Channel21 International: Spring 2022 - FACTUAL

All in the mix: The new faces of fact ent

Factual Everything about content

Spring 2022

A look into the Mindhouse of Louis Theroux

Premium docs that caused a stir this year

PLUS: TV2 Denmark takes tips from Spotify | Spirit Studios’ three-year plan | Mercury Studios’ development slate

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NEXT BIG THINGS: Premium factual entertainment

Channel21 International | Spring 2022

The Prince’s Master Crafters

Matters of fact ent Factual entertainment continues to evolve at pace as competition increases, audience expectations rise exp and new hybrid formats emerge. form

By Andy Fry

A

sk a TV executive to define DR Denmark. But that’s not all. Bake factual entertainment Off is also the most consumed show and they’ll probably start on DR’s VoD service and has seen by name-checking property, food, success with a junior version, which reality and lifestyle shows. But most extends the franchise into weekday will also tell you that the genre has a primetime.”

Canadian producer Big Coat chameleon-like quality that makes it Media also has an especially durable difficult to pin down precisely.

For some, it incorporates true franchise in the shape of propertycrime, while for others it includes based show Love It Or List It, which social experiments like Married recently broke through 200 episodes At First Sight.

If the identifying in its domestic market and has also g characteristics of a fact fa ent show are spawned variants like Vacation that it is character-led character-le and has some kind of ‘take-ou ‘take-out’ for the audience, then natural natur history, survival and engineer engineering shows can be factual entertai entertainment.

Wherever the boun boundary lies, however, factual ente entertainment has emerged from Covid-19 in robust shape. C Capable of travelling internation internationally either as formats or complet completed shows, in-demand titles can ca play a pivotal role as schedu schedule events Cecilie Olsen of ITVS and Line Up’s Julian Curtis or daytime workhors workhorses. Rather than fading away af after a few years Homes. Marketed internationally by of relentless exposure, exposu the very best Beyond Rights, the show has given titles seem to draw strength from birth to local versions in the UK, longevity – enabling IP owners Australia, France and Finland, the enabli to launch multiple multipl spin-offs or latter two coming as recently as 2021.

All this in addition to extensive tape supersize their franchises. fran Jan Salling, head of BBC Studios sales.

Format creator and exec producer Nordics formats and production, says p the Bake Off ff brand is sstill performing Maria Armstrong says the continued strongly in the three thre Scandinavian strength of the show is down to its markets where it has been localised. universality: “There isn’t a home “Ten years in, it can still owner who hasn’t reached a point command a 70% share in where it feels like their house isn’t 70 Saturday night primetime for working for them anymore. The Celebrity chef Mary M Berg

tension between whether to move or to renovate gives the show the jeopardy of a procedural drama.”

Banijay arguably has the ultimate fact ent franchise in the shape of MasterChef, now up to 500 seasons including its various spin-offs.

Explaining the enduring appeal of the show, Banijay’s global head of content operations, Lucas Green, says: “Broadcasters like the fact it is an established brand, but the real beauty of MasterChef is that it is so flexible. Yes, it’s about great food, but it’s also a vehicle for authentic storytelling.

MasterChef Junior, MasterChef Celebrity and MasterChef: The Professionals explore different life stages and themes. Now Young MasterChef on BBC Three in the UK will tell a different kind of aspirational story.”

Demand for proven brands is, however, just one facet of this broad category. Quizzed about emerging trends, Green says: “One post-Covid pattern that’s here to stay is craft-based shows. Lego Masters started this trend before the pandemic, but as people ponder their work-life balance, perhaps spending more time at home, there’s room for shows that people can learn from.”

Another trend that’s here to stay, says Green, is the ‘premium-isation’ of the genre – or at least part of it.

“With the streamers investing in high-quality content, there’s no doubt factual entertainment has had to raise its game. Viewers expect X

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Channel21 International | Spring 2022

a filmic experience every time they tune in, so all bets are off,” he says.

Green regards Banijay’s off-thegrid chase format Hunted as a case in point. “The format has been successful for a few years,” he says, “but these days we position it as a premium, high-stakes unscripted thriller. The use of celebrities and higher production values have seen it work on linear TV and streamers.”

Cecilie Olsen, ITV Studios’ senior VP of global unscripted content, can also point to a Teflon-coated fact ent format in the shape of Come Dine With Me. With 17,000 episodes produced, it has just travelled to HBO Max in Mexico, one of the 46 territories to have taken the show.

