30 Executive Summary
theibcdaily
Keynote
Writing new rules for entertainment Lord Michael Dobbs Creator and Executive Producer of House of Cards Region: UK Interviewed by: David Davies “It might not have reached maturity yet, but we are looking at the emergence of a global entertainment culture. It’s fantastic that English, Chinese and American viewers, for example, can find things they enjoy in common. That is going to have all sorts of knock-on significances in the years to come that go way beyond the usual political dialogue.” Of course, observing the interaction between political and public cultures has pretty much been a life’s work for Lord (Michael) Dobbs. In parallel with roles as special advisor, speechwriter and, latterly, Deputy Chairman of the
Conservative Party during the ‘80s and ‘90s, Dobbs began to cultivate a career as an author of political thrillers. The 1989 publication of the first novel in the House of Cards trilogy initiated what would ultimately prove to be a hugely successful media franchise, entailing the production of a BBC TV miniseries and, more recently, a USbased adaptation where each new series has been released in its entirety on a single day through Netflix. Two years on from the launch of Season 1 of the ‘new’ House of Cards – which was initiated by independent content producer Media Rights Capital – it seems
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fairly obvious that the show did much to crystallise the thennascent streaming services market. “The change has crept up on us gently over some time, but the key to the whole [streaming movement] has been to completely change the fundamentals of broadcasting,” says Dobbs. “Not just the technology itself, although that plays an important role, but the actual point of the technology – which is to give the customer total control. You don’t have to go back very far to find a system in which the broadcasting world was very tightly controlled by the commissioners and schedulers. You got what they thought you wanted when they said you got it – and then you had to wait another week for the next batch.” The gradual progression away from this “paternalistic” approach towards consumption at the viewer’s own preferred
pace is also bringing benefits for TV drama as an art-form, believes Dobbs. “Creatively there can be more continuity, as there is much less need for artificial climaxing. We’re in a period of transition, of course, but for the viewer it’s becoming
of Cards, which he describes as “one of the happiest professional experiences of my life”. With Season 4 set to premiere early next year, the revival clearly has plenty of distance left to run. But it’s hardly Dobbs’ only project – as he readily admits,
“We’re in a period of transition, of course, but for the viewer it’s becoming more like reading a great novel – you put it down when you want” more like reading a great novel – you put it down when you want to.” In his Keynote Conversation at IBC, Dobbs reflected both generally on the new realities of TV drama production as well as the specific creative relationships – with Netflix, Media Rights Capital, principal actor Kevin Spacey and executive producer David Fincher – that brought about the latest version of House
he has “plenty on the plate” at the moment, including a proposed Westminster-set show, in collaboration with the creator and principal writer of Danish series Borgen. “I think it’s fairly well-known that I have been working for a while on a major political project with Adam Price, and I am hopeful that in the near-future we will be able to share it with millions of others,” says Dobbs.
23/09/2015 11:40