Realscreen Mar/Apr 2023

ON THE COVER

For one year only, we’re expanding our Global 100 to provide a bigger picture of the international production scene.

Illustration by Matthew Daley.

FIRST LOOK

Stretching IP across genres; columns from Gena McCarthy and John Smithson

MIPTV PICKS

Our picks of the content to catch in Cannes

THE GLOBAL 200

Our annual listing of the top prodcos in non-fiction, expanded

THE FINAL CUT

World of Wonder’s Fenton Bailey on his new book and unscripted’s cultural impact

House music superstar DJ Minx is featured in one of our MIPTV Picks. 18

Transformation time

ading through the works of William Shakespeare in university was always something of a mixed bag for me. Sometimes, it would be a struggle to decipher what exactly was being said within the archaic prose, while other times the message would ring out loud and clear. One instance of the latter for me was found in Julius Caesar, in this quote from the nobleman Cassius: “The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in the stars but in ourselves, that we are underlings.” Translation: we make our own beds and lie in them.

Now, while this does make a lot of sense to me, I also wage an internal battle between the notion that we’re purely in charge of our own destinies and the concept of determinism, or the idea that previously existing causes can, and often do, shape the trajectories of our lives and the world around us. Add to that a passing interest in astrology — or “the stars” in Cassius’ terminology — and you can see my philosophical tug of war at play here.

According to the stargazers, Pluto, the planet associated with transformation and renewal, is now in Aquarius, which (again, according to astrologers) will result in all kinds of shifts relating to technology and innovation, politics, and humanity at large. No small potatoes, then.

Even Cassius would have to admit that we are seeing some fundamental changes on the horizon. Everyone’s talking about AI, but the jury remains deadlocked on potential benefits versus dangers. And closer to the non-fiction/ unscripted content business, economic uncertainty is leading to all sorts of structural transformations for buyers and sellers alike — and many of those have been painful. It does make one want to shake one’s fist at the sky and yell, “Pluto, ease up a bit, will ya?”

But there’s another way of looking at it. Change and creativity are cozy bedfellows — one often precedes the other. By way of example, the creative chops displayed by the companies featured year after year in our Global 100 listing of the top prodcos in non-fiction — this year presented as a Global 200, to provide readers with an even wider picture of the international production landscape — often shape programming that has transformed the genre. Whether it’s a twist on a tried-and-true TV trope that results in a hit format, or an innovative approach to documentary storytelling that winds up invigorating the genre commercially and creatively, it’s that marriage of inspiration and transformation that propels the business forward.

Thus, while some of the shifts ahead will be uncomfortable, if history is any indicator many of them will also result in even better futures for those undergoing them, and for the industry itself. Maybe Cassius and the astrologers can see eye to eye on one thing: you may not get to call all the shots in the movie of your life, but you can always tweak the script.

Speaking of tweaks, a correction regarding last issue’s Factual Under 40 report: NBCUniversal Telemundo exec Angelina Rivero is 29 years old, not 39! Our apologies for the error.

Be well,

Barry Walsh Content director and editor-in-chief Realscreen

March + April 2023 Volume 26, Issue 3

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As Reality bytes

I was considering what to write in this space, one of my colleagues quipped, “Why don’t you have AI write your column?” So I did. Feeding some prompts into ChatGPT, here are some excerpts from my first heart-to-heart with a bot.

How can unscripted entertainment be impacted during an economic downturn?

ChatGPT: Unscripted television can have a significant impact on the business and economic landscape, particularly during a recession.

Firstly, unscripted television tends to be less expensive to produce than scripted television or films, making it an attractive option for networks and studios looking to cut costs. This is especially important during a recession, as companies may be tightening their budgets and looking for ways to save money.

Advertisers are often drawn to unscripted programming because of its ability to attract a wide audience and create buzz on social media, which can be especially important during a recession when companies are looking to maximize their return on investment.

On the other hand, the recession may also impact the unscripted television industry, as viewers may be more cautious with their spending and have less disposable income to devote to entertainment. This could lead to a decrease in advertising revenue and a decrease in the number of shows being produced.

During the last economic downturn, did unscripted television experience a boom?

ChatGPT: Yes, during the last economic downturn, unscripted television experienced a significant boom in popularity. The recession of 2008-2009 led to a decrease in overall consumer spending, and many viewers turned to unscripted television as a cheaper alternative to traditional forms of entertainment.

In particular, reality competition shows like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars saw a surge in ratings and became cultural phenomena during this time. These shows offered viewers a chance to see ordinary people achieve success and pursue their dreams, providing a much-needed escape from the financial uncertainty of the recession.

Did the last writers’ strike help unscripted television production?

ChatGPT: Yes, the last writers’ strike in 2007-2008 did help boost the production of unscripted television. During the strike, which lasted for 100 days, many scripted shows went off the air due to a lack of new episodes, leaving a programming void that was filled by unscripted programming.

This gave networks and studios an opportunity to experiment with new unscripted shows and formats, leading to an increase in the number of reality shows being produced. However, it’s worth noting that the writers’ strike also had a negative impact on the industry as a whole, as many writers and other industry professionals were out of work for an extended period of time.

So there you have it. There are no shocking revelations, but I am both amazed and bewildered by the accuracy of what came back to me. Another question I didn’t get the chance to ask my virtual friend was the impact AI will have on the business — for that, we’ll have to wait and see.

‘Til next time, go well,

Claire Macdonald SVP and publisher Realscreen

By Andrew Tracy

Increasingly, prodcos that made their name in scripted content are entering the unscripted domain. Realscreen explores how this symbiotic relationship is shaping development and production within the genre.

WALKING THE LINE

POINTED ARROW

16

Gena McCarthy on the art of resilience

John Smithson talks theatrical docs

Just as the Peak TV era saw the long-perceived cultural distinction between film- and television-making broken down — if not effaced entirely — so too has our current moment of Peak Platforms occasioned an overlap between what’s perceived by some as the prestige world of scripted content and the more traditionally déclassé territory of reality TV. The past few years have seen more and more prodcos that specialize in scripted dipping their toes, or even taking a full-on plunge, into the wide world of unscripted.

“There’s always been a hard and fast wall between scripted and unscripted,” says Matthew Ostrom, whose Magilla Entertainment (Moonshiners, Jailhouse Redemption) recently struck a codevelopment deal with Sugar23, the high-toned prodco behind Apple TV+’s Dickinson and Steven Soderbergh’s Netflix drama

The Laundromat. “But I think that that line has definitely blurred — the scripted folks are now more willing to come into our space.”

Shifting cultural lines aside, one of the primary motivators behind scripted’s sortie into reality is, naturally, economic. “Since I started [in unscripted], when the genre was very nascent, the business has grown, and scripted companies have looked at their portfolio and realized that there was a piece of their pie that was missing,” says reality-TV veteran Joel Zimmer, who last year boarded Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios — whose scripted-dominated slate has begun to include a growing amount of non-fiction content, most notably the Netflix hit The Tinder Swindler , produced with Raw TV and Gaspin Media — to head the company’s new non-scripted label, AGC Unwritten.

“[Unscripted content] is never going to be the size of big films, but it’s an engine that can generate revenue on a consistent basis,” he continues. “From an economic perspective, our mandate here is to broaden out and do those formatted shows and episodic series that can build a business.”

However, Zimmer also stresses that the current landscape allows for that traditional low-cost, high-return model of unscripted production to get a tune-up and a shiny coat of wax. “To be part of a film company [at AGC] versus just being part of a standard nonscripted production company, it’s definitely different,” he observes.

“Over the past five or six years, the capabilities of shooting non-scripted have evolved — you can get these looks that used to be just filmic

looks, and we want that to be part of our approach. But, being a nimble, independent unit, we can also be very economical with that. That’s part of our goal here: to do great, elevated unscripted content, but economically.”

That increasing overlap between the scripted and unscripted realms is not only a matter of porting over some of the tony aesthetics of the former into the latter. As both Zimmer and Ostrom attest, they are seeing an increasing fluidity with their scripted partners in terms of both personnel and projects.

“Part of being in a small company is that our group is tightly interwoven with the scripted and the film sides — they know what we’re doing, and we know what they’re doing,” says Zimmer. “So Stuart’s film people are actually bringing us unscripted ideas — I’m getting sent projects from scripted, from our kids and animation head; it comes in from everywhere. And that’s different from anywhere I’ve been before.”

Furthermore, Ostrom relates that in Magilla’s collaboration with Sugar23, ideas themselves can jump from one side of the scripted-unscripted divide to the other in the development process.

“David [Hillman, Sugar23’s head of alternative and unscripted] brought us a project that came from his scripted folks, which he thought would make a good game show,” he says. “We did a ton of development on it, and now it’s gone back into his world as a potential scripted project that they’re trying to turn into a movie. So I think there’s something really cool about that.”

That creative back-and-forth, as well as the mutability of potential IP, is at the core of the ongoing partnership between genre-movie dynamo Blumhouse and ITV America. According to Gretchen Palek — who further cemented the relationship between the two companies when she moved over from ITV label Leftfield Pictures to head the alternative and unscripted team at Blumhouse — the seeds of that synergy were already in place when she first arrived at her new home (or house).

“I’d love to tell you there were vast differences [between a scripted company’s approach to unscripted], but there really hasn’t been, because it’s always about story,” she says. “When I came in I spoke to my scripted colleagues, and they were working on projects that were based on underlying IP or a story that would

There has always been a hard and fast wall between scripted and unscripted. But that line has definitely blurred.”

Ostrom

... Our group is tightly interwoven with the scripted and the film sides... I’m getting sent projects from scripted, from our kids and animation head; it comes from everywhere.”

Zimmer

30+ years of connecting distributors, streamers, and acquisition executives in the Central and Eastern Europe region.

Claire Macdonald, Executive Producer, NATPE Budapest • cmacdonald@brunico.com

also make a really great unscripted project. So we’re in a place at Blumhouse where we’re all one, and I felt that right off the bat.”

“I also think that this is probably an anomaly in the scripted space, but we move really fast here,” she adds. “Coming from unscripted I was a little trepidatious about that, but we actually move incredibly swiftly.”

That atypically speedy pace, which aligns well with the demands of unscripted production, also speaks to why Danielle Bibbo, ITV America’s EVP of business development and strategy, feels that Blumhouse’s previous non-fiction ventures did not live up to the company’s full potential in that space.

“Blumhouse were doing a handful of great prestige docs, but from our point of view they weren’t really capitalizing on the

Blumhouse brand in the unscripted space: they were mostly focusing on one-off docs, and that’s a hard business model to maintain,” she says.

“So when we met with Jason [Blum], we had three goals in terms of our development strategy: to really lean into their core brand in unscripted; to appeal to the die-hard Blumhouse fanbase that they weren’t necessarily reaching in unscripted; and to build a volume business for them, [help] find those foundational high-volume, lower-cost repeatable series that keep the lights on.”

To a certain extent, Blumhouse’s new unscripted model entails piggybacking on the scripted side. Highlighting the current boom in “stranger-than-fiction” stories, Palek says that “when you watch some of those scripted narrative series [in that genre], you want to know what’s real and what’s not. So, you can have a companion unscripted series so that the audience doesn’t have to go down a Wikipedia rabbit hole.

“We’ve already had some success selling scripted and unscripted series at the same time, and we actually have a meeting this afternoon where our features team, our scripted TV team, and the unscripted team are all getting together about a bananas true-story project that we’re all interested in. So I think there are more opportunities there, because we’re telling these true stories more now than ever.”

While Bibbo concurs that some of the ideas they’ve bandied about with Blumhouse are relatively straightforward translations of the company’s pre-existing IP — yes, she laughs, they have indeed discussed a Purge competition format — she also stresses that the partnership entails an expansion of that established brand. “Right now they are partnered with at least three of our labels, and some in genres you wouldn’t expect Blumhouse to be in,” says Bibbo, noting that the collabs stretch from true crime (naturally) to lifestyle and food (less so).

“Blumhouse is laser-focused on what their brand is, but Jason was also really excited about taking them a little outside of their comfort zone,” she continues.

“So not only are they creating their own original concepts, but we are supercharging the Blumhouse brand by having all of our six labels bringing them other ideas and concepts that they can partner on.”

Asked whether she thinks this cross-pollination will continue, Bibbo is optimistic. “I think there’s a growing familiarity with and excitement about doing unscripted within the scripted community, and a lot of times the scripted companies will bring a unique creative lens to a project — which is what we like, and I think is the expectation from the buyer as well.

“It’s about being that yin to that yang. How do we complement each other, and what tricks can we teach each other?”

... There’s a growing familiarity with and excitement about doing unscripted within the scripted community... It’s about being the yin to that yang. How do we complement each other, and what tricks can we teach each other?”

