. But the novelas needed a facelift, a modern twist. We have inserted storylines that resonate across borders, such as the struggles of migrants, and empowered our female characters with careers and ambitions that are as dynamic as their love lives. So far, these changes are working.

WS: What plans do you have for Televisa Internacional and for expanding Televisa’s presence beyond Mexico and Latin America?

AZCÁRRAGA: We export our content to more than 50 countries. Our series and novelas do very well overseas— consumers in countries as diverse as South Korea, Turkey, Greece and Portugal all enjoy them. We plan to increase this presence. We will also continue to forge alliances with major media partners globally, which results in cost savings as well as more diverse content and wider distribution. For instance, we have a joint venture with Lionsgate called Pantelion. We have had great success at the box office through this JV, both in the U.S. and in Latin America. One of our latest releases, How to Be a Latin Lover,

WS: Given the devaluation of the Mexican peso, how has Televisa had to contain its costs? In what areas will Televisa continue to invest?

AZCÁRRAGA: We were certainly cautious going into the year as the peso plummeted against the U.S. dollar due to global economic uncertainty at the start of the year.

We held off on buying some equipment that’s priced in U.S. dollars, for example. But we opted to maintain our $1 billion capital expenditure plan for 2017, in spite of the peso’s depreciation during the first half of the year. The bulk of our annual capital expenditure—$550 million—is destined for our cable business, which has been a growth driver for the company.

In terms of containing costs, we are consolidating leadership functions, reviewing “exclusivity” payments to acting talent and being more cautious about the scripts that we acquire. We will also have a leaner and more efficient production structure.

WS: How are viewers consuming television and content in Mexico? Which are the most popular platforms: linear channels, on-demand, online, OTT services or mobile?

Where do you see the most growth potential?

AZCÁRRAGA: Government surveys and Nielsen reports show that linear TV channels are still the most popular in Mexico; in particular, Televisa’s over-the-air channels Las Estrellas (Channel 2) and Channel 5. Even households with pay-TV systems largely watch our free-to-air channels, by far. However, we are preparing to face the challenges that the digital world will bring to Mexico.

Therefore, we are investing heavily in all of our other platforms: cable, DTH, broadband and OTT. For instance, 60 percent of Mexicans with a smartphone have a Televisa app to view television, sports or news.

For more context, Televisa’s [pay-TV businesses] accounted for 54 percent of all of our revenue last year, versus just 4 percent in 2000.

WS: How has blim been received beyond Mexico and how is it competing with Netflix, Clarovideo, Crackle and the arrival of Amazon Prime Video?

AZCÁRRAGA: Our OTT service, blim, launched in early 2016, and it quickly rose to become the second mostwatched OTT platform in Mexico after Netflix, according to the Competitive Intelligence Unit, a Mexico-based research firm. Outside of Mexico, blim has been wellreceived in major Latin American markets, such as Argentina and Colombia.

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WS: I understand that blim has been producing original productions. Are any of these shows having a second window on any Televisa channels?

AZCÁRRAGA: Blim has several original productions, such as Nosotros los Guapos, 40 y 20, Sincronía, Las 13 Esposas de Wilson Fernández and Blue Demon, among

others. Nosotros los Guapos and 40 y 20 have also aired on Televisa’s free-TV channels. Other series such as Blue Demon have only aired a short preview on our broadcast channels to promote subscriptions on our OTT platform.

We are still exploring what and where is the best way to program our content; sometimes we will start on the OTT, other times on pay TV and sometimes on broadcast channels where we have the biggest audience. Many factors come into play, so we are evaluating where to air shows on a case-bycase basis.

WS: What developments do you foresee following the Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones’ (IFT) ruling that Televisa holds a dominant position in Mexico’s pay-TV market?

AZCÁRRAGA: Regulatory matters are always complicated, but the ruling that the IFT made stated that we had a dominant position in 2014. I believe the IFT is evaluating whether this still stands as of now and in any case, there is a judicial review underway, so I would rather not speculate about it.

WS: You will be receiving the International Emmy Directorate Award. What does this recognition mean to you personally, but also to Televisa and the position that it has earned in the international media industry?

AZCÁRRAGA: I am honored to receive this award, which I also view as a recognition of the importance of Spanish-speaking content and the consumers that we serve.

Television dissolved the borders between the U.S. and Mexico a long time ago. Technology has allowed us to connect, to share our values and to get to know each other better as friends, partners and neighbors. Our countries are more than public policies that come and go—history brings us together and geography unites us. This recognition is proof that if we continue working to grow together, we can develop a promising shared future.

I thank the Academy for this award, and I look forward to greeting my industry peers at the awards ceremony.

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IN THE NEWS

By Anna Carugati

Turner International is home to some of the most recognized media brands in the world, such as CNN, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TNT and Turner Classic Movies (TCM). These, along with their digital extensions and several other countryand region-specific channels, are available across Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Turner International is part of Turner, a Time Warner company. In 2016 Turner contributed 38 percent of Time Warner’s $29.3 billion revenues, much of that delivered by its international businesses, a testament to the fact that the pay-TV business in countries outside the U.S. remains healthy. Turner International offers platforms CNN, the number one news channel in the world; Cartoon Network, one of the most-watched children’s channels, along with a suite of other services for kids, from Boomerang to Boing and from Cartoonito to POGO and Toonami; series and movies on TNT; and classic movies on TCM—all of which are tailored to cultural tastes.

Gerhard Zeiler has been president of Turner International since 2012. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a 82 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

passion for programming, first as secretary general of the Austrian public broadcaster ORF; later as CEO of RTL Television, the market-leading channel in Germany; and then as CEO of the RTL Group, one of Europe’s leading media companies. Zeiler helped spearhead the RTL Group’s family-ofchannels strategy. At a time when viewership was fragmenting, he and his teams recognized the need to launch portfolios of channels, with each channel targeting a different audience segment. By putting the audience first, Zeiler drove RTL’s success. As consumption habits continue to shift in today’s media landscape, he remains focused on viewers and meeting their needs with the Turner portfolio of services.

As Zeiler tells World Screen, the company has set up a digital ventures and innovation division to study various direct-to-consumer offerings that will roll out in the near future. He continues to believe in the power of brands and the connection that viewers forge with programs and their characters, hosts and anchors. This connection is key, regardless of the channel, platform or service.

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Michael Holmes and Amara Walker co-anchor CNN Today on CNN International.

WS: I have read that John Martin, the chairman and CEO of Turner, has asked everyone at Turner to rethink television. Would you give some examples of how Turner International has been rethinking television?

ZEILER: As you know, we are a truly global company with very strong and powerful brands. We operate more than 175 channels in more than 200 countries that showcase 40 brands in 33 languages. For example, CNN International is seen in 319 million households, and Cartoon Network in 350 million. Curating those brands and providing quality content is our core, our DNA. Additionally, we try to move the TV experience beyond the living room at a time when consumers are shifting more and more from passive viewership to high-engagement behaviors. To say it in one sentence: We are focusing on our fans. They are streaming more, watching on-demand more and bingeing more. That is why we offer our brands and our content across more touchpoints than ever before. We want to serve our fans and enhance the user experience.

We are also offering 360-degree brand experiences. To give you a few examples: We are touring with many of our shows, especially the programs from Cartoon Network. We are developing several location-based entertainment projects, like the Cartoon Network Amazone waterpark in Thailand, a Cartoon Network cruise line and even a Cartoon Network hotel. We invest in developing games in connection with our most popular kids’ programs like Adventure Time, Ben 10 and The Powerpuff Girls. And these are only a few examples of how we broaden our offerings to the consumer, and especially to our fans.

WS: In this environment of constantly changing viewer behavior, what do pay-TV platforms want?

ZEILER: Let’s be clear: the choice of content and brands for the consumer is bigger and brighter than ever before. In this environment of what I call “consumer power,” pay-TV platforms need must-have brands, for which consumers are ready to pay. The 84 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

time when it was important for platforms to offer as many networks as possible regardless of whether the consumers actually watched them is over. Or at least will be over soon. Quality is more important than quantity.

In Latin America, for example, we have four networks in the top 10 and six in the top 20 channels— more than any of our peers.

The second thing that all platforms do more and more—at least the successful ones—is that they develop their own OTT experiences in order to be competitive with standalone SVOD services like Netflix. Which, for us, means that we also have to be more and more in control of the SVOD rights ourselves.

WS: What opportunities do you see in Asia for the Turner brands—linear and digital?

ZEILER: In the Asia-Pacific region, we build our business on the back of the two global hit brands CNN and Cartoon Network, as well as on local and regional brands. On the kids’ side of our business, we launched Boomerang in the last few years across all Southeast Asian markets, and POGO, our top-ranked kids’ brand in India, is one of our strongest local brands. The launch of Oh!K in Southeast Asia, which broadcasts the most successful Korean shows, was a success from the first day. Mondo TV and TABI, our two local networks in Japan, are top-ranking channels in their genres. And Warner TV in Southeast Asia, which airs Warner Bros. and TNT series, is one of the top generalentertainment channels in the region.

Asia Pacific is also a region where OTT services are exploding. Wherever you look, new OTT services, like iflix, Viu, HOOQ and Tribe—to name only a few—are ramping up their subscriber bases. And working with them in many different ways, and developing many different and sometimes new business models, is a priority for us.

The one market where we are at the beginning is China. And here we focus on the development of

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Cartoon Network websites, which are growing on a three-digit basis year on year, or with our YouTube channels, for which we had a record of 175 million views on our kids’ channels in June with 359 million minutes of watched content.

The Korean megahit Goblin aired on Oh!K, an entertainment channel that Turner has rolled out across Asia.

Chinese IP. Our first owned Chinese IP is an emoticon, a rabbit called “Tuzki,” which is known by the 600 million [members of the] WeChat community and is used by tens of millions of people every day.

You can imagine how many opportunities we see in developing this IP further. There are Tuzki cafes and restaurants, and Tencent will bring Tuzki to the big screen together with Warner Bros. and us.

WS: What opportunities do you see in Europe?

ZEILER: Our linear-channel portfolio continues to be successful, whether you look at Cartoon Network—the number one boys’ pay-TV channel in most markets—or Boomerang, which is our second complementary kids’ channel, or TNT, which is a top general-entertainment network in Germany and Spain, to name only a few examples.

We were also able to launch quite a few new channels in the last two years: Toonami, an action hero kids’ channel, earlier this year in Africa; TNT in nine markets in the Nordics and Central and Eastern Europe; and we will launch our first general-entertainment channel in France, branded as Warner TV, in November.

One of our main strategies in Europe is to invest more in local content. On the kids’ side, for many years we have produced The Amazing World of Gumball, which is a success in all markets, including the U.S. This year, we started producing Apple & Onion, another kids’ program, which hopefully will be a success all over the world. And in Germany, we now produce the third hit drama in a row with the series 4 Blocks.

There are also huge opportunities when it comes to our consumer-products business, through IP such as Ben 10 and The Powerpuff Girls.

Last but not least, don’t forget our digital approach. Whether it is with our EMEA

WS: What opportunities do you see in Latin America?

ZEILER: Despite the fact that we are still experiencing macroeconomic headwinds in Latin America, we nevertheless see enormous opportunities in the region. Pay-TV penetration has increased very much since the beginning of the decade and now exceeds 50 percent in all markets, with the exception of Brazil.

Turner has traditionally had a very strong business—with four networks in the top 10 and six in the top 20—which is unparalleled by any of our peers.

But this is not enough for us. We know that we need to invest heavily in these brands with more and more original content and sport. To secure that, we will shift the overwhelming part of our investments to these brands.

At the end of August of this year, we also started our first premium channel, TNT Sports in Argentina,

Young Sheldon is airing on Warner Channel in Latin America.

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Cartoon Network Amazone is a waterpark in Thailand featuring characters from the kids’ network.

on the back of our acquisition of local Argentine soccer rights, which we did together with FOX [Sports].

That is an exciting opportunity for us, and [early results] have already indicated that we will have a lot of joy with this investment.

WS: What demand are you seeing for sports in the digital world?

ZEILER: Although live sports will always play a very important role for linear networks, digital sports offers will develop fast and successfully. There will be many direct-to-consumer offers for sports fans, and we, as a company, will not abstain from this part of the business.

Internationally we have EI Plus, our SVOD offer in Brazil, and we also invested in a company called Copa90, which is a fan-based digital sports outlet focusing on soccer.

Add to that the success of ELEAGUE in the U.S., which we are in the process of expanding internationally, and you get a small glimpse of the opportunities we have in the digital sports arena.

WS: Is Turner thinking as much about providing content to the end consumer, the viewer, as it is about providing content to pay-TV platforms?

ZEILER: The answer is a simple yes. This is a major part of our strategy, as in my opinion, no media company will be successful in the future without a direct-to-consumer business. We have a few projects in development on both the kids’ and the general-entertainment sides of the business, and I am sorry that I can’t announce more at this stage.

But you will hear from us quite soon, as we are planning to launch some of our direct-to-consumer projects before the end of the year.

A central part of executing this strategy is the establishment of a special unit within Turner International, the digital ventures and innovation division, which was set up to drive innovation and to develop new direct-to-consumer offers.

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WS: Viewing habits may change, but viewers still want great content. What are some of the programming highlights at Turner International?

ZEILER: As I said before, investing in original programming is a must-do part of our strategy and serves three strategic goals: First, we need great content in order to be competitive in the fight for the consumer’s time. Second, the attractiveness of locally produced programs is increasing in all regions. And third, we need to control more of the value chain than we have in the past.

Some recent examples of our strategy in action include the German TNT original drama 4 Blocks, which launched at the Berlinale film festival. It has already been such a huge success in Germany, and is now making international waves. This follows on the success of the multiple award-winning series The Valley (Weinberg) in 2015, which was recently sold in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Ireland. These two examples show how non-English-language European shows are increasing in success overseas.

In Asia Pacific, too, we have a raft of original programs that are specific to the region. This includes Kyoto Life on TABI in Japan, Saimdang on our Korean channel Oh!K and Lamput on Cartoon Network.

And in Latin America, we were quite successful with local programs such as Hasta Que Te Conocí and Historia de un Clan.

WS: Can you comment on Time Warner’s merger with AT&T? What will it mean for Turner International?

ZEILER: As you can understand, I can’t discuss the proposed merger. What I can answer is the underlying question. It is fair to say that we are a truly global company with very strong brands and powerful content.

That is our core. That is our DNA. At the same time, we are developing more of a direct-to-consumer attitude and exploring the efficient use of data. Any additional knowledge in these fields could possibly drive our business significantly further. The combination of content, brands and data with a direct-to-consumer attitude will be an unbeatable formula.

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MILESTONES

Twenty years after it launched its DVD-by-mail service, and a decade since it rolled out a streaming platform, Netflix continues to reshape the media landscape.

By Mansha Daswani n his opening monologue at the Primetime Emmy Awards last month, host Stephen Colbert referenced Netflix’s whopping 92 nominations and quipped, “Five years ago, their hottest show was a scratched DVD of Finding Nemo.”

Like most great jokes, Colbert’s line is partly true; in 2012 Netflix didn’t have House of Cards, Narcos, Orange Is the New Black, Stranger Things, The Crown.

But it had already changed the game when it comes to content consumption—a path it’s been on since 1997.

That was the year that Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, two software engineers, set up a company to launch a DVD-by-mail service. At a time when we were still driving or walking to the neighborhood Blockbuster, Hastings and Randolph were devising an interface and an infrastructure system to let you go online, choose the movies you wanted and have them arrive in your mailbox two days later. Initially operating off a per-use rental model, Netflix shifted to a subscription service in 1999, and pretty quickly, subscribers were hooked on the red 92 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

envelopes arriving at their homes—no traffic, no lines, no waiting. And Hastings was keen to take that concept even further.

In 2002 Netflix went public (at a price of $15 per share; today, it’s about $186 per share), and the company began investing a portion of its revenues into building an infrastructure for content streaming. By 2007 Netflix had readied the technology to switch on a free streaming service for its DVD subscribers. That changed everything for the company, and indeed, for the entire media landscape.

Come 2011, Netflix had made the decision to split the DVD and streaming options as the latter overtook the former.

Eager to serve the hungry appetites of its customers, Netflix snapped up movies and films in large volumes, giving content owners an entirely new revenue stream on back-catalog titles and allowing viewers to catch up on previous episodes ahead of new seasons launching.

The platform is frequently credited with transforming the fortune of Breaking Bad, which struggled to find traction in its first couple of seasons on linear TV. And

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Netflix’s Okja, directed

by Bong Joon-ho, was accepted into the Cannes Film Festival this year.

then Netflix transformed itself again with House of Cards, putting itself in league with the likes of HBO, Showtime and Starz with premium, original series. Those efforts have continued at a rapid clip ever since.

“With each original title, we learn more about what our members want, about how to produce and promote effectively and about the positive impact of originals on our brand,” Ted Sarandos, chief content officer at Netflix, told World Screen in 2016. “Our original slate continues to expand at an incredible pace.”

GLOBAL VIEW

to be exposed to that and build some association with the Netflix brand is really exciting. We’d love to have a direct relationship in China, it’s just a question of when and how. Those are things we’re trying to figure out over time.”

Meanwhile, Netflix continues to ramp up its operations everywhere else, licensing local content, commissioning local originals and increasingly doing big global buys.

“Almost all of our suppliers have regional selling apparatuses, and [global licensing deals] disrupt that world,” Sarandos told delegates at the APOS conference in Bali last year. “The virtue of global licensing is that it de-risks production in a huge way. The real dynamic shift in the economics of global entertainment is that you used to be able to produce a very expensive show, deficit that against the U.S. license and then roll the dice trying to sell your show around the world. [With global licensing], before a

And the company is spending more, too; in 2016 its budget for acquisitions and originals was $5 billion, in 2017 it was $6 billion, and for next year Netflix is looking at spending $7 billion. The expansion in its budget has come as Netflix has transformed from an American platform into a global business, moving first into Canada, then Latin America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa. At the beginning of last year, it had officially switched on in some 130 markets. China remains its one big holdout, but it has secured a foothold there via a content-licensing deal with local OTT player iQiyi.

“China is an important market for obvious reasons,” says Robert Roy, the platform’s VP of content acquisitions. “It’s also a challenging market for obvious reasons as well. The deal with iQiyi gets our content distributed in the territory.

Netflix content is, we believe, best in class in the world. For the Chinese audience to begin Warner Bros. produced Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life as a limited series for Netflix.

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The acclaimed comedy Grace and Frankie, produced by Skydance and sold by Lionsgate, stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.

The platform has constantly adapted as it has grown show rolls [out] its first episode, in many cases it’s already its reach, taking in learnings from each market. Speaking profitable for the studio. When does that benefit overat a conference last year, Hastings cited Brazil as a key whelm the opportunistic benefits of being able to turn example. “We weren’t really ready,” he says of the platover every rock in every territory and squeeze any extra form’s arrival in that market. “We didn’t do very well in bit of licensing dollar out?” the beginning in Brazil. But we were steady, we fixed issue Telling World Screen about his acquisitions remit, Roy by issue, we talked with members, we improved the servnotes that the “goal is to be as global as possible. We want ice and now we have a huge and growing business in to give the content as broad a distribution as we can. On Brazil. It gives us confidence that we’re on the right path.” the licensing side, because we’re coming in midstream, a lot of the rights have been sold off, so as we move upstream we’ll look to control more rights or procure LEARNING CURVE more territories so we can get shows for global distribuMexico, too, has offered good examples of what kinds tion. The big question for us really is, how well does this of content work for the Netflix subscriber. “Mexico is an content travel? Content that plays well in a specific terinteresting case study for us,” Roy tells World Screen. ritory might be interesting, but what’s really interesting is “When we launched in Mexico, we went heavy on teleif that content plays in other territories. As a global novelas, which are multi-episode, and we set a portion provider, we can aggregate a bunch of audiences from all of our budget [aside] for that content. What we realized over the world and build a meaningful viewing base to quickly was that people didn’t want to watch that much elevate the profile of that content and bring more value volume. They did want to watch La Reina del Sur to the creative community.”

[Queen of the South]. We said, can we reimagine that Roy has been with Netflix for about a decade, starting format, that concept? And we did, with Club de Cuervos, in the financial planning and analysis group before movwhich is much more contained in terms of episode ing over to acquisitions, where he initially managed film licensing. In January 2016, as the platform completed its global rollout— #netflixeverywhere—the acquisitions department was restructured.

“You never learn as much as you do on the first day you launch in a territory,” he says.

“We started gathering feedback from people in terms of what they were reacting to, what was resonating. We decided to reorganize the acquisitions group a little bit.

We moved major studio films out, brought independent film and independent television to my group and then set ourselves up into regional groups within CBS Studios International’s new Dynasty will stream on Netflix outside the U.S. international licensing.”

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Now in its third season, Gaumont’s Narcos has become one of Netflix’s biggest hits globally.

count, but we elevated the budgets. We’ll take the money we [were going to spend] on that long, broad content and put it in more concentrated episodic volume, and we will try to elevate the profile of the show to tell it on a scale that’s never been told in the market. That’s where we differentiate. The high-volume episode counts are challenging.

You end up spending a lot of money across episodes and people don’t get through all of them.

Super series are interesting. But what is that magic number?”

Roy is bullish on the role of non-English-language content on Netflix, especially following Netflix has been acquiring many foreign-language drama series, including Global Agency’s the success of Narcos. “That’s Magnificent Century. a show that is 75 percent in Spanish, made by a French production company, TV. Whatever the number released all at once, these with a Brazilian actor playing a Colombian,” says Roy episodes give our subscribers the joy of great stories, the of the Gaumont production, which starred Wagner freedom of on-demand and the fun of binge-viewing.

Moura as Pablo Escobar in the first two seasons.

We have also learned that while great stories travel, peo“That show plays everywhere.” ple’s tastes are very broad in any single market. There will always be cultural and geographical nuances between markets in entertainment genres, which is why GLOBAL REACH, LOCAL STORIES Netflix is relevant because as internet TV, we can offer a Netflix has announced original productions across the wide variety. Then we top that with our personalization globe, from the luscious and expensive The Crown out of algorithms, which quickly learn and make recommenthe U.K. to Sacred Games in India, Marseille in France, dations based upon individual tastes.”

Edha in Argentina, Dogs of Berlin in Germany and more.

Netflix is also licensing content in individual markets, “Whether it is the U.K., France or Korea, we provide often to deploy on the platform globally. It recently creators the freedom to tell a story in the number of clinched a deal with JTBC in South Korea that brings a episodes that will accomplish the feat of telling great stowealth of Korean content to its global subscriber base. It’s ries,” says Sarandos. “The beauty of an internet-TV model a move that is intended to boost its base in Asia, where is that these episodes don’t have to fit into some preKorean shows remain in high demand, but Roy believes determined timeframe or schedule, unlike traditional pay that the popularity of the genre is not confined to the region. “We learn best when we put the content into the world and let people react to it. Korean content is important in Korea, but we also think it’s important in the rest of Southeast Asia as well as the United States and a bunch of other places. We’re trying to gather as many data points as we can to figure out what works. The JTBC deal for us is big, in that it’s a big tranche of Asian content that we think will play really well with our subscriber base all over the world, and we’re excited to see how it works.”

Roy adds, “We’re uniquely positioned to be a premium procurer of content.

We can bring the best of Hollywood content, along with the best of Asian content, Latin American content and Turkish content, put all this stuff together and give people a really compelling value proposition. It just takes a bit of time. When I say premium, it’s something people have to have. Look 100 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

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Netflix did a multi-territory deal with Caracol Internacional for Surviving Escobar: Alias JJ.

at the premium original content that we provide that travels globally. The really interesting piece of the whole thing is that we’re giving it to people at the same time [everywhere]. Rarely has that ever happened, where, on a global basis, you can have a real-time conversation with your friends, and if you’re in Mumbai and I’m in Los Angeles, we’re talking about the same stuff.”

MORE THAN DRAMA

Netflix, tells World Screen. “We want to have a favorite show for every member of the household.”

In addition to licensing content from the global market, Yeatman is keen to work with international creators on more originals. “To date, our original efforts have mostly come from English-speaking countries,” Yeatman says. “We have many shows out of Australia, the U.K. and Canada. We’ve done one international kids’ original, Las Leyendas out of Mexico, we call it Legend Quest in English, and we’re absolutely expanding. I’m speaking at MIPJunior, and we’ll be announcing some new international kids’ originals from other parts of the world.”

He is also keen to drive innovation within kids’ content, be it interactive storytelling, with which the platform is experimenting, or different formats. “When you’ve had your whole career producing content for a linear network that needs to have content in a certain format, it takes a little while to de-program that,” he explains. “For us, content doesn’t have to be exactly 11 minutes or 22 minutes; the episodes can be a few minutes shorter or longer, depending on the story in that particular episode. But pushing even further than that, if you think about a movie or series on Netflix, they’re the same thing—they’re just packaged differently in time formats. We are excited about blurring the lines of what is a movie versus what is a series.”

As for what he wants to hear from pitches, Yeatman stresses, “Do your homework. Get a sense of what we have already and what we’ve talked about publicly that is working well for us. Know the ecosystem, and have a specific point of view. We love it when a creator comes in and says, here’s a character, here’s what they’re going through, here’s what this show is about and here’s what’s going to happen to those characters, not just in the first episode but over the course of a season or an entire series. Specificity and a unique point of view are really important.”

While high-end scripted in the U.S. and abroad has certainly defined Netflix’s brand, the platform has also considerably stepped up its efforts in other genres.

Documentaries have been key, with the service making waves with Making a Murderer, Ava DuVernay’s Oscar-nominated 13th and the eight-part blue-chip production Our Planet, slated for 2019. It has also made a significant commitment to kids’ programming, unveiling a raft of titles with the likes of DreamWorks Animation, Saban Brands, Avi Arad and 41 Entertainment and more.

Speaking to World Screen in 2013, Sarandos noted, “If you ask ten people why they love Netflix, you get ten different answers. One of the answers we invariably get is, kids love watching Netflix on their iPads or on TV. We hear more and more people saying that their kids want to watch Netflix, not a certain show. Children’s programming has become an important and distinctive selling point of the service. Parents really love Netflix because they can put their kids in front of it and know that they will not get inundated with candy commercials or toy commercials.

It’s really just about the viewing; it’s a safe environment.”

“We like to work with creators who have a vision and a unique point of view where the content is visually distinct, so it stands out on our service,” Andy Yeatman, the director of global kids’ content at Inter Medya recently licensed four Turkish dramas to Netflix, including Black Money Love.

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Stranger Things, which is returning for a second season this year, was a breakout hit for Netflix in 2016.

That need for a unique point of view stretches across all genres at Netflix, as it faces an ever more crowded SVOD landscape. “Central to our original content is how we look for talented storytellers with a strong track record who have stories that they are passionate about telling,” Sarandos said. “Because we aren’t courting advertisers, because we aren’t programming to a single demographic and because we are global and ondemand, we have a unique and expansive opportunity to tell great stories.”

“We want the best storytellers,” Roy states. “We’re in this business for the long run, so what we’re trying to find is, who sees the vision that we see, who has a compelling story to tell and how can we bring that to people. We’re looking for models that are sustainable. It’s got to be a business model that works for everyone—for the creator and for us. What we want is, you tell us what your vision of the story is and how much it will take to tell that story, and we’ll tell you if we think we have an audience for it.

Let’s put it together and if it works, great, let’s do more of that. We’re not necessarily honing in on specific people. We want people to feel compelled to create and realize that there’s this new distribution platform that has never existed before, and find those people who have something to say but haven’t had a chance to say it.”

Kong: King of the Apes, from Avi Arad and 41 Entertainment, is one of the original kids’ series on Netflix.

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For the team at Netflix, staying true to that compelling proposition will allow it to navigate the challenges ahead.

Analysts have noted that one of the biggest obstacles for Netflix’s global expansion, as it looks to grow beyond its 100-million membership base, is likely to be pricing in emerging markets. In many countries, it is seen as an expensive proposition.

PRICE POINTS “If you look at Brazil, for example, we heard the exact same thing—[it’s price sensitive], it’s a developing market with no payment infrastructure, people can’t afford to pay,” Roy says. “We’re growing really, really well there.

What we have to do is build a compelling product, and that starts with getting the content mix right and then we continue to generate revenue and plow that revenue back into the content mix, and it just continues to get better. Over time, the payment infrastructure gets better, people’s wherewithal gets better.”

To deepen its reach in key markets, Netflix has been aligning with partners across the world such as telcos like Globe in the Philippines and cable giants like Liberty Global in Europe.