Echoing Green, Olsen says ITV Studios has found a way to both refresh and premiumise the format with Come Dine With Me: The Professionals.

Olsen also identifies several new developments in the fact ent space. Like Green, she points to craft-based shows like The Great Pottery Thrown Down, which, like Bake Off, comes from Love Productions. “These shows are like a warm hug, and I don’t think they are going anywhere soon,” she says. “We have a new title in this space, which is called The Prince’s Master Crafters. Produced for Sky Arts, the series sees a selection of top amateur craftspeople take on a variety of crafting challenges before each presenting a piece to The Prince of Wales in person.”

Escapism is another durable postCovid theme, says Olsen. “Adventure formats like Alone speak to the audience’s desire to get outside. But there’s also an aspirational side to escapism, which is about luxury.

Our real estate reality show for BBC Three, Dubai Hustle, is an example.

But we also have Loaded In Paradise, a new format which sees young couples let loose with a credit card in Greece.

They can spend what they want until they get caught by other contestants.

Whoever finds them gets control of the card until they are also caught.”

An increasing trend towards hybrids and mash-ups is also emerging, says Olsen. As an example, she cites whodunnit cooking format Rat In The Kitchen, “where contestants are trying to prepare food with a saboteur in their midst.”

BBC Studios Nordics’ Salling also

Hybrid format Rat In The Kitchen is a ‘whodunnit’ cooking show. Left: Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm

sees hybrids as a trend, as channels seek a point of differentiation. “This Is My House is a show that has the feel of a property show but is also a guessing game involving celebrities.

DNA Journey, which aired on ITV in the UK, combines a kind of investigation element with science and family history,” he says.

While food and property continue to do well in the Nordics, Salling believes the market these days is also looking for edgy content, more akin to Married At First Sight. “The desire for authentic social experiments is still growing, shows that tackle tough subjects and where the end isn’t obvious.”

Richard Life, Cineflix Rights’ head of acquisitions, says long-running franchises like Property Brothers continue to do robust business.

“Covid has meant enhanced demand for heart-warming shows. But buyers also want volume more than ever, because that allows them to build a repeatable franchise,” he says.

There is an argument that broadcasters around the world are moving more in the direction of local content, and that this is a downside for factual entertainment. But Life is not convinced: “Part of fact ent’s strength is that it is formatable.

But if you have the right characters, even a presenter-led show will travel internationally in its original form,” he claims.

“We’ve had a lot of success in the UK with Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm, which we market as Our Big Family Farm, and also with shows featuring celebrity chef Ainsley Harriet. We’ve got high hopes for Dream Home Makeovers with Sophie Robinson. She has a bright, endlessly optimistic, infectious personality that we’re certain will cross borders.”

Jon Rutherford, president of kids, family and rights at Boat Rockerr Studios, makes a similar point with h regard to Mary Berg, a charismaticc celebrity chef whose shows are sellingg well beyond her native Canada..

“We’ve seen a similar phenomenon n with Motel Makeover, which launched d on Netflix. If you find relatablee personalities to present these showss it can resonate really well with globall audiences,” he says. As a footnote, it’ss worth saying that Berg came to famee on MasterChef Canada.

Back at Cineflix, Life agrees with h Banijay’s Green that there is a drive towards premium in factuall entertainment, “which explains thee increasing emphasis on celebrities,”” he suggests. “Amazon has had X

With the streamers investing in high-quality content, there’s no doubt factual entertainment has had to raise its game. Viewers expect a filmic experience every time they tune in, so all bets are off.

“

Lucas Green Banijay

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NEXT BIG THINGS: Premium factual entertainment

Top: BBC Three real estate reality show Dubai Hustle. Above: Sarah Beeny’s New Life In The Country attracted viewing during the pandemic. Right: Nicky Davies Williams of DCD Rights

success with Clarkson’s Farm. One of our key titles right now is Richard Hammond’s Workshop, which benefits from Richard’s track record on shows like Top Gear and his reputation as a daredevil.”

Premium, of course, comes at a cost, which explains why more fact ent shows are reliant on multiple partners.

Richard Hammond’s Workshop, for example is backed

by Discovery+, Cineflix Rights and branded content firm Krempelwood.