Bibbo

When you watch some of those scripted narrative series [based on true stories], you want to know what’s real and what’s not. So you can have a companion unscripted series so that the audience doesn’t have to go down a Wikipedia rabbit hole.”

Palek

LINE THE WALKING

Don’t worry. I’m not one of those annoying, pretentious people who’s going to preach about my expertise as a production label executive after being one for two months. I hope I’m not that foolish. However, what I can say with credibility is that I’m a bit of an expert in the art of resilience. In a competitive landscape that’s constantly shifting, I think resilience is more important than ever. Ultimately, there are ways to succeed even when it seems that everything in the industry has changed forever.

Some of you reading might have heard my stories about growing up constantly on the move. I may have compared it at the time to a Johnny Cash song — “I’ve been everywhere, man.” By the age of 19, I’d lived in 11 different homes in very different parts of the country. I consider Pittsburgh my home town, but when we moved there, my mother couldn’t afford to buy a house in the township that she felt had the best public education system. And so, with education as Queen in our household, she found ways to rent five homes in six years on her teacher’s salary and generous alimony from our father. It allowed my sisters and I to graduate high school with rigorous academic standards. Once my younger sister graduated, Mother bought a house in the town down the road. While it was tough in many ways, in retrospect, that experience gave us one of the greatest gifts of all — resilience. (It may also have spawned my love of

IIBy Gena McCarthy

relationship, home and survival content — that’s just dawned on me now!) It probably helped that resilience was also taught at home. Several years ago, I attended an informal lunch for female execs where we were asked if we had a personal mantra. When it was my turn, I said that my selfgenerated mantra used to be “suck it up, focus, and execute.” That successfully got me through many sports meets and matches, public speaking events and first days of new jobs — all things that can generate terror.

But then I shared that my mantra had shifted recently to one that my mother taught us: “Be like the graceful willow tree, who bends when the harsh winds blow, but never, ever breaks.” This advice would come with interpretive dance moves miming being blown to the left and right, then standing firmly upright once more. I performed this for the group at lunch. I think they were amused.

I share this now because I know how painful the ongoing process of industry change is to people on both sides of the buyer and seller line. The truth is, budgets are smaller, audiences are shrinking, jobs are being eliminated, and delivering real performance and financial success is mindnumbingly scary.

Sometimes producers can become bitter about a perceived lack of buying power from platforms. And they’re not altogether wrong. But I always say, from my own experience, that people in development and programming roles are excited and eager to buy, create and launch shows with us. They’re learning the new rules of the game in real time with us, while having budget parameters anchored in radically shifting business realities. It’s not fun to constantly tell people “no.” At times, I felt like the Grim Reaper, or the Ghost of Christmas Future in the creepy 1951 version of A Christmas Carol — scythe in hand and bony fingers extended, bestowing “passes” on projects I loved to people I loved. But nothing felt better than giving a “yes” to a strong new concept.

I also know that despite leaner budgets, condensed buying portfolios and an often confusing landscape, everyone still needs great content. And good people will buy great content. I see amazing, smart creators like my production colleagues at Sony Pictures Television’s nonfiction division, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman, and all their team — Rachel Dax, Erin Gamble and Devon Graham Hammonds are relentlessly positive, talented people — who collectively find new ways of doing business and moving forward together. You have to adapt. Be like the supple willow and lean into resilience. It works.

Gena McCarthy is the president and founder of Unconventional Entertainment, a part of Sony Pictures Television.

POINTED ARROW

A PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE

By John Smithson

We’re now at the end of the annual awards cycle, and once again we have a great snapshot of the well-being of an elite, highprofile and, sometimes, high-value corner of the non-fiction content landscape.

The 10 films that are nominated in the best theatrical doc categories for the Academy Awards and the BAFTAs reveal much about the state of the market: what’s working, what’s not, who is backing what, and where they are all ending up. The films that ultimately make it onto the lists are often a quirky bunch. For example, who would imagine that a film about a fire in a Bucharest nightclub could yield a brilliant, absorbing doc about post-communist Romania? But Collective made it to the BAFTA and Oscar nominee stage two years ago. Likewise, Navalny , which follows the charismatic Russian opposition politician who tried to stand up to Putin, has, as of this writing, scooped both the Oscar and the BAFTA.

But while the creative health of the genre is not in doubt, its commercial well-being is another story. Scanning the nominees lists reveals an awful truth: the days where a doc could have a decent run — not just in the art houses, but also in the big multiplexes — are long gone. The chance of building a substantial run, where people will pay to see your film and you might even make something on the back end, has become a casualty of fundamental changes in the market, compounded by the devastating impact of lockdowns on cinemas.

The consequence is that a “theatrical run” now involves a very brief appearance in a few selected theaters in key cities, which then enables the film to qualify for the big awards. It is all about profile — building word of mouth and critical acclaim before your film ends up as just another title on the landing page of your favorite streamer.

Despite the bleak landscape, there’s one bright, shining light of hope for filmmakers. If you can somehow make your film without selling any of the rights, there is a wondrous opportunity if you are one of the few films that catches the eyes of the hungry streamers.

What’s the very best theatrical doc idea? The one where you’ve got four bidders in a war to take it off your hands, with prices inflating to a multiple of what it actually cost. There’ve been many recent examples of big sales following bidding wars, and the numbers are eye-popping — often in the millions, and sometimes tens of millions. But not everything in the garden is rosy. Consolidation is impacting many of the key players in high-end docs, including HBO and CNN. Streamers are also becoming increasingly picky about what works for them, especially in areas such as music, sport and celebrity. The downside is there is less opportunity for some of the more quirky, unconventional projects.

Still, while theatrical is under pressure, the irony is that “feature docs” are flourishing. These are films that go nowhere near a cinema screen, but are premium, well-budgeted docs in the 90- to 120-minute band, commissioned by streamers and linear players. For a producer, are they worth doing? Are they worth the months or years they take to finance, and to get right in the cutting room?

If you believe in it, go for it. Even if you don’t make it to the highest echelon, there’s still a decent chance your film will be picked up.

John Smithson is the creative director of Arrow Pictures, a feature and high-end factual label created out of Arrow, the UK-headquartered indie which he co-founded in 2011.

While the creative health of the theatrical documentary is not in doubt, its commercial well-being is another story.”

THEBIGQUESTION

In this new feature, industry execs take on the burning questions of the day (or at least, the burning questions at press time).

THIS

ISSUE, WE ASK: “Given that Disney recently axed its ‘next-gen storytelling’ unit — and as media companies continue to retrench in the face of the economic slowdown — are the Metaverse and other Web3 innovations losing some of their appeal in the unscripted/non-fiction production space?”

“In times of economic uncertainty, it’s not uncommon for innovators to take a step back to embrace the less risky strategy of being ‘fast followers.’ Innovation will still happen on the fringes, and content embracing the worlds of spatial technologies and gaming will continue to take a larger share of screen time, while also inspiring a new generation of content creators.

RAJA KHANNA CEO, co-founder Dark Slope

“At Dark Slope we believe spatial technologies and virtual production will not only reinvent how production is done in unscripted, but will be critical in a world where audiences want to inhabit their favorite worlds across all of their screens and devices. Already, those producers that are embracing digital props and environments, real-time interactivity, and LED volume shooting techniques are saving time and money, while opening up new and refreshing creative possibilities in unscripted.

“In my view, the price of virtual land in a virtual Metaverse may have gone down (I never bought any of that stuff in the first place), but the unstoppable idea that spatial technologies are going to profoundly change content creation and content consumption is just taking its first steps.”

“Web3 technology, including NFTs, the Metaverse, and beyond, exploded in early 2021 as the ‘new frontier’ and ‘the future.’ Many large media companies invested enormous amounts of money into this space soon thereafter (e.g., Facebook, ABC/Disney, Fox, etc), and Facebook even entirely rebranded as Meta. The technology is incredibly powerful and innovative, yet like many new technologies, was imperfect upon initial launch and will take some further investment and iterating to get right. Thereafter, the chances of wider-spread marketplace adoption are more realistic. That said, as many media companies are struggling in the current economic environment to find places to cut costs and/or save, it’s certainly logical that they’d at least include this particular arena, as it likely hasn’t driven much revenue for them yet. Web3-driven media will continue to evolve, though, and ultimately, it’ll likely be reborn sooner rather than later in a way that will empower the big media companies to heavily lean back into it.”

Have a big question you’d like answered? Let us know at press@realscreen.com

Co-managing partner, unscripted & digital A3 Artists Agency

ALEC SHANKMAN

MIPTVPICKS

It’s that time of year again — when the international TV community converges on Cannes for a few days of rosé-andcoffee-fueled meetings, in search of fresh programming. We at Realscreen want to make your job easier while you’re there, so we’ve assembled this list of “can’t-miss” picks making their way to the market, running the gamut from socially conscious documentary and enthralling true crime to good old-fashioned culinary competition, and many points between.

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?

Filmmaker Ella Glendining lives with a disability so rare that reliable statistics for it do not yet exist. While her previous short documentaries sought to provide an authentic lens through which to view ableism and disability, her debut feature, which premiered at Sundance, depicts a personal journey in which she endeavors to find others who experience life as she does. Along the way, she illuminates how entrenched ableism is within our societal structures, and how it impacts our notions of individuality. As she told Filmmaker, “This film is not just for disabled people; it’s for anyone who has ever felt ‘other.’” Barry Walsh

Partners: Hot Property Films, Tigerlily Two; distributed by Autlook Filmsales

Length: 1 x 87 minutes

Premiered: January 2023 (Sundance)

Rights available: Worldwide

Photo by David Myers

BEST IN SHOW BEST IN SHOW BEST IN SHOW BEST IN SHOW BEST IN SHOW

Many of us have seen the viral clip of violinist and classical music superstar Joshua Bell collaborating with the Washington Post for a social experiment, in which he busked in a subway station to general indifference, and collected a grand total of US$52.17 for his efforts. This feel-good format from Love Productions flips the idea on its head, giving amateur pianists the chance to perform in various tube stations, unaware that within the listening audience are two renowned virtuosos who can give them the opportunity to play on one of the world’s greatest stages. With music being the universal language, the heartfelt performances and gripping stories from the budding stars make for a format that should travel well. BW

EMILY ATACK: ASKING FOR IT?

UK-based actor and comedian Emily Atack takes on a serious societal issue in this engaging — and, as The Guardian states in its review, enraging — documentary. As a public figure, Atack engages with her audience and the wider world via social media, but a sizable amount of the attention she receives from men who access her accounts is pure, misogynistic harassment. The doc follows Atack as she recounts her stories and hears from other women who detail their own experiences, including schoolgirls who begin receiving troubling videos and texts as soon as they get their first phones. BW

Partners: Love Productions; distributed by Fremantle

Length/volume: 5 x 60 minutes

Premiered: February 2023 (Channel 4)

Rights available: Worldwide outside of North America

Partners: Little Gem for BBC Two; distributed by Orange Smarty

Length: 1 x 52 minutes

Premiered: January 2023 (BBC Two)

Rights available: Worldwide excluding UK and Eire

RUTHLESS: MONOPOLY’S SECRET HISTORY

It’s hard to think of any board game that is quite as ubiquitous as Monopoly, with iconography — from mascot “Rich Uncle Pennybags” to the all-important “Get Out of Jail Free” card — that has cultural resonance far beyond the game. But many don’t know that this seeming celebration of greed and capitalist accumulation itself has a history that is replete with duplicity in the name of the almighty dollar. This engrossing doc takes a deep dive into the origins of the game, while also examining its seemingly unshakeable place in pop culture. BW

Partners: Insignia Films for ‘American Experience’; distributed by PBS International Length: 1 x 52 minutes

Premiered: February 2023 (PBS)

Rights available: Worldwide

Photo by Tom Forsyth

CITIZENS AT WAR: A YEAR IN UKRAINE

The work of dozens of production staff on the ground during the war in Ukraine is on display for the world in this unflinching, immediate view of life on the frontlines of the ongoing conflict. The far-reaching six-part series includes exclusive interviews with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Olena, as well as access to members of Zelenskyy’s government and the Ukrainian military. It also highlights the stories of a range of everyday citizens, including a beauty queen turned sniper and a survivor of a mass execution in Bucha.