“We want to work with our partners to support amazing innovation for the consumers’ benefit—for example, partnerships on strong net neutrality, where payments are neutral between ISPs and content providers,” Sarandos told World Screen last year. “Today, our Open Connect program allows thousands of large and small ISPs to directly interconnect with the Netflix network for free, rather than going through third-party transit providers, which lowers both our costs and that of the ISPs. Then for MVPDs, we want to work with providers that offer internet-capable TV set-top devices, working with them on integrated viewing experiences (and in many cases, integrated billing), which increase the use of the operator set-top device. As for [consumer-electronics] partners, we are already working with them on Netflix-ready devices, and our partners can take advantage of the quality of our original content that is shot in 4K and HDR, to showcase its innovation for a superior viewing experience.”

As it continues to expand, Netflix, like all content platforms, is well aware of the piracy problem. The platform was infamously hacked this year, with episodes of

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Orange Is the New Black released ahead of the premiere. For Roy, having day-and-date global rollouts doesn’t solve the piracy problem but can alleviate it by giving viewers a better, legal route for accessing the content they want. “Piracy is dangerous for the content business in general,” he says. “What we’re try-

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ing to give people is a very easy way to access content in a real-time manner at a fair price. People get upset when the studios hold the content back from them for 6 months, 12 months, 18 months at a time, just because they’re trying to milk every dollar out of every nook and cranny. That’s not what we’re doing. We’re giving it to you at the same time as everybody else in the world, and we’re giving it to you in what we believe to be the most forward-thinking presentation mode, and we’re giving you the ability to download.”

As for the competitive environment with SVOD platforms popping up everywhere, Hastings sees it as a natural evolution of the business. “I expect that in ten years, there will be thousands of SVOD services,” he said at APOS last year. “Some will be ad-supported, some subscription, and it’s based on this mobile app ecosystem that is so powerful and will eventually spread to television—you’ll get the same apps on TV as you get on mobile.”

On the day Netflix crossed the 100-million-member mark earlier this year, Hastings shared a photo of himself on Instagram captioned, “Celebrating 100m members the same way I did 1m: a steak alone at Denny’s.”

Roy says that “humble perspective” permeates through Netflix’s culture. “We have a lot of learning and growing to do. What gets us excited is that we have just scratched the surface of the creative community that has something to say. I’ve been at Netflix for ten years and that’s what keeps me going. It keeps Reed and Ted going. We appreciate that our business has grown; that’s really exciting for us. And we’ll continue to invest into the product to make it as compelling as we can, whether that is through technology or through the stories that we tell. The energy at Netflix hasn’t changed since we were the little guy. It still feels like that to me. That’s at the core of our DNA.”

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Netflix is headquartered in Los Gatos, California, but its content team operates out of the 14-story ICON tower in Beverly Hills.

1997 Reed Hastings and software executive Marc Randolph cofound Netflix to offer online movie rentals.

1998 Netflix launches the first DVD rental and sales site, netflix.com.

1999 Netflix debuts a subscription service, offering unlimited DVD rentals for a low monthly price.

2000 Netflix introduces a personalized movie recommendation system, which uses Netflix members’ ratings to accurately predict choices for its subscribers.

2002 With 600,000 members in the U.S., Netflix makes its initial public offering.

2005 The number of Netflix members rises to 4.2 million.

2007 Netflix introduces streaming, which allows members to instantly watch television shows and movies on their computers.

2008 Netflix partners with consumer-electronics companies to stream on the Xbox 360, Blu-ray disc players and TV set-top boxes.

2009 Netflix extends streaming capabilities to PS3 and internetconnected TVs and devices.

2010 Netflix is available on the Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, the Nintendo Wii and other internet-connected devices.

Netflix launches its service in Canada.

2011 Netflix launches throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

2012 Netflix becomes available in Europe, including the U.K., Ireland and in the Nordic countries. Netflix wins its first Primetime Emmy Engineering Award.

2013 Netflix expands to the Netherlands. Netflix garners 31 Primetime Emmy nominations, including outstanding drama series for House of Cards, comedy series for Orange Is the New Black and documentary or nonfiction special for The Square.

House of Cards wins three Primetime Emmy Awards.

2014 Netflix launches in six new countries in Europe (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland).

Netflix wins seven Creative Emmy Awards for House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black. Netflix now has over 50 million members globally.

2015 Netflix launches in Australia, New Zealand and Japan, with continued expansion across Europe in Italy, Spain and Portugal. The first Netflix original feature film, Beasts of No Nation, is released.

2016 Netflix is available worldwide.

2017 Twenty years after its launch, Netflix crosses the 100-millionsubscriber mark worldwide.

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MARKET TRENDS

WS: Markets across the globe are experiencing different levels of disruption as viewing habits change. What is the Canadian media landscape facing today?

LENNOX: The thing that comes to my mind first and foremost is trying to stay a progressive thinker in linear television—which is CTV, and 30 specialty [services]— while running CraveTV, our SVOD. In a way, it’s fun and stimulating, but also very challenging to keep those three very different plates spinning. It’s exacerbated by the fact that there’s a lot of incoming traffic with many SVODs already in the market and many to come. So the great news is that every day around here is like a year! [Laughs] WS: Let’s start with CTV, which I understand is the number one network for the 16th consecutive year.

What programming strategies, and specific shows, are driving that success?

LENNOX: We’ve focused on CTV as a trusted “heart” brand. We’ve been fortunate to get shows like This Is Us and Designated Survivor, but, as you may know, we’ve repositioned Bell Media here in Canada as a content company. The number one original show in the country is Cardinal, which is a made-at-home Canadian series that we produced. The number one show, and this includes international content, on CraveTV is also a made-in-Canada show, Letterkenny.

I’m very proud of some of the early milestones we’ve achieved in terms of the content we are creating. The first one I mentioned, Cardinal, where our international partnership is with Entertainment One, we’re in 100 countries now. Canal+ has picked it up in France, BBC has picked it up in the U.K., and Hulu in the U.S. So the content we’re creating is starting to do well not only here in Canada but also traveling internationally.

By Mansha Daswani

For more than 130 years, the Bell brand has been synonymous with communications services in Canada. The Bell Telephone Company served as the precursor to what is now BCE, one of Canada’s largest publicly traded entities. And BCE, with its wide range of assets, is much, much more than a telephone company these days. Its Bell Media division, serving English- and French-speaking Canadians, operates a portfolio of channels and radio services, including its flagship, CTV, as well as the streaming site CraveTV and a range of GO-branded catch-up platforms. The company has also been stepping up its content investments and unveiling new offerings like the short-form service SnackableTV, all while navigating the changing regulatory landscape, including new mandates on skinny pay-TV bundles. As president, Randy Lennox has set his focus on keeping Bell Media’s range of services in the pole position. Lennox took the reins at Bell Media earlier this year after serving as the company’s president of content and broadcasting. A veteran of the music business, having previously run Universal Music Canada, Lennox is well aware of the pitfalls of ignoring the way technology can change an industry. He tells World Screen that he is optimistic about the future of the TV business, including linear channels, as he crafts a strategy for Bell Media that emphasizes content creation, technological innovation, programming partnerships and live events.

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WS: Tell us about the commitment Bell Media has made to the Canadian production industry.

LENNOX: We established the Harold Greenberg Fund some years ago, and we have invested over C$85 million in the Canadian film and television industry to date.

That’s financial support for Canadian producers through aid programs for more than 4,000 projects. We’re also committed to several key organizations that are essential to growing and nurturing Canadian productions and talent. These include the Banff World Media Festival, where we are a grand patron sponsor; the Canadian Screen Awards, where we are a principal partner and participate in a range of events and marketing initiatives that we help organize and execute to promote and celebrate Canadian Screen Week; Telefilm Canada’s Talent Fund; and we’re a patron sponsor of the CMPA’s Prime Time in Ottawa initiative. Also, we’re passionate about creating and supporting Canadian content that airs across our platforms. In 2017–18 alone, we’ll introduce 32 new English-language Canadian programs. This represents 237 hours of original programming commissioned from independent producers across the country.

WS: You mentioned Cardinal as having been a big success. What other original-programming initiatives are you excited about?

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who want to do something with this in the visual arts.

WS: And you have the brilliant Orphan Black!

LENNOX: Is it not genius? It breaks my heart [that this was its] final season.

Tatiana [Maslany, the star of the show] is incredibly gifted and has very generously given us all of her energy in creating such an incredible success story for our company. We’re actually in talks to try and figure out the next steps with that entire production camp, of whom we’re very big fans.

Bell Media is looking to license its new music competition format The Launch on the international market.

WS: Orphan Black aired on Space, one of your specialty channels. Tell us about the strengths of that 30service portfolio.

LENNOX: On Bravo, we were fortunate enough to get The Handmaid’s Tale, which became Bravo’s most-watched series ever with 1 million viewers. Then we moved it over to CraveTV. We’re spending a lot of time on windowing. Another thing we’ve invented here is SnackableTV, a mobile app with content of between 30 seconds and 4 minutes. With Bell being the parent company, there’s a vertical there that we get to take advantage of. Because I come from another world, I’m not looking at Bell as owning a television company.

We’re a properly vertically integrated company. So when you buy a new phone, for example, SnackableTV will already be on there. That’s an exciting thing we’re undertaking as well.

LENNOX: The Russell Peters comedy The Indian Detective is coming out on CTV this fall. That’s in partnership with Netflix. Canada has been great at running imported formats like MasterChef and The Amazing Race, which we’ve had a lot of success with, but we haven’t taken brands and extrapolated those outside of our country.

So now we’ve done a music show called The Launch. I was involved with The Voice and American Idol in a prior career at Universal. The Launch is a very interesting concept where we own the brand, and we’ve had a ton of international interest. This is also a CTV show, and our mentors/judges are world-class, with a mix of Canadian and international stars. I’m very excited about the fact that we’re going to travel our content outside of our borders.

Another example of us trying to do things somewhat differently is our joint venture with Iconic Entertainment Studios and Michael Cohl. We have a musical theater production [Jim Steinman’s Bat Out of Hell: The Musical] that ran in Manchester and London and it’s opening in Toronto in October.

We’ve had a number of other countries put their hand up. So similar to The Launch, it’s funny that the lion’s share of the revenue will not come from our own geo [geography], it will actually come from international. We think that not only is Bat Out of Hell the first of many in terms of [live stage performances], we’re also looking at filming it, whether that’s for a television broadcast or some form of film. There’s been a great deal of tire-kicking from several producers, well-known ones, I might add, Cardinal, a Canadian original licensed by Entertainment One, is CTV’s top-rated show.

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stimulating part of the game is often when there’s no basketball on the court. And if you look at linear television that way, by stimulating other ancillary things around it, then I think it’s a sustainable asset.

WS: What has been the impact of the CRTC mandates on basic-cable packages and skinny bundles?

LENNOX: I don’t want to be either under- or overdramatic.

So I’ll say this: the anticipation of the event was far more gargantuan than the event itself. [Laughs] I’m being gentle here. We all said, “This is going to be this complex nightmare for us!” In fact, it’s not been. Adaptive behavior is the cure to any challenge. So that would be my answer. We are, by nature, being adaptive in our business, as we should be, and we’re also realizing that it wasn’t the tsunami that it was professed to be coming in. That is of less concern to me than what I would call the ubiquitous challenge. What I mean by that is, as I look out at the horizon of Hulu, Amazon, Apple Music, Google/YouTube, Netflix and many, many others, I’m more concerned about the crowded-space issue than I am about the pick-and-pay issue.

Bell Media’s Discovery Canada partnered with Netflix on the period drama Frontier.

WS: Given that we are all accessing content in so many different ways, what do linear channels have to do to remain relevant?

LENNOX: It’s interesting. As you know, no one is watching television without having a second screen in their hands. Recently, with The Amazing Race Canada, I made a deal with a company to run mobile real-time responses back onto linear TV. Let me explain what I mean. If The Amazing Race has four sets of two people competing in that particular episode, and they’re climbing a mountain in Vancouver, British Columbia, you can, in real time, at home through your mobile device, vote on who you think is going to win. At any given time it’s like looking at an election, where 56 percent are going for this person, and 42 percent are going for this person. It’s adding a very nonlinear element to a traditional medium. And we’re getting brilliant reviews on it. People are already excited about The Amazing Race Canada, which is stimulating content on linear. Even going into commercials, we might ask a question—for example, What did you think of that mountain in Vancouver?

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WS: What have you learned about how your viewers are engaging with your nonlinear assets? Are you investing in different kinds of content for CraveTV? LENNOX: What we’re trying to do is not make CraveTV feel like it’s an also-ran. Let me give you an example.

The show I mentioned that we’re very proud of, Canada’s number one original drama, Cardinal, we ran it on CraveTV the night before we ran it on CTV linear. We were strategically rewarding those that were interested in it, and then after the six episodes ran on CTV linear, the in-season stack was already resident on CraveTV. Letterkenny was designed for CraveTV. It’s a big hit here. We resisted the notion of putting it on TV because we told CraveTV we wanted it to be authentic and we wanted the CraveTV loyalists to be rewarded. We said it’s a CraveTV original, exclusively on that service. We would never betray [CraveTV subscribers’] trust. It would be analogous to you [subscribing to] Netflix for House of Cards and then the next day it’s on NBC. The other thing we’ve done that is appropriate is there was a time when a season would finish on CTV and it would hit CraveTV 10 months later. We’re much closer to day and date. Handmaid’s Tale is a great example. It comes full circle to my earlier comment about adaptive behavior—every rule that I make on Tuesday, I break and change on Wednesday. [Laughs] That’s the way I like it!

WS: What lessons do you think the content business has learned from how the music industry handled the move to streaming and downloads?

LENNOX: I think the television business vastly underestimated how expeditious the digital move would be. I don’t think anyone would argue against the point that they thought it would be much more gradual than it was. It’s a perfect example of what happened in music. When that tidal wave started and the physical deterioration began, with the Tower Records and the HMVs and Virgins closing in the mid-2000s, even then there was some form of denial in the music business. As a result, it extrapolated

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Orphan Black, which aired on Bell Media’s Space channel, has been one of Canada’s biggest international drama successes.

over to film—people said, that’s just going to incrementally adjust in three and four percentiles every year. I was saying, When this thing starts, it’s like a choo-choo train— when it begins to pick up momentum, it is the dissolution of traditional mediums. That has proven itself to be true in music. I don’t think it’s the case [in television]. I think the scale of linear is such that the advertisers are still very, very healthy. The rumors of its demise are greatly exaggerated. I qualify myself as the new guy looking with a fresh pair of eyes. I can tell you very objectively that linear is a phenomenal part of our overall business. I’m looking at PwC-based trajectories, I’m looking at my own realistic trajectories to 2021, and I don’t see it deteriorating with the rapidity that the music business did, because it’s so robust. You don’t have to get in your car to watch your TV, because it’s in your house. You did have to get in your car and go to HMV. I just think that’s going to slow that process down. I also think that using second screens for real-time information and doing as much live linear television as possible is salient to it staying buoyant.

WS: We discussed SnackableTV. Are there other ways in which CTV or your other channels are collaborating with Bell’s mobile business?

LENNOX: Very much so. CTV GO, for example, we have several hundred thousand [users] on there. We are getting content, particularly short-form content, out through mobile every day. TSN, our partnership with ESPN, is so reliant on statistics and highlights that it’s perfect for mobile in terms of its attention span. Obviously, you’re not going to watch an entire football game on mobile, or rarely would you, but certainly, with the highlights, we’re getting a ton of action through mobile.

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WS: As you look ahead to the next one to two years, in what areas are you planning to up your investment?

LENNOX: Because Bell is such a vertically integrated company, we’re spending a lot of energy around live.

We’ll probably run 8 to 12 events this year. Many are iHeart events, awards, concerts and things of that nature.

We’re growing that part of the company. There’s nothing cookie-cutter about running events and monetizing them and figuring out new ways to get them seen. I’m pumped about that. I’m very excited about some of the strategic alliances on the film and television content side that we’re building. We’re in several NDAs [non-disclosure agreements] as we speak in terms of what I call getting rich creative uncles in the room. As you know, to compete in content you can’t feel municipal.

The caliber of content out there in the world doesn’t know a geo, it doesn’t care what the geo is. So you can’t go, Aw, shucks, I’m just Canadian and that’s why it’s not so hot.

[Laughs] Right? I just landed from L.A.—my sole purpose for being out there was to find rich uncles and big brothers and sisters to help us calibrate our content upwards. We made a show called Frontier, which was a massive hit on Discovery in Canada. It’s a fifty-fifty deal between us and Netflix.

Had we not positioned that deal, the caliber of the show would not have been the same. Jason Momoa, from Game of Thrones, agreed to come up and star.

Let’s be honest; you need money for these things. You don’t want to scale like you’re a population of 36 million, even though you are. So I spend a great deal of my time on airplanes, trying to say, Just because we’re small doesn’t mean we’re dumb. We’re out there creatively, with the best of them. The Canadian music business has proven that all day long, and the Canadian television business, I think, is very much poised to do the same. But we do need big brothers to help us.

WS: Are there other areas of Bell’s business you’re excited about?

LENNOX: We make 45,000 hours per year of Canadian English television. We have 2,700 people who are involved in production. At the 2017 Canadian Screen Awards, we won 53 out of the 100 awards. We’re very proud of those things. If you said to me, Randy, what is your message?

My message is, good energy. This company is going to be energized; it’s going to be lateral in its thinking. Like all new relationships—and my relationship with this company is new—there’s a certain energy and momentum that we’re trying to build foundationally to [develop] a really interesting business here. I don’t want to be looked at as traditional in any sense of the word. I know everybody says that, but I think we’re walking the walk so far.

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TR E N D S E T T E R

AWARDS or the seventh consecutive year, World Screen is teaming up with Reed MIDEM at MIPCOM to present the Trendsetter Awards to four programming executives to honor their contributions to the television industry. This year’s winners, RTÉ’s Dermot Horan, SBS Broadcasting’s Rozan Hamaker, Walter Presents’ Jason Thorp and AMC Networks’ Aurelie de Troyer, reflect today’s varied and ever-evolving media landscape.

RTÉ, the Irish public broadcaster, fulfills its remit to serve several segments of the audience and in the process has created the country’s market-leading channel. SBS Broadcasting operates a portfolio of channels in the Netherlands, a market known for its creativity and where viewers crave what’s new and different. The streaming service Walter Presents features the best non-English-language drama from around the world. And AMC Networks, known for groundbreaking and award-winning programming on its linear channels, has extended its offering on two streaming services, Shudder and Sundance Now. As viewers have more and more entertainment options and an increasing number of devices from which to enjoy films and TV programs, the challenge to all broadcasters, channel groups and streaming services today is to extend their offerings in order to reach viewers wherever they may be and on whatever screen they prefer. As a consequence, network schedules and on-demand menus must be rich in

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variety. It is the main responsibility of the four Trendsetter Award winners to source must-watch programming that will draw viewers and brand their networks or services.

They will be presented their awards at the end of the Acquisition Superpanel: What Do Programmers Want? session, which will take place on Wednesday, October 18, in the Grand Auditorium in the Palais des Festivals from 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m. The discussion, moderated by World Screen’s group editorial director, Anna Carugati, will range from spotting properties that will work with local audiences to negotiating the complex maze of rights required to provide shows on multiple platforms.

“We are thrilled to be working with our friends at Reed MIDEM for the seventh consecutive year to honor these leading programmers with the World Screen Trendsetter Awards,” says Ricardo Guise, the president and publisher of World Screen. “With the experience they have built up working for services in many of the most competitive and dynamic markets in the world, these executives have developed keen eyes for spotting top-notch, on-brand imports to satisfy their demanding audiences. At the Acquisition Superpanel at MIPCOM, we’ll hear them share insights into their approaches to finding the best the global market has to offer. The must-attend session will surely provide plenty of useful information for anyone in the business of producing, buying or selling content in the new golden age of television. We are delighted to be honoring their achievements at MIPCOM.”

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T R E N D S E T T E R AWA R D S DERMOT HORAN Director of Acquisitions & Co-Productions RTÉ, Ireland

RTÉ (Raidió Teilifís Éireann) is the Irish public broadcaster.

It serves viewers through two market-leading national channels, RTÉ One and RTÉ2, which usually air 18 out of the top 20 shows in any given year. A catch-up site and a suite of digital services, including websites and genre-specific apps, round out the offering. Dermot Horan is the director of acquisitions and co-productions. This season RTÉ One will see the homegrown dramas Acceptable Risk and Striking Out accompanied by acquired series Mr. Mercedes, Vikings, Homeland, Doctor Foster and Grey’s Anatomy.

RTÉ2 dedicates Friday nights to foreign-language drama such as Mammon, Below the Surface and Ride Upon the Storm. RTÉ2 also airs Say Yes to the Dress Ireland. In addition, Horan oversees international co-productions and prebuys, including The Fall, Paula, Redwater and Dara and Ed’s Road to Mandalay.

ROZAN HAMAKER Head of Acquisitions SBS Broadcasting, The Netherlands

Rozan Hamaker is the head of acquisitions for a bouquet of four channels in the Netherlands that are part of SBS Broadcasting, now owned by Talpa. SBS6 is a general-entertainment channel, aimed at the whole family; Net5 skews female; Veronica targets younger viewers; and SBS9, for which Hamaker is also channel manager, consists entirely of acquired films and series. With such a broad remit across four channels, Hamaker is on the lookout for films, series, factual programs, documentaries and formats that can be adapted to the Dutch market. Recent in-house or commissioned shows include Rich House, Poor House, Around the World with 80 Year Olds and House Rules. Among the most successful recent acquired shows are Lethal Weapon and MasterChef Australia.

Feature films also perform well thanks to the way they are curated and marketed. Hamaker, who has a degree in law, joined SBS in 2005.

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T R E N D S E T T E R AWA R D S JASON THORP CEO & Co-Founder Global Series Network/Walter Presents

Global Series Network operates Walter Presents, a streaming service dedicated to non-English-language drama. In the U.K., through a joint venture with Channel 4, it has been available on the broadcaster’s digital All4 platform since January 2016.

It launched in the U.S. earlier this year on several platforms, including Amazon, Roku, Google Play and Apple TV, as an advertising-free SVOD service, and there are plans for further international rollouts. Curated by the very passionate Walter Iuzzolino, Walter Presents offers award-winning and top-rated drama from around the world, including Scandi noir shows like Modus and Blue Eyes, the Norwegian thriller Valkyrien, action thrillers from Latin America and dramas from Asia.

Jason Thorp co-founded Global Series Network with Iuzzolino and Jo McGrath. Most recently Thorp was head of FOX Networks Group in the U.K. and before that he worked for Universal Studios, ITV and Viasat.

AURELIE DE TROYER VP of Global Acquisitions & Co-Productions AMC Networks

AMC Networks is the home to such channels as AMC and SundanceTV in the U.S. These brands are also available internationally as AMC Global and SundanceTV Global. In an effort to reach viewers who prefer to watch online, AMC Networks has launched the SVOD streaming services Sundance Now and Shudder. Sundance Now provides members curated selections of feature films, documentaries and series, originals, new releases and classics. Shudder is home to horror and suspenseful entertainment. Aurelie de Troyer oversees the global acquisitions and coproductions for these two services. Among recent commissioned or acquired titles are the miniseries Riviera, the Swedish crime drama Jordskott, the French political thriller The Bureau and the British sitcom Back. She has also secured the feature docs Cobain: Montage of Heck, a co-production with HBO, and Ronaldo, and the films Revenge, Listen to Me Marlon—a co-production with Showtime—and Sherpa, a co-production with Screen Australia.

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Netflix’s House of Cards.

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Elizabeth Guider investigates how platforms and producers are attracting top-end talent in an era of peak TV. eri Russell was riveting last season as a Russian sleeper spy in The Americans, with her co-star Matthew Rhys the one training the camera on her as director; Designated Survivor might not have bottled that subtle but insistent suspense if Kiefer Sutherland weren’t on both sides of the camera; Atlanta wouldn’t give off that thumping inner-city vibe if actor-creator-rapper Donald Glover hadn’t turned storytelling expectations on their heads, even reconfiguring what a writers’ room ought to look like and filling it with people new to the entire concept.

By some standards, the global television business is being disrupted as never before, but to the stars in front of the camera the disruption brings a golden age of opportunity. There is opportunity not only to pick and choose among proliferating acting gigs but also to take on challenges behind the camera.

“There’s gigantic competition to get top stars for all these shows being made today,” says Morgan Wandell, the head of international series at Amazon Studios. “If an

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actor brings a project that he or she is passionate about, then naturally we consider that. We want to work with all talent that can help us stand out.”

Thus, if ever there were a moment for small-screen stars to stretch themselves as producers, directors and writers, it is now. By doing it well and consistently, they can bolster their brand, enhance their skill set, shape the narrative, exercise their clout to get projects made and renewed—and pocket a bit more money in the process.

And it’s not only white males in their 40s taking advantage of this.

Increasingly, women and minorities—from Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts, Lena Dunham and Gina Rodriguez on the one hand to David Oyelowo, Idris Elba and the above-mentioned Glover on the other—are seizing the chance to pitch projects, tweak scripts or otherwise impact the tone and direction of traditional TV series by moving behind the camera or into the writers’ room.

Some A-listers have even taken a more ambitious and sustained approach by hanging out their own banners and backing projects,

some of which they do not appear in as actors themselves.

What’s driving this accelerated move? In an ever-expanding media universe, almost 500 scripted productions are either shooting or in development every year in Hollywood, and smallscreen efforts at fiction are proliferating around the world as well.

BLURRED LINES The blurring of the lines among TV creatives started some time ago, but only recently has it gathered steam.

That’s because the overall culture in the U.S. has embraced a more cando, democratized approach to just about everything, including artistic endeavors—and technology is obliging by breaking down once sacrosanct barriers to entry. In short, anyone with gumption can set up a business, learn a new trade, go into politics—or take on Hollywood. On this last point, nobody sneers nor sneezes at the effort, least of all content suppliers who are perennially under the gun to come up with something arresting and appealing for their audiences.

Moreover, actors have been following the countless producers,

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directors and writers who have migrated from the film fray to the television trenches. After all, as anyone in the TV biz will contend, movies nowadays, at least of the major Hollywood studio variety, are for kids; television series are for adults—the reverse of how it was 20-odd years ago.

As Rick Rosen, the head of the TV department at WME, put it, “The biggest trend of all is the wave of actors flowing into TV series, many from the film world.

That’s because the quality of writing in television has never been higher, nor the opportunities as vast.”

Rosen also says that it’s difficult to quantify the number of A-list actors who have also taken up roles behind the camera, though he easily rattled off a handful of names—Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, Tina Fey— who are successfully doing so.

“There’s no one reason that pushes actors in such a direction, but doing so gives them a sense of comfort that their belief in the project they’re attached to will be sustained throughout the production,” he notes.

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Eric Schrier, the president of original programming for FX Networks and FX Productions, adds, “I’d say that, despite the competition, it’s nowadays fairly easy to line up top talent for projects because the quality of writing for television has skyrocketed.”

Carmi Zlotnik, the president of programming at Starz, suggests that, given proliferating production, the talent pool in all areas has been thinned and farmed out.

“It’s incumbent on us to search out good ideas and authentic material from as wide a swath of talent as possible. Hyphenates are part of that process, and one of our aims is to foster them.”

WEARING TWO HATS Greater flexibility on the part of broadcasters, cablers and streamers in the lengths and styles of series—minis, anthologies, limited, etc.—has also attracted actors who might be wary of tying themselves down for multi-year, 22episode grinds.

NCIS lead Mark Harmon executive produces that show as well as sister series NCIS: New Orleans.

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is an executive producer and co-star of the Starz hit Power, which returns for its fifth season in 2018.

“It’s a great time to be in the business,” FX’s Schrier stresses.

“Everyone’s working.”

Like most executives World Screen queried, Schrier affirms that dual roles do not as a general rule unsettle sets. He points to his company’s hit drama The Americans.

“It’s a very close-knit set,” he says, and one in which the producers (led by Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields) have “fully embraced” the eventual desires of stars (Matthew Rhys and Noah Emmerich) to put on hats as multipleepisode helmers.

“It’s all situational— every set is different, and every actor brings unique talents—but I’d say both Noah and Matthew worked hard to earn their stripes, spending time in the editing suites and pulling out great performances from the cast.”

The crossing of lines—actors who want to direct or produce, showrunners who want to write, musicians who want to act, and so on—is, per most executives queried, enriching the medium and expanding its boundaries.

“From our perspective at FX, these people are artists who, if they so desire, should be encouraged to paint on different canvases,” Schrier says.

Similarly, Starz’s Zlotnik lists several actors who have brought their ideas, their brands or their sizeable social media followings with them to Starz and in the process have been nurtured into sustained hyphenates: Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson in Power; J.K. Simmons, the established star who is now a producer of Counterpart; and, most recently, the rappers-turned-actors Common and RZA, who will topline and help produce an upcoming action series from the Jerry Bruckheimer stable called Black Samurai.