In Life’s view, the Hammond show, now entering season two, underlines another trend: getting to see celebrities putting themselves on the line. “You see Hammond taking real risks and you meet his family, so it’s a much richer emotional experience.” he says.

Another show that reinforced this trend during Covid was Sarah Beeny’s New Life In The Country, a Hat Trick International series where the TV personality swapped city life for a rural restoration project.

Nicky Davies Williams, CEO at DCD Rights, says: “The fact that there was less production with a travel element made completed shows more attractive to buyers and viewers alike.

But it’s important to say that travel is perennially popular.”

Channel21 International | Spring 2022

In terms of fact ent titles doing well for DCD, Davies Williams picks out The Travelling Auctioneers, “a strong new series, delivering emotional, as well as transactional elements.”

Davies Williams also sees increased scope for fact ent series that operate in what used to be specialist factual terrain. “Bettany Hughes’ Treasures covers a range of historical sites and appeals to broadcasters worldwide,” she says. “Also in the history space are The Secrets of the London Underground and Secret Societies, which includes insights into powerful societies trying to remain behind closed doors.”

Premium factual entertainment is an attractive option for SVoD services and major factual channels, Davies Williams accepts, but she stresses that “long-running, high-volume workhorses are still a strong staple for any schedule.”

In a similar vein, she notes that DCD recently partnered with Runtime to launch a UK-based free ad-supported TV channel around the long-running Bridezillas franchise.

Solange Attwood, executive VP at Blue Ant International (BAI), says true crime continues to be one of fact ent’s strongest suits. “We’re seeing an overwhelming demand for new

true crime content, and we don’t see demand waning anytime soon. We have premium, limited crime docs, such as Evil By Design: Surviving Nygard as well as long-running, franchise crime series such as See No Evil,” she reveals.

Attwood says exclusive access to people and places is increasingly a key aspect of factual entertainment – a point that perhaps plays into the idea of premium-isation. BAI is shopping Prince Charles’ Green Grand Design, in which B4 Films gets an exclusive, inside look at a secret project that Prince Charles has been working on: the restoration of Dumfries House, a rundown estate in one of the most deprived parts of the UK. Julian Curtis, co-founder of Line Up Industries, says the short-term effects of Covid seem to be largely over. “However, there seems to be a longer-term impact in a continued lightening of tone, even when tackling difficult subjects,” he adds.

Line Up’s Taboo, which explores the boundaries of what is considered acceptable when it comes to humour, is an example of a show where the tone has shifted between series.

“Similarly, Therapy in Belgium has changed between the first and second seasons to bring in a celebrity element which lightens the tone, while still tackling mental health in a thorough and educational manner.”

Another format, Long Lost Family, has touched a nerve at a time when people are still separated from their loved ones, says Curtis. “Tape sales have been made in new territories and older episodes score well for Quest in the UK. DR has brought the show back and we also have a Canadian series in development. The theme of family reunions remains strong with our format Family Dinner being optioned in a number of territories in the last few months,” he says.

Both Salling of BBC Studios Nordics’ and Curtis highlight the need for concepts that are immediately eye-catching in an on-demand world.

“Shows have to be accessible and contain an extra hook,” says Curtis.

“With Therapy in Belgium, having a celebrity element in the second season meant it could be marketed on VoD with the image of the celeb as the thumbnail.”

And, of course, an attentiongrabbing title never hurts, as audiences look for their next factual entertainment fix.

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Channel21 International | Spring 2022

The Rescue

Docs to the rescue

T

he past 12 months have seen an impressive crop of new documentaries produced, as the term ‘premium factual’ enters the industry lexicon. We asked executives from across the factual sector about their favourite ones and, from the array of responses, one title stood out.

The Rescue is a 2021 documentary film directed and produced by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. Produced by National Geographic Documentary Films, Ventureland, Storyteller Productions, Little Monster Films and Passion Pictures, it follows the desperate international effort to save a junior football team who became trapped in an underwater cave system in Tham Luang, Thailand in 2018.

“I was transfixed by how people with different backgrounds and specialities could hatch a plan, in extremely dangerous conditions, with limited time and unrelenting monsoon rains working against them,” says Julie Chang, exec VP of international coproductions at Canada’s Blue Ant Media.

“The stress was palpable, but it was truly inspiring to watch the mental and physical endurance and courage that was required to save those boys. It renewed my faith in mankind and how magnificent human beings can be.”