Andrew Jeffrey

Partners: Film.UA, Tilt Media and GTV Docs for ZDF; international licensing from Blue Ant International

Length/volume: 6 x 60 minutes

Premiered: February 2023 (ZDF)

Rights available: Contact Blue Ant International

THE MAN WHO STOLE THE SCREAM

During the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway, Edvard Munch’s iconic painting The Scream was stolen in a brazen heist in which the thieves simply smashed through the window of the National Gallery, cut a wire affixing the painting to the wall, and topped it all with a note reading, “Thanks for the bad security!” The theft took a mere 50 seconds. Months later, the thieves were apprehended, but only one — ringleader Pål Enger — was sentenced to prison, due to a technicality. Executive produced by Asif Kapadia (Senna, Amy), this cinematic doc has the flourishes of a thriller as it attempts to uncover Enger’s motivation. BW

HIDDEN LETTERS

Premiered at Tribeca last spring, Violet Du Feng’s directorial debut tells the story of Nushu, a secret language used for thousands of years by women in China — many of them enduring oppressive marriages and forbidden to read or write — as a means of support and survival. The film follows two millennial Chinese women as they explore the history of Nushu and discover its relevance to their own lives, and we also learn how the language is being co-opted and commercialized in modern China, in ways that seem to promote the patriarchy instead of subverting it. BW

Partners: Curve Media for Sky UK; distributed by Abacus Media Rights

Length: 1 x 90 minutes; 2 x 60 minutes

Premiered: March 2023 (Sky)

Rights available: Worldwide excluding UK, Republic of Ireland, Germanspeaking and Italian-speaking Europe

Partners: Fish + Bear Pictures, Ten Thousand Images, EST Studios; distributed by Cargo Film & Releasing

Length: 1 x 88 minutes; 1 x 60 minutes

Premiered: April 2022 (Tribeca)

Rights available: Worldwide excluding China, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain, Norway, Italian-speaking Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Israel, U.S.

Photo by Alim Yakubov

Photo by Feng Tiebing

Billed as “science you can dance to,” this doc, which is currently in production, takes viewers to myriad locations — from Colombia to France, Senegal to the U.S. — to investigate the potential for the oceans to absorb even more carbon than trees. While this “blue carbon” could be one of the most effective weapons against the impact of climate change, it is also a resource that is in jeopardy with the declining health of the Earth’s oceanic ecosystems. Our charismatic guide through this journey — and this is where the “dance” part comes in — is Jayda G, a Grammy-nominated DJ who also happens to be a marine biologist. BW

BLUE CARBON BEYOND THE DECKS

Currently in production, this music doc spans the globe (and the years) to chart the history of EDM (electronic dance music, for the uninitiated). From the art form’s underground beginnings via the groundbreaking work of DJs such as Chicago’s Frankie Knuckles, to the electronica explosion of the 1990s fueled by such talents as London-based Sister Bliss, and all the way to its current status as a billion-dollar industry propelled by superstar DJs such as DJ Minx (pictured), Beyond the Decks examines both the rise of EDM and the issues impacting its innovators, ranging from gender disparity to mental health. BW

THE CHAMELEON: THE KILLING OF RONALD PLATT

In July 1996, a man’s body was found in the nets of a fishing trawler off the southwest coast of England. The serial number on the man’s Rolex watch revealed its owner to be one Ronald Platt, but what police didn’t know at the time was that the dead man was among the many victims of one of Interpol’s most wanted criminals — Albert Walker, a master of deception who had not only assumed Platt’s identity, but also defrauded scores of others to the tune of $2.3 million. This doc boasts access to the detectives on the case, as well as Platt’s ex Elaine Boyes, who was another of Walker’s victims. BW

Partners: Make Waves Media, CNN; distributed by Off the Fence

Length: 1 x 90 minutes

Premiere: TBD

Rights available: Worldwide excluding Canada, U.S.

Partners: Cardinal Releasing; distributed by Espresso Media International

Length: 1 x 105 minutes

Premiere: TBD

Rights available: Worldwide

Partners: Lambent Productions for Channel 5; distributed by BossaNova Media

Length: 1 x 60 minutes; 1 x 90 minutes

Premiere: Autumn 2023

Rights available: All, excl. UK, Eire

NAM JUNE PAIK: MOON IS THE OLDEST TV

Premiered at this year’s Sundance, the feature directorial debut of former Vice Media creative director Amanda Kim employs plentiful archive to chronicle the career of the “father of video art,” who translated the influence of avant-garde music legend John Cage into a pioneering new art form that combined electronic media, music and live performance. Featuring voiceover work from Oscar-nominated actor Steven Yeun (Minari), who reads from some of Paik’s key writings, the film offers a celebration of one of the most forwardthinking artists of the 20th century, who to a great extent foresaw the evolution of the ever-moreinterconnected mediascape that we inhabit today.

Andrew Tracy

BECOMING CIA

This six-part docuseries from Big Media promises to take viewers inside the American intelligence agency via interviews with real spies. Produced with the cooperation of the CIA’s Office of Public Affairs, the series follows the agency’s case officers at different stages in their careers as they explain how the real world of spies and counterintelligence works. The program, which boasts high production values and a cinematic aesthetic, also connects its subjects to well-known Hollywood films and series, with characters such as a pair of married spies dubbed “The Real Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” as well as the high-ranking female case officer who directly inspired the main character of the popular spy drama Homeland Justin Anderson

Partners: JBS Arts, Curatorial; distributed by Dogwoof

International

Length: 1 x 107 minutes

Premiered: January 2023 (Sundance)

Rights available: Worldwide excluding North America and Korea

CROSS COUNTRY CAKE OFF

They say that you can never have enough cake, and chances are the same folks would agree that you can never have enough shows about cake. Creativity, culinary skills and perhaps a healthy amount of cream are in the recipe for this Canadian series, which follows the search for Canada’s best cake-maker, led by cookbook author and culinary TV star Mary Berg and renowned pastry chef Andrew Han. BW

Partners: Big Media, Breaklight Pictures (a TCG company); distributed by Big Media

Length/volume: 6 x 60 minutes

Premiere: TBD

Rights available: Worldwide

Partners: Proper Television for CTV; distributed by Boat Rocker Media

Length/volume: 10 x 60 minutes

Premiered: December 2022 (CTV)

Rights available: Worldwide excluding Canada

APT WORLDWIDE

10 Post Office Square, 1200N, Boston, MA 02109, USA

APTWW.org

Sales contacts:

Judy_Barlow@aptonline.org

Kevin_McKenna@aptonline.org

Tom_Davison@aptonline.org

Since 1998, APT Worldwide has been a major supplier of high-quality, factual content to media around the world. Our diverse catalog features award-winning documentaries, highly produced science, history, health, business, and current affairs programs, as well as popular food and travel series. APT Worldwide licenses to media companies globally for all rights excluding theatrical, including Broadcast, Streaming, VOD, Educational, Non-Theatrical, IFE, Footage and Transportation. As a division of American Public Television, a leading distributor of content to public television stations in the U.S., APT Worldwide has a deep pipeline to programs created by top independent producers and prominent public television stations across the United States.

RICK STEVES ART OF EUROPE

6x60 or six 1x60 specials – Culture, History

RICK STEVES ART OF EUROPE weaves Europe’s greatest masterpieces into an entertaining and inspiring story. From prehistoric cave paintings to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome; through a thousand years of Middle Ages to the Renaissance; and from extravagant Baroque to the tumultuous 20th century, host Rick Steves helps us discover how Europe’s art depicts the past and points the way forward.

Produced by: Rick Steves’ Europe, Inc. 2022

THE HIGHPOINTERS WITH THE BARGO BROTHER

(5x30) – Travel

THE HIGHPOINTERS WITH THE BARGO BROTHERS follows two adventurous brothers who travel around the U.S. on a quest to climb the highest point in each of the 50 states. In each episode, a renowned local celebrity joins the brothers as they engage in inspiring conversations, climb, compete, eat and learn about the local area. From exploring deep caverns in Ohio to bracing the subzero temperatures at the peak of Mt. Elbert in Colorado, the Bargo Brothers show off some of the unique highpoint destinations in the United States.

Produced by: Live Adventure, LLC, 2023

DOUG’S GEOLOGY JOURNAL

(5x30) – Nature, Science

In DOUG’S GEOLOGY JOURNAL, filmmaker and geologist Doug Prose takes viewers on an unforgettable journey to uncover the geological features of planet Earth. In each episode, Doug visits a unique location and explains the big-picture geologic processes that shaped the region, while showcasing features such as active volcanoes, stunning natural rock formations, and roaring waterfalls. Join Doug as he treks over desert terrain, climbs enormous hills, squeezes between rocks, and contemplates the unique geology around him. Doug visits the volcanoes of Iceland; the red rock country of Utah and Arizona; the jagged trace of California’s San Andreas Fault; the valleys and mountains of Nevada; and the complicated terrain of Sicily. Who knew geology – and the ways our planet is shaped – could be this fun?

Produced by: Earth Images Foundation, 2023

Paramount Global Content Distribution

5555 Melrose Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90038

www.paramount.com

GDGsales@cbs.com

Paramount Global Content Distribution is the leading distributor of premium content across multiple media platforms throughout the global marketplace. The division’s portfolio is comprised of some of the world’s most recognized brands, including feature films and television programs from Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television Studios, CBS Studios, CBS Media Ventures, CBS News, SHOWTIME Networks, Nickelodeon, MTV Entertainment Studios, Miramax and third-party partners. The division also has the largest distributed library of series and film titles, including global franchises such as “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “NCIS,” “Star Trek,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Transformers,” “Mission: Impossible,” and more. In addition, the division licenses a diverse lineup of scripted and unscripted formats for local production and international co-productions. Paramount Global Content Distribution is a division of Paramount.

Catching Lightning CATCHING LIGHTNING tells the surreal tale of Great Britain’s Securitas Depot robbery in 2006, in which nearly £53 million in cash (more than $92 million USD at the time) was stolen, with new interviews, striking revelations and neverbefore-heard aspects of the heist. From SHOWTIME Sports Documentary Films produced by Bat Bridge Entertainment. Executive producers: Pat Kondelis, Jody M. Wingrove, Vinnie Malhotra and Stephen Espinoza.

FBI True

FBI TRUE will provide a reallife look into a high-pressure world where split-second decisions can mean life or death, with FBI agents reliving the heart-stopping moments of their biggest cases and revealing the real details only agents can tell. Produced by Efran Films Canada for See It Now Studios. Executive producers: Shawn Efran, Craig Turk, Anne Beagan, Azadeh de Leon, Susan Zirinsky, Terence Wrong, and Aysu Saliba.

Amazing Railway Adventures with Nick Knowles

From digging up ancient artefacts to swimming in the freezing Arctic Circle, Nick Knowles is experiencing the wonders of the world, by train. Over six fantastic globe-trotting trips he immerses himself in the people, landscapes and culture of Peru, Mexico, Alaska, Norway, Vietnam, and Malaysia, hopping aboard some incredible trains as he undertakes some of the most breath-taking railway journeys in the world. In Peru he takes a stunning boat ride across Lake Titicaca to the floating islands of the Uros and in Mexico, a magical trip on El Chepe, the Copper Canyon railway. Then there’s a trek to the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska and an overnight stay in a converted train carriage turned hotel, parked on a disused railway bridge over the River Namsen in Norway. This rich, high-octane series is a sparkling exploration of the land, each country’s rich and poor, incredible engineering feats and mind-blowing vistas. Produced by Paramount. Credits: Series Editor: Grace Kitto, Series Director: Ben Southwell, Executive Producer: Oliver Wright.

Passion Distribution

No 1. Smiths Square

77-85 Fulham Palace Road London W 6 8JA

www.passiondistribution.com

sales@passiondistribution.com

The Crossing Documentary (1 x 60’) | ITVX | Produced by: DM Documentary Productions

Made over 12 months, this film for the BAFTA-winning Exposure strand, pieces together the events behind the tragic capsizing of a dinghy of asylum seekers where over 30 people died. Handa Majed reports on the November 2021 tragedy in the English Channel when 31 people died after the dinghy carrying them from France to England capsized. This film pieces together the journeys some passengers made and how the disaster unfolded, using testimony from victims’ families and speaking in depth for the first time to one of the only two survivors.

www.syndicado.com

Sales: Eva Lewucha | eva@syndicado.com

Acquisitions: Greg Rubidge | greg@syndicado.com

JFK: The Home Movie That Changed The World

Documentary (1 x 60’) | Produced by: SPA Media

It will be 60 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 2023. JFK: The Home Movie That Changed The World is a documentary focusing on the little-known history of the actual 8mm film that captured the horrific events. Known as the Zapruder Film, it played a pivotal role in the ensuing investigation, how this incendiary evidence was horse traded by the press, how it made conspiracies run like wildfire, and ultimately how TV brought the murder into living rooms around the world.

The Secret Vatican Files (2023) - 4x42

“The Church is not afraid of history.” With these words Pope Francis opened the Vatican archives on Pope Pius XII in 2019. Millions of letters, secret dispatches, telegrams, supplications, and countless other types of documents were made public to scholars around the world for the first time. Today, after decades, we can investigate one of the most controversial figures in contemporary history: Pope Pius XII, the Pope of Silence. For some, he is the Pope who did not denounce Hitler’s murderous madness, becoming almost his accomplice. For others, Pius XII’s silence was a weapon to fight the Führer, through despatches and secret actions. Decades of bitter controversy over the actions of this Pope can now be definitively resolved.