“At Starz we’re always looking for truth and spectacle and for what hasn’t been done,” Zlotnik says.

“Talents like these I cited open us up to worlds we haven’t explored and bring an authenticity to the material and to the approach.”

In fact, in many cases, WME’s Rosen points out, it’s the actors themselves rather than a writer or producer or broadcaster who come up with the original idea or concept

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for a project, like, say, Fey with 30 Rock or Wahlberg with Entourage.

Several other sources, who did not want to go on the record, told World Screen that top actors often have the advantage when pitching projects over a producer or writer.

“It’s often harder to turn a big star down because you may want to be in business with them again,” said one broadcast executive who declined to be named.

When asked about the psychology of performers who itch to move behind the camera, few folks wanted to go on the record, though one who was pressed suggested that the urge by actors to weigh in on the lines that they would be speaking has always been “almost irresistible,” like “really good sex,” he quipped.

“It’s not hard to imagine strongminded actors making that leap.

Giving notes and getting paid for it, plus a credit? Not that hard to fathom,” he suggested, only somewhat facetiously.

LEAP OF FAITH Still, the leap can and does often become exciting and enriching for the cast and crew as well as the actor in question. WME’s Rosen hazards that a good 5 percent of the more than 450 scripted projects knocking around town boast an actor who performs, as it were, on both sides of the camera.

Producer Mark Gordon, whose credits range from Saving Private Ryan on the film side to Criminal Minds, Grey’s Anatomy and

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The star-studded cast of HBO’s The Deuce, a 1970s-set drama from David Simon, the creator of The Wire, includes Oscar-nominated actor James Franco.

Designated Survivor on the TV side, has much to say on the issue.

He points to the star of this last series, Kiefer Sutherland, as making notable contributions in his executive-producer role. “Kiefer is obsessively concerned with the quality of Designated Survivor— both its content and the mechanics of the production. He is focused on the script, the crew, the lighting and the photography, not to mention his feel for pacing and atmosphere.”

Moreover, Gordon adds, “I have relied on him to shepherd a great deal there in Toronto (where the series shoots) while I’m in Los Angeles. Essentially, I look to him as a partner.”

Liev Schreiber officially moved behind the camera of Ray Donovan in season three when there was a showrunner switch. The star has now amassed 36 episodes as a producer on the Showtime series.

“Liev, too, is heavily involved in the production,” Gordon explains, “bringing a strong point of view to discussions and, among other things, making sure the accents and the setting are as authentic as they can be.”

Yet it can be occasionally unsettling for the cast and crew when actors make the transition to a behind-the-camera role, though turmoil generally has to reach a boiling point before news of discord gets out. When it does spill over, it’s generally because

the voices of the showrunner and the thespian-turned-exec producer are discordant.

As a lead producer, Gordon and others say, it’s important to consider only one thing in those cases: what’s best for the show. (A showrunner typically is the glue that holds competing forces on set together; a star often has the clout to clinch a renewal—or precipitate a public relations nightmare.) Once in a while one gets axed from a troubled show, but, per most accounts, these standoffs are increasingly rare.

As for the approach taken by these feisty newcomer streamers (which, it has escaped no one, have rapidly become producers of original series of their own), they too are opening their arms to any actorhyphenates who potentially bring something special to the party.

Amazon Studios’ Wandell points to the success the company has had with Sneaky Pete, a project that essentially issued from the mind of actor Bryan Cranston, in partnership with David Shore.

“Bryan wanted to branch out, he fully leveraged the project, and only later after we had picked it up did we ask and he agreed to star in it,” Wandell continues. “Out of the flavor he brought to it and his personal panache, it turned into something special for us.”

For Wandell, an actor-turnedhyphenate can affect something

really “powerful” if they have the will, the skills and the inclination.

That includes enticing other good actors to come on board, as happened, he noted, with the Sneaky Pete project. (Cranston will also be involved variously in Amazon’s upcoming anthology series based on a Philip K. Dick opus called Electric Dreams.)

DIRECTOR’S CHAIR It’s also becoming more common for actors involved in long-running ensemble series to raise their hands on set and, as one source described it, “humbly” ask producers if they might shadow a director and eventually try their hand at helming.

That has happened on several of Dick Wolf’s shows over the years and on Criminal Minds, where core actors Joe Mantegna and Matthew Gray Gubler have directed multiple episodes.

“If someone takes an interest in directing, that’s great,” Gordon says. “We weigh that desire against the pressures on and the shifting dynamics among the cast in making such decisions. As it turns out, most actors don’t want to, or find they don’t want to, direct continually; the prep is time-consuming and the actual work very intense.”

Actors are not coming out of their trailers and tracking producers and directors for sheer ego

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gratification. First of all, it takes a lot of extra effort, and second, it’s harder than ever to hide a lack of dedication. Sets are veritable sieves and social media does the rest.

“Pretty much gone are the days of vanity shingles when actors simply wanted to have themselves listed alongside many others on the production roster,” observes Jennifer Salke, NBC’s president of entertainment. She emphasizes that the actors who do take on added behind-thecamera roles are generally “really engaged” with the process, “passionate” about their ideas and “precise” about what they can bring to the table.

To Salke’s mind, the trend toward these dual roles is not overwhelming the biz but rather bringing more spice and diversity to it. And arguably the trend may be accelerating because there are so many outlets for talented individuals who do want to extend themselves. In a number of cases, these thespians have hung out their own production shingles and routinely pitch projects, both ones in which they wish to star and others to which they’re not attached.

“The phenomenon has not been a burden for us here at NBC,” Salke tells World Screen. “I’ve had only incredible success dealing with actors who are exploring these other options available to them.”

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her new series than she was with The Closer, which ran for seven seasons on the cable network TNT. Sedgwick goes on to explain that, as number one on the call sheet, she has a “huge responsibility” for what happens on set—the tone of the place as well as the expectations of other actors and the crew.

“I gave notes on drafts [for The Closer], but they were drafts pretty far down the line. Now I’m much more involved in things earlier on, which is great, but with great power comes great responsibility. It’s a lot.”

GENDER GAP

Jennifer Lopez personally pitched the idea for Shades of Blue to NBC before agreeing to star in the crime drama.

Salke points to three female thespians, for example, with whom the network is in ongoing business: Mariska Hargitay, who toplines and functions as an exec producer on Law & Order: SVU, a series on its way to becoming the longestrunning legal drama ever; America Ferrera on the comedy Superstore; and Jennifer Lopez on the police drama Shades of Blue.

DOUBLE DUTY Peter Jankowski, the president and COO of Wolf Films, has worked with Hargitay for more than a decade. He describes her as “the gravitational pull” on the entire enterprise.

“Even if she didn’t have the EP title, Mariska would still be the boss in a way. She knows the character [detective Olivia Benson] better than anybody; she knows what her character is capable of; she knows what stories work; and she knows better than anyone how we make the show. She keeps actors focused, keeps the set professional…and she creates an environment that people really enjoy working in.”

Ferrera, Salke notes, is “a triple threat,” having taken on producing,

directing and acting duties concomitantly on several different series. Having exploded onto the scene a decade ago with her breakout performance in ABC’s Ugly Betty, she now toplines NBC’s Superstore as an actress but also boasts “a diverse, fresh take” on the script.

As for Lopez, she is, per Salke, “very passionate and persuasive about her ideas for shows” and personally sold the network on the pitch for the cop show, only later committing to a starring role in it.

The point is, Salke continues, “these people walk the walk.”

They have, she stresses, something to say to the world, an abundance of creative instincts and a high level of professional competence.

And NBC is just one network with a growing number of female actors who are flexing different muscles.

Asked what she’s involved in as an executive producer on Lionsgate’s Ten Days in the Valley for ABC, Kyra Sedgwick says, “Everything. I’m involved in understanding where the series is going, the outlines of every

episode. I give notes on every outline and on every draft. I also give notes on edits and cast; I look at tapes and weigh in on ABC’s plans for advertising.”

In short, the Emmy Awardwinning actress suggests that she is “much more hands-on” with

Another result of the active roles actors are now playing behind the scenes is the growing impact of these female voices on culture more broadly. Think Insecure and Girls, shows dreamed up and led by strong female producers who are also actresses in their own right.

As producer Jankowski says about Hargitay’s influence on the wider cultural sphere: “What Mariska has done is create a character that has empowered women and women’s rights and [changed] how we perceive victims. The world has changed dramatically in how we view sexual violence,

Kristin Kreuk is heavily involved behind the scenes of eOne’s Burden of Truth.

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Lifetime has made a big push to promote female directors, including on the set of UnREAL, where co-star Shiri Appleby (right) directed an episode last season. for example, and I think that’s in no small part due to SVU.” The success and influence of such series has not been lost on younger or less established actresses.

Kristin Kreuk, an actress who is starring in an upcoming legal drama for the CBC in Canada called Burden of Truth, says, “I’m inspired by the fact that so many interesting women are taking on these added responsibilities, creating a lot of fascinating characters and situations outside the male gaze.”

For her part, Kreuk, whose credits include Smallville and Beauty and the Beast, has set up her own shingle along with a partner and is pitching projects of all sorts. Plus, she is currently doing double duty on Burden of Truth as both the star and an executive producer. “I’ve always been most interested in the storytelling. As an actress I have to be internally focused, digging deep into the characters I play, but behind the camera I have to think about the macro perspective and how all the characters’ stories fit together.”

Her biggest challenge is trying to balance her energy and resources as an actress with the requirements of an exec producer.

On Burden of Truth, she helped pitch the project and gave notes.

“Now that we’re in production on the ten-episode order, I spend my days on set in front of the camera and weigh in mostly on the first or second draft of each episode rather than on the pitch or the outline.” Her goal, she tells World Screen, is eventually to transition to full-time work as a producer in her own company.

partner Dan Bucatinsky, has set up a company and pitches an eclectic range of projects, many of which do not involve her on camera.

When it comes to the question of money, the general consensus among financial analysts World Screen queried is that the more hats an actor wears, the more money they’re going to make, especially if there’s a multi-windowed, multi-

platformed back end to said series.

However, not that much more.

Starring in a series is still the most lucrative role most actors can play.

The average add-on to a perepisode salary in front of the camera is between 15 percent and 20 percent. This means that if an actor is paid $250,000 per episode, they’re likely not pocketing more than $50,000 per

SPECIAL AGENTS Regarding how top talent agents are responding to the trend, Michael Katcher, the head of the TV talent group at CAA, tells World Screen that the crucial motivation behind this expansion of roles on the part of actors is their desire “to be at the forefront” of an ever-evolving business. “It’s our job as agents to encourage the ones who want to do this. Some, admittedly, have no stomach for it and we don’t pressure them, but many—actually a boatload—are keen to flex their creative muscles differently.”

Katcher, who represents a number of high-profile thespians, sees his job as helping “build a business for these actors.” He cites his client Lisa Kudrow as one example of an actress who, with her business

Matthew Rhys has directed two episodes of FX’s The Americans, in which he stars opposite his real-life partner, Keri Russell.

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Fleabag is not returning until 2019 given the busy schedule of creator, writer and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, both in front of and behind the camera in TV and film projects. episode extra to perform their duties as an exec producer.

Nor are actors-turned-directors minting millions from their add-on efforts as helmers.

As British A-lister Tim Roth once said about his desire to direct indie movies: “No one 15 or so years ago wanted to pay an actor as decently as a director, and I had kids to bring up.” (Roth directed The War Zone in 1999.

The pay for actor-helmers has of course risen since his quip, but not inordinately.)

“What’s important,” one financial analyst argues, “is for the actor to keep those two quotes separate and not take the salary as an all-in, especially if he or she wants to continue working behind the camera.”

That way, he clarifies, the hyphenate would have a quote in the business both as a performer and as an exec producer.

So, what will the business look like in five years?

CAA’s Katcher sees no let-up in the number of small-screen projects that get greenlit in Hollywood.

“There’s great material out there. Some 250 spec scripts are floating around town as we speak.” It may be, as he and several other executives suggested, that the bigger content purveyors (including newcomers to the fray like Apple, Google, AT&TDIRECTV, Facebook and Snapchat) will take a bigger bite of the overall IP pie. But, in terms of actors with their own creative ideas to put to the test, “I don’t see that leveling off,” Katcher forecasts. “There’s just so much opportunity for them to expand their palate in interesting ways.”

EUROPEAN TALENT he trend toward multi-hyphenates is not nearly as developed abroad as it is in the States, not even in the U.K. One source suggests that the trend toward dual roles in Britain has been slower to catch on because actors there typically juggle, and enjoy juggling, several performance options—television, film, theater and even radio (not to mention occasional opportunities in Los Angeles).

Still, the lines are blurring, and top-tier talents are increasingly emulating their American counterparts.

The highest-profile—and arguably best-paid—among these versatile performers is Daniel Craig, who not only has global name recognition as a highly successful James Bond incarnation but has recently segued behind the lens to take up co-producer and exec-producer duties (on the Bond pic Spectre and the upcoming TV series Purity, respectively).

“Overall, the incidence of top actors in behindthe-screen roles is indeed growing and gratifying, but its larger impact, creative or commercial, isn’t yet clear,” says prolific British producer Kenith Trodd, whose credits include The Singing Detective, A Month in the Country and Circle of Friends.

Trodd indicates, though, that broadcasters in the U.K. have, by and large, acceded to or even embraced the efforts of talent to expand their participation in projects.

Anne Mensah, the head of drama at Sky, drives home the latter point: “We put talent at the heart of everything we do. It’s in our DNA and in our interest to be open to creativity from all these talents. The days of talent being pigeonholed as just one thing are over.”

She points to the two companies led by women (Sister Pictures, founded by Jane Featherstone, and The Mighty Mint, led by Carolyn Strauss) that are instrumental in an upcoming series co-produced with HBO called Chernobyl as well as projects from actor-turned-writer Lennie James (The Walking Dead, Critical) and physician-writer-showrunner Jed Mercurio.

“We at Sky draw no arbitrary lines,” Mensah explains. “Our strength comes from listening to and nurturing a diversity of voices.”

T

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To Trodd’s mind, the media climate in the U.K. is, relatively speaking, more hospitable to actors who want to stretch themselves than most of Europe is, but “these talents still have to seize their own chances to maneuver, especially if they’re not of the mainstream.”

As in the States, several key actors, including Benedict Cumberbatch and Colin Firth, have taken the more ambitious route of setting up production/development outfits part-financed by broadcasters or other backers.

Over on the Continent, specifically in Scandinavia, a few lead actors—they’re rarely referred to as stars—have taken on extra duties as small-screen directors, but the phenomenon is more occasional than routine.

Piv Bernth, the head of drama for DR, explains, “The trend toward dual roles has not made a big impact in our region. And in any case, actors generally don’t lobby to do so until after a few seasons, when they have a better overview of the series they’re on.”

She references Jesper Christensen and Trine Dyrholm, both on The Legacy, who separately did double duty as directors for a few episodes of the drama. In this case, things worked out fine. In another instance, a Scandinavian actor leaned on local executives to let him direct a series rather than accept an offer in Hollywood, but the broadcaster would not bite. Bernth would not name the actor in question.

“I believe the impetus from the actors’ perspective is more about personal ambition and the desire for a challenge as well as for greater respect from their colleagues,” Bernth says. “It’s not principally about the extra money.”

That said, Bernth’s personal view is that directors should direct and actors should act. It should be only the exceptions among thespians who take on roles behind the camera. She does, however, extol the practice in her region in which actors are routinely involved in script readings, rehearsals and rewrites early on in the process whereby, as she puts it, “a lot of time is saved and a lot of problems are solved ahead of production.”

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Benedict Cumberbatch

By Steve Clarke and Anna Carugati

Butchard’s is. And when you have a director like Julian Farino, the collaboration is even deeper.

I wanted to pull everything closer to who I am, even with the basic elements of wardrobe, so I wore a lot of my own clothes. I didn’t want any fuss made about his appearance or any transformative work done; I wanted him to appear as I would appear under pretty horrific circumstances to imagine.

enedict Cumberbatch has displayed gifted versatility in bringing to life such disparate characters as Hamlet; Richard III; Alan Turing, the mathematician who cracked the Nazis’ code during World War II; WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange; and Marvel’s Dr. Stephen Strange. And his brilliant portrayal of Sherlock Holmes has thrilled legions of fans the world over. In addition to acting, Cumberbatch has set up his own production company, SunnyMarch.

Its first TV project is The Child in Time, in which he steps away from playing socially inept geniuses to take on the role of an ordinary father who faces horrible loss. It will air on BBC One in the U.K. and PBS Masterpiece in the U.S. WS: What appealed to you about The Child in Time and the role of Stephen Lewis?

CUMBERBATCH: It’s a fantastic script and a great opportunity to play an “everyman” character. The material itself is written by one of my favorite authors, Ian McEwan. I’ve been lucky enough to take part in his work before when I was in [the feature film] Atonement.

Logistically, it made sense with my schedule as it was a short London shoot. Everyone came together on it for the right reasons and so from the beginning until the end the spirit was really supportive and fantastically committed from all departments. Plus, it is the first McEwan adaptation for television, which in itself is a great honor.

WS: What is your process for preparing to play a character?

CUMBERBATCH: Having a book to work from is a gift for an actor.

It gives you an incredible insight into the character so that your actions can be colored with subtext. Ian McEwan is a very filmic writer, and it’s a joy to bring that to life, especially with a script as skilled and respectful of the original material as Stephen

WS: What are the creative challenges of playing a character that already exists on the page? How much do you take from the play or the novel, and how much do you bring from your own experience?

CUMBERBATCH: I always find it helpful, and I’ve been very lucky with the adaptations I’ve been part of, that the novel material has been treated with so much brilliance by the adaptors, first of all.

They are not getting in the way of the material.

They are signing the tip of the iceberg and letting you get the reverberations of the internal life from the book as well as what is expressed through the character. There’s a lot of other stuff going on—reams of pages in McEwan’s brilliant writing, and the same with Ford Madox Ford and what Tom Stoppard did as a top layer to that with Parade’s End. I find that a real treat.

As for The Child in Time, I’ve been a McEwan fan since I was old enough to understand the stuff. I went to The Cement Garden first.

There was a production of it being made. I was toying with auditioning for it and read [the script] and thought, I can’t do that. I am not a good enough actor; I don’t know how I’d begin to do that.

Atonement was the first Ian McEwan book I read, and funnily enough I ended up in the film, but a few years later. I’d read the book almost the minute it came out; Ian McEwan was that author for me. Even though that’s the case, I hadn’t read The Child in Time. I’d read a lot of his back catalog but not that. I came to it through the script and then had this fantastic experience of actually falling in love with the idea of trying to play this role and bringing this story to life.

Catapulted to global fame thanks to Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch continues to make time for TV despite his busy film slate.

Yes, there are expectations by those who know the novel, even though it was released in the late ’80s. The book is very much of its time. It has a slightly dystopian twist, a critique of the Margaret Thatcher era. There are politics in it. Because of the theme of childhood, you are encompassing the state’s involvement with that, whether it’s on a power-politic level between [junior minister] Charles Drake and his boss, the Prime Minister, or simply the idea of what the state has to do with intervening in nurture as opposed to nature.

So that’s a big theme in the book. It’s a definite theme in our adaptation, though not with the political resonances. The book has a particular critique of a particular regime, [but in our TV movie] we recontextualized it. It takes place in the present day, and that gave us some freedom.

WS: How did being a parent impact your portrayal of Stephen Lewis, a father who loses a child?

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STUDIOCANAL’s The Child in Time.

CUMBERBATCH: Some might wonder why I’d want to play a character in such a tragic situation having only just experienced fatherhood myself. I’ve been keen to play an everyman and not have an eccentricity or a distinctive quality to hide behind for a while. The coincidence of playing a father and becoming a father was purely accidental. The script came to us already written, and we took it on to develop and produce as a company, creating our first output in under a year of our forming the TV wing of SunnyMarch. It was all circumstantial, and sometimes that’s the best way.

As far as heading into territory that is highly emotional for any parent, I think that sensitivity would have been in place whether I had a child or not. I have no doubt that filming so soon after the birth of my second son made it even more raw, but, especially with a work of this potency, I found it very dangerous to involve my own situation with that of the character’s and so kept them separate whenever I could. No matter how good it is to be lost in the moment in drama, it is also important to honor the character’s situation, and for that you need an element of control to know what the boundaries are. That’s a long-winded way of saying my experience as a dad made me sensitive to Stephen’s tragedy and the tragedy of the book, but I would have been sensitive to it regardless of my situation, and I would always work from the material rather than from my own inner life.

WS: Was it more difficult to play Stephen Lewis, an everyday father who experiences deep personal loss, or to play geniuses like Alan Turing, Doctor Strange or Sherlock Holmes, who are all socially challenged yet face extraordinary circumstances?

CUMBERBATCH: I don’t think it’s more difficult to play Stephen Lewis than to play Doctor Strange or Sherlock Holmes or Alan Turing; they are just very different challenges. When you’re playing someone near to yourself, there’s nothing to hide behind.

There are no masks to work with, and you have to bring a truth to every moment that is more similar to you, and that can be just as hard as playing the more extraordinary characters on my CV. I couldn’t say one was easier than another; they are just different, and that’s why I like playing them all and enjoy experiencing a range [of different characters].

WS: What different creative challenges do television and feature films offer an actor? What do you enjoy about films? What does television offer that films do not?

CUMBERBATCH: The cliché is time—you often have less time on a TV set, you get fewer takes and are working on a tighter schedule, but that’s not completely true. In Doctor Strange, for example, it takes longer to do setups, but you have to work equally quickly once you’re on the set. There’s a rawness about being in a smaller television crew and doing things guerrilla-style on the street. Doing the most intimate scene of losing a child in a supermarket on a Sunday afternoon in Crouch End and bringing traffic to a standstill was a moment when I required every fiber of concentration in my being to not be distracted! In film, you have much more of a lockdown of public spaces and have bigger sets that aren’t on location. TV budgets dictate that you have to do things a little more ad hoc.

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Andrew Lincoln

By Kristin Brzoznowski

up by Michonne and the other people he loves and got back on his feet.

Losing Glenn and Abraham [who Negan killed in front of the group in the season-seven opener] was incredibly soul-destroying for everybody—for the audience maybe even more than us!

WS: How did you get yourself into that space, to be so broken?

LINCOLN: I use music a lot. It’s sort of difficult to talk about. I usually don’t go into the nuts and bolts of it because you’d probably want to certify me! I’m a magpie; I take lots of different things and throw them all together and wish for the best. For example, by having lovely and brilliant actors around you, you’re willing to make a fool of yourself. So much of the acting for me on this job is about being willing to look like a fool.

When we first started talking about zombies, I thought, Really? How are we going to sell this? But I was surrounded by a group of incredible actors and amazing artists and technicians, who all just said, Let’s try to make this real and see what happens. That’s all that I’ve tried to do for the last eight years, tried to get to a place where it’s comfortable and safe to fail.

WS: Does the love story between Rick and Michonne give the character more strength, or does he now just have more to lose?

LINCOLN: That was always the question: is it a weakness or is it a strength? Ultimately, what we carry in the DNA of Rick’s group is the fact that we do have love. We have support and hope, and in that, they hold the future. We have talked ad nauseam about the subject of, does it make you stronger, or does it make you more vulnerable? What carries us is the promise of the future, and the way you go forward is through love, support and nurturing. Ultimately, love and all the good stuff is what makes us human. It’s the stuff that we’re fighting for.

or the last seven seasons, The Walking Dead has fearlessly said goodbye to countless series regulars and fan-favorite characters— some of whom memorably met their fate at the end of a barbed wire–wrapped baseball bat in a recent episode. Yet Rick Grimes, played with a potent mix of grit and gusto by Andrew Lincoln, has remained at the center of the show, leading a motley crew of survivors through the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. While season seven saw Rick rendered powerless against a new adversary, literally groveling at the boots of his nemesis, Negan, Lincoln assures that the protagonist is back in top form as the series returns with what will be its landmark 100th episode.

WS: We have seen Rick Grimes go through periods of absolute strength and absolute despair, from being the ultimate leader to being completely broken. Where is Rick at now, mentally and emotionally, in this journey?

LINCOLN: He’s ready to kick some ass! He’s got his swagger and strut back. One of the great satisfactions about playing this guy is that they keep recalibrating what it is to be a leader. One of his strengths is the fact that he listens to a lot of people and takes counsel. I think that’s why people follow him, as much as because of his tenacity. On the 100th episode, you see a man ready to go to war, a man who will stop at nothing until Negan is defeated.

WS: What was it like to have to be rather submissive to Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan?

LINCOLN: Jeffrey Dean Morgan owes me! I’ve been kept cowering in his presence for most of the season. [Laughs] It wasn’t the most comfortable place to go to, but it was a necessary one to put us where we are now, which is a really exciting and thrilling start to what I think is the strongest season we’ve ever done. We had to go somewhere to get somewhere, which is always the case with Rick Grimes—he has to be beaten down until he’s almost nothing. This time around he was lifted

WS: Has the atmosphere on set shifted as the group prepares for war?

LINCOLN: There is a real, palpable sense this season that is reminiscent of the earlier seasons. The band is back together, to some degree. We’re doing some incredibly thrilling set pieces, and there’s a lot of action. It’s very much thriving through the original characters, or at least a lot of

For 100 episodes and counting, Andrew Lincoln has led the ensemble cast of basic-cable’s biggest hit, The Walking Dead. characters that were in seasons one, two and three. Also, the crew members are the most vital unsung heroes in all of this. A large amount of the crew has been on this job just as long as I have. They read the scripts just as voraciously as we do when we get them. They suffer with you!

They’re the ones who have to sit when you’re going through hell, are lost and grieving. Now that there’s a sense of purpose and strength in the people who have been beaten down for quite a long time, everybody else [on the crew] feels excited about it. Going to work and doing crazy action sequences is fun for everybody, let me tell you that! [Laughs] WS: With so many cliffhangers and the potential for spoilers, what must the team do to ensure secrecy on set and after shooting wraps?

LINCOLN: Remarkably, very little. Everybody on set and who works on this show is as proud of it as you can imagine. Everybody involved doesn’t want the story to be spoiled; everybody, in every part of the machine, cares about it deeply. Spoilers generally happen either because of overly enthusiastic fans spotting something or in the very

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FOX Networks Group’s The Walking Dead. last stages of production, when perhaps languages get changed or there’s a final edit. It never comes from anybody working on set. They want the secret to be kept as much as anybody on the show.

Of course, the insatiable need for news and information is part of people’s lives now. There is a never-ending stream of “what’s next?” It’s a blessing for our show because it’s one of the reasons that we became what we became, because of social media. It’s also the enemy. We are very cautious about who gets scripts. We even shot two days’ worth of extra footage of scenes that would never see the light of day to combat it. Certain characters who weren’t scripted to had a baseball bat hit them—which is a really unfortunate way of avoiding spoilers. It’s what we have to do to keep the sanctity of the story.

I liken spoilers to opening somebody else’s present and then telling them what they got before Christmas Day. Why would you do that? It’s bizarre! I think it’s born out of over-enthusiasm and excitement.

WS: Are you finding time to pursue any other projects, or is this show pretty all-consuming?

LINCOLN: It is [all-consuming]. It’s a considerable thing to sail the Good Ship Walking Dead. It demands a lot of attention. Because we split the seasons [into two parts], publicity reignites early in the year. All in all, it is a year-round thing—at least that’s what I tell my agents to avoid them booking me for more work.

I am looking seriously at other things. There’s a film that I would really love to make this year. I’m reading the fourth draft of it, and it’s very good. So hold that thought!

WS: Is producing or directing in the cards for you?

LINCOLN: Producing isn’t something that I have thought too seriously about. We live in a world where apparently everybody is an executive producer. [Laughs] I don’t quite know what the job description means anymore! I do like the idea of seeking out stories that I want to tell and getting people I admire together to do that. If that’s what producing is, then I definitely would like to produce in the future. As far as directing goes, yes. I think it’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done and never thought it would be. It’s something that I see myself doing very much in the future.

WS: Is there anything you can tease about what’s in store for season eight? The first episode marks the milestone 100th for the show, so should I assume that something epic is lined up?

LINCOLN: The short answer is, yes! After giving such a comprehensive answer about how loyal people are in not giving spoilers, it would be remiss of me to start spoiling now, wouldn’t it? I will say that from the first seven episodes that I’ve read so far, this is the strongest, most thrilling, biggest, and most adventurous, dynamic, blood-curdling and bloodletting season we’ve done to date.

WS: Do you have an idea of how you’d like the series to wrap up?