The Nat Geo film also struck a chord with Hayley Babcock, CEO of LA-based Hayley Babcock Media and former head of formats, international programming and production at A+E Networks.

“Astonishingly, the edge-of-your-seat story is crafted using only third-party footage, beautifully produced re-enactments, top-tier graphics and interviews shot via Zoom. It is a story of hope, triumph and humanity,” she says.

But what are the broader industry trends to be taken from the success of this title?

From cave divers to surfers in 100 Foot Wave to

A host of broadcasters, producers, distributors and festival organisers tell us about their favourite documentaries of the past year, what wha made them so good and what this suggests about abo industry trends.

By Clive Whittingham

the mountain climber in The Alpinist, the basketball in Last Chance U: Basketball and the racing car drivers in Drive to Survive, it is clear there is narrative drama every bit as compelling as scripted programming or true crime stories to be found in the world of sports.

“Expect to see more drama, action, mystery and emotion come into the mainstream via awe-inspiring documentaries from the world of sports. You don’t have to be a sports fan to love these stories, you just have to be a fan of the human spirit,” predicts Babcock.

For Jamie Brown, CEO and exec producer at

It was an inspiring example of many people and countries coming together to accomplish what seemed impossible.

We’re seeing something similar in Ukraine right now, and I’m desperately hoping we can beat the odds there as well.

“

Jamie Brown Frantic Films

UK prodco Frantic Films, The Rescue is a “stressinducing, tension-filled but ultimately very rewarding experience – even knowing the outcome.”

He adds: “It was an inspiring example of many people and countries coming together to accomplish what seemed impossible. We’re seeing something similar in Ukraine right now, and I’m desperately hoping we can beat the odds there as well. I’m not sure it’s part of a trend, but it was a relief to enjoy a show that left me feeling good about the world.”

Natalie Humphreys, MD and founder at Storyboard Studios, says: “As a viewer, other than the access, one of the best things about the film is how we were able to play ‘armchair witness,’ piecing more of the picture together as the story went on, coming to terms with the grim reality of this near-impenetrable cave system, the details gradually becoming clearer to us viewers in line with how the rescue team themselves were learning new information.”

A documentary with a very different look and feel also caught the eye of our factual contributors.

The Beatles: Get Back is a 2021 series directed and produced by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson. It covers the making of the Beatles’ 1970 album Let It Be and was produced by Apple Corps and WingNut Films for Disney+.

“I’ve always liked Beatles music but never been a huge fan, but seeing this documentary series has turned me into one for so many reasons,” says Fiona Gilroy, content sales and acquisitions director at Flame Distribution. “I was in awe of their immense talent, and of the insights the film gave to the dynamics between the four band members.

“Peter Jackson is a master filmmaker, of course.

How beautifully he has put together the wonderfully restored footage. It’s testament to the importance of documenting everything for the future so we can look back and reinterpret moments that may

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Premium factual

Channel21 International | Spring 2022

Expect to see more drama, action, mystery and emotion come into the mainstream via awe-inspiring documentaries from the world of sports. You don’t have to be a sports fan to love these stories, you just have to be a fan of the human spirit.

“

The Beatles: Get Back

Hayley Babcock

(photo: Apple Corp)

Hayley Babcock Media

have seemed ordinary at the time but go on to make to his poisoning. It was produced by Cottage M, Ehrlich and James Reed and follows the year Fishbowl Films, RaeFilm Studios and CNN Films for filmmaker Craig Foster spent forging a relationship a big impact.” with an octopus in a South African kelp forest.

For James Anderson, sales manager at DCD CNN+ and HBO Max. Pruijssers says: “Seemingly a simple nature Peter Raymont, president of White Pine Pictures, Rights, The Beatles: Get Back is “an amazing immersive experience of archive content as The describes it as “a gripping, timely thriller, a compelling documentary, the filmmaker, Craig Foster, really Beatles write and rehearse in the lead-up to their weave of exclusive access cinema verité, news draws you into believing he gets to forge a special iconic final rooftop concert, allowing you a unique footage and interview. The filmmaker won the trust bond, a friendship, with an octopus. Although the of the brave and heroic Russian dissident Alexei verdict is still out as to whether an octopus feels on insight into their creative process.” an emotional level in the same way humans do, this He adds: “It was fascinating to see the band Navalny.”