Bend it Like Bollywood

Documentary (1 x 60’) | BBC Three | Produced by: ClockWork Films

Gender non-conforming dancer Vinay gives a whole new meaning to Bollywood. Exploring gender, family and community, this moving and ultimately life-affirming film follows Vinay as he tries to bury the ghosts of his past as he puts it all on the line to stage the biggest show of his life.

Finally Caught (2023) - 26x42

With homicide cold cases leaving unanswered questions for the victims’ loved ones, killers are able to run free with the assumption they’ve gotten away with murder. Whether it’s due to botched investigations, lack of evidence, or science not evolving fast enough, these bumps along the road have left us demanding justice for the people they’ve affected. In order to tell their stories, the concept of this one-hour true crime show centers around resuscitating these cold cases back to life through experts and material witnesses to ensure the killers are… Finally Caught.

Targeted For Murder (2022) - 26x42

A true crime series that explores murder committed using the world’s deadliest weapons: guns. Each episode presents one story of murder by way of the gun. Gun experts, psychologists and former law enforcement o cers tell these stories and help the view understand the psychology behind the crime. Actual police crime scene and interrogation footage provide further insight into the murders, and forensic experts explain the particular gun used in each shooting and the science behind matching bullets found at the crime scene with that gun.

ZDF Studios GmbH

ZDF Studios GmbH

Erich-Dombrowski-Str. 1, D-55127 Mainz/Germany, Tel.: +49 6131-9911130, Email: unscripted@zdf-studios.com, www.zdf-studios.com

Erich-Dombrowski-Str. 1, 55127 Mainz / Germany

+49-6131-9910

www.zdf-studios.com

info@zdf-studios.com

MIPTV STAND NUMBER: R7.D 5

Dr. Markus Schäfer, President and CEO

Ralf Rueckauer, Vice President Unscripted

The Six Continents Revealed

Unscripted / History + Biographies

6x50’

ZDF Studios was originally founded in 1993 as ‘ZDF Enterprises’, a private subsidiary of ZDF, one of the largest and most renowned television broadcasters in Europe. The company was renamed ‘ZDF Studios’ on 1 April 2022. Based in Mainz, the business is responsible for distributing programmes worldwide, implementing international coproductions, acquiring licences and merchandising key brands under its own name, for ZDF and for third parties. Successfully established as an independent market player in Germany and globally, it operates as part of a strong network of 30 direct and indirect subsidiaries and a liates. ZDF Studios has the largest German-language programme stock in the world, plus a constantly growing catalogue of international productions consisting of series and mini-series, television films, documentaries and children’s programmes. By continually evolving, the ZDF Studios group has been able to open up numerous business areas in the television and media sector. As a result, ZDF Studios now provides a comprehensive full-service offer and covers every stage in the creation and exploitation chain of successful TV productions in all genres, from developing content to producing, licensing, marketing, merchandising, online rights and much more.

When the supercontinent Pangea broke up over 200 million years ago, the continents journeyed to the positions they inhabit today, and a story began that shapes the history of humankind to this day.

This six-part series is a geological and cultural-historical biography of the world, revealing how nature shaped and influenced cultures. Find out how abundant natural resources affected the development of societies in Australia and the USA, how the mild climate and fertile soil made Europe a favorable continent, and how the sometimes inhospitable climate in Asia and Africa determined how people lived and thrived.

Realistic 3-D animations take viewers on a journey through time to experience drifting continental plates, sinking land masses, explosive volcanoes, and raging storms. From the air, we view spectacular landscapes, soaring mountains, and arid deserts.

Bison – An American Icon

Unscripted / Wildlife + Nature

1x50’

An enduring icon of North American wilderness, bison –or as they are known locally – buffalo played a key role in shaping the continent and the emerging United States of America. Yet, these powerful beasts were almost hunted out of existence by settlers.

Taking cameras to new heights, the iconic series Africa from Above (10 x 52’, UHD) looks at Africa’s spectacular people, places, and wildlife from a totally new perspective. Weaving through mountains, coastlines, waterfalls and jungles, the series captures the lives of the continent’s unrivalled wild animals, but also travels over towns and cities to explore the history, architecture, industry and unique cultures, revealing how people survive in some of its most extreme locations. The series captures Africa in a way that has never been seen before, using the latest technology, airborne and on the ground. The landmark factual series is produced by Off the Fence Productions and an impressive range of renowned co-producers with ZDF Studios being the lead partner as well as the global distributor. Joining on the production are ZDF, ARTE, ORF, and Britain’s UKTV, owned by BBC Studios. The International Launch Screening of Africa from Above will take place on Monday, October 17th at 16:15 in Auditorium A of the Palais des Festivals, followed by a Q&A with Ralf, Rueckauer (VP Unscripted, ZDF Studios), Bo Stehmeier (CEO, Off The Fence), Friederike Haedecke (Deputy Head of Department History + Society, ZDF), Marcus Arthur (CEO of UKTV and President of BBC Studios UK & Ireland) and Wolfgang Bergmann (CEO ARTE Germany and Coordinator ARTE for ZDF).

In Yellowstone National Park, we follow the life of a bison bull from birth to his development into a strong young bull who must fight for his right to mate. In his story, we recognize the bison as a symbol that is inextricably linked to the American identity.

Naked — Sex and Gender

Unscripted / Science + Knowledge

6×50’ or 1×90’

Naked – Sex and Gender is a six-part series that examines sex and gender and asks complex questions to provide honest answers and startling insights. (Also available as a 90’ version).

Surviving Hothouse Earth (3 x 50’) takes a different approach in tackling the issue of climate change. Produced by Bilderfest Factual Entertainment for ZDF in association with Arte and ZDF Studios, the documentary takes a look into our planet’s distant past in order to understand it’s present and unravel our destiny. Earth’s climate has always undergone changes, but for the first time, humanity is determining these developments. With global warming increasing, many climate researchers assume that the Earth is heading for a new Hothouse period. By studying previous phases in the planet’s history, scientists hope to find clues to how we could survive in the future. With climate change being the biggest challenge we face today, Surviving Hothouse Earth will offer a fascinating insight on the scientific research that is being undertaken to help mankind find a solution.

We gain a balanced and nuanced view of how sex and gender influence every stage of life – from birth and childhood, through puberty, starting a family, and into old age. Criss-crossing the globe, we explore whether gender differences are innate or acquired, how puberty affects children’s perception of their gender, gender roles in families, the history and future of the patriarchy, and whether aging reduces gender boundaries. A wide variety of people open their doors and hearts and talk about what it’s like to live as a man, a woman, a transgender person, or a non-binary person. In over 100 interviews, we listen to international experts, doctors, psychiatrists, parents, educators, and children from all walks of life in this ground-breaking series.

War Gamers (6 x 50’) reveals the untold fascinating story of the WRENS (Women’s Royal Navy Service), whose brilliant tactics defeated a massive convoy of German U-boats in WWII. In January 1942, Churchill ordered the Royal Navy

Thank you to our Advisory Board

Lauren Anderson Head, AVOD Original Content & Programming Amazon Studios

Jodi Flynn President Asylum Entertainment Group

Jennifer Askin SVP, North America All3media International

Phil Gurin President & CEO The Gurin Company

Robyn Lattaker-Johnson Agent, Alternative Programming A3 Artists Agency

Alex Piper Head, Night Studios Night, Inc.

Jennifer Dettman Executive Director, Unscripted Content CBC Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Naimah Holmes President Hot Snakes Media

J.C. Mills President and Head of Content Cineflix Productions

Yasmin Rawji EVP, Unscripted - Network FOX Entertainment

Danny Fenton CEO Zig Zag Productions

Matt Hornburg Co-CEO & Executive Producer marblemedia

Diane Min Head of Format Sales CJ ENM

Loren Ruch Group SVP, Production & Development HGTV

InApril of 2006, Realscreen unveiled the first edition of its Global 100 list of the top production companies working in non-fiction and unscripted screen content. The list, intended to represent a variety of nonfiction sub-genres as well as the production landscapes in territories around the world, quickly became one of our most eagerly anticipated, and hotly debated, features.

As time marched forward, so too did the industry itself. Some genres enjoyed global bursts of popularity and resurgences — from the unscripted boom of 2008 to the premium-doc explosion of the past few years — and more and more companies emerged, creating work worth recognizing and businesses worth celebrating.

While such activity was (and is) great for the industry and for audiences, it consistently poses a challenge in creating a list that is intended to provide an overview of the global non-fiction and unscripted production ecosystem. Indeed, it would be easy (in fact, easier) to craft a list of 100 companies from a single territory, as some trades do. Still, with the economic turbulence of the past year expected to get even bumpier in 2023, all signs are pointing towards a renewed interest in global coproduction. And, by shining the spotlight on the production scenes in more territories via our annual list, we are further fulfilling our mandate to inform and connect this international community.

And so, in recognition of all of this as well as Realscreen ’s 25 years of comprehensive coverage of this business, we have the first-ever Global 200, designed to cover a more considerable swath of your industry and perhaps call attention to companies that might be flying under the radar from an international perspective. Certainly, there are many companies making their first appearances in the list this time around, both from the territories that have been extensively represented in the past, and from territories we hadn’t heard much from in recent years.

As always, the list has been compiled with the input of linear and streaming executives, agents, distributors, production peers and other stakeholders, and this year we are grateful that a wide range of industry folk from around the world sent us their feedback. While we say every year that the list is intended to be a snapshot of the vibrancy of the international unscripted and non-fiction production business, we hope this year’s Global 200 provides a picture that’s even more vivid in detail.

Barry Walsh Content director and editor-in-chief Realscreen

MARBLEMEDIA

www.marblemedia.com

Headquarters: Toronto, ON

Number of hours produced in 2022: 31

Staff: 35+ (approx. 250 freelance)

Recent projects: Drink Masters, Blown Away (Netflix); Race Against the Tide (CBC)

Upcoming projects: untitled Mr. Dressup documentary

Based in Toronto and London and founded by co-CEOs Mark Bishop and Matt Hornburg in 2001, Marblemedia produces content across unscripted, scripted, and kids and family categories. One of the prodco’s signature titles is Netflix’s Blown Away, a competition format featuring world-class glass artists, which saw its third season hit the global streaming giant in 2022. Also released in 2022 was the third season of the CBC sand-castle competition Race Against the Tide, and the second season of Best in Miniature for CBC and Discovery+ UK & Ireland, which finds artists from around the world building their dream homes in miniature 1:12 scale.

CANADA NETWORK ENTERTAINMENT

New from Marblemedia in 2022 was the Netflix mixology competition series Drink Masters (pictured), and, for Discovery Canada, the first season of A Cut Above, which pits chainsaw carvers against one another to create works of art from logs. Among Marblemedia’s new projects for 2023 is a feature documentary about iconic Canadian children’s show host Ernie Coombs, a.k.a. Mr. Dressup, which the company is producing in association with CBC, Hawkeye Pictures, and Pyre Productions. The doc is set to premiere exclusively on Prime Video around the world later this year, followed by a broadcast window on CBC in Canada.

Justin Anderson

www.networkentertainment.ca

Headquarters: Vancouver, BC, with an office in Los Angeles, CA

Number of hours produced in 2022: 20

Staff: 40

Recent projects: Sidney (Apple TV+); Women Who Rock (Epix, Crave)

Upcoming projects: untitled Sly Stone documentary; Brats

Founded by Derik Murray, the Vancouver- and L.A.based Network Entertainment broke out with the 2009 Muhammad Ali doc Facing Ali, produced in partnership with Lionsgate, which was shortlisted for an Oscar in the documentary feature category. That film proved to be just the first of Network’s notable documentary releases, which also include the popular I Am bio-docs franchise, with titles such as I Am Chris Farley, I Am Heath Ledger and more. The company also produced the four-part documentary series Punk, as well as the Robert Downey Jr.–narrated

YouTube Original series The Age of AI

More recently, Network was behind the Oprah Winfrey–produced Apple TV+ documentary Sidney (pictured), on legendary actor Sidney Poitier, as well as the docuseries

Women Who Rock

Among the projects on deck for Network is a new feature documentary on music icon Sly Stone directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, which was acquired by Onyx Collective/Hulu at Sundance earlier this year. Also on the way is Brats, a feature doc on the group of 1980s actors dubbed the “Brat Pack,” directed and executive produced by original Brat Pack member Andrew McCarthy and produced in partnership with indie distributor Neon. JA

PRIMITIVE ENTERTAINMENT

www.primitive.net

Headquarters: Toronto, ON

Number of hours produced in 2022: 10

Staff: 3 full-time, 8 contract

Recent projects: Viral News (TVO); Naked: Sex and Gender (Arte); Arctic Blue (CBC)

Upcoming projects: The Birdman of Cooper Island; iBelief; Flow; 15 Minutes Away

Founded by brothers Kevin and Michael McMahon in 1990, Primitive Entertainment has produced more than 20 feature documentaries as well as several blue-chip docuseries and digital media projects. The Canadian prodco’s work has been featured at leading film festivals around the world, and has racked up more than 50 awards.