LINCOLN: We began it by having everything involved in this very tight ensemble and then sort of jumped off a cliff’s edge and the parachutes opened. One of the extraordinary things about this show is that it has a narrative that keeps going forward and keeps changing. It keeps evolving with new cast members. The most painful part—actually, the only painful part—of doing this job is the fact that you say goodbye to very dear friends every year. I seem to be the one waving and staying.

It’s also possibly one of the reasons why it’s lasted. With the phoenix rising from the ashes each time, the show changes and adapts. I certainly don’t see the show finishing any time soon, and I don’t see my relationship with Rick Grimes finishing any time sooner…unless you know otherwise!

WS: Eight years is a long time to be on the same series, yet the cast seems as energized now as ever. Do the pressure and expectations ever wear on you?

LINCOLN: It’s funny. Lennie James joined the show full-time last year [as Morgan]. He said that the premiere episode of the last season was like shooting a pilot on any other show because of people’s attitudes and aspiration to keep jumping the bar we are setting for ourselves. Maybe everybody is like me, and we’re all just masochists. We love seeing if we can remember the dance steps and improving on them. There’s a really beautiful work environment on this set that I’ve never experienced outside of theater. There’s an attitude of support, attention and commitment that we established in the first season, and maybe we all have OCD or are superstitious and don’t want to break the spell.

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Michael Weatherly

By Anna Carugati

This is a show that is totally for our time, and what I like about what’s happening in season two is that we have Glenn Gordon Caron coming in.

Glenn was the creator of Moonlighting and Medium. Paul Attanasio created Bull, but he’s never written another episode after the pilot and he’s not involved on the ground. We had Mark Goffman come in, and he did a terrific job of trying to explain to the audience what trial consulting and trial analysis are, but I don’t think the show is about trial analysis, and I don’t think Glenn Caron thinks so either. The network and the studio wanted the audience to understand the world of the show, but does anyone really understand the world of NCIS? What do we do? We investigate crimes in the Navy and Marine Corps. OK, if you say so. I don’t think M*A*S*H was really about the Korean War and geopolitics in the 38th parallel. I don’t think anyone needs to know anything about advertising to enjoy Mad Men. So when you bring in a guy like Glenn Gordon Caron, this show hasn’t even begun to see the level of resonance that it’s capable of.

fter starring for 13 seasons on NCIS as the skilled and wisecracking Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, actor Michael Weatherly announced he was leaving the most-watched series in the U.S. and around the world. The risky move seems to have paid off, as Weatherly is now the lead in Bull, one of the top-rated new series of last season. The CBS drama focuses on psychologist Dr. Jason Bull, who heads a team of trial experts working at a jury consulting firm. Employing behavioral analysis and high-tech data, they help clients going to trial and in the process shed light on what makes us all tick.

WS: When Bull was created, did anyone realize how timely a show about human behavior analysis would be in today’s political climate?

WEATHERLY: No. They started developing the show in 2014. It takes a long time to go from concept, to pitch, to somebody buying the pitch, to finding a writer, to selling that pitch to a network. Then you have another year to develop, so it’s a longer process than a lot of people understand. So there’s no way that anyone could have known—Donald Trump didn’t even know—that he was going be President of the United States, except in that weird part of his narcissistic brain that already thought he had Air Force One! But I think you’re right; it is an absolutely timely show. It’s not just because of the human behavior and the analysis of why people do what they do—what are these populist swings? What is it a reaction to? We all understand that fear is this driver that can move any animal on Earth into a herd mentality, and in these elections where you have confirmation bias, people vote against their own instincts and interests. It is an astonishing time, and that’s why a show like Bull, rather than being disturbing, is comforting for us. It helps us understand that predictive analysis of behavior is choice, because every day, every minute, every second, we’re making choices about how we want to be.

WS: The first season of any series is a little trial and error. Has the first season of Bull delivered on the vision that you had for the show?

WEATHERLY: Yes, and I can only compare it to my experiences. When I was on Dark Angel, the show changed too much between seasons one and two. They changed our time slot, and we had different things all across the board. I was present for the creative discussions—how about if we have a dog man who lives in a house on the edge of town and it’s like Beauty and the Beast? But Dark Angel wasn’t about that. It was very confused.

On NCIS, things also changed between seasons one and two and three, especially between two and three—big changes—and it made the show stronger. So I’ve seen both happen. My instincts tell me that bringing in a guy like Glenn Caron, who writes from a very specific point of view—it’s a very authorial writing style, it’s unmistakably Glenn—is what the show needs. Bull is this charismatic cult leader who has his team of dedicated people, but they’re doing a dodgy bit of business. Any time you try to get away from that and be earnest and pure about what Bull is doing, you’re just being insincere, and I don’t think it helps anybody engage with the show.

Michael Weatherly’s loyal fans stuck with him in his move to take the lead in Bull, powering the show into the top-ten rankings in the U.S. WS: Jason Bull changed during the first season—he shed his vest, his beard came off. Are we supposed to read something into that?

WEATHERLY: Those changes came from me. I decided that when Eliza Dushku’s character, J.P. Nunnelly, a top criminal attorney, appeared, something shifted inside of Bull. If she appears again, I think it will be interesting, but the show isn’t about a couple. The show is about this guy and his experiences, and she’s a major game changer for him. If you look at the life of Jason Bull, he built up this great company, he used to be a little sleazy, and now he’s decided he’s going to be principled and pure—it took somebody blowing up his office, a fight with a huge real estate developer, and a flirtation with possibly a girlfriend. Bull was also once married and his wife had a miscarriage, and that was painful for both of them. He was not able to fix that. So here’s a guy who can’t fix everything, and his team is starting to question him. They were uncomfortable being put into these positions and boxes, and they pushed back. That never happened on NCIS. Nobody ever pushed back against [Special Agent Leroy Jethro] Gibbs. I engaged in that concept: here’s Jason Bull trying to put together a team,

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CBSSI’s Bull.

and he doesn’t know why but [the whole team is] mad at him! It’s because Bull is an unstable element. So When J.P. Nunnelly appeared, I thought, the cardigan, the glasses, the scruff, this sort of Mount Rushmore edifice that Bull had constructed for himself [had to go] and he started to take himself apart. The thing I love most about [television] acting is that when you’re making a long show like this, arcs can be different. When you’re making a film, you have to figure it all out beforehand. [But on Bull] we don’t know what’s going to happen. The character is still a mystery to me.

I said at the beginning of last year that I don’t know what he’s capable of. He might kill someone! He might defend a murderer. He’s so curious about things that I think he’s a bit of night crawler; he gets involved in things he shouldn’t. I think he’s probably a gambler. He probably drinks too much. I’m not sure he trusts himself, so I see a lot more happening in him.

WS: DiNozzo on NCIS was a what-you-see-is-what-you-get guy. Bull has many more layers; he’s quieter and more introspective than DiNozzo. As an actor, is there more challenge in silences than in the constant putting out?

WEATHERLY: Yes, the challenge is to continue the thought, and the way Bull tends to think is: this person just told me X, I don’t know anything about this person, I don’t have any of the data points on them. I’m going to take it at face value, then I’m going to look at them and I’m going to decide on instinct if face value matches body language. Bull can see if pupils are shrinking or enlarging, if your neck is pulsing faster, if you’re licking your lips—any tells. If he sees that the two things match, face value is what he will go for. If they don’t match, Bull’s next line is now going to be in the camp of, Would you say you didn’t love your father when you were growing up? He’s a psychologist, so everything for him is about getting people to tell him things. He’s not there to tell anything. After all, when does your shrink tell you, “Here’s what’s wrong”? You are the one who has to make the discovery. So if you carry that to its full conclusion about a TV show, the audience at home should be the ones making the discovery. My big arguments in season one were about telling people the answer. Let’s show them and get them to say, [gasps] It’s that guy!

Glenn Caron knows how to do this in a way that would be very satisfying. That’s going to be the show that we can do for a lot of years.

WS: Is there anything from your experience on NCIS that you’re carrying over as the lead actor on Bull?

WEATHERLY: It’s different. I grew up in Connecticut. My father was raised in Birmingham, Alabama, was born during the Great Depression, went to Princeton, went to Harvard Business School, spent two years in the army in occupied Europe, was an ad man in the ’50s and ’60s in New York City, was a very successful businessman, was the president of his own company from the time he was 32 years old, and retired at 55, wealthy and well off. So I grew up in an environment with a true alpha male, from a certain generation. As a father, I’m very different. I raise my family differently; I interact with my wife differently. So when I look at my experience on NCIS, Mark Harmon came from a certain world of television, he grew up a certain way and his leadership style was a certain way and mine is very different. And I have absolutely no intention of trying to replicate that, but what I did learn is one major, major thing that Harmon showed me: it’s all about the team, and if they don’t feel plugged-in, if they don’t feel their characters, and if they want to play someone else’s character or want to change their character so much that it’s a different show, that’s not going to be good. If you don’t want to play shortstop, that infield’s going to suck—sorry to make the baseball analogy—but to me [it has to be a] tight infield: you go around the horn, bang, bang, bang, back to the catcher, back to the pitcher, and let’s play ball. NCIS has that, and that’s something I strive to do with our team. It comes from the writing; it comes from being present on the floor, not being on Instagram or being distracted.

I remember a table read during season six of NCIS [for the episode that introduced the spin-off] NCIS: Los Angeles with Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J. Everyone came onto our stages and we had our table read at lunch. We were shooting in the squad room; we didn’t get lunch, we came to do the table read, then we went right back to the squad room. There was no time to prepare. But Sean Murray [who plays Special Agent Timothy McGee] and I huddled together before the table read and I said, Let’s give them the razzle-dazzle. We wanted to show them, You’re going to be in a spin-off, but this is what we do. I remember those days very, very fondly. I learned a lot, and I try to bring that spirit and enthusiasm to Bull, which you can’t fake or manufacture.

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Sterling K. Brown

By Anna Carugati

with fathers has always been strong for me. Stories about fathers and sons resound in my soul in a very real way.

WS: How does Randall feel as an African American being raised by a white family in a white community and being successful in a predominantly white world? Is that something that he struggles with?

BROWN: Absolutely. I think he counts his blessings; he recognizes the love of his mother and father, brother and sister, while simultaneously feeling like a fish out of water. When you look around, and the images that are reflected back at you are not images that resemble you, you can’t help but feel like an outlier. So Randall is always appreciative but also simultaneously searching and thirsty to find where exactly he belongs. He’s had a very fractious relationship with his brother. He goes to a predominantly white school so, culturally speaking, he’s trying to find touchstones. He would push his parents to go to the swimming pool that had the black section so he could see people that looked like him. It’s a tough road to navigate for all people who are the products of transracial adoption. But it’s one that you figure out as you go along.

his Is Us is about the Pearson family: Jack and Rebecca, their twin children, Kate and Kevin, and their adopted African American son, Randall. When Randall is 36, he locates his biological father, William, who is dying of cancer. Randall, played by Sterling K. Brown, must deal with the ensuing onslaught of feelings—anger, resentment, acceptance and love, all the while supporting his own family. Brown, who won an Emmy for best supporting actor for his performance as Christopher Darden in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, won the best dramatic actor Emmy for his role as Randall.

WS: To what do you attribute the success of This Is Us? BROWN: I think it unifies people. We can all agree that family and connection are of the greatest importance. While we may differ politically and on many fronts, we all love family. We all recognize the need for community and we all know that we are doing the best that we can with whatever place we are in life. [In the show] we have a bunch of 30-year-olds trying to figure out the next step. Everybody can recognize that it’s a pivotal time; there are big choices that can change the course of your life.

WS: What appealed to you about the character of Randall?

BROWN: First of all, the script was outstanding. The pilot for this show was one of the best pilots for network television that I had read in some 16 years. And Randall has this gigantic heart. Even when he wanted to release 36 years [of pent-up] venom and bile toward William, his biological father who abandoned him, and he ends up doing that, Randall didn’t realize his need for connection. While he wanted to tell this man off, what he really wanted was to know who he was and enfold him into his life. So for me, not having had my father for 30 years now—he passed away when I was 10—the need to connect

WS: You played Christopher Darden, a person who exists in real life, while Randall is a fictional character. What are the differences between playing someone who exists, and is still alive, and playing a fictional character?

BROWN: I was always very conscious of the fact that Christopher Darden is alive, living in the same city that I’m living in and still practicing law.

He’s no longer in the DA’s office, he’s in private practice as a defense attorney, but I could run into him at any time. It was really important to me that if and when he saw the performance, he could recognize at least a glimmer of himself in what I was trying to bring to the table.

I wanted to do him proud. I don’t know if he’s watched the show, and we haven’t spoken. And I’m not sure he has or not, but that was always at the forefront of my mind. So there was a lot of research, reading his book, reading Jeffrey Toobin’s The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson, watching as much footage as possible of the trial, interviews,

Sterling K. Brown now has two Emmys, winning best actor for This Is Us after being recognized in 2016 for The People v. O.J. Simpson. anything that I could devour. It wasn’t necessarily to do an imitation of Christopher Darden but to find the essence of who he was and try to bring that across.

Randall is much more from my imagination. He’s much closer to who I am as a person. He’s not me; I would say he’s the best of me. And [his] pursuit of [being] the best often leads to him shutting down for a while because perfection is not something that can be attained. I have a little brother and a little sister who are adopted. I’ve seen firsthand how my mom loves them, and how my biological brothers and sisters love them, but my adopted brother and sister can still feel sometimes like they have to work a little bit harder for affection, even though they don’t have to. You can tell they feel they have to work harder for the affection of their loved ones because, from their perspective, there’s already been a person who has not wanted them. So I try to infuse Randall with that hunger to be wanted and to be loved, and he doesn’t take it for granted. He works very hard to make himself the “perfect” child. I do think that Rebecca and Randall have a very

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Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution’s This Is Us. special relationship. It took her a while to grow toward him. So the love that she shared with him, he absolutely cherishes. The betrayal that he felt, knowing that she knew who his birth father was but didn’t tell him, hit him at his core. He’s also a much more emotionally varied person [than Christopher Darden]. Randall goes to extreme highs and extreme lows, at least through the course of season one. So while there was no vocal cadence to attain or mannerisms to try to latch onto, just allowing him to have the breadth of his emotional life was exhausting! He can be so happy and then, because he allows himself to feel as much as possible, he also allows his heart to break, such as when he lost William.

WS: How did you feel about Darden before taking on the role, and did your opinion change as you did your research and as you were shooting?

BROWN: My judgment was harsh. With the vast majority of black America, I was firmly on the side of the defense. I can tell you now, I don’t even know if it was a question of whether or not O.J. was innocent or guilty—it was a matter of seeing someone who looked like me have the criminal justice system work for them rather than against them. Unfortunately, I should say, the deaths of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson were afterthoughts to me, in terms of the injustice that black folks had experienced at the hands of [the justice system. However,] being entrenched on the side of the prosecution team and looking at the evidence and the brutality of the murders, you can’t help but recognize that the prosecution was trying to speak up for those who could no longer speak for themselves. This case should not have been about race. It should have been about the facts, about the DNA evidence and the history of domestic violence [between] O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson.

So I changed from thinking that Christopher Darden was a sellout, an Uncle Tom and a race traitor, to recognizing him as a man of principle, who believed in the evidence, who believed in the case and stuck that case out to the end. And he didn’t have to. He had a lot of different things going on in his life. He had his daughter living in the Bay Area, whom he wasn’t able to visit as much as he would have liked to. He had a brother dying from AIDS in the midst of the trial, whom he

wasn’t able to spend as much time with as he would have wanted to.

So the fact that he was able to persevere to the end was a testament to his belief system and also a reason why, still to this day, the trial haunts him more than it does any other member of the prosecution.

WS: Tell us about your upcoming movie Marshall. Will that also shed light on race relations and explain events from the past that we didn’t know about?

BROWN: Absolutely. Marshall focuses on the young life of Thurgood Marshall [played by Chadwick Boseman], who went on to become our first African American Supreme Court Justice. But way before that, he was the lawyer for the NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]. He would go around the country looking to defend African Americans who he felt had been falsely accused. He was also trying to make a name for the NAACP and show that it was there to protect and serve people. He finds a man by the name of Joseph Spell [who I play], who is accused of the rape and attempted homicide of one Eleanor Strubing, a socialite in Connecticut, played by Kate Hudson. We don’t know at the beginning if Joseph is innocent or guilty. He’s not a perfect person. He has a sordid history, but he claims that he did not commit the crimes that he is being accused of. We go through the course of the film trying to figure out if Joseph is telling the truth or not. Is Eleanor Strubing telling the truth?

Where exactly does the truth lie? Thurgood Marshall winds up trying this case alongside a young Jewish lawyer by the name of Sam Friedman, because the judge does not allow Thurgood to try the case alone because he hasn’t passed the Connecticut bar exam.

It’s a wonderful case, a real-life case, and one that I did not know about.

To see the dedication of Thurgood Marshall traveling all across the United States looking to defend men—he doesn’t know if they are necessarily innocent or guilty, but he’s trying to give them the best defense that is available when the chips are stacked against them—reminds me that the story of African Americans is the story of perseverance. It’s a story of achieving in spite of. It infuses me with a great deal of pride that, even when things aren’t necessarily working to your advantage, you can still overcome. I feel very much that that is at the center of this story. I hope people enjoy it. I think it’s really important and really good.

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Elisabeth Moss

By Anna Carugati

In a way, I feel more connected to this character than anyone I’ve ever played, probably just circumstantially, because she’s a woman in her 30s who is having her rights taken away. I wanted to play her as if I, or you, or my friends, were going through that experience. I wanted to play her as somebody that was extremely identifiable; not a heroine but a real person.

WS: Is there a difference in your approach to a character that exists in a book, compared to a new character?

MOSS: In a way it’s a lot easier when you’re creating a character from scratch. All you have are the scripts in front of you. But with The Handmaid’s Tale, I had this incredible novel to refer to that is so inspiring.

Anything that I needed to know about the character, how she felt or who she was, was there in the book, right down to certain scenes. [The book] has been like a bible for me. I’ve got this copy that my friend gave me years ago, and I’ve read it everywhere, even in the bathtub, and it’s been in so many different bags! [Laughs] It’s very worn and highlighted and earmarked. It’s my reference for everything. If there’s a moment when I need to be inspired, I go back to the book and I’ll read a passage from it. So, in a way, it’s a lot easier because somebody already thought in such depth about a character. At the same time, you’re bringing something to life that hasn’t been brought to life before, so there is that challenge. But for me, [the book] was a great, great gift, and it really made my job a lot easier.

lisabeth Moss’s portrayal of a naïve secretary who became a savvy advertising copywriter in Mad Men gained her international fame and numerous Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations. She subsequently appeared in several movies and the Jane Campion TV series Top of the Lake before starring in the TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, about a theocratic totalitarian republic called Gilead. Her performance as Offred, a young woman forced to bear children for infertile women, earned her an Emmy win for best actress in a drama series. The MGM-produced show for Hulu also scored the Emmy for best drama series, as well as wins in the writing and directing categories, among others. Hulu has renewed the show for a second season, which is set to roll out in 2018.

WS: How did you hear about The Handmaid’s Tale, and what appealed to you about the project?

MOSS: The script for the pilot was offered to me when I was in Australia doing the second season of Top of the Lake. It was one of the best pilot scripts I’ve ever read. I was most interested in how [the writers] were going to continue to adapt the story, so I asked to see the second script. And the second script was, in my opinion, even better than the first. Both made me cry and made me extremely entertained. When someone gives you something like that, where you’re carrying the show in a lead role, it’s exciting, and it’s also really scary and very flattering. I was flattered that they thought I could do it, and I couldn’t get it off my mind. I took quite a while to say yes because I put a lot of thought into anything that I do, and when you’re doing a series, you’re signing up for, potentially, a longer involvement. So I took a lot of time to think about it, but I just couldn’t imagine not doing it, and I couldn’t stand the idea of anyone else doing it! [Laughs] So I had to [accept] because I just could not get it off my mind.

WS: You often play characters that are multilayered.

MOSS: That is what I find interesting and challenging. Anything else is boring. And Offred has that in spades, given that she is playing the role of a handmaid, and she’s not allowed to speak her mind. When she does speak, it has to be certain things that she says. So there’s a giant inner life, there’s a person there that she’s not allowed to be. In the show we have flashbacks, so we show who she was before she became a handmaid. [She was a person] who had a good life and a family. I also played her three years later, as Offred, a person who’s had her child taken away and has been abused, physically and mentally.

Being able to play both has been the most exciting part.

Elisabeth Moss received many Emmy nominations for Mad Men, but it’s The Handmaid’s Tale that has finally given her a best actress win.

WS: You have done films, television and theater. Do you have a favorite, or do you enjoy them all?

MOSS: I do enjoy them all. They each have good things and bad things about them. With theater, the thing that you’re exercising that you don’t in film and TV is your stamina and your ability to repeat something over and over and over again and not get bored. I get bored easily, so that’s my challenge, in doing something eight times a week and finding new things about it and making it interesting. Film and TV are where I grew up, and [they are] much more comfortable. I love doing five scenes a day. There’s always a joke on set that if we spend too long on a scene, I’ll start announcing that I’m bored! [Laughs] Keeping it fresh is just what I’m used to. Even from take to take, I always like trying different things. But, obviously, the positive aspect of theater is that live feedback, that live interaction with the audience. Being able to perform for a group of people who are in a room watching you is thrilling.

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Bob Odenkirk

By Mansha Daswani

classic Hollywood location. We shot the shit about whether there was a TV show in this. They didn’t know what it would be. They thought it could be a half-hour comedy. They thought it could be a one-hour procedural. In the end it became a lot more like Breaking Bad than like either of those two ideas, but still not entirely like Breaking Bad. WS: Jimmy McGill is so different from Saul Goodman. How did you connect with that character after so many years of being Saul?

ODENKIRK: He’s striving to please his brother and to get the respect and appreciation of Kim, the girl he loves. I think most people have someone in their lives—a parent or a sibling or a mentor— whose respect they’d love to have. Maybe they get it, but very often they don’t, for a variety of reasons. I don’t think that’s too hard to relate to, even though I can’t think of anyone in my life I feel that way about. But trying to find out who you are and where you fit in society is something I can relate to. It’s rare to know what you should be, occupation-wise, and how you should behave so that the world around you says, Yes, you got it exactly right!

Most people do go through a journey of finding that what they love doesn’t necessarily marry with what their skills are or what the world tells them they should be, and over time they try to get them to fit together.

n the second season of AMC’s critically acclaimed Breaking Bad, viewers were introduced to Saul Goodman, a fast-talking criminal lawyer enlisted by Walter White to help launder his meth empire earnings. The character, played by Bob Odenkirk in his first dramatic role, was so compelling that once Breaking Bad ended its run, he was given his own spin-off show. Creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have used Better Call Saul as an origin story, telling the tale of Jimmy McGill, a former con man turned struggling attorney trying to do right by the brother he admires and the woman he loves.

WS: Congratulations on the Emmy nomination!

ODENKIRK: It’s pretty exciting. The writing is the star, and it helps me so much, and then on top of it I am surrounded by astounding, powerful performers, like Jonathan Banks [who plays Mike Ehrmantraut] and the great Michael McKean, who played my brother, Chuck. Boy, I tell you, you get in a room with those people and you raise your game.

WS: When did you first start talking to Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan about the prospect of a show focused on Saul?

ODENKIRK: Vince Gilligan came to me in the third season of Breaking Bad, which was the second season that Saul appeared [in], and said, “Do you think there’s a show in that character? Because I do.”

And then I said, “If you do, then there probably is one!” Vince is one of the great writers of our era. That was really my only response when Vince would bring it up, and he would bring it up once a year. Then, a few months after Breaking Bad ended production, we got together to talk about it seriously. Peter Gould— who wrote the first script that featured Saul Goodman and who writes the comedy and the gamesmanship of Saul really well— Vince and I got together at the wonderful Chateau Marmont, a

WS: How do you feel about getting closer and closer to being Saul Goodman again?

ODENKIRK: I don’t love Saul, I love Jimmy, so it kind of breaks my heart, to be honest with you. Jimmy has been trying to do the right thing over and over again, and he’s not gaining any ground. Because that isn’t working for him, he’s going to decide to reject people, society and ethics, and he’s going to be mercenary about himself and his life and just take. That’s a shame. It makes me sad. Innocence is being lost, for sure. So I don’t know what to tell you. That’s the journey we’re on. Tough beans for me!

Bob Odenkirk was so compelling as Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad that Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould created a spin-off vehicle for him.

WS: Let’s talk about your journey as an actor. You’ve done so much comedy—what was the biggest challenge in taking on more dramatic work?

ODENKIRK: Well, I love that it was a challenge. And it was a challenge.

I was thrilled at the idea of getting to do something fundamentally different from what I’ve spent 30 years doing. I wasn’t sure if it would work! I just knew that the only way to do it would be to completely give myself over to it and try to do it as honestly as I could and work hard at it. I do a lot of rehearsal. I guess the fear of failing on a world stage was pretty massive! On the other hand, I was risking something that I didn’t even have, which was a presence as a dramatic actor and a reputation in that department. So I wasn’t risking something that I’d worked toward all my life. Breaking Bad was loved around the world, so whatever we did was going to be watched and judged around the world. That’s a pretty big gamble to take with yourself and your reputation. And we were just crazy enough to do it.

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Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Better Call Saul.

WS: How does your improv background inform the scripted work you’re doing now? Has it helped your transition into drama?

ODENKIRK: Without a doubt. I was initially drawn to sketch comedy because of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which was my favorite show as a kid. In doing sketch comedy, you’re going to be around a lot of improvisation, especially in Chicago. Most improvisation exercises were invented to be used for dramatic purposes. I’ve gotten to know some of the people who helped bring improvisation to the masses, if you will, like Del Close and Keith Johnstone. Those guys sold it as something to get an actor to play the moment and to be in the moment and to listen and to be present. So doing a fair amount of improv and thinking about it is all for the good of helping you play some things dramatically. What’s great about it is that it simplifies your job. Your job is to get to know the character, but at some point it’s to let go of all that planning and be that person and be in the moment and react. If I’m any good in drama, it’s due in large part to the improvisational training that I’ve had with Del Close and with The Second City in Chicago and numerous other places.

WS: Do you consult with Peter and Vince on your story arcs or character development?

ODENKIRK: It’s funny you ask that. I was just with Peter yesterday, and we sat down for about an hour and a half and talked about every aspect of the show—production, story, all kinds of things.

Sometimes, if there’s something in the script that bumps me, I’ll call him and say, Why am I saying this? Why am I doing that? But as far as the overall journey, I try to stay out of it. I speak to them literally as a fan of the show. I say, Here’s what I think is going to happen, here’s what I wish would happen. And I don’t know how much that means to them. They listen! [Laughs] They act like they care! Yesterday I

told Peter a thought I had about the show. Our universe is becoming the Breaking Bad universe. And you can feel it. That’s both good and bad. It’s good because it’s super fun—for a fan of Breaking Bad, it just makes you happy. It’s kind of bad, too, because we could lose the emphasis on this wonderful, unique story that they’ve chosen to tell and that has connected with people—the story of Jimmy and Kim. So we talked about that and ways in which we could upend the journey so that people got to enjoy the fact that we are going to become the universe of Breaking Bad, but not in a way that feels like it’s the point of our show, because it isn’t. I think there are ways you could do that. But I’ve got to leave it to Peter and Vince to choose what they do.

WS: Do you expect that there will be a post–Breaking Bad story to tell, of Gene managing the Cinnabon in Omaha?

ODENKIRK: I do! That’s something that I hope Peter and Vince do. And that’s something that they’ve told me they are also interested in. So I don’t know if it’s one episode or a season or what, but yes, there’s a story to tell with Gene and the post–Breaking Bad world that he lives in.

WS: Where would Saul be if he’d never crossed paths with Walter White and Jesse Pinkman?

ODENKIRK: He’d be running his law offices in that mall, serving the homeboys and the gangsters, and he’d be struggling but making some coin! I think he’s good at that, and there’s money to be made there.

The whole interaction with Walter and Jesse was like putting all your money on one number that looks really good and then turns out to be a bust. He wouldn’t have had that opportunity to bet it all, and he wouldn’t have bet it all, and he’d still be a sleazy lawyer making a half-decent living. And who knows, maybe running for office!

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Tim Roth

By Mansha Daswani

what? So we made a rule book, pretty simple stuff, and everyone needed to be on the same page, so we knew what we were dealing with. The main rule is, when it’s Jack, he remembers everything. When he wakes up as Jim, he can’t remember a thing he’s done. And it quickly develops into a completely insane world they are in. You bring [Jack] back by drinking. And there are times when his wife wants him back, so she gets him back. It’s an incredibly dangerous and fun character to play.

WS: I imagine it was exhausting.