Navalny, distributed by Warner Brothers, is guy really makes it so believable that the octopus politics and dynamics play out in real time at a makes a true connection particularly turbulent point in with him, and that their their history and it is also an friendship is mutual. It’s an amazing time capsule. It’s incredibly moving film.” worth watching for George Another Netflix doc caught Harrison’s collection of the eye of Donovan Chan, coats and footwear alone. creative director at Beach Peter Jackson has raised House Pictures. Downfall: the bar on what a music The Case Against Boeing documentary can be, but it is a 2022 doc from Imagine also shows the evergreen Documentaries directed by appeal of telling the story of Rory Kennedy that looks classic artists and how great into the events that led to music was created.” the crashes of Lion Air The Disney+ series was L-R: Donovan Chan, Beach House Pictures; Julie Chang, Blue Ant Media; Fiona Gilroy, Flame Distribution Flight 610 and Ethiopian also selected as the best of Airlines Flight 302, both the past year by Kate Beal, CEO at Woodcut Media. “I love The Beatles, social destined for Oscar contention, adds Raymont. Boeing 737 Max aircraft.

“This is an important film that debunks rumours history and archive,” she explains. “Over the course “Daniel calls Navalny ‘lighting in a bottle’ – that of nearly nine hours, Jackson combined all of these magic moment when promise and opportunity that the Indonesian and Ethiopian pilots operating elements into a masterpiece of storytelling. The meet. People have always been drawn to verité the aircraft were poorly trained, while highlighting technical quality was so extraordinary I had to keep filmmaking, a window into a world they could never the many missteps and assumptions by the Boeing reminding myself I was watching a documentary, not otherwise enter. The film’s timing is extraordinary. company. It’s a sad tale where greed and capitalism Weeks after its Sundance premiere, the man who triumph over excellence in craft and design – and a purposely filmed drama.”

Although The Rescue and The Beatles: Get Back tried to murder Navalny, Vladimir Putin, appalled us most importantly, aircraft construction and safety,” says Chan. ticked boxes for many execs we spoke to, other all by invading Ukraine.”

“Films like this tap into a growing trend of alternate For Willem Pruijssers, CEO at DFW International, titles also stood out. Navalny is a 2022 film directed

by Daniel Roher that revolves around Russian the best doc of the year was Netflix’s My Octopus premium crime stories that are either noisy nonopposition leader Alexey Navalny and events related Teacher. The Oscar winner was directed by Pippa violent crimes (big frauds, white collar) or non- X

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Channel21 International | Spring 2022

Downfall: The Case Against Boeing from Imagine Documentaries. Right: Hulu’s concert doc Summer of Soul

conventional crimes that are so weird and wideranging that they attract a wider audience profile than, say, a serial killer doc.”

Netflix isn’t the only streamer making waves in the doc space. Hulu’s Summer of Soul was well received and highlighted by Lilla Hurst, joint MD at Drive. The 2021 film from Searchlight Pictures is directed by Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson and looks at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival.

“In August 2021, people were timidly returning to collective events, burnt by repeated Covid protocol u-turns, we were all a little out of practice,” explains Hurst.

“What I love about this film is how seamlessly the social history of the time is intertwined with the footage of the live event, never jarring and always adding to the potent atmosphere. The dynamic figure of Tony Lawrence, the festival organiser, wowing both the crowd and the parade of talent, makes you want to have him come back to save us in 2022 and be president.”

Paul Islwyn Thomas, CEO at Wildflame, also points to a Netflix title. 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible is a 2021 mountaineering film directed by Torquil Jones and produced by Jones, Noah Media Group and Little Monster Films. “The film is captured entirely in the moment and almost entirely by the climbers themselves, which is a huge achievement in itself,” he says.

“But this wonderful film strives to do much more than ‘just’ capture the epic physical journey. Torquil Jones deftly weaves rich and complex contributions to broaden out the narrative arc of the film. Perfectly judged animation is then introduced forging layers of visual narrative creating a fine and detailed Nepalese tapestry.”

Alan Clements, MD at Two Rivers Media, couldn’t pick out just one title as best doc of the past year. “I am going to be greedy and select two. On the face of it, they are entirely different, but they share some DNA, which tells us something both about trends and also audience desire.