Primitive scored two Canadian Screen Awards in 2022 for the feature documentary Borealis, directed by Kevin McMahon, which examines the issue of climate change through the northern boreal forest. This year, Arctic Blue, which features award-winning veteran CBC journalist Peter Mansbridge and highlights the issue of sovereignty with regards to the Inuit who live on the Arctic coast, was nominated for three CSAs.

Among the company’s other recent projects are Viral News, about the trials and tribulations of the Toronto Star newspaper during the pandemic (also helmed by Kevin McMahon); Records, a documentary on vinyl collectors from director Alan Zweig (a follow-up to his 2000 breakthrough doc Vinyl); and the science and culture docuseries Naked: Sex and Gender (pictured). JA

90th Parallel Productions

Toronto, ON www.90thparallel.ca

We’re All Gonna Die (Even Jay Baruchel), The Climate Baby Dilemma

Anaid Productions

Vancouver, BC www.anaid.com

Hoarder House Flippers Hip Hop My House

Buck Productions

Toronto, ON www.buckproductions.com

Fresh Water, Merchants of the Wild

Cream Productions

Toronto, ON www.creamproductions.com

Stuff the British Stole (with Wooden Horse, WildBear Ent.), Beautiful Scars

Forté Entertainment

Toronto, ON www.forte-entertainment.com

How I Got Here

Great Pacific Media (a Thunderbird Entertainment company) Burnaby, BC www.greatpacifictv.com

Highway Thru Hell, Save My Reno

Insight Productions (a Boat Rocker Media company) Toronto, ON www.insighttv.com

Big Brother Canada, The Amazing Race Canada

Media Headquarters

Toronto, ON www.mediahqs.ca

Salvage Kings

Our House Media

Toronto, ON www.ourhousemedia.com Love You to Death, Killer Affair

Proper Television (a Boat Rocker Media company) Toronto, ON www.propertelevision.com

Mary Makes It Easy Cross Country Cake Off

Saloon Media (a Blue Ant Media company) Toronto, ON www.saloonmedia.com

Canada’s Drag Race, Life Below Zero Canada

White Pine Pictures

Toronto, ON www.whitepinepictures.com

Buffy Ste. Marie: Carry It On, Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children

Alibi Entertainment

Toronto, ON www.alibientertainment.ca

Carnival Eats

Big Coat Media

Toronto, ON www.bigcoatmedia.com

Love It or List It Engineering on the Edge

Cineflix Productions

Toronto, ON www.cineflix.com

Rock Solid Builds, American Pickers, Dear Audrey

DBCom Media

Montreal, PQ www.dbcommedia.com

The Life-Sized City

Frantic Films

Toronto, ON www.franticfilms.com

Still Standing

HeartHat Entertainment

Toronto, ON www.hearthatentertainment.com

We Bought a Funeral Home Bollywed

EntertainmentMcGillivrayMedia

Toronto, ON www.scottmcgillivray.com

Canada’s Got Talent, Scott’s Vacation House Rules

Omnifilm Entertainment

Vancouver, BC www.omnifilm.com Bush Wreck Rescue, Facing Grizzlies

Pixcom

Montreal, PQ www.pixcom.com Au suivant!, Dans ma tête – le retour

RTR Media

Toronto, ON www.rtrmedia.com

Home Town, Down Home Fab

Wapanatahk Media

Vancouver, BC

Dr. Savannah: Wild Rose Vet (with Great Pacific Media)

Yap Films

Toronto, ON www.yapfilms.com

The Machine That Feels, Loons: A Cry from the Mist

UNITED KINGDOM

Amos Pictures

London, England www.amospictures.co.uk

Four Hours at the Capitol, Escape from Kabul

Atlantic Productions

London, England www.atlanticproductions.tv

The Crown Jewels, Running with the Beest

BBC Studios

London, England www.bbcstudios.com

Prehistoric Planet, Our Universe

BriteSpark Films (an Argonon company)

London, England

www.britesparkfilms.com

The Man with a Penis on His Arm

Cardiff Productions

Cardiff, Wales

72 FILMS

(a Fremantle company)

www.72films.com

Headquarters: London, England

Number of hours produced in 2022: nearly 30 Staff: 25 (full-time)

Recent projects: All or Nothing: Arsenal (Prime Video); Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story (Netflix); The Elon Musk Show (BBC)

Upcoming projects: 007’s Road to a Million (Prime Video); Newcastle United docuseries (Prime Video); One Day in America (National Geographic)

Established by David Glover and Mark Raphael in 2016, 72 Films has grown to become a factual content powerhouse and a presence on several of Realscreen ’s past Global 100 listings. Last year saw the London-based prodco continue its strong showing in the sports-doc genre with its entry in Prime Video’s All or Nothing franchise on the English Premier League club Arsenal, which it will follow in 2023 with a recently announced project on Newcastle United.

The company also garnered acclaim in 2022 for the BAFTAnominated docuseries Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story and The Elon Musk Show, and won an Emmy for 9/11: One Day in America. Broadcaster National Geographic now plans to expand that title into an anthology series.

With global producer/distributor Fremantle taking a majority stake in the company late in the year, 72 Films looks poised to continue its string of successes, beginning with the upcoming James Bond–inspired competition series 007’s Road to a Million for Prime Video. Andrew Jeffrey

www.cardiffproductions.co.uk

We Are Black and British

Curious Films

London, England

www.curiousfilms.com

Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee Dorking ‘Til I Die

Dorothy Street Pictures

London, England

www.dorothystreetpictures.com

Super Eagles ‘96, ‘Pamela: A Love Story

Empress Films

London, England

www.empress-films.com

Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein’s Shadow, Diana

FirstLook TV

Stratford-on-Avon, England

www.firstlooktv.co.uk

Meet, Marry, Murder; My Lover, My Killer

The Garden (an ITV Studios company)

London, England

www.thegarden.tv

Our Falklands War: A Frontline Story

ITN Productions

London, England

www.itnproductions.co.uk

Michael Palin: Into Iraq

Arrow International Media

London, England www.arrowintmedia.com

Brian Cox: Seven Days on Mars

Bandicoot Scotland

(an Argonon company) www.bandicoot.tv

Glasgow, Scotland

The Masked Singer UK, The Masked Dancer

Blink Films (a Tin Roof Media company) London, England Web of Death, Wives of the Oligarchs

Brook Lapping (a Zinc Media Group company)

London, England

www.brooklapping.com

Tom Daley: Illegal to Be Me, Afghanistan: Getting Out

CPL Productions (a Seven.One Studios company)

London, England

www.cplproductions.co.uk

Married at First Sight UK, 90 Day Fiancé UK

Dash Pictures

London, England/Los Angeles, CA

www.dashpictures.com

Fantastic Friends, Vikings: The Rise & Fall

Dragonfly (a Banijay company)

London/Manchester, England www.dragonfly.tv

Ambulance Anni: The Honeymoon Murder

Factory Films

London, England

www.factoryfilms.tv

Anyone Can Sing, Sing When You’re Winning

Fulwell 73

London, England/ Los Angeles, CA www.fulwell73.com

The Kardashians, The One That Got Away

Impossible Factual

Oxfordshire, England

www.impossiblefactual.com

History: The Interesting Bits, Scary Tales of New York

Keo Films

London, England

www.keofilms.com

River Cottage Reunited

BRINKWORTH PRODUCTIONS

www.brinkworth.tv

Headquarters: London, England

Staff: 165 (25 full-time)

Number of hours produced in 2022: 48

Recent projects: 999: Critical Condition, Police: Hour of Duty (Channel 5); Accused: Guilty or Innocent? (A&E)

Upcoming projects: Accused: Guilty or Innocent, 999: Critical Condition, Suspect No. 1 (Channel 5)

Long a staple of unscripted programming in the UK, Brinkworth makes it onto the 2023 Global 200 list after a year that saw the company maintain strong non-fiction programming in new seasons of returning programs. Much of Brinkworth’s current programming slate embeds viewers in tense true-crime stories or real medical situations, and alternatively in luxurious settings at expensive hotels or the real Downton Abbey in Highclere: Behind the Scenes

Channel 5’s 999: Critical Condition, a highlight of Brinkworth’s slate returned to the broadcaster for a fourth season, while A&E’s Guilty or Innocent? (pictured) aired its third season. The prodco’s client base in the UK also includes the BBC, Channel 4, and ITV, and internationally, Discovery and National Geographic. The company has also been rewarded in years past several times over with award recognition from the Royal Television Society and the Grierson Awards. AJ

Label1 (a Fremantle company)

London, England

www.label1.tv

Hospital: Road to Recovery, Five Dates a Week

Lightbox

London, England/Los Angeles, CA

www.lightboxent.com

Spector, Sins of Our Mother

Lime Pictures (an All3Media company)

London, England

www.limepictures.com

Dance Monsters, Geordie Shore

Love Productions (a Sky company)

London, England

www.loveproductions.co.uk

The Great British Bake Off, The Great Pottery Throwdown

Minnow Films

London, England

www.minnowfilms.co.uk

SAS: Who Dares Wins, Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King

OCTOBER FILMS

www.octoberfilms.co.uk

Headquarters: London, England

Staff: 100 (full-time and contract)

Number of hours in 2022: 30

Recent projects: Colosseum (History); Viagra: The Little Blue Pill that Changed the World (Discovery+); My Name is Lucky (Channel 4, Arte, NRK, DR, SVT)

Upcoming projects: major series with Netflix, National Geographic, Channel 4, BBC Two, ID, ITVX

A frequent presence in our Global 100, October Films had another strong year in 2022 with many major projects for international networks and streamers. Highlights included Colosseum for History (pictured), which saw the prodco utilize its chops in cinematic visuals; My Name is Lucky, an international copro about a Kurdish folk singer fighting for justice after enduring a horrific crime; and Viagra: The Little Blue Pill that Changed the World for Discovery+, which explored the cultural and scientific impact of the male potency drug.

October also struck an exclusive coproduction partnership with Octavia Spencer’s ORIT Entertainment that has yielded two upcoming true-crime projects for Warner

Bros. Discovery, Highway 20 (w/t) and Feds

Meanwhile, October Studios, the company’s standalone docudrama and scripted studio facility, expanded its service work in both factual and drama with increased build spaces and the addition of an LED virtual production studio.

In September, the prodco brought on Mohammed Adnan as its dedicated head of development for its U.S. office, with the former Pulse Films exec heading to New York this spring. BW

Naked TV (a Fremantle company)

London, England

www.nkdtv.com

Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne

Nutopia

London, England

www.nutopia.com

Limitless with Chris Hemsworth, The World According to Jeff Goldblum

Outline Productions

London, England/Chepstow, Wales

www.outlineproductions.co.uk

Michel Roux: French Country Cooking, Sarah Beeny’s New Life in the Country

Oxford Scientific Films (an ITV Studios company)

London, England

www.oxfordscientificfilms.tv

The Secret Life of Our Pets, Murder in the Pacific

Pulse Films (a Vice Media Group company)

London, England

www.pulsefilms.com

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, George Carlin’s American Dream

033

PLIMSOLL PRODUCTIONS

(an ITV Studios company)

www.plimsollproductions.com

Headquarters: Bristol, England

Staff: up to 350 full-time and freelance

Number of hours produced in 2022: 66

Recent projects: A Year on Planet Earth (Fox Nation, ITVX, ARD, Tencent); Super/Natural (Nat Geo/Disney+); Patagonia (CNN, Sky, WOW)

Upcoming projects: Great Migrations, The Ascent (Nat Geo); Handmade: Britain’s Best Woodworker (Channel 4)

With no less than five blue-chip natural history docuseries hitting the air (and streams) in 2022, Plimsoll Productions amply fulfilled the desire for an enhanced premium pipeline that ITV Studios cited as its primary reason for acquiring the factual indie in the summer of last year.

Perhaps most notable among Plimsoll’s crop for ’22 was the debut of the long-in-the-works A Year on Planet Earth, which took three years to shoot in over 60 locations worldwide, and which stands as one of the first natural history projects to pre-sell distribution in order to retain rights and financing. Additionally, ahead of the long-gestating Avatar sequel, Plimsoll harnessed some James Cameron magic of its own

by having the Oscar-winning filmmaker executive produce Super/ Natural (pictured), which employed cutting-edge VFX and next-gen tech to capture animal powers and sensory abilities that are otherwise beyond human perception.