ROTH: It is pretty tiring. But it was easier for me, I have to say, in that when I did have a couple of days off I could get on a plane and go home, I could get back to L.A. fairly quickly. Genevieve [O’Reilly, who stars as Angela Worth, Jim’s wife] had her husband and kids come out, but then they had to go back. So it was harder for them, I think.

ky Atlantic hadn’t premiered Tin Star yet when it announced it was bringing the show, created by Rowan Joffe, back for a second season. Set in an idyllic Rocky Mountain community, the thriller—which has a U.S. slot on Amazon—stars Tim Roth as Jim Worth, a police chief facing off against a big oil company that has brought an unseemly element to town. When his family is attacked, Worth and his violent alter ego, Jack Devlin, seek revenge. Roth is no stranger to playing dark, complicated characters—he got his start portraying a skinhead in 1982’s Made in Britain, came to international acclaim as Mr. Orange in Reservoir Dogs and, in the last year alone, has been seen as a serial killer in Rillington Place and a hitman on Twin Peaks.

WS: Why did you say yes to Tin Star? What appealed to you about the project?

ROTH: I wasn’t going to, and I think I was the last person Rowan [Joffe] thought of approaching for it! [Laughs] He thought, Oh, he’ll never want to do it. I’d worked with Rowan’s dad [Roland] before, years and years ago. And then he got his guts up and sent me the script; he sent me three that were kind of ready. I read episode one and thought it was quite bold, and also a bit crazy. It wasn’t fully developed yet, but I could see there could be some real fun to be had, and a lot of anarchy; he constantly keeps twisting the story. You think the show is about one thing, but it keeps changing. So I just fancied it! And then they made the deal in about two seconds, and I was on board, and it was a six-month shoot.

WS: How did you prepare to play Jim and then Jack, his far more dysfunctional alter ego?

ROTH: Rowan and I talked about it a lot. It is a Jekyll and Hyde–type situation. It is a revenge thriller. It is bonkers. But there are rules. [Jim] was, is, a blackout drunk, so my constant worry was, who remembers

WS: And I understand there was a lot of improvisation on set.

ROTH: Everyone rolls their eyes at me, but I have a red pen, and I start [making notes on] scripts immediately. Change this, flip this around, do this. It’s what I did on Lie to Me [which ran on FOX for three seasons], and it became an easy way to work on a television show. So I was just going about it, and I came up with some ideas. Me and the [on-screen] family developed this shorthand and Rowan loved it.

He was up for it. So it kind of became the way that we worked. And you could go to him and say, what about if they did this? And he’d go away and scribble it down. We [filmed] it all in sequence, which really, really helped. The only episodes out of sequence were the last two, nine and ten. The last one we shot was episode nine. With that one, we got the story of it, and then we pushed the script aside and got the actors involved. We improvised the entire episode. It was brilliant fun. Sky was really cool with it. They’re the ones who have to pay you. But they were cool with it!

Now that we’re done and we’re going to do more, it’s kind of the format we’re going to use, a bit. Not all of it, but some of it. We now know

A prolific TV and film star, Tim Roth has played memorable characters in Tin Star, Rillington Place and Twin Peaks in the last year alone. that we can trust each other to find our way into [the story] more, and find different ways in, and play around. And the actors I’m working with are lovely. They’re the real deal.

WS: What was it like being part of the new Twin Peaks season? I just watched your bloody demise the other day!

ROTH: Aww! [Laughs] We had such a laugh. The thing about David [Lynch] is, for me anyway—I don’t know about anyone else, there were 230 actors on board—he’s the gentlest soul in the world. It’s the transcendental meditation books he writes. The only thing I didn’t like about it was that me and Jen [Jennifer Jason Leigh, who played opposite Roth in the show] didn’t get to do more.

WS: Do you worry about committing to what could be a long-term project, given all the feature-film work you also do? You’ve become a regular in Quentin Tarantino films. Are you ever worried you might miss out on his next movie if you commit to a TV show?

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Endemol Shine and Sky Vision’s Tin Star.

ROTH: Unfortunately, that did happen to me once! [Laughs] I was doing Lie to Me. In the end, the thing is to not have a plan, and just keep going. You don’t think [a show is] going to get picked up. My experience on Lie to Me taught me that. Don’t assume it. So you just deal with the here and the now of it and then move forward.

WS: Lie to Me was a lot of episodes.

ROTH: We did 58!

WS: Would you do another U.S. broadcast network show that requires a lot of episodes?

ROTH: It would depend. My thing is, truly, that I just don’t have a plan. So if it happened and I thought it was good, I’d find myself in the middle of it. [Lie to Me] was really tiring, but, by the end of it, it got to an interesting place—and that’s when they yanked us! What can you do, right?

WS: You’ve worked with so many phenomenal directors—Quentin Tarantino, David Lynch, Woody Allen. What has the relationship with Rowan Joffe been like on Tin Star?

ROTH: I didn’t see that much of him! [Laughs] He was always busy. He directed the first episode to set the tone a little bit. And then we had two or three different directors that came in, two different cinematographers. But Rowan was tucked up in his house coming up with the scripts. We were on deck. But it was very easy. We just had a meeting about next season. Some of the directors will come back. And then there will be some new ones. We want more women, definitely—that’s being dealt with now.

WS: In the last year alone, you’ve played a serial killer, an assassin and a violent alcoholic. At the end of your day, how do you disconnect, so you’re not taking those dark characters home with you?

ROTH: With [my character in] Rillington Place, I had to figure out that in his life, he’s the good guy. Get your head around that one!

It was tricky with him. The way I dealt with him is that I stole

[screenwriter and author] Alan Bennett’s voice. So when I was sometimes saying really cheesy lines—“Cuppa tea?,” “Lovely boy” and all that stuff—it made me laugh. But, in fact, what he’s doing is abominable. At the end of the day, you just go home or back to the hotel. You deal with it. And with Twin Peaks, I thought [my character] was quite sweet, really! He loved Jennifer [laughs].

WS: You directed the acclaimed film The War Zone in 1999. Would you like to direct again?

ROTH: Yes, definitely. That was probably the best job I’ve ever had, in a way. I enjoyed it. Once the kids are done with college—I’ve got two years left on one of them—then I can probably afford to take a couple of years off and not get paid to direct! [Laughs] That is basically what you have to do, unless you’re a super-famous person.

WS: Education is insanely expensive, when it shouldn’t be.

ROTH: It shouldn’t be. And I’m not having them have a mortgage as soon as they come out of school, that’s just not fair. I’ve done crappy movies to do it. And I’ve done good ones to do it. I’ve just got one [kid] left, and he has two years—if he behaves himself—and then it’s over.

WS: Is there anything else you can share with us about Tin Star?

ROTH: It comes out on Amazon in the States. I like that people can watch TV like that now. If they want it, they’ll take it, and they’ll watch it a lot. Or they’ll do it in two sections. There’s an independence to that that’s rather good. And then you don’t have to watch commercials.

WS: Do you binge-watch a lot?

ROTH: Only recently, just because my kids think I’m amusing and they take the piss out of me all the time. We love Walton Goggins in our house, so we watched Vice Principals, and that was just fun, ridiculous fun. And then the boys made me watch Wet Hot American Summer, the movie and two seasons of it. And they just laughed at me laughing. They did it just to take the piss out of me.

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Gordon Ramsay

By Anna Carugati

both networks—I had done Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, and then literally a month before that I did a live show called Hell’s Kitchen. It all came fast and furious for me. I think back to the network days under Mike Darnell [then president of alternative entertainment] when I first arrived at FOX, and anyone remotely talking about cooking was definitely not thinking about a major network; it was all for Food Network. No one dared show food [on a broadcast network].

What Hell’s Kitchen showed, first off, was a top-end prize. [At the time] American Idol had just kicked off and was becoming a phenomenon in the music world, House was a massive drama on FOX, and they had nothing like it food-wise. I remember Mike Darnell saying to me, This will help offer great, unscripted insight into how restaurants perform. So I focused on running a restaurant, and FOX ran our show; that’s how it worked. After filming the first season of Hell’s Kitchen, a year later we launched Kitchen Nightmares in the U.S. That’s what opened up the public’s eyes to, I suppose, the downside of my industry: anybody can open a restaurant. It was those idiots who were having dinner parties and being told by their neighbors, “Hey, Bob, your food’s amazing, you and Belle should open a restaurant,” because you don’t need qualifications to open a restaurant. That was the scenario, but that was partly why that show became such an insight—and, as you know, from Tabatha’s Salon Takeover to Bar Rescue, there were all sorts of follow-on shows. Hell’s Kitchen premiered in 2005. It was a long time ago when it all started.

hen Gordon Ramsay first appeared on TV, no one could have imagined how forcefully he would burst onto the scene. With his tough-love approach to motivating chefs and imposing discipline on failing restaurants—and his signature screaming, swearing and smirking—he has raised the bar for cooking shows. From Kitchen Nightmares to Hell’s Kitchen to MasterChef, he has helped create some of the longest-running franchises on both sides of the Atlantic.

WS: How did your television career start?

RAMSAY: It all started off with a documentary called Boiling Point. The first major program I ever did was Faking It for a company called RDF in London, where I took this young guy from a burger stand and put him into a competition with extremely talented fine-dining chefs. It was a month’s intense training, and I had to get him shipshape to propel him into the premier league of chefs. The idea was to stick him into the competition and have him go unnoticed. Obviously, it wasn’t in anyone’s interest if he came in the top ten out of 25 chefs, but he actually went on and won the competition! That was how it all started, and Faking It was an amazing documentary series. They got a ballet performer to become a DJ, a disc jockey to become a racecar driver, and my job was to turn this burger-van cook/driver into an amazing chef within a 30-day intense training period.

That’s how it started.

WS: How have your shows contributed to the cooking competition genre? It has grown considerably since your early days in television, hasn’t it?

RAMSAY: Oh yes, very much so. When I first arrived in the U.S., in 2004, [FOX was] thinking of picking up Hell’s Kitchen from ITV. [During] the same six-month period, in London—I was non-exclusive to

WS: You have an executive producer credit on a lot of shows. What responsibilities do you have in addition to being on camera, and how do you share responsibilities with the broadcaster?

RAMSAY: Being an executive producer doesn’t mean you’ve got the green light to overbear and over-control everything. I still need direction; I still need producing. The essence of becoming an executive producer, for me, was sharing that responsibility not only to deliver a great show but also to establish longevity for what we were doing. So the ironic issue with Kitchen Nightmares was that I give these restaurants

With his production company under the all3media umbrella, Gordon Ramsay has a huge slate of shows in both the U.S. and the U.K. prescriptions and there’s a huge team behind me. I did my due diligence, and so did they, and we surveyed and researched everything we did. Then, when the program is a big success, the restaurant benefits tremendously. But they then fall short in running the business and get carried away with excess cash flow. When they close down a year later, Kitchen Nightmares gets the blame for it. The restaurants were going to close anyway, but we gave them a lifeline, and the prescription needs to be followed religiously. So that’s my added responsibility as a chef-patron. As an executive producer, I have to have one foot in the camp for the network and one foot in the camp for the business.

And then, reputation-wise, I take everything so seriously. I like that level of jeopardy, but it makes it more compelling for me to be an executive producer. I need producing; I’ve never been scared of the truth. I love being creative with amazing directors, and I don’t like having it all my own way.

For more from Gordon Ramsay, see page 490.

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Ryan Seacrest

By Anna Carugati spontaneous moments—some of which are really cool, and others I’d rather forget. The unknown is a big part of the excitement of live television.

WS: From the contestants, what did you learn about human nature— determination, ambition and competitiveness?

SEACREST: I really enjoy my interactions with the contestants. To see them learn and grow as artists along the way is a fun process to witness. The show is good-natured, even though it’s competitive, of course. Many of the kids become great friends and cheer each other on and support each other emotionally during the many ups and downs of the competition. If I learned anything, I guess I would say that Idol reminds me, and I believe the audience, that the human spirit is generous—people truly care about each other and celebrate another person’s successes and victories with verve.

People really love seeing dreams come true, even if they’re not their own, which is heartening.

WS: What made you decide to join the new version of American Idol that will be airing on ABC? SEACREST: Idol is just part of the fabric of my soul. I couldn’t imagine not doing it.

WS: The television and media landscapes today are very different from what they were in 2002, when American Idol premiered. In how many ways beyond the live linear broadcast can a talent-competition show connect with the audience?

SEACREST: Idol was the first show to introduce audience engagement through texting. Since then, there have been more advents than I can count or describe—so we’ll see what happens.

WS: What made American Idol so special? What made viewers connect to it emotionally?

SEACREST: In a nutshell, American Idol is about making dreams come true, so it’s relatable to literally everyone. Who doesn’t want to be the next pop or rock star? Idol reminds everyone that this dream could be possible.

WS: What did American Idol mean to you professionally and personally?

SEACREST: I’ll be eternally grateful for all that the American Idol franchise has given to me professionally and personally over the years. Professionally, it has opened many doors. I’ve been able to work with the most amazingly talented people in the live TV business from whom I’ve learned a tremendous amount, and I also, fortunately, consider many of these folks my friends. The franchise enriched my life in countless ways, and I’m excited to join the show in its first season on ABC next year.

WS: Over the years, what did you learn about the most essential elements required for hosting a show like American Idol?

SEACREST: Live television is tricky—you never quite know what is going to happen, even if you rehearse and plan. So, it’s important to be flexible and quick on your feet, and to have a good sense of humor about

WS: Describe the excitement and energy involved in a live broadcast.

SEACREST: Live television is really one of the last great natural adrenaline rushes I know in entertainment—it’s unpredictable and spontaneous. And that’s why audiences love it. I love it!

Dubbed the hardest-working man on TV, Ryan Seacrest juggles his hosting duties with an extensive production slate and philanthropy.

WS: Between the complex and pressing issues facing the world today, the divisiveness in politics and the bad news we are bombarded with each day, do you feel there is a growing need for escapist fare on television?

SEACREST: It’s an interesting time in our culture. Clearly, there’s keen interest in following daily news, whether that’s on television or through social media on your mobile phone. People also want to be entertained more than ever, and that’s evident in the fact that there is more entertaining content than there has ever been before. Whether you want to watch shows on TV, tablets, mobile phones—there’s something for everyone, that’s for sure. I can’t keep up with all the shows I want to watch.

WS: What upcoming projects do you have at your production company?

SEACREST: We are celebrating the tenth year of Keeping Up with the Kardashians on E! as well as working on the E! Live from the Red Carpet shows and Best.Cover.Ever. on YouTube. Our scripted team has been producing the third season of Shades of Blue and the new dramedy Insatiable for Netflix.

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Photo: Disney/ABC Home Entertainment and TV Distribution

hen American Idol premiered in 2002, it became a TV phenomenon. The live singing competition was the highestrated show on U.S. broadcast TV for several seasons. It introduced the concept of viewers voting from home, propelled aspiring performers to national fame and, last but not least, launched the career of Ryan Seacrest, the show’s host. American Idol ended its run on FOX in 2016, but a new version will premiere next year on ABC. Seacrest will be back as host while he maintains his numerous other responsibilities as a radio and television personality and producer of several shows, including Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

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Edie Falco

By Anna Carugati

aspect of their lives that the public was not made aware of. People made snap judgments, myself included, when there were hugely important pieces that people didn’t know, and Law & Order True Crime sheds light on a great deal of that.

WS: What does Law & Order True Crime say about prejudices and preconceived notions we may have?

FALCO: It says that we know what we are told. We know what we are fed by the media. We made a snap judgment about these boys. That was how I felt about this case. I think it did them a terrible disservice, and I know that this is not the only time and place where this has happened.

WS: Do you think the Menendez brothers would get a different verdict if the trial were held today?

FALCO: I think they would get a different verdict if they were tried today.

We know a lot more about child abuse and about [the mental state of abused people] now than we did at the time they were tried.

WS: I’ve been told that acting is very much about listening and reacting.

What difference does it make for your performance if you are acting opposite another great actor?

FALCO: Acting opposite another great actor is why I do this. That brings the whole thing to another level. It takes you out of your head and into the heart of the character. Looking into the eyes of someone who is also doing the same makes my job 50 times easier. You can’t help but get better when you are acting opposite someone great.

he actor who gave life to such iconic fictional characters as Carmela, wife of mobster Tony, in The Sopranos and drugaddicted Jackie Peyton in Nurse Jackie is now taking on a reallife person. Edie Falco, who has won numerous Emmys, Golden Globes and SAG Awards, plays the passionate and controversial defense attorney Leslie Abramson in Dick Wolf ’s Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders. The eight-part series re-examines the notorious 1990s case of brothers Lyle and Erik, who were tried for brutally murdering their parents, and sheds light on information that wasn’t revealed at the time.

WS: This is not your first experience on a Dick Wolf show; you were in Law & Order. What’s it like working on a Dick Wolf show? Is there anything that sets it apart from other acting experiences you’ve had?

FALCO: I worked on Law & Order and it’s a rite of passage in New York.

Most New York actors have done Law & Order. It’s like a well-oiled

Marking her return to broadcast television, Law & Order True Crime sees Edie Falco portraying real-life attorney Leslie Abramson.

WS: What appealed to you about the role of defense attorney Leslie Abramson?

FALCO: I like the fact that she was really good at her job, that she took an unpopular position defending the Menendez brothers and she gave it her all. She defended them according to the letter of the law, and that was impressive to me.

machine. They all know each other. They know whatever way is the best way to tell a story that involves this kind of thing—law and order.

WS: Do you have a process for preparing for a role?

FALCO: I don’t really have a process for preparing for a role, not that I’m aware of; it might be an unconscious one. I read Leslie Abramson’s book [The Defense Is Ready: My Life in Crime] and I certainly looked at some videos, but I don’t know, whatever it is I do to prepare is unconscious. Because she is a real person I needed to see what she looked like, certainly, and how she sounded, which I only used as a guideline. I was not interested in imitating her, per se.

WS: You have played some of the first flawed women on television, including Diane Whittlesey in Oz, Carmela Soprano and Jackie Peyton. We’ve seen lots of flawed men, but fewer flawed women. What roles interest you?

FALCO: Flawed characters interest me because people are flawed. When the general public sees a character on television that appears not to have any of the same conflicts that they do, they are less likely to attach themselves emotionally. So, yes, a character with struggles is always going to interest me.

WS: Why is it important to revisit the Menendez case?

FALCO: It’s important because there is so much that was deeply [relevant] to the case that was not allowed in the trial, that was not allowed as one of the variables as to why this happened and how the brothers should have been treated afterward. There was a whole

WS: What are some of your upcoming television, film or theater projects?

FALCO: I’ve done many movies in the last year, [including] Landline, Outside In, The Land of Steady Habits [from writer/director] Nicole Holofcener and a bunch of other things that will be out hopefully in the next year or so.

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Cillian Murphy

By Anna Carugati

being that you are shooting so many episodes and so many setups per day and you have so many lines to learn—means that it does take over your life, but in a brilliant way. It’s what every actor would want.

WS: How did you prepare and step into the role?

MURPHY: Originally, it was for me to prove to the producers and to the creator that I could make that transformation. We worked as hard as we could, regarding the hair and the costume and me going to the gym! Then there was the emotional pain of this man, who is a damaged man. There was a pre –First World War and a post–First World War man and the trauma and PTSD. I read a lot about that. I read about the First World War and shell shock, as it was called then, and had a lot of protein shakes.

WS: The series deals with the impact of World War I on the men who fought in it.

MURPHY: Yes, it’s a brilliant device to see this character after this trauma, a man who has been completely altered through his experiences [at war] and therefore has no respect for authority. He doesn’t believe in God. He is unafraid of death. It’s a great setup for a character, and all of the male characters, particularly in the first two seasons, are products of that trauma and deal with it in different ways. We’ve never forgotten that in all the seasons we’ve done. We’ve seen the consequences of it over the years in the series.

illian Murphy uses his crystalline blue eyes to great effect as gang leader Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders. What could be mistaken for a benevolent glance turns into the icy stare of a damaged, violent man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

The Peaky Blinders, who get their name from sewing razor blades in the peaks of their caps, rule the streets of Birmingham, England, in the chaotic aftermath of World War I. Murphy began his career in the theater and went on to perform in feature films, starring in several Christopher Nolan pictures, including Dunkirk. Critically acclaimed Peaky Blinders is his first foray into episodic television.

WS: When you first read the script, what appealed to you about Tommy Shelby?

MURPHY: I was handed the script by one of my agents, and the title gives nothing away, but I remember reading the opening sequence when Tommy rides into town bareback on a horse. It was quite archetypal, this stranger arriving in town—you see that in Westerns. The writing was so strong and confident and original, insofar as you can be within a genre structure, but I felt that it was. That was my first reaction. I was aware of [creator and screenwriter] Steven Knight’s work. I was an admirer of his, but this was something very different.

WS: What kind of challenges does playing Tommy present, both emotionally and physically?

MURPHY: It’s a real gift to have this sort of character, particularly a character that you can return to. It is draining. He’s very complex and he’s about as far away from me as a person as you can possibly get!

He has that physical capability, which I certainly don’t possess. It seems like he never sleeps or eats. In fact, over the whole four seasons so far, we never see Tom Shelby eat; a morsel never enters his mouth! He is all-consuming and obviously the nature of television—

WS: It’s a period piece, and it deals with the British working class; we haven’t seen too much of that on television.

MURPHY: It was definitely one of Steve Knight’s priorities to mythologize the working class for a while instead of the aris tocracy, which has been the tradition in British television. If you look at American television, Westerns and the gangster genre are all about mythologizing the working man, or immigrants, or cowboys. Americans are very adept at doing that, and we in British television hadn’t done that before. So yes, I think that was a new idea,

Best known for his feature-film work, Cillian Murphy has struck a chord with TV audiences as the lead in Peaky Blinders. and people reacted very strongly in a positive way to that, certainly over here [in the U.K.].

WS: We see a different side of Winston Churchill in Peaky Blinders.

MURPHY: Well, there are so many sides to Winston Churchill. He is deified and vilified in equal measure depending on where you’re from.

But, yes, in this we see the more cloak-and-dagger Churchill and how he was manipulating things even when he wasn’t Prime Minister; he was so involved in every facet of the British government. What I think sets Steve Knight’s writing apart is that he always sets these intimate family stories against the backdrop of political upheavals, some of which we are aware of and some of which we’ve forgotten over the years but actually did happen. He always puts [the story] up against some big change in society that happened.

WS: Family is hugely important to Tommy. He is ambitious, but much of what he does is to protect his family.

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Endemol Shine’s Peaky Blinders.

MURPHY: Yes, and that’s a real gangster trope, something we are very familiar with in the gangster genre, the depth of the love for family.

The idea that someone in the family may blackmail Tommy or the idea that he may blackmail the family is probably the thing we are all thinking at the back of our minds as we are watching. He is used to dealing with enemies quite easily, eventually, he always triumphs, but with family, you’re never sure. I think he realizes that they are really the only people he trusts, even though they go through intense trauma and they have this weird magnetic push and pull away from each other. He realizes they are the only people he has.

WS: The ’20s were years of economic and social upheaval. What sense of purpose and belonging did the Peaky Blinders offer young men?

MURPHY: If you look at society and working-class men back then, there was no chance of being upwardly mobile. There was no chance of being part of a meritocracy. There were class strata, and there was no way you could move between them. But the idea of being in a gang seems outside of that. You can achieve power and money but still remain a working-class man. Your enemies will be the police and institutions. What will always be attractive is this different moral code that sits outside our own normal conventional moral code, one that normal people are not privy to—that’s very alluring and very sexy.

WS: Your first acting experience was on stage. Do you prefer the theater?

MURPHY: It is very important to me and I do go back to it all the time, but it’s not a preference. For me, one informs the other. When I go on stage, I act with my whole body. You’re acting intensely for three months every night, and you come out and you’re really fit as an actor.

You’re better because you have been doing it every night, and you’re in control of what’s happening live on stage. Then you take that experience back to the TV show or the movies. I’m a great proponent of live

theater; when it works, there is nothing like it. It’s the most satisfying for audiences and for performers when it works. The problem is a lot of the time it doesn’t work.

WS: What was the experience of shooting Dunkirk like?

MURPHY: It was a great experience. It’s a collaboration that I’ve had for many years with [writer-director] Christopher Nolan and I feel very privileged to have had. I was so proud of the film, glad to be part of it.

It’s pure cinema.

WS: What upcoming projects do you have?

MURPHY: I had a film by Sally Potter at the London Film Festival called The Party. And I’m dreaming of another stage production for next year with my friend Enda Walsh, who is a collaborator of mine and an amazing writer.

WS: Peaky Blinders is only six episodes per season. That makes it possible to pursue other projects.

MURPHY: I don’t know if I would be able to do ten hours because it does preclude a lot of other work because you’d be doing that for ten months a year. We do Peaky and it’s four months shooting and a month prep, that’s five months of your year, but then you have seven months to do other things. That’s great as an actor. As much as I love the character, I couldn’t do it all the time.

WS: In general, what types of roles appeal to you?

MURPHY: I quite like pushing myself. I quite like going to extremes, only if the role or the material justifies it. Good writing is the only thing that I look for, and if you have a good director, you’re hopefully in a position to challenge yourself and to improve. Those are my type of criteria.

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Kyle MacLachlan

By Anna Carugati WS: Twin Peaks also had a big impact on television. A lot of showrunners say they took their inspiration from Twin Peaks and felt permission to do things that maybe they wouldn’t have done before.

MACLACHLAN: Yes, I think that’s very true. Again, pointing to the beginning of Twin Peaks and what was different was the auteur, David Lynch, coming to the world of television. Up to that point, that was unheard of.

Suddenly you have David Chase, Damon Lindelof and Steven Soderbergh bringing their genius, their creativity, to television largely because of David Lynch.

WS: How did this new Twin Peaks come about? Had you been in contact with David over the years?

MACLACHLAN: Yes, David and I live very close to each other in Los Angeles.

I’d visit him and ask, Do you ever think about going back to Twin Peaks?

But I would couch it very casually. He would say, I don’t really know. I think in his mind it was finished and he’d put it to bed and that was it. I just accepted that. We moved on. I was just waiting to see if he was going write something that I would be right for. Then he called me one day, really out of the blue, and said, I want to talk to you about something, but I can’t do it over the phone. So we met in person, and that’s how he told me that he and Mark [Frost] had been working on preliminary ideas, and he asked if I would be interested. And I said, Absolutely, of course I would! It’s the greatest character I’ve ever played and the most memorable and complex and interesting, so I said yes without any real idea of what direction we were going in. That’s how it started.

yle MacLachlan had already appeared in the feature films Dune and David Lynch’s Blue Velvet when he was cast as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks. However successful the films had been, it was the 1990 series—Lynch’s first television project—about a murder in the eponymous town full of idiosyncratic residents that became a cult classic and catapulted MacLachlan to international fame. Three years ago, when Lynch announced he was working on a new iteration of Twin Peaks with co-creator Mark Frost, MacLachlan was immediately on board. In Twin Peaks: The Return, which premiered on Showtime earlier this year, MacLachlan reprises the role of Agent Cooper and also plays his evil doppelganger and a new character, Dougie.

WS: What impact did the first Twin Peaks have on culture and your career?

MACLACHLAN: It had a big impact for a number of reasons. Obviously, the power of network television in 1990 was huge, and Twin Peaks was unlike anything that had been on the air up to that point.

It was cinematographic. The music was new. The story itself— murder mystery, small town—was not so new, but the characters who inhabited that place were, again, unlike anything anyone had seen before. And the character I played—the central character, the eccentric FBI agent—was not like any FBI agent we’d ever seen before, so there were all these new and exciting things, and the compelling “who killed Laura Palmer?” mystery. The impact was immediate, in a way, but also there was a slight delay in the fact that we’d filmed all seven episodes before anything went to air. And then it came out and we were all like, Oh wow, it’s being well received, that’s fantastic! I went on to do [the feature film] The Doors, and then they said, We want you to come back and do another season [of Twin Peaks]. I said, Great, let’s do it. We finished that, and I suddenly became more desirable in television.

WS: Was it difficult to reinhabit the character after so many years, or was it like riding a bike?

MACLACHLAN: Kind of both. I felt pretty comfortable in the suit, to be honest. But the character was going in different directions, so I was excited as an actor. It was Cooper, but there were other elements going on. It was very much a gift. No one has ever asked me to play a character like that before—neither the dark character nor the light character. I knew I was capable of doing both, and I was excited because David was

Kyle MacLachlan remains best known for his iconic role as Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks, which he reprised this year. going to be my director. I knew I’d have the kind of caretaking that’s necessary when you do characters that are that extreme. You need someone there whom you absolutely trust to keep you going in the right direction.

WS: Tell us about working with David Lynch.