“9/11: Inside The President’s War Room for Apple TV+ and BBC One was, for me, the most fascinating and moving of the slew of documentaries marking the 20th anniversary of that dark day, and The

Tinder Swindler, Raw TV’s brilliant film on Netflix, was a compellingly edited and hugely entertaining tale of an international scam. “[They are] very different subjects and treatments, of course, but both share key qualities. Most important, they had the fantastic first-person testimony of those involved, which draws attention more than any expert view. Second, they both had visual moments that stayed long in the memory.

Finally, they had a confidence and command in their storytelling that carried you along and left you wanting more.”

Netflix again cropped up in the selection of Karen Willis, director of development at Collective Media Group. She went for Sophie: A Murder in West Cork, a 2021 series about the death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

“What strikes me is how the filmmaker takes care in telling the viewer who Sophie Toscan du Plantier was over the three episodes. We get a real sense of what her spirit was like, her achievements and what she meant to her loved ones,” she says.

“I can’t see the trend for true crime slowing down, but I’d like to think there’s a change in how we’re making them. At Collective Media, this is baked in from the top down. The women in our stories should never just be the footnote, or just ‘the victim.’”

Rounding out our list of factual execs’ top docs are Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry (Apple TV+) and Uprising (BBC One). The first, directed by RJ Cutler and centred on singer-songwriter Billie Eilish,

I can’t see the trend for true crime slowing down, but I’d like to think there’s a change in how we’re making them. At Collective Media, this is baked in from the top down. The women in our stories should never just be the footnote, or just ‘the victim.’

“

was selected by Vicky Ryan, chief operating officer at Rainmaker Content.

“I don’t particularly enjoy concert movies and often artists have a ‘behind-the-scenes’ documentary which is just pro-shot footage of their tours, whereas this had hours of footage spanning a number of years and all the performance moments had a narrative purpose,” says Ryan.

“It truly speaks to the growing need for documentaries to have that authenticity and connect with the viewers on an emotional level.”

Uprising, meanwhile, is a three-part doc made for the BBC by Steve McQueen and James Rogan about the tragedy and aftermath of events in London in 1981, which it argues would go on to define race relations for a generation.

Adam Jacobs, creative director at Quintus Studios, describes the series as “an extremely powerful and emotive viewing experience that opened my eyes to an horrific event that I was not previously aware of, namely the New Cross fire of 1981 that claimed 13 lives.”

He adds: “Not only did this shine a light on a piece of black modern history that had been somewhat overlooked from a documentary perspective, it did so simply using archive newsreel footage and personal, first person testimony. I say simply although the execution is exquisite, as those that were there tell their story to camera, answering difficult questions with dignity and, as to be expected, occasionally anger.”

Karen Willis Collective Media Group

With additional reporting by Ed Waller.

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP: P: Louis Theroux & Nancy Stran Strang ng

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Louis Theroux’s Forbidden America

W

hat is the quintessential, archetypal Louis Theroux documentary?

“Programmes I’d want to watch,” the veteran documentary maker responds immediately. “Clearly in the factual space, most likely, though we haven’t ruled out working in drama.

Knotty, intriguing, psychologically captivating subjects. Tabloid subjects in terms of the level of intrigue they excite, but instead handled maturely.”

Theroux set up BBC Studios-backed prodco Mindhouse Productions with wife and producing partner Nancy Strang, who is company co-founder and director of development, and Arron Fellows, co-founder and creative director, in 2019. It has already produced shows as diverse as Sex Actually with Alice Levine for Channel 4, The Bambers: Murder at the Farm for Sky Documentaries and Gods of Snooker for BBC Two. His most recent BBC series, Louis Theroux’s Forbidden America, sees the filmmaker return to the US to explore the impact of the internet and social media on some of the most controversial corners of American society. It plays to a lot of the classic tropes of his past docs, such as his breakout series Weird Weekends, with episode titles including Rap’s New Frontline and Porn’s MeToo. “Subjects like the porn industry, religious cults, the far right, neoNazis are very toothsome subjects with a broad appeal that, if you bring a little bit of nuance and intelligence to them, you can elevate and make it a responsible, mature but totally

Theroux the looking glass Louis Theroux and Nancy Strang of BBC Studiosbac backed Mindhouse Productions discuss nopla orming and the culture wars, and also platf send sen out an appeal to Brad Pitt.

B

By Clive Whittingham

engaging piece of programming,” says Theroux.