Next up for Plimsoll is the hotly anticipated The Ascent for Nat Geo and Disney+, which follows renowned free climbers Alex Honnold and Hazel Findley as they scale Ingmikortilaq, a forbidding, 3,750-foot rock wall in eastern Greenland. Andrew Tracy

RAW TV

(an All3Media company)

www.raw.co.uk

Headquarters: London, England

Staff: 350 (97 full-time)

Number of hours produced in 2022: 142

Recent projects: The Tinder Swindler, Trainwreck: Woodstock ‘99 (Netflix); Rich and Shameless: The Crime Against Pam and Tommy (TNT); Reframed: Marilyn Monroe (CNN)

Upcoming projects: In Vogue: The 1990s (Disney+); All American Nightmare (Netflix); The Man Who Played with Fire (Sky/Discovery); Lost Cities with Albert Lin (Nat Geo)

Founded in 2001, Raw TV is now into its third decade of crafting creative, entertaining non-fiction content across a variety of genres. Last year was another memorable one for the Raw team, with the Netflix true-crime doc The Tinder Swindler garnering big accolades and audiences, and racking up five Primetime Emmy nominations in the process.

Another project that received plenty of buzz in 2022 was the premiere episode of TNT’s Rich and Shameless docuseries, a seven-parter that explores, through various “ripped-from-the-headlines” stories, the pitfalls of fame. Titled The Crime Against Pam & Tommy, the episode dug into the notorious story of the stolen sex tape featuring then-couple Pamela Anderson and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee.

While these projects display a deft touch with the salacious side of true crime, Raw’s output for 2023 encompasses a wide range of factual content. In Vogue: The 1990s for Disney+ will chronicle iconic moments of ’90s fashion through the lens of Vogue magazine and its top editors, and Raw will also be taking on the third season of exploration series Lost Cities with Albert Lin for National Geographic. BW

STUDIO LAMBERT

(an All3Media company)

www.studiolambert.com

Headquarters: London, England; offices in Manchester, Inverness and Los Angeles

Recent projects: The Traitors (BBC One); The Circle (Netflix); Gogglebox, Celebrity Gogglebox (Channel 4)

Upcoming projects: Edge of Paradise, Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix)

Founded by Stephen Lambert in 2008, Studio Lambert is no stranger to Realscreen’s Global 100 thanks to international hits such as Undercover Boss. That track record of success continued in 2022 with the UK adaptation of the Dutch format The Traitors (pictured), and the prodco brought in solid returns from some of the reliable standbys in its lineup with new seasons of Gogglebox on Channel 4 and The Circle on Netflix.

Studio Lambert started 2023 off strong with a U.S. adaptation of The Traitors

that premiered on Peacock in January, as well as the recent Channel 4 reality series Rise and Fall . Also on the way for later this year is a third season of Race

Across the World (as well as a celebrity spin-off of the format) and a new Netflix

reality competition, Edge of Paradise

The studio also partnered with fellow UK prodco The Garden for the controversial reality competition adaptation of Netflix’s hit drama Squid Game , which was announced last year. AJ

Rare TV

London, England/Belfast, Northern Ireland

www.rare-tv.com

Digging for Britain, Ice Airport Alaska

Silverback Films

(an All3Media company) Bristol, England

www.silverbackfilms.tv

Polar Bear

Studio Ramsay Global

(a Fox Entertainment company)

London, England/Los Angeles, CA

www.studioramsay.com

Next Level Chef, Trailblazers

Two Rivers Media

Glasgow, Scotland

www.tworiversmedia.co.uk

Escape to the Chateau, War and Justice: The Case of Marine A

Wonderhood Studios

London, England

www.wonderhoodstudios.com

My Grandparents’ War, The Airport: Back in the Skies

Ricochet

London, England

www.ricochet.co.uk

The Repair Shop, Food Unwrapped

South Shore

(an ITV Studios company)

London, England

Freddy Flintoff’s Field of Dreams, Worst House on the Street

Talkback (a Fremantle company)

London, England

www.talkbackproductions.tv

Too Hot to Handle

Wag Entertainment

London, England

www.wagentertainment.com

Don’t Pick Up the Phone, The Real Fatal Attraction

Woodcut Media

London, England

www.woodcutmedia.com

World’s Most Evil Killers, Murder at My Door

Rogan Productions

London, England

www.roganproductions.co.uk

Uprising, Freddie Mercury: The Final Act

Spun Gold TV

London/Brighton, England www.spungoldtv.com

The Prince’s Master Crafters: The Next Generation, The Real Windsors

TwentyTwenty Television (a WBITVP company)

London, England

www.twentytwenty.tv

David Beckham: Save Our Squad, Five Star Kitchen

Wall to Wall (a WBITVP company)

London, England

www.walltowall.co.uk

Long Lost Family: What Happened Next, AIDS: The Unheard Tapes

World Media Rights

London, England

www.worldmediarights.com

Wargamers, WWII: The Road to Victory

Shine TV (a Banijay company)

London, England

www.shine.tv

Hunted, MasterChef

Story Films

London, England

www.storyfilms.tv

Fever Pitch, The Men Who Sold the World Cup

Twofour (an ITV Studios company)

London, England

www.twofour.co.uk

Make Me Prime Minister, Julia Bradbury: Breast Cancer and Me

Windfall Films (an Argonon company)

London, England

www.windfallfilms.com

Great British Home Restoration, Super Telescope: Mission to the Edge of the Universe

Zig Zag Productions

London, England

www.zigzaguk.com

Raise Your Game with Gareth Southgate, Player Pranks (with Kremplewood Ent.)

ALFRED STREET INDUSTRIES

www.alfredstreetindustries.com

Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA

Number of hours produced in 2022: 16

Staff: 60+

Recent projects: Is It Cake?, Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo (Netflix); Best in Dough (Hulu); Project Runway (Bravo); Chrissy’s Court (Roku); Blood & Money (CNBC, Oxygen)

Upcoming projects: Project Greenlight with Issa Rae (HBO)

Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz, founders of another Global 100 staple, Magical Elves, left that prodco in 2019 to embark on a new production venture named after the West Hollywood street that housed their first office way back when. Alfred Street hit the ground running with a reboot of Nat Geo’s Brain Games, and in 2020 the company took over production of Project Runway from Magical Elves. Last year, Lipsitz and Cutforth drew on their many years of experience EPing Top Chef with Magical Elves to serve up a new foodie hit, Is It Cake? (pictured). The Netflix culinary competition for the TikTok generation sees influencers and cool comedians judging the efforts of bakers who create pastries that can pass as any number of things. The company also cooked up a food competition for Hulu, Best in Dough, and this year will see it team with another old Elves collaborator, Law and Order creator Dick Wolf, for the true-crime docuseries Blood & Money BW

STATES

ANCHOR ENTERTAINMENT

www.anchorent.co

Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA/New York, NY

Staff: 35 full-time and freelance

Number of hours produced in 2022: 40 Recent projects: Rebel Hearts (Discovery+); Model America (MSNBC); Undercurrent: The Disappearance of Kim Wall (HBO Max); The Lost Kitchen (Magnolia Network); History’s Greatest Heists with Pierce Brosnan (History)

Upcoming projects: Look into My Eyes (AMC/Sundance+)

Led by production veteran Ethan Goldman, Anchor Entertainment saw a 40% increase in hours produced in 2022 from the year prior. Highlights included the two-part investigative doc Undercurrent: The Disappearance of Kim Wall for HBO Max, and MSNBC’s first docuseries, Model America (pictured), which explored America’s complex relationship with race. The company also scored a hit for Warner Bros. Discovery’s Magnolia Network with The Lost Kitchen, a docuseries following the proprietor of a mill turned restaurant in the town of Freedom, Maine. New partnerships include working with A+E’s History and actor/producer Pierce Brosnan on History’s Greatest Heists, and teaming with Fog of War filmmaker Errol Morris and director Zo Wesson (Monica: Still Standing) for the upcoming docuseries End of Sentence. These and other projects to come promise to be significant additions to what one exec referred to as Anchor’s “fresh and thought-provoking body of work.” BW

1895 Films

Sherman Oaks, CA www.1895films.com

The Moment: How Sports Changed the World (with Red Bull Media)

3 Ball Productions (a 3BMG company) Los Angeles, CA www.3ballproductions.com

Come Dance with Me, Bar Rescue

44 Blue Productions (a North Road company) Los Angeles, CA www.44blue.com

Pit Bulls and Parolees

Life After Death with Tyler Henry

495 Productions Los Angeles, CA www.495productions.com

Jersey Shore, Jersey Shore Family Vacation

51 Minds Entertainment (a Banijay company) Los Angeles, CA www.51minds.com

Below Deck Married to Real Estate

Ample Entertainment Los Angeles, CA www.ampleent.com

The Invisible Pilot, Kangaroo Valley, Queen of Versailles Reigns Again

A. Smith & Co. (a Tinopolis company) Toluca Lake, CA www.asmithco.com

Hell’s Kitchen, American Ninja Warrior, Floor is Lava

B17 Entertainment

(a Sony Pictures Television company) Culver City, CA www.b17entertainment.com

The Final Straw, The Book of Queer

Big Fish Entertainment (an MGM company) New York, NY www.bigfishusa.com

On Patrol: Live, Ugliest House in America

HIGH NOON ENTERTAINMENT

(an ITV America company)

www.highnoontv.com

Headquarters: Denver, CO with offices in California and Connecticut

Staff: approximately 300

Number of hours produced in 2022: 85

Recent projects: Good Bones: Risky Business (HGTV, Discovery+); Why the Heck Did I Buy This House?, Farmhouse Fixer (HGTV); How to Build a Sex Room (Netflix)

Upcoming projects: Burning Men (with Vox Media Studios and Majordomo Media for Hulu); Honest Renovations (Roku)

The Colorado-headquartered prodco that first brought us Chip and Joanna Gaines via the hit Fixer Upper continues to be a leading supplier for HGTV. Its mother-daughter home reno series for the net, Good Bones (pictured), racked up its seventh season in 2022, and a spin-off, Good Bones: Risky Business, drew 11.5 million viewers on linear and via Discovery+. Another new series for the cabler, Why the Heck Did I Buy This House?, has been renewed for a second season.

Big Table Media

Sacramento, CA www.bigtablemedia.com

Windy City Rehab, Rock the Block

Bodega Pictures

Studio City, CA

www.bodegapictures.com

Girl Meets Farm, Kendra Sells Hollywood

Campfire Studios

(a Wheelhouse Entertainment company) Culver City, CA www.campfire.us

The Way Down Part Two, Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty

Critical Content

(an SK Global company) Los Angeles, CA

www.criticalcontent.com

Celebrity Game Face, Catfish

Entertainment One (a Hasbro company) Los Angeles (unscripted division)/Toronto

Milf Manor (with Spun Gold); Growing Up Hip Hop

Fly on the Wall North Hollywood, CA www.flyotw.com Big Brother

Blind Nil Media (a Magnolia company) Austin, TX www.blindnilmedia.com

Fixer Upper: Welcome Home, First Time Fixer

Bright Spot Content

(an All3Media America company) Los Angeles, CA www.brightspotcontent.com

Hotties, Alaska: The Last Frontier

Citizen Pictures Denver, CO www.citizenpictures.com

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives; Guy’s Chance of a Lifetime

Done and Done Productions

Los Angeles, CA www.doneanddoneproductions.com

Selling Sunset, Selling the O.C.