MACLACHLAN: Directors of that level, of his quality, share a joy for the creative process. It’s an absolute love of the performers, the actors, that creates an environment on set that is conducive to great work. For instance, Alfonso Cuarón, whom I worked with on the pilot [for the series Believe]—created a very similar environment, and a collaborative relationship, that doesn’t always exist with every director.

WS: David Lynch has said that this is an 18-hour project as opposed to 18 episodes. Was it also shot differently, unlike episodic television?

MACLACHLAN: Exactly. For David it was an 18-hour movie, so we filmed it as a movie. We were on location shooting all different elements but not in sequence at all. It’s what you do in film. You do jump around in

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CBSSI’s Twin Peaks: The Return. television as well, but in features, yes, you’re all moving, so you rely so heavily on the script as your blueprint. You’ve got to know what came before and what’s going on after so you can modulate your [performance].

WS: The television landscape has changed so much since the first Twin Peaks. Was there any concern that the audience might not react the same way because they’ve been exposed to so much now?

MACLACHLAN: It was never anything that I thought about, to be honest.

When I read the script, I said to myself, Nothing like this has ever been seen on television. It’s not for everyone because it’s a very interesting journey, so you’re either up for that or not, but I think we all knew going in that it was going to be something extraordinary, really worthwhile, pure Lynch. And to be honest, hats off to David Nevins [president and CEO of Showtime] for the gamble. He didn’t have to agree—although he did because it was the only way David Lynch was going to do it—but he said, I’m in, and that was it. And, wow, that’s a big gamble.

WS: Are there themes in this one that will particularly resonate with today’s viewers?

MACLACHLAN: Some, yes, but they are themes that David is interested in: good versus evil, malice in the world. I sum up the series by saying, the world is out of balance, and we are attempting to bring it back into balance. Let’s see if we make it. There are wonderful, surreal elements in this that I think are beautiful and challenging to the audience—some very dark, some funny, some very violent. Everything is there to impact the audience in a certain way. It’s not a linear story as much as it is a visceral story—and that’s obviously the strength of David Lynch—and you’re either into that or not.

WS: Right. It grabbed me in a way that other shows don’t.

MACLACHLAN: Yes, you can’t watch this over your shoulder while you’re making toast in the kitchen. You’re sitting down, and you’re all in.

WS: What are you most proud of about your performance in Twin Peaks?

MACLACHLAN: I think I made every effort to create different characters, and I didn’t want a piece of one leaking into the other. I feel like I’ve been pretty good at creating the characters that you see: Cooper, the doppelganger and Dougie. Each one is singular and of his own quality, and you don’t see any of Dougie in Cooper or vice versa. Hopefully, there are two distinct characters that stand on their own without any overlap.

WS: Did you ever have to play more than one character on the same day?

MACLACHLAN: Yes, a few times. It wasn’t too bad. I’m a firm believer that what you put on the outside has a lot of influence on what’s happening on the inside. It’s the opposite view of [actor and director Konstantin] Stanislavski. But I feel like that was very helpful to me— just looking at the face that we created and getting the physicality of him; it starts on the outside and moves to the inside and takes over, and then I’m in that place.

WS: It’s tough to binge on the show because it’s a little creepy.

MACLACHLAN: Well, I said the same thing. I’m really glad that this isn’t something that is available all at one time, because two hours is a lot to absorb, and I don’t think people realize what is happening inside with David. It’s like you look at a piece of art and you’re moved, but you have to process it, and I think when you [watch] one episode after the other you don’t have a chance to process.

WS: What upcoming projects do you have?

MACLACHLAN: I’m doing Portlandia, that’ll be fun. This might be the last season of Portlandia. And then I’m just reading material for right now. What has been happening, which is fantastic, is that the work I’ve done on Twin Peaks is work that gets work. It’s causing people who thought they knew me to rethink what they know of me, so that’s been a benefit to expanding my options, hopefully.

WS: Are you equally at ease with drama and comedy?

MACLACHLAN: Yes, I like them both. The fun thing about Portlandia is that it’s challenging in a different way. While there are written lines in the scripts, they are just jumping-off points. So you end up improvising in and around what’s there, and sometimes you go off on wild tangents. I find the process of improv thrilling and magical, but it’s incredibly tiring. In the end, my brain is like a marshmallow, so I’m only there for two or three days. I don’t know how Fred [Armisen] and Carrie [Brownstein] do it for as long as they do—it requires a lot of mental power.

And the thing about improv is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. The fantastic thing about Portlandia, for example, is that you have a director, Jon Krisel, who directs most of the episodes, although other directors have come in—Carrie has directed as well—so you just give everything you can, and they will take it and assemble it. The story is constructed, hopefully, of the best stuff that you’ve been able to create—not always, but hopefully!

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Kyra Sedgwick

By Anna Carugati behavior impacts a set. That’s why you have to pick good people from the top down and build a certain kind of crew and cast and have a certain understanding of priorities and deep respect for everyone’s thoughts and opinions. Obviously, decisions need to be made, but being willing to be collaborative and respectful is such a huge part of what I learned from them, and being ethically sound in a very unethical culture and Hollywood.

WS: Are you seeing more opportunities for women both in front of and behind the camera, even for women 40-plus?

SEDGWICK: It is opening up, and frankly I think The Closer was a hugely instrumental part of that. That show was so successful, monetarily as well as critically, that suddenly people were thinking leading roles in television shows can be played by women and be extremely successful. That has changed. Women directors? Those numbers are pretty dismal. But I don’t like to live my life in scarcity, feeling that there isn’t enough and I’m not going to get my [chance], because the truth is that I had my biggest, most successful role when I was 40. And I’ve decided on a second career at 50, and that’s directing. But I’m certainly realistic and aware of what the situation is, and I hope it changes. The truth is, it’s often women who pick the movies and the television shows a family watches. I also think women are incredibly fascinating and multifaceted and deep and complex, and we need to know more about them. There aren’t enough stories, and there aren’t enough female directors, and there isn’t enough “female gaze,” to quote Jill Soloway.

yra Sedgwick starred as the flawed but extremely effective Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson, who often resorted to somewhat unorthodox methods in extracting confessions from suspects, on The Closer. Her performance won her a Golden Globe and an Emmy.

Sedgwick returns to the small screen in the drama Ten Days in the Valley. She plays Jane Sadler, an overworked producer on a controversial TV show whose daughter goes missing.

WS: What appealed to you about Jane Sadler?

SEDGWICK: I’m interested in women who inhabit many different characteristics, complexities and contradictions. Jane is a bundle of contradictions.

I was fascinated by the idea of playing a documentary filmmaker who is trying to get to the truth and yet is a perpetual liar in her real life. [As we see] more flashbacks to when she was a kid, we come to know why she is the way she is. But it’s fascinating to see how people behave in the world, how they tick and why, and why that all makes up this one person. I love her sexuality, her sense of humor about herself and her intensity. I love that she is in a very powerful position as a showrunner. I like to see women in leadership positions and how they manage that. And the genre itself is a mystery thriller with a film noir element to it, a life-imitating-art element. I was also interested in all the other characters that surround her. Although Jane is at the center, it’s very much an ensemble of fascinating characters inhabited by extraordinary actors, and you get to know their stories.

WS: You also have an executive producer credit. Were there lessons you learned from your relationship with James Duff, creator and showrunner of The Closer, that you are bringing to this show?

SEDGWICK: Totally. Mike Robin, Greer Shephard and James Duff are some of the most noble people I know, period, and especially in this business.

They taught me to expect people to not only be good actors and good people and good citizens of the world but also understand that everyone’s

WS: You recently directed a TV movie. Was directing something you had wanted to do for a while?

SEDGWICK: I had always said I would never direct. I had a lot of fear about directing, but I’ve been a film producer since I was 27—mostly films that I’ve been in, but not all. I produced Proof, the television series with Jennifer Beals on TNT a couple of years ago. I was afraid and intimidated to direct, but I bought this young adult novel called Story of a Girl in 2007 and tried to get it made as an indie film for ten years. When I got the opportunity to make it, I was ready to direct, and

Kyra Sedgwick won an Emmy for her work on The Closer and is now starring in and executive producing Ten Days in the Valley. it was an incredible experience. I loved it beyond my wildest dreams.

I had no idea I would love directing so much. It reminded me of the way I felt at first about acting, which was total joy and no pressure— then that changed when I became a professional. What I realized as a director is that I had been preparing to be a director my whole life as an actor. What surprised me the most about it was that I thought I would be good with the actors, but I didn’t know that I would have such a sense of storytelling and visual style. Mike Robin [a producer and director on The Closer] is a mentor of mine, as are many other people, and I spent many hours talking with him about directing. One of the things he said to me is, I know you’re going to be good at directing because you are such a good storyteller. What I think he meant by that is that, as an actor, that is what I do, I am a storyteller. I’m telling the writer’s story, but I too am a storyteller clueing people in along the way as to who this person is and why she is the way she is and where she came from. So I loved directing, more than I ever thought I would.

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George Blagden

By Anna Carugati writers want to do with the show and what sort of story they want to tell an audience. I was very lucky that, when we started season one of Versailles, the producers and the writers wanted to tell a story about Louis’s vulnerability. That was a major reason why I was cast, because that is something I can do quite well as an actor—play vulnerability and sensitivity in characters and show their weaknesses. We wanted to start Versailles season one with a king who was very much a boy still, and show the growth of this man, how he built his palace and how he became this brand, the Sun King. I was lucky in that the creators and writers wanted to tell a similar story to the one I wanted to tell, which was about this man’s weaknesses and vulnerability and how he overcame them and became the Sun King.

WS: Do you feel the weight of history?

BLAGDEN: You do. The first time we shot in Versailles was on the anniversary of Louis’s death. It was the first time I did a sequence in the Galerie des Glaces [Hall of Mirrors] on my own, dressed as Louis, being Louis, on the anniversary of his death. It was surreal and strange—you can’t help but feel like history is all around you. I looked around and thought, we’re representing something real here—we’re not just having a bit of fun. But the trick with any role like this is to get that off your shoulders and tell a story that you, the other actors, the writers and the creators want to tell and that is engaging for the audience. Some people might have a problem and say, Louis would have never done this, Louis would have never done that, but we are not making a documentary—we’re making a fictional dramatic interpretation of this man and how he lived. It’s been such a joy to do that and discover him. [Versailles co-creator] Simon Mirren says that if Louis were alive today, he’d be very proud, because the show we have created is now in 136 countries. That’s exactly what Louis would have wanted. His brand and his marketing have evolved in the 21st century into a TV series about the legacy of his life. He would have found it very fitting.

ost everyone has heard of or studied Louis XIV, the French king and longest-reigning monarch in Europe. He is known for ordering the construction of the dazzling Palace of Versailles, promoting the arts, annexing territories and making France the most powerful country in the world. Less known are his private life, his vulnerabilities, the influence of his mother and his numerous mistresses. George Blagden plays Louis XIV in the TV series Versailles, which enhances historical facts to tell the story of young Louis, the intrigue in his court and how he was far ahead of his time in seeing himself as a brand, the Sun King.

WS: What research did you do before taking on the role?

BLAGDEN: I was unlucky in that I was cast about five weeks before we started shooting, and I had about four and a half weeks left to shoot on Vikings. But I was lucky that a lot was done for me. I was surprised when I got to Paris, a couple of days before we started shooting, to hear that the costume and set designers had been working for the better part of a year on prepping the show. Even for season three, our costume department started to work in February/March for production that began in May. As an actor, you think, my job is to tell the human story and character here, and an army of people have spent three years researching this project—every little button that Louis wore, even how he walked down the corridor. One of the scriptwriters who created the show did his doctorate at Cambridge University on Versailles and Louis XIV. It sounds like a cop-out, but we were so supported that we didn’t need to do any research.

WS: Was there an unknown side of Louis XIV that you thought the audience should see?

BLAGDEN: That is the point of historical drama, to try to show the audience something they don’t know about a period in history they may have learned about in school. I would say it always starts with the writing and what the

WS: Louis’s mother had a strong influence on him, didn’t she?

BLAGDEN: Absolutely. He became King of France at age 4, so his mother was Queen Regent until he was 27. When she died, he had to take absolute

George Blagden has only been acting for a few years but has already made a name for himself with his lead role in Versailles. power and authority. As a strong maternal figure, she had a huge influence on him [and because of this relationship with his mother] when he became an adult, the women in his life became extremely important. You see that in our show. The women have a lot of sway over what sort of decisions Louis makes. Sometimes the massive decisions he makes in the court, or for France, or internationally, are ideas that women in his life had. At the start of season one, we see him wrestling out of boyhood and becoming a man.

In season two, we see more of the man that we saw develop in season one.

WS: It’s a story that takes place in the past but is also very modern.

BLAGDEN: Honestly, I was surprised that they didn’t have to change the facts of what happened that much to make it modern. I find it amazing that in the 17th century someone like [Louis’s brother] Philippe was able to exist as openly as he did as a cross-dressing warrior prince. It’s amazing that, in 2017, society is only now reaching a point where we can accept someone like that and who he is. The writers didn’t have much of a problem in modernizing this story from the 17th century.

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Andrés Parra

By Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari

topics foreign to Colombia. Despite the countries being so close together, they function differently, and the political history is very different.

I listened to around 400 hours of Aló Presidente [a radio and television program hosted by Chávez], which is where I got the accent. I had to work with a voice coach to get Chávez’s tone, which was very difficult. It was exciting to find out about Venezuelan slang and idioms because Chávez’s dialect is very rich.

WS: After you studied Chávez, was there something you didn’t know about him that you found interesting?

PARRA: I didn’t know anything about him. I was ignorant. I think you have to be open and nonjudgmental to do the work. You have to embrace everything the character reveals as you discover more. You have to allow hate, admiration and repulsion. I think I went through it all.

There were things that were truly revealing to me because I didn’t expect to find a person with the cultural level of Chávez. The preconception I had of him was the one we got from the media, and I didn’t expect to discover a character like him.

For example, the coup in 1992 was 20 years in the making, and not just anybody can pull that off. That impressed me. I’ve said it many times—the great challenge for an actor is to interpret someone who is better than you. That’s not easy to do, and Chávez surpasses me in a thousand different things. I don’t know how to play an instrument, I can’t sing, and I don’t have the memory he had. Chávez had a prodigious mind, the ability to improvise and a charisma that I don’t have.

This also surprised me because he was an entirely political figure.

He was thoroughly entertaining.

ndrés Parra rose to international fame following his acclaimed portrayal of a real-life narco kingpin in Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord. Plenty of offers followed for similar roles, but Parra was insistent that he not be typecast as a crime boss. He did, however, jump at the chance to play another controversial historical figure—Hugo Chávez, the former president of Venezuela, in El Comandante. The busy Colombian actor is also working on a new season of the period drama Sitiados.

WS: How did you prepare for the role of Hugo Chávez? Did you approach it the same way you did the role of Pablo Escobar?

PARRA: Hugo Chavéz is a bit more demanding than Pablo Escobar because we have no similarities, like the accent, country or even skin color. For El Comandante, we followed the same process we did for Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord. However, the process for Escobar lasted about two months, whereas with Chávez it was about a year. In other words, I used the same methodology but was fortunate to have much more time.

WS: How was the makeup process? You had to wear a facial prosthesis, right?

PARRA: Yes. I’d say it took about six months of testing it out in Mexico with the Colombian and Mexican makeup team. We tried molds, contact lenses, costumes and wigs. The makeup process was progressive. There is a moment when Chávez has gained weight, and we could no longer rely on lights and shadows, so we had to use padding. The makeup process lasted about an hour, while the body padding lasted about four.

WS: Did you work a lot on the accent?

PARRA: Yes, but I also read a lot, not only about Chávez but also about Venezuelan history and politics. We had a chance to talk to Venezuelan journalists and historians about the history of the country, the way the state functions based on crude oil and the cult of Simón Bolívar. These are

WS: Nicolás Maduro, the current president of Venezuela, said the series is an attack on Chávez’s legacy and won’t allow it to be broadcast in the country. How does that make you feel?

PARRA: From the moment I started my research, I knew that was going to happen. I think it would have been strange if Venezuela aired the series. We all knew it was going to be that way. We knew it wasn’t going

Andrés Parra’s depictions of Pablo Escobar and Hugo Chávez have made him the most in-demand Latin American actor today. to air in Venezuela a year and a half before we started filming. Not because the country had decided it—Venezuela had no idea that the series was being developed—but because it was evident that the government wasn’t going to allow it. I think that all this is part of the appeal of the series. You can’t forbid something and not expect a greater need for consumption. Sooner or later, the series will air in Venezuela. The regime will disappear, but the series will be around forever. That’s the beauty of art or anything else you create—it remains forever.

WS: After Pablo Escobar and Hugo Chávez, what other historical figures would you like to play?

PARRA: It’s funny, the public is starting to see me as the actor that can play all those roles. I think people are no longer interested in seeing me play a normal role. There aren’t any concrete offers. I’d say that the two figures I haven’t analyzed yet are Augusto Pinochet and Juan Domingo Perón.

There was a time when people only wanted me to play drug kingpins, and I’ve received significant offers.

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ONE-ON-ONE

ast year was a tumultuous one for Viacom, capped off by majority shareholder Sumner Redstone (aged 93 and in poor health) stepping down from the board and the company naming a new CEO. The summer had been marked by a prolonged boardroom battle between members siding with then CEO, Philippe Dauman, and others who stood with Redstone’s daughter, Shari. She had considered merging Viacom with CBS Corporation. Dauman was trying to sell off Hollywood’s storied Paramount Pictures. All of this drama played out against the backdrop of changing viewing habits, declining pay-TV subscribers and the growing popularity of SVOD platforms.

By year’s end, Shari Redstone had wrested control of the company and appointed new members to the board. Dauman was ousted, Viacom and CBS did not merge, and Robert Bakish was named Viacom’s president and CEO. Bakish has been with Viacom since 1997, most recently as president and CEO of Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN). He was very familiar with Viacom’s businesses, its pay-TV channels, their digital and consumer-products extensions, and related theme parks and experiences.

When Bakish took the helm, he was determined to focus on the company’s strengths. The media conglomerate consists of three main groups. First, Viacom Media Networks (VMN), home to BET Networks, the leading provider of content for African Americans; the Music and Entertainment Group, consisting of MTV, Comedy Central, Spike, TV Land, CMT, Logo and VH1; and the Nickelodeon Group. Second, Paramount

Pictures, which includes production of motion pictures and television product and a worldwide-distribution arm. The third is VIMN, whose international linear and nonlinear brands reach nearly 4 billion cumulative subscribers in more than 180 countries.

Bakish wanted to break down silos between the various businesses and make sure each division was operating at its fullest potential. He also wanted to address ratings declines at some of the networks. Rather than sell Paramount Pictures, Bakish expanded its purview. He set up Paramount Players, a new unit, and hired AwesomenessTV’s Brian Robbins to run it. It will be producing movies for Viacom’s pay-TV brands. And speaking of the pay-TV brands, Bakish has identified the ones he wants to invest in the most. They are BET, which signed a cross-portfolio deal with Tyler Perry for TV, short-form and film content; Nickelodeon, which continues to be the most-watched kids’ network in the U.S.; MTV, whose audience share has grown in the last year with a renewed focus on youth and unscripted shows; Comedy Central, a global brand for comedy that has seen audience gains in the U.S.; and Paramount Network, which is already distributed internationally and will launch in the U.S. in January.

In response to changing consumer behavior, Viacom will be offering a low-price entertainment pack, a skinny bundle of channels. Bakish sees numerous growth opportunities across all of Viacom, where revenues in 2016 amounted to $12.5 billion. He talks to World Screen about boosting the flagship brands, revitalizing Paramount and continuing to offer viewers the content they want in as many ways as possible.

ROBERT BAKISH VIACOM

By Anna Carugati

WS: When you took over as CEO, what was your view of the company, and what have been your priorities?

BAKISH: There was certainly a lot of drama at the time, and what I think got lost in all of that was the strength underlying Viacom: its broad portfolio of assets, the fact that today we still have the largest reach of any media company in the world in terms of television subscribers, which, on a cumulative basis, currently amount to almost 4 billion worldwide. We have the largest share of pay-TV viewing in the U.S., across every demographic we serve, and if you look at on-demand and alternative consumption, over 100 billion hours of our content are viewed annually. We also have a fantastic employee base, not only in the U.S. but worldwide. So while there was a lot of noise, there was a lot to work with that had been underappreciated. My focus was on taking that, building upon it, and as quickly as possible beginning to shift the narrative and maximize our value to realize the company’s full potential.

I got the job in December of ’16, and in early February of this year, we began to articulate a strategy for the company. That’s something that the company hadn’t had in a while. We made a whole series of leadership changes because we didn’t have the right mix of leadership in the company. One criticism that was true was that the company was highly siloed. So we started to work right away to break those silos down. We wanted to begin to operate in a way in which we could provide a more unified offering from Viacom to our key 10/17 WORLD SCREEN 205

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constituencies and partners all over the world.

WS: Were there insights gained during the years you headed VIMN that you were able to apply to other parts of Viacom?

BAKISH: For sure. In the international playbook, a guiding theme is the power of partnerships, both externally and internally. When I first started running what we now call VIMN, it was essentially a confederation of independent nations.

MTV revived the U.S. version of Fear Factor, enlisting the rapper and actor Ludacris as host.

What we needed to do was create a multinational media company out of it, where we shared more than just some brands, and had a much more integrated model and could leverage the benefit of our scale. So first, we had to put the right leadership and organizational structure in place to capitalize on that global scale and maximize the power of our brands.

That’s on the internal side. On the external side, we needed to spend a lot of time with clients and partners—distributors, advertisers,

licensees, creative talent, music industry talent and others—to understand their businesses and challenges so that we could configure our assets to create mutual value.

That’s the way we get the full power of our brands: aligning our extensive, largely owned content offerings, our data and advanced analytic capabilities on the advertising side, our marketing power, and our global footprint, all focused on helping our partners succeed. We chose to do our pre-upfront presentations differently this year. We hosted dinners, with some presentations thrown in, for each of the agency groups, and we brought the brand presidents to those dinners.

In two of them, I was pulled aside by the head of the agency who said, “Hey, you’ve done something very interesting here.” And I said, “Thank you. What?” And he said, “You got BET in the room.” I said, “Of course BET is in the room. They’re an integral part of Viacom.” He said, “Yeah, I agree with that, but they weren’t in the room before.” That’s just one example of de-siloing the company and arraying all of our assets in support of our partnership agenda.

Another example would be the deal we announced earlier this year with Altice, a U.S. distributor that owns Optimum. Our deal wasn’t up, but we engaged with them, we extended our Optimum deal, and we got our networks back on Suddenlink, an operator that Altice owns that had dropped Viacom’s product. We did a data- and advanced-advertising partnership where we can implement dynamic adinsertion into their VOD and local avails—which we can monetize and they can benefit from— and we receive data from them as well. We also licensed Paramount products for their French business. It’s a multifaceted relationship, and it’s an example of how we can array more Viacom assets in support of our partnerships.

WS: You also identified core brands.

How did that decision come about?

BAKISH: The rationale behind the flagship brands is twofold: first, I fundamentally believe that we need

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to increase our original programming investment in areas where we are already making a difference, and we want to make more of a difference; and just by the laws of business math, you can’t increase your investment everywhere, so you have to prioritize. Second, we felt we could have true multiplatform expressions of these flagship brands. Historically—back to the silos—Paramount was run as an island inside of Viacom, and had very little overlap with the pay-TV brands—some projects here and there, but not on a regular basis. We saw an opportunity, and we’re in the middle of bringing that opportunity to life, of making the Paramount theatrical-film business an integral part of our brands as well. Each of the flagship brands will have a portion of the Paramount slate, probably one to two films per year, which will also help bring the brands to life. We also believe each of these flagship brands has a role in live events. That’s something we did a lot of internationally; we hadn’t historically done much of it in the U.S. and we’re starting to. The brands also have a much larger opportunity in in-front-of-the-wall digital and social media, where there’s a lot of consumption. Finally, the flagship brands are all global; they’re not just distributed in the U.S. So the flagship concept was about choosing brands that we wanted to invest in more heavily and then bring to life in a true multiplatform expression, leveraging all the assets Viacom has.

WS: What is your strategy for repositioning Paramount Pictures?

BAKISH: We’ve swung 180 degrees on Paramount. Under prior management, Paramount was going to be divested, but now, in many respects, it’s become a centerpiece of the strategy and an integral part of the company. That manifests itself in two fundamental ways. First, it’s going to have a 24-hour Paramount Network starting in January. We already have Paramount Networks outside the U.S.—that is another piece of the international playbook—and those networks deliver very significant audiences. We also created a label inside the studio called Paramount Players, which is the home of all of

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our big network-branded films, from MTV Films, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and BET. It will also be home to some smaller-budget projects. We hired Brian Robbins to lead it. Brian was the founder of AwesomenessTV and, before that, a film-and-television producer; we’ve known him a long time. He’s a great executive to run Paramount Players. And, of course, we got Jim Gianopulos to run the studio and lead the charge of rebuilding that management team and restoring the studio not only to profitability but also to where that iconic brand and operation should be.

WS: Tell us about Paramount Television.

BAKISH: It’s an underappreciated part of the studio probably because it’s relatively new, but it’s a significant bright spot for our business and growing quite quickly. We produced 13 Reasons Why for Netflix, which is now in production of its second season. We also are in second seasons of Berlin Station for EPIX and Shooter for USA and the third season of School of Rock for Nickelodeon. We have a number of first seasons currently in production: The Alienist, based on a bestselling novel, for TNT. We’re doing Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, starring John Krasinski, for Amazon. We’re filming Maniac, directed by Cary Fukunaga and starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill. We’re about to begin production on The Haunting of Hill House with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin TV, and that will be for Netflix. Paramount Television is doing shows for traditional TV networks, pay-TV networks and SVOD players. It’s grown very nicely and is already a profit contributor.

WS: Viacom had made a bid for Scripps Networks Interactive. Are you interested in making acquisitions? And if so, what would you be looking for?

BAKISH: We don’t comment on M&A rumors, but I would say, first of all, that our overwhelming focus is on our organic execution. We continue to see a great opportunity for material value creation from the assets we already own. That is the overwhelming focus of the management team,

School of Rock, inspired by the 2003 Paramount movie, is produced for Nickelodeon by Paramount Television. and examples would be ratings revitalization, which is well on track; pursuing alternative distribution opportunities; and the turnaround at Paramount. We are working to reinvent Viacom to better compete in this shifting landscape that we are all operating in. That landscape delivers some challenges, but we’re seeing growing consumer and partner demand in new places—we need to focus on creating value from them. We see an organic path there, but we also think it’s our responsibility to look broadly. That includes potential partnerships and joint ventures and highly selective M&A opportunities to strengthen our position today and accelerate our transition for the future. We will look at things and, as we do, we’ll consider very carefully if it fits our strategy and if it’s going to create value for our business and our shareholders. Were we to pursue something, we would also be very disciplined, and we have a strong track record of successful integration. On the international side, we did a couple of deals, Channel 5 in the U.K., which turned out great for us, and Telefe in Argentina, which is also tracking ahead of our business plan. We do feel we have a responsibility to look, but we are overwhelmingly focused on organic execution.

WS: How will Telefe help VIMN boost its presence and businesses in Latin America?

BAKISH: A little bit of history: at this point ten years ago, we came upon this idea to play in the generalentertainment space in India and that led to the creation of the joint venture Viacom18, the launch of the channel Colors and the beginning of a great success story. As we did that, we saw the opportunity to have vertical pay networks existing alongside a broader network. About five years ago, we saw the opportunity in the U.K. to acquire Channel 5. Initially, candidly, I wasn’t so sure of that, but the more we dug into it, the more we found it to be interesting.

We acquired Channel 5 and we surprised people when we did, but it truly transformed our business in the U.K. and has given us a second English-language production hub [to feed our networks]. Then we said, Wow, this works, we’d like to have a Spanish-language hub.

Last year, the opportunity presented itself to acquire Telefe. It is the number one broadcaster in Argentina and produces about 3,000 hours of content each year.

We saw an opportunity to use our Channel 5 playbook and integrate general-entertainment networks and pay networks. We have a Telefe show that has

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additional “After Hours” footage airing on MTV immediately after each episode. We also swapped out Discovery Kids for Nick Jr. on Telefe’s preschool block, just as we put Nick Jr. on Channel 5. Now we are in the early stages of creating value through this Spanishlanguage cornerstone, where we think there is a path to leveraging Telefe’s content, which includes novelas and formats, for Spanishlanguage markets. Telefe is ahead of its acquisition plan and, as we expected, has transformed our ad positioning in Latin America. We have done a whole bunch of payTV ad deals with clients who didn’t previously spend money with us but who are now. It is going to be another successful local cornerstone that we add to our success in the U.K. with Channel 5 and India with Colors.