Of the company’s development meetings Strang says: “It’s an eclectic mix of dark subjects which we’re always drawn to – sometimes very dark – and a Christopher Biggins reality show, which Arron is always trying to shoehorn in.

“We like working with talent, we’re always trying to find subjects that work with talent we like and they want to do – like the Alice Levine series which is coming back to Channel 4. We are maybe attracted to the darker subjects and what I like is we also have a popular factual sensibility. It’s a broad mix, stories and characters that excite us and the characters and people at the heart of the story are almost the most interesting.”

To that end, late last year the company hired former Label1 head of factual entertainment Barnaby

Coughlin to do the same job for Mindhouse.

The first episode of Forbidden America, Extreme & Online, meets young and inflammatory figures of the modern America far right which, as they consider mainstream media, and the BBC in particular, as their enemy, must have taken some serious work to access.

There is an argument raging, particularly in Western universities, about whether these people should actually be ‘no-platformed’ – that their views are so abhorrent they shouldn’t be given the oxygen of publicity, and certainly not an initial audience of 1.6 million on BBC One. “It’s a good question and something we thought about a lot,” Theroux says. “This word ‘platforming’ covers a multitude of different examples of covering a subject. The bottom line is there is a difference between platforming and just doing good X

We are maybe attracted to the darker subjects and what I like is we also have a popular factual sensibility.

“

Nancy Strang Mindhouse Productions

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP: Louis T Theroux he h ero rou ux x&N Nancy an a ncy cy S Strang ttrra an ng

Channel21 International | Spring Spri prri p pri rin ng g 20 202 2 2022 022 02 22

Louis Theroux’s breakout series Weird Weekends

Subjects like the porn industry, religious cults, the far right, neo-Nazis are very toothsome subjects with a broad appeal that, if you bring a little bit of nuance and intelligence to them, you can elevate and make it a responsible, mature but totally engaging piece of programming.

“

Louis Theroux

journalism on somebody. You can’t compare inviting somebody to speak at the Oxford Union or appear on [BBC debate show] Any Questions, to doing a documentary about them where you interrogate their beliefs and spend time putting together a responsible piece of work. Quite clearly we’re at the latter end of the spectrum, where we have the tools to do a solid job of revealing what people really are.”

Like so many of Theroux’s projects, Forbidden America found a home at the BBC, and is distributed by BBC Studios, but the UK pubcaster has come under political and public pressure amidst the left vs right ‘culture wars.’ As a result, director general Tim Davie has made his version of “impartiality” a cornerstone of his tenure.

Stars have been scolded for expressing political opinions on Twitter and an exodus of talent is underway – Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis, rebuked in the past for tweets and strong introductory monologues to her show, and former US correspondent Jon Sopel shocked Beeb observers by walking out to start a podcast division at Global.

David Jordan, the BBC’s director of editorial policy and standards, drew heavy criticism for his comments to a House of Lords Select Committee where he spoke about “not subscribing to cancel culture” and added: “Flat-Earthers are not going to get as much space as people who believe that the Earth is round, but very occasionally it might be appropriate to interview a flat-Earther and if a lot of people believed in a flat Earth we would need to address it more than we do at the present time.”

Whatever happened to the corporation’s founding principles: to inform, educate and entertain?

“A lot of people picked up that comment and took him to mean we’ll be having programmes like Our Beautiful Flat Earth on BBC One with David Attenborough,” Theroux says.

“I don’t think he meant that, I think he meant we would have to educate the public in the fact the Earth isn’t flat and spend more time doing that.”

Strang adds: “If there are enough flat-Earthers that it would feel worthwhile making a Louis-style documentary about them, a fringe belief – there is a difference between that and inviting somebody on Newsnight to tell you the Earth is flat. I think he meant it’s about interrogating those beliefs in a documentary style.”

The audience for Theroux docs skews young, and extremely diverse.

His pull and style feels ripe for a hefty five-season Netflix deal. Possibly even a reboot of Weird Weekends?

“We’ve been around for two years, though obviously that was interrupted, and we feel like we’ve got a lot of momentum now with shows across the UK linear platforms and streamers, and productions in development for global streamers,” Strang says. “Our ambition is to do more content for American streamers and for international platforms.

“We are interested in looking at scripted ideas, potentially. There are a lot of stories we’re really interested in where, through people not being alive anymore, a lack of archive or issues with access, they could only be really well told in a scripted way.