Evolution Media (an MGM company) Burbank, CA www.evolutionusa.com

Botched, Vanderpump Rules

Florentine Films

Walpole, NH www.florentinefilms.com

The U.S. and the Holocaust

The prodco also brought a buzzy new series to Netflix in 2022 with How to Build a Sex Room, in which interior designer Melanie Rose guides her clients towards creating the lust lair of their dreams — adding a little raunch to the tried-and-true room-makeover format. Coming up is Honest Renovations for Roku, in which Jessica Alba looks at home renos through the lens of new parenthood. BW

Blue Ant Studios USA (a Blue Ant Media company) New York, NY/Los Angeles, CA www.blueantmedia.com/production/blue-ant-studios

Casey Anthony: Where the Truth Lies (with Live Always Productions)

Bungalow Media + Entertainment

New York, NY www.bungalowentertainment.com

Serving the Hamptons, My Name is Little Richard

The Content Group

(an Asylum Entertainment Group company) Los Angeles, CA www.contentgroup.com

Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed, Celebrity Beef

Dorsey Pictures

(a North Road company) Castle Rock, CO www.dorseypictures.tv

Accident, Suicide or Murder; Maine Cabin Masters

Figure 8 Films

Carrboro, NC www.figure8films.tv

I Am Shauna Rae, Sister Wives

Fremantle North America

Burbank, CA www.fremantle.com

Family Feud, Farmer Wants a Wife

Boardwalk Pictures

Los Angeles, CA www.boardwalkpics.com

Welcome to Wrexham, Chef’s Table: Pizza, Cheer

Bunim/Murray Productions

(a Banijay company) Glendale, CA www.bunim-murray.com

Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, The Challenge, The Real World

Crazy Legs Productions

Atlanta, GA

www.crazylegsproductions.com

Bad Hair Day, 1000-Lb. Best Friends

Endemol Shine North America (a Banijay company) Los Angeles, CA

www.endemolshine.us

Lego Masters, MasterChef

Firelight Films

Harlem, NY

www.firelightfilms.tv

After Jackie, Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom

Glass Entertainment Group

Philadelphia, PA

www.glassentertainmentgroup.com

The Renovator, Christina in the Country

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION

(a Sony Pictures Television Non-fiction company) www.theipcorp.com

Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA

Staff: 400 (permanent and freelancers)

Number of hours produced in 2022: 92

Recent projects: The Climb, Selena+Chef (HBO Max); The D’Amelio Show, The Curse of Von Dutch, RapCaviar Presents (Hulu); Secrets of Playboy, Kids

Behind Bars: Life or Parole (A&E); Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (Netflix)

Upcoming projects: Indian Matchmaking season 3, Jewish Matchmaking (Netflix); Swiping America (HBO Max); United States of Scandal with Jake Tapper (CNN)

Founded in 2016 by longtime producing partners and Realscreen Hall of Fame members Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman, the Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC) eventually became the flagship prodco for super-indie Industrial Media, which brought other formidable unscripted powerhouses such as Sharp Entertainment and Dawn Porter’s Trilogy Films under its umbrella. Last year, in one of the biggest unscripted deals in recent memory, Sony Pictures Television acquired Industrial Media for a reported $350 million and named Holzman and Saidman as co-presidents of what is now SPT’s non-fiction division.

Beyond the dealmaking, there was considerable news on the content front as well, with Hulu’s The Curse of Von Dutch, Netflix’s Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer and A&E’s Secrets of Playboy (pictured) garnering plenty of attention. On the way for this year is a new season of the Netflix hit Indian Matchmaking and as-yet-unannounced projects for Hulu, HBO, CNN+, HBO Max, and more. BW

Hello Sunshine (a Candle Media company)

Los Angeles, CA

www.hello-sunshine.com

Making the Cut, Meet Me in Paris

Higher Ground

Los Angeles, CA

www.highergroundmedia.com

Descendant, Our Great National Parks

Hot Snakes Media

New York, NY

www.hotsnakesmedia.com

Pig Royalty, Breaking Amish

Intuitive Content

Minneapolis, MN

www.intuitivecontent.com

Feral, Wild Game Kitchen

Jeff Jenkins Productions (a 3BMG company)

Sherman Oaks, CA

www.jeffjenkinsproductions.com

Bling Empire, My Unorthodox Life

Jupiter Entertainment (a Sky company)

Knoxville, TN/Los Angeles, CA

www.jupiterent.com

Snapped, Prisoner of Love

Leftfield Pictures

(an ITV America company) New York, NY www.leftfieldpictures.com Alone, Pawn Stars

Lighthearted Entertainment

North Hollywood, CA www.lighthearted.com

Put a Ring on It, Ready to Love

HHMI Tangled Bank Studios

Chevy Chase, MD

www.tangledbankstudios.org

All That Breathes, My Garden of a Thousand Bees

Hit + Run Creative

New York, NY

www.hitruncreative.com

Critter Fixers: Country Vets, Swap Shop

Imagine Documentaries

(an Imagine Entertainment company)

Beverly Hills, CA

www.imagine-entertainment.com

We Feed People, Lucy and Desi

ITV Entertainment (an ITV America company)

Los Angeles, CA/New York, NY

www.itv-entertainment.com

The First 48, Love Island

Jigsaw Productions

(an Imagine Entertainment company) New York, NY

www.jigsawprods.com

The Crime of the Century, Generation Hustle

Kingdom Reign Entertainment Beverly Hills, CA www.kingdomreignent.com

Love & Marriage, My Killer Body with K. Michelle (with Jesse Collins Entertainment)

Left/Right (a North Road company) New York, NY www.leftright.tv

The New York Times Presents, Gutsy

Lion TV USA

(an All3Media America company) New York, NY www.liontvusa.com

Murder Under the Friday Night Lights, Menendez Brothers: Misjudged?

Lucky 8 New York, NY www.lucky8.tv

60 Days In, The Food That Built America

Magilla Entertainment New York, NY www.magilla.tv

Moonshiners, Jailhouse Redemption

MAK Pictures

Sherman Oaks, CA www.makpictures.com

28 Days Haunted, I Went Undercover

Maverick TV USA

Los Angeles, CA www.mavericktvusa.com

Chrisley Knows Best, American Barbecue Showdown

Magical Elves (a Tinopolis company) Los Angeles, CA www.magicalelves.com

Nailed It!, Top Chef

Main Event Media (a Religion of Sports company) Los Angeles, CA www.maineventmedia.com

Girl in the Picture, Sweet Life: Los Angeles

Matador Content (a Boat Rocker Media company) New York, NY/Los Angeles, CA www.matadorcontent.com

The Go-Big Show, Love Match Atlanta

MGM TV (an Amazon Studios company) Beverly Hills, CA www.mgm.com

Survivor, Shark Tank

KINETIC CONTENT

(a North Road company)

www.kineticcontent.com

Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA

Number of hours produced in 2022: 230 Staff: 500

Recent projects: The Ultimatum, Perfect Match (Netflix); Claim to Fame (ABC/Hulu); Love for the Ages (Tplus)

Upcoming projects: The Ride (Prime Video)

Not content to rest on its laurels from the smashhit franchises Married at First Sight and Love Is Blind, in 2022 Kinetic Content made multiple successful sorties into the relationship space. The wed-it-or-forget-it series The Ultimatum (pictured) promptly took the #2 spot on Netflix’s roster of most-watched unscripted titles (behind only Love Is Blind), and it was followed by Love for the Ages, a spouse-swapping format for Peacock’s Latinocentric Tplus brand, and the transcontinental match-up show Love Without Borders for Bravo. Beyond love and marriage, Kinetic also launched a successful new reality competition format with the celeb-relative guessing game Claim to Fame for ABC/Hulu, hosted by Kevin and Frankie Jonas. Moving into 2023, Ultimatum co-host Nick Lachey did double duty ahead of that format’s second season by anchoring yet another new

Netflix dating format, Perfect Match, which fittingly made its premiere on Valentine’s Day. Coming up, Kinetic will swap sweet loving for hard falls with the Prime Video all-access bull-riding docuseries The Ride, and it also has projects in the works for such partners as Lifetime, Fox, Bravo, HBO Max, TLC, Discovery Channel and more. AT

MONAMI PRODUCTIONS

Headquarters: New York, NY

Staff: 40 including freelance hires

Number of hours produced in 2022: 20

Recent projects: Love & Hip Hop (VH1); Hip Hop Homicides (WEtv)

Upcoming Projects: SWV & Xscape (Bravo)

Mona Scott-Young’s initial successes in the entertainment world came via the music industry, as the manager of hip hop icon Missy Elliott. But in creating and producing the hugely successful unscripted franchise Love & Hip Hop, which has aired on VH1 since 2011, she has had an equally formidable impact upon the television landscape.

Last year saw Scott-Young and her Monami Productions shingle expand its reach with a new project for WEtv, Hip Hop Homicides (pictured, developed and produced alongside Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson), and a foray into scripted, B-Boy Blues , for BET+. On tap for 2023 are SWV & Xscape: The Queens of R&B for Bravo, more from the Love & Hip Hop franchise, and a milestone for Scott-Young’s original gig in music management: the induction of Missy Elliott into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. BW

Mission Control Media

Burbank, CA

www.missioncontrolmedia.net

Pressure Cooker, Hollywood Game Night

North South Productions

New York, NY/Knoxville, TN

www.northsouth.tv

Impractical Jokers, 100 Day Dream Home

The Old School Los Angeles, CA www.theoldschooltv.com

Bake Squad, Next in Fashion

Original Productions (a Fremantle company) Burbank, CA

www.originalproductions.com

Deadliest Catch, Race to Survive: Alaska

Part2 Pictures

Brooklyn, NY www.part2pictures.com

America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston, Take Out with Lisa Ling

Participant Media

Culver City, CA www.participant.com

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Pilgrim Media Group (a Lionsgate company) North Hollywood, CA www.pilgrimmediagroup.com

Street Outlaws, Wicked Tuna

Ping Pong Productions

Glendale, CA

www.ppongproductons.com

Expedition Unknown Dr. Pimple Popper

Propagate Content

Los Angeles, CA

www.propagatecontent.com

Million Dollar Wheels

American Song Contest

RadicalMedia

New York, NY/Los Angeles, CA www.radicalmedia.com

Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street

TRULY ORIGINAL

(a Banijay company)

www.trulyoriginal.com

Headquarters: New York, NY; Venice, CA

Staff: approximately 30 full-time

Number of hours produced in 2022: 175+

Recent projects: Real Housewives of Atlanta season 14, Real Housewives of Potomac season 7, Family Karma season 3 (Bravo); Basketball Wives season 10 (VH1); Swamp People season 13 (History); Ink Master (Paramount+)

Upcoming projects: Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard (Bravo)

Under the leadership of co-CEOs Glenda Hersh and Steven Weinstock. Banijay-owned Truly Original racked up more than 130 episodes of programming in 2022, ranging from myriad series in NBCUniversal cable net Bravo’s unscripted slate (including a Dubai iteration of the Real Housewives franchise, pictured) to long-running staples such as VH1’s Basketball Wives and History’s Swamp People

The company also brought its tattoo art competition series Ink Master , which ran for 13 seasons on Paramount Network/Spike TV, out of retirement for a new season on Paramount+.

The company also brought the British comedy quiz show Would I Lie To You? to U.S. audiences via The CW, and a new LGBTQ+ ensemble docuseries, The Real Friends of WeHo, to MTV. In addition, Truly Original is broadening its creative capacity through a first-look deal with comedy producers Jim Biederman and Jodi Lennon, and a partnership with Aquaman director James Wan’s Atomic Monster. BW

WORLD OF WONDER

www.worldofwonder.com

Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA

Staff: 70

Number of hours produced in 2022: 200+

Recent projects: RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14 (VH1); RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 7 (Paramount+); Restaurants at the End of the World (Nat Geo/Disney+); Million Dollar Listing season 14 (Bravo); It’s CompliPlated (Food Network)

Upcoming projects: The Little Pageant That Could (pictured); Big Freedia Means Business (Fuse, WOW Presents Plus)

Founded in 1991 by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, World of Wonder is perhaps most associated with its world-beating RuPaul’s Drag Race

In 2022, the prodco launched five new versions of the format, making a total of 15 adaptations currently sashaying around the world. The series has also entered the record books with host and EP RuPaul Charles’ seven wins as outstanding host of a competition series at the Emmys, making him the most awarded Black artist in Emmy history to date.