WS: And Channel 5 continues to perform well?

BAKISH: When we acquired Channel 5, we saw a couple of opportunities. First, we’d get a larger share of audience and the partnership benefits to that. We also saw a network that was built largely on acquired programming and an opportunity to increase the amount of original programming— which is now about two-thirds of

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Make or Break? airs in the U.K. on Channel 5—which has been part of the Viacom family since 2014—and is being formatted by the VIMN sales team. the hours on the network—and use that to age down the network’s demographic and increase its highincome composition. That’s exactly what we did. We also saw opportunities to air programming across pay and free. We grew audience share and made it higher income.

We strengthened our ad-market position. Sky Media in the U.K. represents both our pay and free services, and it’s been a great success.

We were growing very strong double digits in advertising for a while. Brexit has cooled the U.K. ad market quite a bit. But we are still nicely ahead of our acquisition plan, and I’d do that deal again in a heartbeat.

WS: How are you reaching viewers beyond the traditional linear channels?

BAKISH: The story of Viacom in the new tech space—and we’re in the middle of changing this—is similar to Viacom overall; it’s very siloed and very uneven. You see pockets of strength, but you don’t see consistent deployment. We’re focused on more consistently deploying our brands in the mobile space, and part of that is rolling out our Play Plex product globally, including in the U.S., where initially it will be authenticated TV Everywhere. But it can be deployed in other configurations and is deployed in other

configurations outside the U.S. We also are increasing our commitment to front-of-the-wall social media related to our IP. We took our MTV Cribs franchise and we re-created it for Snapchat this year. We produced a bunch of episodes, and the Snapchat people told us that they were the most consumed original premieres they had seen. This gives us the confidence that there is a lot more that we can do in that space.

We have also been participating in the OTT market in the U.S. through services like Sling and DIRECTV NOW, outside the U.S. through Sky’s NOW TV and iflix and several others. We are building our leadership in this area and setting up a business unit related to it, which will be coming to life in fiscal 2018.

WS: What is the strategy for providing your brands and content to SVOD services or new emerging platforms?

BAKISH: There will be a soft launch in October of a low-price product we call an entertainment skinny pack. This option largely doesn’t exist in the U.S. right now, and we think that it will be the first of a number of these broadly available products. It’s important because the pricing of the skinny pack is closer to SVOD than it is to traditional pay TV. We think that can be an important way to fill demand that is

currently not being unlocked because people don’t want to pay [for large bundles with] sports and broadcast, which are very expensive. We are very committed to the pay-TV ecosystem. We cut back on what we’ve done with Netflix. We cut back on what we’ve done with Hulu. In fact, they wanted to extend a deal early on in my tenure and we decided not to. But we are continuing to monitor that and look at the right way to get consumers our content that ultimately they want to see.

WS: Over the next 12 to 24 months, in which areas do you see the most potential for growth?

BAKISH: The core potential for growth is the flagship brands and the multiplatform opportunities we see for them, which include being packaged at a lower price point to serve some traditional television demand that is not currently served—the entertainment skinny pack. We see broad opportunities as we focus resources and benefit from new leadership to grow audience share and ratings and monetize that in the short term in the ad market and over time in other forms. We see opportunities to continue to expand in the experiential space, which is not super-high margin but is additive to the P&L and certainly additive to the brands. We see opportunities to dramatically

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increase our participation in the front-of-the-wall space in digital through short-form linked to existing IP and new IP. We see a real turnaround at Paramount. Although the new slate of movies doesn’t come out till 2019, we’ll have a better year in 2018. I feel very good about how we did in the U.S. upfront this year. The last couple of years we had been towards the bottom. This year, we are clearly in the middle of the pack, and that’s even before advertisers saw that our ratings resurgence was real. That, coupled with our leadership position in datadriven television advertising, will continue to help drive growth.

Finally, in international, there is plenty of road to run. Ultimately, these assets continue to have a lot of life and potential in them. The management team believes that the notion of partnership is a key, whether partnering with distributors and getting more deals along the lines of what we did with Altice, partnering with key advertisers and bringing to life new models, maybe with the Paramount Network, or with our increases in the digital or experiential spaces. I know people are worried about the media business because of so much change. I believe there is opportunity in change, and we have the right strategy and the right leadership team in place to unlock that opportunity.

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ON THE RECORD

he cable and television businesses continue to drive growth at 21st Century Fox, even as consumers’ viewing habits shift and change on a daily basis. As the chairman and CEO of FOX Networks Group (FNG), Peter Rice has been navigating these shifts—so successfully, in fact, that he was recently elevated to the post of president of 21st Century Fox. FNG, however, continues to be Rice’s number one priority.

He oversees a portfolio of assets that offer something for all viewing tastes. The group includes FOX Broadcasting Company, FX Networks, FOX Sports Media Group and National Geographic Partners.

FNG distributes more than 300 wholly owned and managed services across Latin America, Europe and Asia, and has an international-distribution arm that sells content to linear and nonlinear outlets around the world. Rice says FNG does not discriminate between linear and nonlinear viewers. Rather, the group is making its content available on as many platforms as it can where proper monetization is possible. That includes its own apps, such as FOX NOW and the streaming FOX+ services in Latin America, Europe and Asia. And 21st Century Fox is a shareholder in Hulu, which recently announced its Live TV

streaming service—a skinny bundle of linear channels that can be watched online.

As pay-TV platforms around the world offer scaled-down channel bundles, Rice believes that a focus on four core brands that have meaning and relevance to viewers—FOX, FX, FOX Sports and National Geographic— is the right strategy in a constantly evolving media landscape. These brands’ meaning and relevance come from bold programming strategies, with shows whose production values are at the highest level, subject matter that has not been seen before, or sports coverage that takes viewers as close to the action as possible.

Some notable examples are National Geographic’s jump into scripted fare with Genius, which scored record ratings and earned critical acclaim; factual shows like The Story of God with Morgan Freeman, which will be followed by The Story of Us; the use of helmet cams during Super Bowl coverage on FOX; and the scripted series Atlanta, Feud and Fargo on FX. FNG’s programs, across fiction and nonfiction, garnered a record 113 Emmy nominations in 2017. Rice believes quality programming is the fuel that will drive any platform, whether it’s a linear channel, a streaming service or a mobile app.

PETER RICE

21ST CENTURY FOX

By Anna Carugati

WS: How does the power of storytelling—fiction and nonfiction—help linear channels maintain their relevance in today’s world when viewers are increasingly watching on-demand?

RICE: In an on-demand world, people consume content whenever and however they choose. As a consumer, I think that’s fantastic and as a creator of content, Fox is fully supportive of that. There is, of course, still programming that people watch live. We have incredible live events in sports and powerful scripted and unscripted storytelling, which attract a large, global, live audience. But ultimately we’re agnostic as to how and when people choose to watch our content.

WS: How has National Geographic’s bold programming and foray into scripted fare been received?

RICE: In general, the response has been outstanding. We’ve made the three most-watched series in National Geographic’s history, Story of God with Morgan Freeman, MARS and Genius. We had Before the Flood with Leonardo DiCaprio, which reached more than 60 million viewers. We have a fantastic slate of upcoming programming. We just got 17 Emmy nominations, the most in the channel’s history. Genius, our first scripted series, got ten nominations, including best limited series, best director and best actor. That was more nominations than other high-level networks that have been doing this kind of programming for a long time.

Eight months into the new strategy, we’re excited that the programming reflects the mission of the brand and that viewers have embraced the new direction.

WS: FX is known for quality programming and risktaking. What message does the willingness to take risks send out to the creative community?

RICE: We encourage risk-taking. If you take risks, you invite the creative community to be original. Ultimately, 10/17 WORLD SCREEN 359

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Seth MacFarlane, whose stable of hits includes Family Guy, created and stars in the new sci-fi comedy/drama The Orville, which is being sold by Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution. originality is what sparks the imagination of the audience, whether that is Genius and MARS on National Geographic; Atlanta, Feud or Fargo on FX; or Empire on FOX. We also encourage risk-taking throughout the organization. You can see it in the programming; you can see it in the marketing. The moniker of FX is “Fearless,” and in a crowded marketplace you have to be fearless, and that means taking risks.

WS: A lot of attention is paid to original series, and rightfully so.

What role do feature films still have on linear channels?

RICE: Films work terrifically well in both linear and nonlinear, for different reasons. Given the amount of money that is spent on production and the attention to detail, films provide high-quality programming. In the linear world, the bigger the hit movie, the more

likely that someone who’s browsing for something to watch can either come in for an hour, then turn it off and go to sleep, or come in half an hour into the movie because they know the story. In an on-demand world, if you have the best films, they have a long shelf life. FXM, our cable movie channel, has been the number one video-on-demand channel in the American cable system for the

FOX Sports outbid ESPN and NBCUniversal to win the English-language U.S. broadcast rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.

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past 18 months, every single month. That’s due to the power of the slate of movies that we have.

WS: FNG’s sports channels and services have been quite successful. The sports market is crowded, so what innovations have your properties brought to sports coverage to bring viewers in?

RICE: FOX Sports has always been a home of innovation. The market research we do continues to show that people prefer to watch a sporting event on FOX than on any other channel. I think it’s the amount of attention and resources we put into innovations in the productions themselves, with cameras and sound and graphics.

In the Major League Baseball AllStar Game, we embedded 47 microphones on the baseball field in Miami. At the Super Bowl, we used 50 high-definition 4K cameras, and we also had a simulated helmet cam, which allowed you to see the play from the point of view of a player. I think we have the best executives in the business, and we are always trying to move the medium forward so that the viewer is getting closer to the action.

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WS: When you are considering new ways of offering content to consumers, do you focus more on technology, and its advantages and shortcomings, or more on consumer demand?

RICE: It’s always ultimately the consumer and how technology brings content to the consumer in a better way. For example, there will be a tremendous amount of innovation around the FIFA World Cup next year—in production technology and also in the ways we bring the content to consumers. In the U.S., we’re in the process of redoing all our TV Everywhere apps, using technology to improve the way in which content is serviced and people are accessing it. We’re always focused on creating a better consumer experience, and we view technology as a conduit for that.

WS: You mentioned apps. How much content is currently available on FOX NOW, and how much content will be available in the future?

RICE: We used to have separate, siloed apps for FOX Sports,

National Geographic, FX and FOX that were run separately on separate platforms. We’re now putting them together on one platform with a completely new user experience. FOX NOW was the first to be launched in that way and combines live and ondemand programming from FOX, FX and National Geographic for the first time. This allows us to make more 21st Century Fox content available to more people in a seamless way so that they don’t have to constantly search for it, and the initial few months have seen very significant spikes in viewership.

WS: As a shareholder in Hulu, how did 21st Century Fox and FOX Networks Group participate in Hulu’s Live TV bundle?

RICE: We are board members along with Disney, so we were intimately involved on a strategic level with Hulu management and [CEO] Mike Hopkins. But, ultimately, the live-TV bundle was executed by Hulu, and it’s a terrific product. They have a very good team and fantastic momentum

right now with the live-TV product, the SVOD service and the originals they are making, such as The Handmaid’s Tale, which got 13 Emmy nominations. We feel very good about what’s happening at Hulu.

WS: What have been the advantages of reorganizing FOX International Channels into three separate groups, FNG Europe, FNG Latin America and FNG Asia?

RICE: By regionalizing it so that the managers in key regions have more independence, more authority and more responsibility, we’ve been able to break down silos and have more touchpoints on a global basis. The regions have become more entrepreneurial, which has allowed us to grow our FOX+ streaming service, which is slightly different in Latin America, Europe and Asia. At the same time, the regions are also working more closely with those of us in Los Angeles and New York. The combination of having more independence while also being closer to the parent company has been very effective.

WS: I know that pay-TV markets in different parts of the world are in different stages of development—some more mature, some less. In which territories do you see the greatest potential for growth in the international payTV business, and what is driving the growth?

RICE: What’s driving it for us is our four core brands: FOX, FX, FOX Sports and National Geographic.

Ultimately, in a world of more choice, having fewer, stronger brands is the right way to go. As new distributors come into the marketplace, our brands are in every package. Whether they are telcos such as AT&T buying DIRECTV and then going over the top, or Optus in Australia launching a really good over-the-top service with National Geographic; or whether it’s Hulu or YouTube launching live-TV services, these new distributors need the best content, which increases competition for brands like ours that are truly meaningful to consumers. I believe we are very well positioned in a marketplace that is undergoing a lot of change.

Atlanta has been a breakout hit for FX and a critical darling, winning a Peabody and two Golden Globes, including best comedy, and landing six Emmy nominations.

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On the heels of the success of Twentieth Century Fox’s X-Men feature-film franchise, The Gifted, based on the Marvel Comics property, premiered on FOX this October.

WS: If skinny bundles catch on in the U.S., are you fairly confident that you would fare well in that environment, too?

RICE: We don’t think skinny bundles are a challenge for us. In many ways, they’re an advantage. A lot of distributors come to us and say, We want a skinny bundle. We say, OK, here are our four brands, which ones do you want? And they invariably say, We want all of them. We’re not trying to sell 20 different brands to a distributor.

WS: Historically, channel groups have marketed their channel brands. As viewers increasingly watch on-demand, is there a shift toward marketing individual shows more than individual channels?

RICE: The strongest brands are strong because they have the best content. The growth of the FX brand over the last five years has been based on the strength of the FX content. The strength of HBO is based on the strength of HBO content. Our channel brands have been built on the long-term success and originality of the content we put on them. The FOX Networks Group got 113 Emmy nominations

this year. It’s the most in our company’s history, and it speaks to the quality of the executives that we have, whether it’s Dana Walden and Gary Newman at FOX; John Landgraf at FX; Courteney Monroe and Declan Moore at National Geographic; or Eric Shanks at FOX Sports. They are doing great work, and it accrues to the benefit of the brand.

WS: What opportunities are you seeing in the U.S. and internationally for OTT and nonlinear ad sales?

RICE: I think there’s a huge opportunity in marrying data to video delivery for advertising. The video product we have and the ability to deliver messages on behalf of advertisers is significantly more effective than Facebook or Google. What we lack right now is data. But if we work together with distributors to take better advantage of data, we can make the OTT and nonlinear ad experience better for everybody: better for consumers because they won’t have to sit through 20 minutes of commercial interruptions every hour.

Better for advertisers because we can be more efficient in delivering people who are actually

interested in their product. And more efficient for us because we can use less inventory to make more money.

WS: If you don’t have the data you need, who’s not carrying their weight in providing it?

RICE: It’s complicated. Essentially, the distributors have the data, but they don’t have any inventory to sell because we have the inventory. Therefore, there’s been this dance of who can leverage whom in order to get the most benefit. So, from my perspective, the distributor is not carrying their weight. I’m sure if you spoke to a distributor, they’d say the programmers are not carrying their weight. But we need to come together and make it a better experience for all the stakeholders involved. That’s not just the distributors and the programmers, it’s also the viewers and the advertisers. Everybody can benefit from this if we all work together.

WS: Where do you see opportunities to have the data you need?

RICE: Our own apps are where we have the most data, and they’re the best place for us to monetize

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our content. They are also the best place for us to innovate. For example, we can have a viewer engage with a single sponsor and remove all the other advertising from the show, which provides benefits to everybody. The advertiser is happy with the targeting, and with the fact that their ad is shown in a safe place and adjacent to a show they like. The consumer is happy because he doesn’t have to watch 20 minutes of ads in an hour. Everybody is winning and we are monetizing at the highest level. We would like to do that on all platforms around the world with all of our distribution partners.

WS: Looking ahead 12 to 24 months, in which areas do you see the greatest potential for growth at FNG? RICE: National Geographic. It was a legacy brand that we have reinvigorated by uniting the digital, the social, the publishing, the travel, the channels and the production divisions, which used to be siloed. As a result, I think we’re going to see tremendous growth opportunities at National Geographic in the next four to five years.

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IN CONVERSATION

he RTL Group is one of Europe’s leading media companies. It achieved that status by setting up or acquiring TV and radio stations in major markets, and then investing in talent and content to make those outlets compelling to viewers. As audiences fragmented, group management recognized the need to diversify the offering and came up with the family-of-channels strategy.

In each market, there would be a strong general-entertainment channel, surrounded by more targeted channels. In Germany, the flagship RTL Television is flanked by VOX, N-TV, Nitro, RTL II, SUPER RTL, and the digital channels RTL Crime, Passion, RTL Living and Geo Television. Together they make up Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, the most profitable unit of the whole RTL Group.

This formula was replicated in France, with M6 and two additional free-TV channels and five pay-TV services; in Holland, with RTL Nederland, consisting of seven channels; in Belgium, with three channels; in Hungary, with free-TV and cable channels; and in Croatia, with two free-TV channels. The RTL Group also has a stake in Atresmedia in Spain, which operates Antena 3, La Sexta, Neox and Nova. All of these stations have nonlinear extensions in the form of catch-up and other services.

As the media landscape continued to evolve, the group began investing in digital assets, from SpotX, a video ad-serving platform, to StyleHaul, a fashion-and-beauty network on YouTube.

Management set a goal of generating 15 percent to 20 percent of the group’s revenues from digital in the next three to five

years. In 2016, digital amounted to €670 million ($790 million) on total group revenues of €6.2 billion ($7.3 billion).

The RTL Group also owns FremantleMedia, a creator and producer of finished product and formats, including Got Talent, The X Factor, American Gods and Deutschland 83, with a network of production companies in 31 countries and a global distribution business.

In response to changing viewing habits and advances in technology, the RTL Group has been transitioning from primarily a broadcasting company to what its current co-CEOs, Guillaume de Posch and Bert Habets, call a Total Video company—producing, aggregating and monetizing video on multiple linear and nonlinear platforms. De Posch has been co-CEO since 2012, previously in partnership with Anke Schäferkordt, who in April of this year stepped down from her role as co-CEO while maintaining her position as CEO of the lucrative Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland business. Habets replaced her as co-CEO, taking responsibility for FremantleMedia and the broadcasting activities in the Netherlands, Hungary and Croatia, while de Posch oversees the operations in Germany, France and Belgium. Together, de Posch and Habets oversee the group’s digital business, group strategy, business development and several other units.

They talk to World Screen about their Total Video strategy, the strengths of the group, and the regulatory environment they need to ensure growth in an increasingly competitive media landscape.

GUILLAUME DE POSCH & BERT HABETS RTL GROUP

By Anna Carugati

Guillaume de Posch

Bert Habets 10/17 WORLD SCREEN 431

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Zwarte Tulp (Black Tulip) is a Dutch drama that was produced for Videoland, RTL Nederland’s SVOD platform.

WS: Last year, you changed the RTL Group’s mission statement.

DE POSCH: The old mission statement focused on “repeating our broadcasting success story” in every country we operate in. This gave an accurate description of RTL Group’s key mission of 10 or 15 years ago. Back then, we had a clear focus on geographic expansion in the broadcast business. But a lot has changed in a decade, especially in our industry. Five years ago, we were not invested in any multiplatform network or advertising technology. Today, digital/nonlinear businesses make up more than 13 percent of our revenue! In effect, we are transforming “the leading European entertainment network”—our former tagline—into a global leader in video production, aggregation and monetization. And this is how we’re going to write the next chapter in RTL Group’s success story.

HABETS: The new mission statement is all about capturing our new ambition and expresses our pioneering spirit. “We are innovators who shape the media world across broadcast, content and digital.” It’s ambitious, yes. But, given our rich and highly successful history, we think it’s just right.

WS: How have you been transforming the group to one that

focuses on the production, aggregation and monetization of professional video content?

DE POSCH: First of all, we have redefined TV. For most people, TV today still means the physical device in their living room. But the business model of TV and the wider industry behind it has moved on, and that definition of TV is no longer valid. Thinkbox, the U.K.’s television marketing body,

defines TV nowadays as “the highquality, professionally made, predominantly long-form, audiovisual shows we watch on any screen.”

But there is a wider and even easier definition. Here at RTL Group, TV stands for “Total Video.” RTL Group is about as diverse as it gets. We offer free-TV and pay-TV channels; mainstream channels and niche channels; online video in short and long form; traditional ad sales and techdriven programmatic online advertising. At the same time, we have one clear focus: video content.

HABETS: With FremantleMedia, we produce high-end dramas and big shows for all major free-TV channels, pay-TV channels and streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu. With our growing number of digital studios and multiplatform networks, we also produce and aggregate more and more short-form content for platforms such as YouTube and Facebook.

Maximizing the consumers’ attention to our broad variety of video offers, across all devices, is what we mean by Total Video.

WS: In 2015, you set a goal of having 10 percent of the group’s revenues come from digital. You exceeded that goal. Which businesses drove that performance?

DE POSCH: There are three main factors. First of all, we continue to see double-digit growth rates for online video advertising revenue from our main catch-up TV services such as TV NOW in Germany and 6Play in France, which we launched almost a decade ago. In addition, the digital acquisitions we’ve done over the past four years have become revenue-growth drivers, meaning our multiplatform networks StyleHaul, Divimove and BroadbandTV and our ad-tech companies SpotX and Smartclip.

Thirdly, FremantleMedia is now contributing more and more to our digital revenue as they develop and produce more and more formats for streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu. Just think of the worldwide distribution deal with Amazon Prime for American Gods; this was one of the key factors for the revenue growth of our content arm in the first half of this year.

WS: Why is big data important even for a media company with lots of traditional media assets?

DE POSCH: State-of-the-art technology and big data—in the form of targeting, clustering audiences or cross-device analytics—are key elements of all successful business models for the digital media world, from Google to Facebook, from Netflix to Amazon. “Data is the new oil,” as the saying goes. And, indeed, the aggregation and exploitation of data are becoming

TV NOW is a hub for all of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s catch-up services, with access to RTL, VOX and more.

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increasingly important for media companies such as RTL Group.

HABETS: Investments in technology are no longer a nice-to-have in our industry, but a must-have—both for enhancing the viewers’ usage experience and for enhancing our advertising clients’ needs. There is a lot of potential in further expanding and strengthening our data and technology-based competencies. Together with the very experienced management teams of SpotX and Smartclip, we are working on an ambitious growth plan for our ad-tech businesses. This plan includes the close collaboration between SpotX and Smartclip, rolling out their solutions across our operations and scaling up the businesses with further acquisitions and partnerships.

WS: What regulatory environment is needed to ensure the growth of European media companies?

DE POSCH: Let’s stay with our adtech companies SpotX and Smartclip. For both, the USPs in their relationships to publishers and advertisers are strict data protection, the fight against ad fraud and the fact that they are independent of global giants. Media regulations should not overly restrict household-level addressable or targeted advertising on linear TV in our key markets Germany and France.

Second point: to compete with the global giants I mentioned, regulation and competition authorities should give us the possibility to rethink the whole concept of European and national alliances.

This becomes more urgent day by day! Just think about the fact that in 2011–12, the German cartel office prohibited all TV broadcasters in Germany from collaborating on a neutral technology platform that offered a one-stop catch-up TV service—a huge benefit for the viewers. The reason? “Big commercial-TV players cannot join forces to develop nonlinear TV because they are already strong in the TV advertising market.”

In contrast, the U.S. authorities did not see things in the same way.

They greenlit an alliance between ABC, NBC and FOX—not the smallest TV groups—to launch a similar

The Australian outpost at FremantleMedia, RTL Group’s content arm, is producing Picnic at Hanging Rock for Foxtel. service, Hulu. Clearly, Hulu was one of the key drivers for many consumer-friendly innovations to drive and establish the growth market of on-demand services.

called retransmission fees. We have worked very hard over the past ten years to establish this revenue stream, which is vital in order to finance programming.

WS: What are the significant changes you would like to see in regulation, and why?

DE POSCH: First of all, we need more flexible rules for advertising on linear TV. We acknowledge the progress made by the European Parliament and Council to move towards this goal. But will the Audiovisual Media Services Directive ultimately be implemented as proposed? And will the directive still reflect market realities when it is implemented and transposed into national laws? It is fair to say that we have our doubts looking at the historic overregulation of our industry here in Europe.

Secondly, we need robust copyright protection and the ability to license our content territory by territory so that we can earn enough from our content to invest further and produce more content. We believe that territorial licensing is an enabler and not an obstacle for cross-border distribution of audiovisual content.

Some of the European Commission’s proposals would threaten the territoriality of copyright and contractual freedom. Even more, they could strongly restrict broadcasters in their negotiations with platform operators and therefore limit our second revenue stream, the so-

WS: What is driving the positive performance of the German businesses?

DE POSCH: Above all: an outstanding management team, led by Anke Schäferkordt! Yes, it’s true, Germany is not only our biggest market, but it was also the market with the most solid economic growth over recent years. This is not enough to explain the fantastic track record of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland.

Anke and her team succeeded in further expanding our strong family of channels, establishing a second revenue stream with retransmission fees and in developing a growing digital business, from catch-up TV services to ad-tech with Smartclip.

Above all, our German management put a very clear focus on local, exclusive content some years ago.

This is now hugely paying off. Just look at the series of audience hits at VOX with local shows and drama series—they have now overtaken ProSieben in terms of total audience, while our flagship channel, RTL Television, remains the uncontested commercial market leader, for a staggering 25 consecutive years and running.

WS: RTL Radio and Groupe M6 in France were recently consolidated.

Why was this an important step?

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DE POSCH: Convergence and consolidation continue to shape our industry, not only in North America but also across our European footprint— and in France in particular. This project is the right strategic answer in an ever more competitive market where consolidation accelerates.

The combination of TV and radio will create synergies in the areas of advertising sales; attraction and retention of the best journalistic, creative and on-air talent in France; and investments in digital technology.

This model already exists very successfully at RTL Belgium.

WS: What drives the creativity of the Dutch market, and what is RTL Group’s position there?

HABETS: History has shown that the TV business is very innovative in the Netherlands. The triumphant advance of formats such as Big Brother or The Voice are just two examples. There are entire genres that grew from everyday topics into big trends in Holland, like cooking or do-it-yourself shows. By the same token, many producers pick the Netherlands to test new formats.

Perhaps it’s the cultural diversity of the Netherlands, combined with the people’s openness and appetite for innovation that puts us one step ahead here at times. In any case, it’s a great environment for TV-making.

Over the past ten years, we have transformed RTL Nederland from a traditional broadcaster into an allround media and entertainment

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Based on an Australian format, UFA’s Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten has been airing on RTL in Germany since 1992. company. First of all, we have significantly strengthened our major freeTV channels and launched four new thematic channels. This makes us the clear market leader in linear TV. We have also moved into other commercial areas, such as RTL Ventures and RTL Live Entertainment.

At the same time, we have massively expanded our digital businesses. We were the first RTL broadcaster to launch a joint venture with SpotX for programmatic ad sales and launched our own short-form network, RTL MCN. And with Videoland, we acquired a local ondemand platform and transformed it into our own subscription-based streaming service. This is particularly important as Netflix has gained crucial scale in the Netherlands. I am convinced that the experiences we are making with Videoland in the Netherlands are highly important for the whole RTL Group.

WS: What opportunities do you see in the channel business? Are you looking to increase catch-up or SVOD services?

HABETS: Actually, we’ve decided not to have this traditional distinction between the channel business and the streaming services anymore— that’s what Total Video is about.

In order to remain a global leader, we have to build what I would call a bridge between these two sides of our business. Consumers no longer care where they watch our content; they don’t make the distinction between linear and nonlinear anymore. They just want to watch the

latest episode of their favorite TV show. So why should we still draw strict lines between linear and nonlinear, offline and online? It is the consumers’ perspective that should guide all our offers and decisions.

Again: we are in the game of maximizing the viewers’ attention to our video services.

In other words, we have stopped seeing nonlinear as an add-on to our established linearTV channels. Today, 80 percent to 90 percent of our free cash flow is generated by our strong families of linear TV channels. However, there is no time for us to rest on our laurels, because growth in our industry mainly comes from nonlinear, whether it’s growth in usage or revenue, both from advertising-funded and paid services.

In the area of content production, particularly in the drama genre, the major streaming platforms need exclusive high-end productions. All of them are massively stacking up their content budgets.

So our answer is: let’s go for Total Video at full throttle, building this bridge between our TV and digital activities, with an integrated, 360degree approach. From content creation and production to distribution and monetization.

WS: Are you looking to make any acquisitions?

HABETS: The shift from television to Total Video presents us with many new opportunities, but it also means we must set clear priorities.

Therefore, we have set two main investment goals for acquisitions and partnerships. The first is to further develop in the digital domain, namely in ad-tech and streaming services. The second is to produce our content and own the rights to it, because we’re certain this will be key to further growth.

WS: What does FremantleMedia need in order to remain ahead of the competition and relevant to broadcasters and platforms worldwide?

HABETS: We want to further grow FremantleMedia, both organically and via targeted acquisitions. We focus on creative talent, developing projects that will feed into FremantleMedia’s unrivaled international network. Compared to bigger acquisitions, this is a long-term play, as development takes time. But we are convinced that this is the right strategy for us.

We are delighted about the creative and financial performance of FremantleMedia—from the success of the high-end drama series American Gods to the renewal of American Idol on ABC and a very promising pipeline of new drama series such as Hard Sun, The Rain, Deutschland 86 and the second season of Modus. Cecile Frot-Coutaz and the management team at FremantleMedia have done a fantastic job. FremantleMedia is always going to be more of a “niche player,” as Cecile has recently put it, but we are excited about the huge progress in the scripted areas.

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WS: What are the RTL radio and TV stations doing to serve their audiences in these difficult times?

DE POSCH: We are aware of the great responsibility that comes with being an opinion former and information provider in society. I would even say that we, as a pan-European commercial broadcasting group, have a special responsibility, for several reasons: Our main channels target the general public, including people with little or no interest in politics.

We are truly independent of any party or political movement. And, above all, we are not in the business of lecturing our viewers and listeners. We take their concerns very seriously. “Always close to the audience” is and will remain one of our key missions at RTL Group. That is what makes our news bulletins most popular among young viewers.

We will continue to embrace this responsibility by investing significant sums of money in fair, impartial, independent journalism; by not making any topic taboo; and by presenting controversial topics in such a way that we explain the consequences for people’s everyday lives, in a language they understand.

One of the key learnings of the past years has to be: don’t leave the news to the algorithms of the social networks. Let us all get out of our filter bubbles and echo chambers!

WS: What are the best ways of sharing information and best practices across a decentralized company such as RTL Group?

DE POSCH: In our industry, I see a lot of global developments that call for a central answer at the group level. A decentralized structure is the logical thing to do from a consumer’s perspective as far as language and local content are concerned. But from a strategic point of view, we need to examine which actions need to be driven by the group—just think about developing integrated ad-tech platforms across the group or about growing our market position in nonlinear.

HABETS: In a nutshell, we are going back to our roots and reinvigorating our pioneering spirit: from a “holding” company to a very proactive, dynamic company that invests, takes risks and shakes things up.

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EXECUTIVE BRIEFING

or all the talk of malaise in the cable industry, with cord-nevers and cord-cutters gaining momentum, and streaming services luring subscribers away from large channel bundles, Liberty Global, the largest international TV and broadband company outside the U.S., continues to grow. Although its subsidiaries have been traditional cable operators, from Virgin Media to Unitymedia to UPC, as Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries points out, cable is a bit of a misnomer. The group’s driving force is providing connectivity: high-speed broadband to businesses and individual customers. In addition to broadband connections, Liberty Global offers telephony, increasingly mobile, and video content—a “supermarket of content,” as Fries describes it.

Liberty Global is present in 12 European countries, serving customers through Virgin Media in the U.K. and Ireland; VodafoneZiggo in the Netherlands; Unitymedia in Germany; Telenet in Belgium; and UPC in Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland and Romania. The group also has operations in 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, MásMóvil and BTC. Liberty Global plans to spin off its Latin American and Caribbean business, LiLAC, before the end of the year. While the move will give LiLAC its own management and balance sheet and allow it to better take advantage of opportunities and raise capital, LiLAC will remain connected to Liberty Global’s European businesses. The two will continue to

jointly buy content and secure equipment and technology, where possible.

If connectivity is one of Liberty Global’s priorities, innovation is another. It wants to offer customers a seamless, user-friendly digital experience. One product that exemplifies that convenience is Horizon, which allows subscribers to watch programming on any screen—TV, computer, tablet or smartphone. And for subscribers who want to watch Netflix content, Liberty Global includes the SVOD service as part of its offerings in six countries.

Next-generation products and an openness to OTT platforms have helped Liberty Global slow video subscriber churn. So have broad and varied programming offerings.

Liberty Global has made several investments in content. In 2014, it formed a fifty-fifty joint venture with Discovery Communications to acquire all3media, a leading international producer and distributor of TV content. It owns a 9.9-percent stake in ITV, the U.K.’s largest commercial broadcaster, and a 3.4-percent stake in the U.S. studio Lionsgate. Liberty Global has also made numerous investments in sports rights, including the English Premier League.

Fries sees numerous opportunities for expansion. As he tells World Screen, Liberty Global is always seeking to increase its scale in the markets in which it operates. With revenues of $17.3 billion from its European operations in 2016 and 48 straight quarters of gains, Fries is looking at organic growth as well as mergers and acquisitions as the company focuses on fixed-mobile conversion to offer broadband, telephony and programming in whatever configuration customers want.

MIKE FRIES

LIBERTY GLOBAL

By Anna Carugati

WS: What is the state of the cable industry in Europe?

FRIES: The European cable industry right now is healthy and at the epicenter of all the exciting things happening in our ecosystem. The primary business of cable systems today is broadband, and it is providing an invaluable service to businesses and consumers. Demand for broadband is doubling every couple of years, so we’re in a great position to grow with that consumption in both B-to-B and B-to-C markets. As things get more exciting around the Internet of Things [interconnected devices that can send and receive data], fixed-mobile convergence and 5G, the cable industry is in the right position. There are a lot of things happening around our business, and the question for European cable operators is how we innovate and how we evolve to stay relevant in the home and in businesses with content and bandwidth. Interestingly, today only about a third of our revenue comes from video. So cable TV is a bit of a misnomer. Our business is driven by broadband, B-to-B services, increasingly by mobile and then, of course, by video. We have reinvented the business over the last ten years and that is a function of many things, not the least of which is the strength of our networks. In Europe, we’ve built 50 million homes that are capable of gigabyte broadband speeds. That’s fast. And that’s a huge driver of economic growth and innovation throughout our European markets. That is the foundation of our industry—the superfast broadband networks, the incredible connectivity we provide with WiFi and mobile. The content and the platforms are also 10/17 WORLD SCREEN 503

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Liberty Global co-owns super-indie all3media, whose Bentley Productions makes the long-running hit Midsomer Murders. important, but the foundation of our business is connectivity and we’re in a great spot.

WS: What are consumers looking for?

FRIES: Consumers want a number of things from cable operators. Most importantly, they want value—they want a great product for a great price. In Europe, as opposed to other markets, the price-value relationship is great for consumers. In any market we’re in, we offer 100megabyte broadband, hundreds of digital channels, an innovative video platform that allows you to watch television on any device, anywhere you are. We’ll bring a mobile phone into the package and maybe we’ll charge you €40 ($48). That is a screaming good deal! So European consumers are in a great position and are benefitting considerably from the investment we are making in networks, product and content.

Consumers want value and freedom. They want to know that when they are watching television at home, they can pause that show and pick it up on their iPad. Then they can order up another show and watch it on their cell phone. And then when they are on their mobile, they can schedule something else and go home and watch that in the evening. They want it all to work seamlessly and to look incredible and that’s what we provide. They want the freedom to have super-fast connectivity, whether they are in the car, in the park, or at home. That freedom is really important. We provide what we call a connect-

and-play portfolio. First, we provide ubiquitous, seamless super-fast connectivity wherever you are. Then we add the features of entertainment that work across those platforms.

Finally, consumers want to trust their providers. [We live in a] complicated digital world and our relationship with consumers is very sound and integrated, meaning that we are in their homes or their businesses. We have a very strong relationship with them as opposed to Google, which is providing an incredible search function but doesn’t necessarily have a credit card or understand what consumers need in their homes. We value our relationship with our customers. We need to build that trust, especially as privacy and complex-

ity continue to be critical in this business; trust is super important.

WS: What investments have you made, and what increased demand do you see for broadband?

FRIES: Broadband is one of the few products where demand grows 100 percent every two or three years.

So in five years’ time, it should be five times what it is today. Consumers are watching more video over the internet. They are watching it on multiple devices. Tens of billions of devices will be connected to the internet at some point in time, many of those in your house, so our decision has been to invest in gigabyte speeds over our existing plant and then to extend our networks to reach more and more

homes and businesses. We’re spending billions extending the reach of our networks to millions of homes in the markets where we operate, while at the same time investing in the capacity of those networks so that we are always providing the fastest speed in any market. We are already two to three times faster than any telco.

We know that consumers want reliable, fast internet and that consumption is growing by leaps and bounds and therefore quality and speed need to be the drivers. That’s a huge competitive advantage for us. The other aspect of connectivity, of course, is wireless, not just in the home, but out of the home. We have invested a lot of money in WiFi technology so that when you buy that 100-megabyte or 500-megabyte broadband service from us, it works in every room of the house. That’s been taken for granted because the fixed network has advanced faster than the wireless network in the home. So we have millions and millions of what we call connected boxes in our customers’ homes that provide up to a gigabyte of speed inside the home so that you get what you pay for in every room. And thirdly, we’re investing in mobile where we either own or rent mobile networks and we’re able to provide customers with a great mobile experience for that relatively small period of time when they are only on a mobile network. Remember, 75 percent to

Liberty Global teamed with Discovery Communications for a minority investment in Lionsgate, producer of Orange Is the New Black.

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80 percent of the time that you’re on the internet you’re on a fixed network. When you come home, typically your mobile roams to your WiFi network at home. If you are at work, you’re using a WiFi network.

If you are at Starbucks, you often roam to a WiFi network. Those WiFi networks are connected to fixed networks, so only about 20 percent to 25 percent of the time are you using a cell tower. But you need to be in that space, too, and that is important to us.

WS: People are increasingly using their mobile phones for everything. How are you serving these consumers?

FRIES: First of all, we are believers in fixed-mobile convergence. We are coming from the fixed space and expanding into mobile. From our point of view, we want to provide a comprehensive package of fixed and mobile services to customers. In Belgium, we offer WIGO; it’s a product that has a fixed element of entertainment and broadband connectivity but also five SIM cards, the ability to use bandwidth across those SIM cards and the ability to watch content on those mobile devices. It’s a fully integrated fixed and mobile product. That will be in every market at some point. In Switzerland, we’re coming up with a product for the millennial users, the new digital consumers who generally want to start with the mobile phone. We’ll provide them with a terrific mobile product with fast internet and lots of capacity but also a super-fast fixed network and perhaps not a video product. So they can watch video at home or on their mobile device but the principal pitch is mobility and fast broadband, and then we’ll help them find content—ours or others’—in a way that suits them. So it’s about committing to mobile first, and secondly understanding the consumer and what they want. If you have both components—fixed and mobile—you can solve that problem.

WS: What products or services have been helping you slow the loss of video subscribers?

FRIES: Some time ago, we set out to develop a video platform that was

UPC, a division of Liberty Global, delivers cable, broadband and telephony services to millions of customers across Europe. best in class. We realized early on that services like Netflix were providing a cool user experience. The content wasn’t necessarily much different back then, but they allowed you to watch video on your cell phone or your iPad or wherever. We have invested a ton of money in a unique and cool user experience. We’ve cooperated with Comcast and are using the same software stack. We call it Horizon, they call it X1, but it is a video platform that works seamlessly with your tablet and your cell phone and your TV. It looks and feels like Netflix or Apple. It allows you to push all of the amazing content you pay for onto any device, anywhere you are, and the TV screen is only one place to enjoy great content.

That platform is a game changer.

When people use this platform they churn less; their NPS [net promoter score, used to measure customer loyalty] is higher, they watch more video. The second thing we’ve done is we’ve embraced OTT. From our point of view, Netflix is a partner. We offer Netflix in six countries already, so when you are watching our content, or you’re on our platform, getting to Netflix is a click of a button and it feels like part of our environment. People who utilize Netflix within our environment are happier customers; they watch more television and they are stickier both for Netflix and us.

We’ve partnered with the best OTT apps and we also integrate YouTube into the user experience. You can go back seven days and watch any

amount of content you might have missed on any device, for free. The functionality has gotten to the point where the huge supermarket of content we offer, combined with the best OTT content providers, can be viewed on any device at any time beautifully and elegantly. That’s a killer app.

WS: Is there less demand for skinny bundles in Europe than in the U.S. because the price gap between a pay-TV subscription and an OTT subscription is smaller in Europe?

FRIES: There are several reasons why OTT has had a slower start in Europe. One of them is that the price differential is not as material.

Our implied price for video is inexpensive; it’s 75 percent less than the U.S. price. That’s partly because of our content relationships and what we pay for content, but the OTT price is not as competitive or inexpensive as it looks compared to our price. The second issue is that the content market is somewhat fragmented in Europe. What people like in France is very different from what they might like in Austria, or what they might like in Hungary, so it’s harder to get scale in Europe than it might be in the U.S., where one show can work across a large market. Free-to-air broadcasters still dominate in Europe; they generate between 70 percent and 80 percent of viewership. That makes it harder for new directto-consumer services to pierce through the relationship viewers have with traditional television. So

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there are a number of reasons why OTT services have been slower to reach any reasonable penetration.

It’s going to happen over time, but it’s going to happen at a different pace among different content providers compared to the U.S. If we do our jobs right, we will partner with most of those OTT providers, and if they have great content, we want to deliver it.

WS: Liberty Global’s investments in content have included stakes in Lionsgate, ITV and all3media; what has been the strategy?

FRIES: I would describe our content strategy as tactical and opportunistic up to this point. We haven’t fully vertically integrated, and I don’t know that we will anytime soon. One of the reasons is because the European market is so fragmented we have to pick our shots. We’ve had great success with sports services in Holland and Belgium and soon in Switzerland.

We have been able to acquire rights and build important regional sports networks that work in those countries. We have made investments and developed strategic relationships with a number of very successful content producers and, in many instances, we are developing content with them. We like the idea of partnering with the producers of targeted content, and I think we’ll do more of that. We have successfully acquired some freeto-air broadcasters, in Belgium and Ireland, where we own and

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Sports has been a key growth area for Liberty Global, with recent rollouts to include the MySports channel on pay-TV platform UPC in Switzerland. operate competitive and important broadcast networks. That has allowed us to expand our reach in a market but also develop and license content for our free-to-air and payTV platforms, as well as develop some important exclusive content experiences for consumers in that same market. Our content strategy will include a combination of things for the near term. Over the long term, I think you’ll see more vertical integration by distribution players, and we are likely to be part of that.

WS: What other types of acquisitions would you be interested in?

FRIES: Our business has always been built around scale, so our M&A strategy on the cable-TV side has always been first about driving scale within a market or a country.

If we can build more scale in Poland, where we’re trying to close an acquisition, or as we have done in Holland where we combined with Ziggo, we’re going to do that.

Building scale in countries is the most important thing because we are competing with phone companies that have national reach. We will look beyond a particular country to try to drive regional scale if that’s a possibility, but for us, it’s all about national scale within a marketplace. There are many countries where we’re not present in Europe, but we think we’re in the best ones.

WS: What’s the state of the cable industry in the Latin American countries where you are present?

FRIES: We’re excited about Latin America and the Caribbean. These regions are far less developed than Europe. Average broadband and pay-TV penetration in these markets might be in the 40-percent range, versus 80 percent or 90 percent in Europe and the U.S., so it’s an emerging region, not just economically, but also from a digital media point of view, and we like getting into those markets early. These are also markets that need to build scale.

We have good businesses in the 18 countries where we operate and we are generally the number one or number two provider. But there are a number of markets where we can have greater scale, and a number of countries where, if we were present, we would be improving our regional scale. So the M&A opportunity looks pretty interesting over the next five years. We will probably bring the same European playbook: first have robust, fast networks, both fixed and mobile, so we can offer consumers and businesses all the sophisticated applications and platforms we’ve developed for Europe. Then top that off with the best content available in the country and the region. We own the English Premier League rights in the Caribbean. We have a great sports service called Flow

Sports. We’ll look for similar content strategies as we have in Europe to offer in the region.

WS: And LiLAC is being spun off?

FRIES: We have announced plans to spin off our Latin American and Caribbean business by year-end and are well under way to doing that.

There are a number of benefits for value creation. First of all, having a capital structure and a management team focused on this part of the world will help us to take advantage of opportunities, raise capital and diversify risk. Over time though we will keep a strong relationship between Europe and Latin America.

We intend to buy content together whenever possible. We will procure equipment and technology together wherever possible. We will ensure that best practices around products, packaging and services are shared across regions. We are going to have a lot of connective tissue between the businesses, but they will be separate companies with separate balance sheets and separate management teams.

WS: What are the biggest challenges and opportunities for Liberty Global in the next 12 to 24 months?

FRIES: Our industry has always viewed the regulatory environment as one of the factors we have to pay a lot of attention to and isn’t always

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easy to predict. We’re vigilant about building good relationships with regulators both at the EU level and in the countries in which we operate. We want to be sure that regulators appreciate and understand the investment we’re making and the importance of our infrastructure to consumers and businesses.

We always watch the regulatory environment closely and we want to be sure it is level and fair for all operators. We feel like we have a good handle on the digital disruption that occupies so much of the press and people’s time. We have a good handle on how we’ll fit in this ecosystem over the next five or ten years, so I’m not as worried about digital disruption as others might be. We have to take care of our business first, which means making sure we have organic growth opportunities in each market, that we are able to drive not just customers but also ARPUs and margins because fundamentally we are a growth company—we’ve had 48 straight quarters of growth. We expect to continue to grow for the foreseeable future and that’s the number one goal. But also we want to remain opportunistic about M&A, growing inorganically and monetizing assets that might not fit our strategy anymore. So there are a lot of interesting things that our business represents.

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ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

4K Media 265 9 Story Media Group 263 41 Entertainment 94, 95, 210, 211, 507 A+E Networks 381, 457, 593 A+E Networks Latin America 637 ABS-CBN Corporation 67 Alfred Haber Distribution 121 all3media international 2, 3 AMC Networks International 6, 7, 607 American Cinema International 51 Armoza Formats 438, 439, 459, 461 Artist View Entertainment 43 Asia TV Forum 497 ATRESMEDIA Televisión 83, 631 ATV Turkey 16, 17 Australian Children’s Television Foundation 277 Avalon 69 Bandeirantes Communication Group 32, 33 Banijay Rights 372, 373, 446, 447 BBC Worldwide 444, 445 Beyond Distribution 111, 236, 237 Brightcove 572, 573 Busan Contents Market 179 CAKE 279, 281, 283, 337 Calinos Entertainment 1, 80, 81 Calm Island 255 Canada Media Fund 135 Canal 13 475 Canamedia 537 Caracol Internacional 106, 389 CBS Studios International 77, 93, 195 CDC United Network 608, 609 Cisneros Media Group 187 CJ E&M 41, 374, 375, 448, 449 Comarex 89 Creative Media Partners 257 Crown Media International Distribution 31 Cyber Group Studios 212, 213, 353, 358 DCD Rights 379 Dick Clark Productions 45 DISCOP 577 Discovery Kids 603 Distribution360 535 Dori Media Group 78, 182 Dutch Features Global Entertainment 22, 23, 232, 233, 406, 407 Electus 49, 463 Endemol Shine International 141,143,145,147,149,151,153,155,157,159,161,163,165,167,169,171,173,175 Entertainment One 12, 13 Entertainment One Family 216, 217, 253 Escapade Media 401, 517 ETS Studios 297 European Film Market 669 Filmax International 87 FilmRise 115 Fox Networks Group Asia 570 Fox Networks Group Content Distribution 587 Fox Networks Group International Drama 639 Fox Telecolombia 615 FremantleMedia 435, 502 FremantleMedia International 181, 363, 533, 547, 571 FremantleMedia Kids & Family 209 FUN Union 307 Gaumont 103, 105, 193, 676 Genius Brands International 90, 91, 226, 227 Global Agency 107, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 436, 437, 440, 441, 501 Global Screen 385 Gloob 293, 295 GMA Worldwide 129, 403, 477 GO-N Productions 275 GRB Entertainment 123, 125, 427, 545 Green Gold Animation 333 Guru Studio 259 Gusto Worldwide Media 512, 513 HARI International 222, 223 Hasbro Studios 327 HBO Latin America 621 Image Nation Abu Dhabi 47 Imagina International Sales 185 Incendo 63 Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) 548, 549 INK Group 228, 229, 243, 261, 285 Intellecta 133 Inter Medya 14, 15, 101, 364, 365, 454, 455, 588, 589 International Academy of TV Arts & Sciences 355, 493 Jetpack Distribution 289 KABO International 469

Kanal D International Keshet International Kew Media Group KidsCast Lionsgate Entertainment Looking Glass International MarVista Entertainment Mattel Creations Mediaset Distribution Mediaset España Mediatoon Distribution Miramax MISTCO Mondo TV Group Multicom Entertainment Group NATPE Newen Distribution NHK Enterprises NPO Sales NTV Broadcasting Company One Animation ORF-Enterprise Passion Distribution Pol-Ka Producciones Portfolio Entertainment Rai Com Rainbow Record TV Red Arrow International Reed MIDEM Rewind Networks Rive Gauche Television Russia Television and Radio/Sovtelexport Saban Brands Saban Capital Group Sato Company Scripps Networks Interactive Scripps Networks Latin America Scripted SDI Media Group Serious Lunch Sesame Workshop Smithsonian Channel SND Groupe M6 Soho Formats Sonar Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Television Networks Asia SPI International Splash Entertainment Star India Star Media Studio 100 Media / m4e STUDIOCANAL Superights Synergy88 Group TCB Media Rights Telefe Telefilms Televisa Internacional Tek Gear Terra Mater Factual Studios The LEGO Group The Story Lab Turner Turner Asia Pacific Turner Networks Latin America TV Asahi Corporation TV Azteca International TV5MONDE Asia-Pacific Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution Twofour Rights Universal Cinergia Univision Communications Inc. UYoung Culture & Media VintasMedia International Voxx Studios Warner Bros. Animation Warner Bros. International Television Distribution WDR mediagroup Workpoint Group WWE Xilam Animation ZDF Enterprises Zee Entertainment Enterprises Zodiak Kids

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430 341, 393, 450, 451 25, 27 343 10, 11, 396, 397 521 4, 5, 203, 214, 215 245 483 625 300, 302, 304, 306 35, 99 70, 71 347 675 585, 635 411 387 269 55 357 131 119, 508, 509, 546 489 329 419 220, 221 590, 591, 638 197, 383, 465 632, 670 565 525, 526, 527, 528, 529 395 113, 224, 225 75 117 523 617 586 643 299, 301, 303, 305 271 59 429 473 8, 9, 19 597, 599 551 57, 415, 567, 575, 623, 640 108, 109, 331 391 405 234, 235 53, 199 247, 249, 251 177 510, 511 413, 613 601 204, 569 137 519 339 29 61 555 595 467 37 561 21, 73, 453 442, 443 629 79 287 60 417 335 97 267 471 65, 605 218, 219 39, 69, 201, 231, 377, 515 85 239, 241

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Truly Global

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Print and Digital Magazines World Screen TV Latina TV Europe TV Asia TV MEA TV Drama TV Kids TV Formats TV Real TV Series TV Niños TV Listings Print and Digital Guides World Screen Guide TV Drama Guide TV Kids Guide TV Formats Guide TV Latina Channels Guide TV Latina Distributors Guide Websites WorldScreen.com TVLatina.tv TVKids.ws TVReal.ws TVFormats.ws TVDrama.ws TVNovelas.ws TVEurope.ws TVLatina.ws TVUSA.ws TVAsia.ws TVMEA.ws TVCanada.ws TeveBrasil.com TVHispana.tv TVProduccion.tv TVCanales.tv TVSeries.tv TVNinos.tv TVFormatos.tv TVFactual.tv TVDatos.tv Daily Online Newsletters World Screen Newsflash TV Kids Daily TV Drama Daily Diario TV Latina Weekly Online Newsletters World Screen Weekly TV Kids Weekly TV Formats Weekly TV Real Weekly TV Drama Weekly TV Latina Semanal TV Niños Semanal TV Series Semanal TV Canales Semanal TV Formatos Semanal Monthly Newsletters Social Wit List Lista Social Wit Apps World Screen App TV Latina App Video Portals WorldScreenings.com TVLatinaScreenings.tv

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WORLD’S END

IN THE STARS Almost every national constitution forbids the establishment of an official state religion. But this secular bent doesn’t stop people from looking to the heavens for answers to life’s most troublesome questions: Will I succeed?

Will I find love? Will I accidentally smoke pot?

Every day, papers, magazines and websites worldwide print horoscopes— projections for people born in a specific month, based on the positions of the stars and planets. While many people rely on these daily, weekly or monthly messages for guidance in their lives, some readers skip over them entirely.

The editors of WS recognize that these little pearls of random foresight occasionally prove pro phetic.

But rather than poring over charts of the zodiac to pre-

Kirsten Dunst

Margot Robbie

SHAILENE WOODLEY

Global distinction: Fargo alum.

Sign: Taurus (b. April 30, 1982) Significant date: September 19, 2017 Noteworthy activity: While appearing on Jimmy

Global distinction: Big Little Lies co-star.

Sign: Scorpio (b. November 15, 1991) Significant date: September 17, 2017 Noteworthy activity: While being interviewed on the

Kimmel Live! to promote the new movie Woodshock, the actress reveals that she accidentally smoked a full joint on set. Dunst, whose character Theresa smokes a lot of marijuana in the movie, explains that real herb got mixed in with the fake stuff on set. “And we’re talking about Humboldt weed,” she says. “I don’t smoke full joints. This is like strong sh*t.”

Horoscope: “Stay sharp at work because what looks like a routine task could be an unexpected opportunity in disguise.” (thesun.co.uk)

Red Carpet for this year’s Emmy Awards, the 25-year-old actress voices her opinion about television: “Friends who watch TV, I always ask them—when do they have time to?

When do people have time to?” she tells a reporter. “I’m a reader, so I always read a book instead of turning on my TV.” Many viewers of the television awards show find the Emmy nominee’s remarks to be both ironic and condescending to TV lovers everywhere.

Horoscope: “You’re not afraid to speak your mind at this time, which is awesome. Just make sure you think before you speak.” (awesomenesstv.com)

MARGOT ROBBIE Global distinction: Suicide Squad co-star.

Sign: Cancer (b. July 2, 1990) Significant date: September 8, 2017 Noteworthy activity: The blonde Aussie, who is playing Tonya Harding in the biopic I, Tonya, admits that she didn’t know the infamous Tonya Harding–Nancy Kerrigan incident was real until after she read the script for the film. “To be honest, when I read the script, I didn’t know who Tonya Harding was, and I didn’t realize it was a true story,” Robbie tells Vanity Fair. “I thought it was entirely fictionalized.”

Horoscope: “If you don’t do your research, you may lose credibility; integrity is the name of the game.” (tarot.com)

KATE HUDSON

prefers to use past horo-

Global distinction: American actress.

Sign: Aries (b. April 19, 1979) Significant date: September 11, 2017 Noteworthy activity: The 38-year-old movie star fills out

legitimize the science.

As you can see here, had some of these media figures remembered to consult their horoscopes on significant dates, they could have avoided a few surprises.

Olivia Munn

KIRSTEN DUNST

dict world events, our staff scopes in an attempt to

Shailene Woodley

a survey for Cosmopolitan with a question asking her to share the laziest thing she has ever done, to which she writes: “Have a C-Section!” Her response offends many childbearing readers who argue that undergoing a major surgery—often not by choice—to bring life into the world and the painful recovery that follows is far from the laziest thing they’ve ever done.

Horoscope: “It’s always a safe bet to choose your words wisely during this period of miscommunication and faux pas.” (refinery29.com) 674 WORLD SCREEN 10/17

OLIVIA MUNN Global distinction: The Newsroom alum.

Sign: Cancer (b. July 3, 1980) Significant date: September 20, 2017 Noteworthy activity: In an interview with Entertainment Weekly Radio, the actress explains that her appearance in the upcoming female-led Ocean’s Eight movie was less than lucrative for her. “It actually cost me money to be part of Ocean’s Eight,” she says. The brunette beauty reveals that she only appears briefly during the Met Gala scene and had to foot the bill for her high-fashion wardrobe.

Horoscope: “Look over details carefully and read the fine print before you agree to any sort of change that will affect your home, professional position or your relationship with partners.” (mercurynews.com)

MADONNA Global distinction: Queen of Pop. Sign: Leo (b. August 16, 1958) Significant date: September 5, 2017 Noteworthy activity: The Grammy-winning singer finds herself in a feud with FedEx when the delivery service refuses to release a package to her because they don’t believe that she is the “real” Madonna. Shortly after she expresses her frustration about the ordeal on Twitter, a FedEx employee tweets at the entertainer in an attempt to resolve the misunderstanding.

Horoscope: “If your power feels challenged, don’t worry.

You have everything you need and do not need to prove yourself to anyone!” (autumnbrianne.com)

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