Still, there’s much more to WOW than the reign of Ru. The company has also produced several provocative documentaries and docuseries for nets such as HBO (Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes) and Logo TV (Out of Iraq), and has another long-running franchise up its sleeve, Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing. But perhaps one of the more impressive feats for the prodco has been harnessing its IP for its YouTube platform WOW Presents, and its own streaming service, WOW Presents Plus. In 2022, the latter boasted a 40% growth in subscriptions and 56% growth in views — numbers that any streamer would love. BW

Renegade 83

(an eOne company) Sherman Oaks, CA www.renegade83.com

Naked and Afraid, My Feet are Killing Me

Stephen David Entertainment (a Banijay company) New York, NY

www.stephendavidentertainment.com

Human: The World Within, The Titans that Built America

Unrealistic Ideas

Burbank, CA

www.unrealistic-ideas.com

Wahl Street McMillion$

Scout Productions

Burbank, CA

www.scoutproductionsinc.com

Queer Eye, Legendary

Sharp Entertainment

(a Sony Pictures Television company) New York, NY

www.sharpentertainment.com

90 Day Fiancé, Love After Lockup

Sirens Media

(an ITV America company)

Los Angeles, CA www.sirensmedia.com

The Real Housewives of New Jersey

Story Syndicate New York, NY

www.storysyndicate.com

Harry & Meghan, Eat the Rich: The GameStop Saga

Vox Media Studios

Los Angeles, CA/New York, NY

www.voxmedia.com

The Future of... Mind Over Murder

Talos Films

(a Sky Studios company) New York, NY

www.talosfilms.com

House of Hammer, Family Reboot

Warner Horizon Unscripted Television (a Warner Bros. Discovery company)

Los Angeles, CA/New York, NY

www.warnerbros.com

The Bachelor, The Bachelorette

Thinkfactory Media

(an ITV America company)

Los Angeles, CA

www.thinkfactorymedia.com

Marriage Boot Camp, Rat in the Kitchen

World Race Productions

El Segundo, CA

The Amazing Race

EUROPE

PERNEL MEDIA

www.pernelmedia.com

Headquarters: Paris, France

Staff: 65 (full-time and freelance)

Number of hours produced in 2022: 75

Recent projects: Legends of the Pharaohs : Secrets of the New Kingdom (Canal+); Lost Palace of Ramees the Great (France Télévisions, Histoire TV)

Upcoming: After the Asteroid (France Télévisions, NHK, Ushuaia TV)

GEBRUEDER-BEETZ FILMPRODUKTION

www.gebrueder-beetz.de

Headquarters: Berlin/Hamburg/Cologne, Germany

Staff: 36 full-time

Number of hours produced in 2022: nearly 50

Recent projects: Reeperbahn Special Unit 65, #unterAlmans (ARD); Copernicus’ Secret (ORF)

Upcoming projects: high-end docuseries about King Juan Carlos I

The tumultuous ’20s have thus far proven to be an auspicious decade for German prodco Gebrueder-Beetz, beginning with the 2020 commissioning of the first German Netflix original, A Perfect Crime. 2022 provided more high points, notably the hybrid true-crime docuseries Reeperbahn — Special Unit 65

Combining great access with rare archive and fictional elements, this profile of Germany’s first police unit dedicated to fighting organized crime was the first premium docuseries to be supported by the German Motion Picture Fund. Another innovative project, Aurora’s Sunrise, used animation to tell the story of an Armenian genocide survivor. Coming up: a premium docuseries examining the life of former Spanish King Juan Carlos I (pictured). BW

Already strong in science, archaeology and engineering programming, Pernel made inroads in 2022 with natural history content as well as archive-based contemporary history. Recent highlights include Legends of the Pharaohs: King Tut’s Dynasty (pictured), a six-parter for Canal+ channels, while other series such as The Real War of Thrones for France TV and Wheeler Dealers France for RMC Découverte are multiple seasons deep.

Massive French mediaco Vivendi acquired a stake in Pernel in 2021, the same year that former Arte distribution head Céline Payot Lehmann joined the company to help bolster its international prospects. Those efforts appear to be flourishing, with the company lauded as being “easy and friendly to work with” and “full of creativity and reliability.” BW

Autentic GMBH

Munich, Germany

www.autentic.com

Deadly Science

Doc.station

(a ZDF Studios company)

Hamburg, Germany

www.docstation.de

Petra Kelly: The Mysterious Death of a Peace Icon

Le cinquième rêve

Paris, France

www.lecinquiemereve.fr

Sisters in Arms, Earth Revival

UFA

(a Fremantle company)

Potsdam/Brandenburg, Germany www.ufa.de

Eating with My Ex, Too Hot to Handle Germany

Big Media

Prague, Czech Republic/New York, NY

www.bigmedia.tv

Celts: The Untold Story, Truthseekers

Federation Studios

Paris, France

www.federationstudios.com

The Last Tribe, Peter Doherty: Stranger in My Own Skin

Off the Fence

(a ZDF Studios company)

Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Letter: A Message for Our Earth

Zed Paris, France www.zed.fr

Wild Empire, Vikings: The Lost Kingdom, Rebuilding Notre Dame

Bilderfest

Munich, Germany

www.bilderfest.de

1972: Munich’s Black September

Gedeon Programmes

Paris, France

www.gedeonmediagroup.com

The Mysteries of Cosquer Cave, Idjanga: The Gorilla Forest (with Clair Obscur Productions)

Terra Mater Studios

(a Red Bull Media House company)

Vienna, Austria

www.terramater.at

Patrick and the Whale, Once Upon a Time in Tsavo

Docdays

Berlin, Germany

www.main.docdaysproductions.com

The River Between Us, For a New Iran

Gruppe 5 Filmproduktion

(a ZDF Studios company)

Cologne, Germany

www.gruppe5film.de

The Swarm, Egypt

AUSTRALIA / ASIA

BLACKFELLA FILMS

www.blackfellafilms.com.au

Headquarters: Sydney, Australia

Staff: 7 full-time

Number of hours produced in 2022: 16

Recent projects:The Australian Wars (SBS)

Upcoming projects: First Weapons (ABC); Out of the City (SBS)

Founded in 1992 by writer/director/producer Rachel Perkins, Blackfella Films has established itself as one of Australia’s most well-regarded prodcos thanks to such titles as First Australians, a 2008 series for Australian pubcaster SBS that garnered huge audiences (2.3 million viewers) and awards aplenty.

In 2022, another doc project for SBS, the three-part The Australian Wars (or First Wars), received accolades for its examination of the British claim to the Australian continent, the horrific chain of conflicts that marked the Frontier Wars, and the impact on Australia’s First Nations. After the second episode, the Australian War Memorial announced that it would expand its recognition of the Frontier Wars.

Also in 2022, Perkins announced that she would be leaving the company to pursue other life goals. BW

CJZ

www.cjz.com.au

Headquarters: Sydney, Australia, with offices in Auckland, NZ and Dubai, UAE

Staff: 75 (plus freelancers)

Number of hours produced in 2022: 110

Recent: Armed and Dangerous (Seven); Question Everything, Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery (ABC)

Upcoming: Bondi Rescue (Network Ten); Gold Coast Ocean Rescue (Seven)

In 2012, two of Australia’s most prominent prodcos — Cordell Jigsaw Productions and Zapruder’s Other Films — merged to form what was billed as Australia’s first superindie, CJZ. The pact brought together the companies behind some of Australia’s most popular and long-running nonfiction properties, such as the ABC’s Bondi Rescue (which is returning in 2023 after a pandemic-incurred hiatus) and the ad-world franchise Gruen

Other successes for the Sydney-headquartered shop include the groundbreaking format Go Back to Where You Came From for SBS and the obs-doc series Recruits for Network Ten. CJZ is also making moves into true crime with projects such as Con Girl (pictured), which debuted in February on Paramount+. BW

Beach House Pictures

(A Blue Ant Media company) Singapore

www.beachhousepictures.com

Evolve, Ed Stafford: First Man Out

Northern Pictures

Sydney, Australia

www.northernpictures.com.au

Love on the Spectrum, Tiny Oz

Beyond Productions

(a Banijay company)

Sydney, Australia

www.beyondproduction.tv

Facing Monsters, Pooch Perfect

Prospero Productions

Fremantle, Australia

www.prospero.com.au

Opal Hunters: Red Dirt Roadtrip, Outback Truckers

CJ ENM

Seoul, South Korea

www.cjenm.com

I Can See Your Voice, Kingdom: Legendary War

WildBear Entertainment

Australia/New Zealand

www.wildbear.tv

Deception: World War II, Ride: A Brutal Fairytale

Eureka Productions

(a Fremantle company)

Sydney, Australia/Los Angeles, CA

www.eurekagroup.tv

Holey Moley, The Real Love Boat, Crikey! It’s the Irwins

The Works

Tokyo, Japan

www.theworks.co.jp

The Masked Singer Japan

IFA MEDIA

www.ifa-media.com

Headquarters: Singapore, with offices in Beijing, Taipei and Bangkok

Staff: 65 across all offices

Number of hours produced in 2022: 26

Recent projects: Midnight Asia (Netflix); The World’s Biggest Drug Lord (Discovery+); Mark of Empires (Channel News Asia)

Upcoming projects: Where Monsters Hide: With Dr. Zeb Hogan

Led by principals Frank Smith, Lu Bo and Dean Johnson, IFA Media has worked with an array of broadcast and streaming platforms, ranging from HBO and Warner Bros. Discovery to National Geographic, Netflix and Tencent, among others.

With programming that runs the gamut from adventure and exploration (Extreme China for National Geographic) to true crime (The World’s Biggest Drug Lord for Discovery+) to pop culture studies (Midnight Asia for Netflix, pictured), the company has built up a solid international reputation for what one executive nominating IFA to the Global 200 called its “‘no-ego’ professionalism and dedication to the craft.” BW

REST OF THE WORLD

FILMS BY NOMAD

www.filmsbynomad.com

Headquarters: Dubai, UAE

Staff: 10 full-time (25 including freelance and part-time)

Number of hours produced in 2022: 5

Recent projects: COVID-19: Dubai (Discovery)

Upcoming projects: Ghetto Kids (w/t), Art of War

Founded in 2010 by Abu Dhabi–born Phil Griffiths and Zoё Griffiths, Films by Nomad is part of the larger Nomad Group, which also includes a service production arm that works with producers, brands and broadcasters around the world. In 2022, the company presented COVID-19: Dubai (pictured), a penetrating look at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Dubai for Discovery, as well as the short documentary Power of Play

Over the span of its existence, the company has produced 14 documentaries, with eight more currently in development. The shop is broadening its reach in 2023, with two new divisions set to launch. BW

Armoza Productions

(an ITV Studios company)

www.armozaformats.com

Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel

Recent projects: Come Dine with Me, Family Piggy Bank (with Gamechanger)

L.A.-based World of Wonder, co-founded by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, has, over three decades, established itself as one of the leading prodcos in the unscripted business. They’re the team behind the super-successful RuPaul’s Drag Race series, the long-running Million Dollar Listing franchise, and a host of documentaries with subjects ranging from pop-culture flashpoints such as Britney Spears, Tammy Faye Bakker and Monica Lewinsky, to art-world outsiders such as Robert Mapplethorpe. But it’s another project that sees Bailey logging onto a recent Zoom chat with Realscreen — the U.S. release this spring of his book, ScreenAge (Ebury Press). Bailey’s “love letter to television” explores the producer/ director’s formative years, his inspirations, and various behind-thescenes anecdotes from a career that has, as Graham Norton puts it in his foreword, “redefined what mainstream is, and that changes the world.”

Your career in entertainment started in music, but in the book you say it was TV that “showed me who I was.”

How so?

The launch of MTV proved to be a life-changing milestone, which is one of the reasons why I think we [Bailey and Barbato] went on this weird music-making tangent. You saw, with MTV, things that you’d never seen on TV before. It was a whole new dimension of television. Previous to that, the things that had really impacted me were single shows, like the camp ‘60s version of a film about Quentin Crisp called Civil Servant

But [in MTV there was] a whole network that was showing this whole other world of stuff 24 hours a day, seven days a week… and reflecting back to me images of people that seemed to resonate with who I thought I was. I grew up realizing I was gay long before seeing other gay people or having gay experiences, but television was the window, for me, into that world.

Speaking of the impact of TV, how do you see unscripted’s impact on culture? Is the range of characters and individuals seen in unscripted content today fulfilling a similar sort of role that MTV had for you, in terms of opening people up to a wider world?

I think that reality TV is the killer application for TV. We’ve always looked at TV as some sort of bastard child of the movies — [it’s] on a smaller scale, and therefore inferior. But the mistake is to see them as the same thing.

Movies are all about creating stars that beam out at you. But TV is all about behind the scenes, showing you how things really are. TV is much more of a documentary medium than the movies, which is fundamentally a scripted medium. Yes, people knock reality TV a lot, and that’s one of the reasons that I wrote the book. Most of the books written about TV have been negative — The Age of Missing Information by Bill McKibben, or Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. They’re all just dumping on TV as this sort of great dumbingdown thing. They don’t like TV, and that’s fine — they also don’t understand it. They’re academics.

SMALL SCREEN BIG IMPACT

Elsewhere in the book, you say you feel that we are all interconnected. And even though on the surface it seems that you’ve interviewed such disparate characters, I wonder if you and Randy see a common thread in the subjects you’ve chosen over the years. Yes… We like to tell stories about people who are overexposed but under-revealed. I think the other element is that, I guess in being gay, you grow up with a sense of feeling like an outsider… not necessarily in a bad way. I think we’ve come to realize that feeling isn’t necessarily unique to LGBTQ+... everybody feels like an outsider. So paradoxically, the mainstream is the outsider voice. The stories that LGBTQ+ people have to tell, especially the stories we show on Drag Race , are universally relatable.

Speaking of Drag Race, do you feel a sense of pride in bringing the world of drag into the mainstream in a way it hadn’t been before?

I think it’s more of a sense of excitement. Lord knows why drag hasn’t been on TV before now, because drag is perfect for TV. Small screen, big impact.

Batman, or The Naked

Barry Walsh

(Photo: Mathu Andersen)

Cannes Palais des Festivals

17-19 April 2023

future of kids tv