Not a traditional biopic, more storybased.”

KSI, a 1x90’ feature doc following the social media star through a year of his life, is in the works for Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service.

“There are things on our development slate that are favourites of ours,” Fellows says, while trying

to keep his cards close to his chest.

“Christopher Biggins is one of them and we are talking to him. Some people have been put off because they’re very controversial, or they would question whether the appetite is there. Sometimes access to a certain subject is so difficult we can’t get it away. We have our favourites which we’ve never managed to get away, which we are intent on continuing to push.”

Theroux has a very specific topic, and collaboration, that he’s keen to get off the ground.

“We’re big fans of music and music docs is a space we’ve tried to find the right way into,” he says. “It would be amazing to get a big legacy artist. I’ll say this because, who knows, he may read it – Brad Pitt is a big fan of Nick Drake, a legendary folk artist from the 70s who died young and is highly regarded. I would love to know the best way of approaching Brad Pitt.

We’ve had ongoing conversations with Nick Drake’s management and to get a coproduction with Plan B Entertainment on a big Nick Drake documentary would be amazing. Are you out there Brad?”

So in three years’ time? “We are interested to go down a drama path to see if we can explore stories that lend themselves to that approach,” says Fellows.

“We want to do more in the US, we have our first series commission there which we’re working on at the moment and we want to work more with US platforms and broadcasters.

We want to make big, interesting, popular documentaries for a range of people. We’ve hired Barnaby Coughlin from Label1 and the other route we are pushing now is popular factual and formats where, again, we’ve got broad tastes. We’d love a returnable series of some kind.”

“And an Oscar,” Theroux adds.

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CONTENT CONFIDENTIAL: TV2 Denmark

Channel21 International | Spring 2022

Playing the hits live H

aving operated fully behind a paywall since 2012, Danish commercial public broadcaster TV2 is well on its way towards achieving its goal of putting digital first and reaching 1.3 million subscribers for its SVoD service TV2 Play by 2025.

The player’s subscription numbers are now nudging 900,000, while TV2’s linear channels also increased their share of combined viewing in Denmark to 48% in 2021, up from 47% in 2020, despite the competition increasing.

Alongside drama, news and sport, factual programming has been built up as one of the content pillars of the platform in its effort to draw in and retain subscribers.

The challenge has been attracting “new, especially younger, audiences who aren’t familiar with TV2 channels,” says acquisition executive Lars Erik Nielsen. “We’ve had an extended focus on our streaming service TV2 Play for the past couple of years and intensified it in 2021, especially for documentaries.”

Nielsen’s acquisitions remit for the group’s channels and TV2 Play spans drama, scripted comedy and unscripted genres across entertainment, music, concerts, pop culture and related documentaries. Other factual purchases are handled by TV2 acquisitions execs Troels Branth Pedersen and Marianne Bjørn, who is currently covering for Mette Kühnell Petersen.

Within TV2’s changing ecosystem, an increasingly dynamic relationship is developing between its linear channels and TV2 Play, where live-streamed channels account for up to half of all viewing. For TV2’s acquisition execs, the big shift is towards buying content that performs well on both linear and streaming, says Nielsen. “[Live streaming] is a very important thing for us and really makes TV2 Play stand out, particularly when you compare us with all the global streamers now present in our market,” adds Pedersen.

As well as tuning into TV2 Play for necessarily live news and sports channels, audiences are watching flagship channel TV2 and secondary nets Fri, Charlie and Zulu for a curated lean-back experience, Pedersen notes.

“Our head of scheduling compares it to when you’re on Spotify: sometimes you want to go for that

T in Denmark is honing a ‘Spotify-like’ programming strategy TV2 a across local and acquired fare as live channel streaming grows a alongside viewing on its digital service TV2 Play. By Gün Akyuz single hit, and that’s lean forward; and sometimes you just want a playlist and to have something served to you. That’s the difference, and we’re pretty good at both,” he says.

Last year’s standout factual success for TV2 Play was New York Times doc Framing Britney Spears, picked up from Red Arrow Studios International. “It really took off and showed us that when we get the right titles for the right audience it can really change things,” says Nielsen, who secured the pre-buy.

“With international acquisitions, we have the potential to reach out beyond our base of subscribers who come to TV2 because of our local content,” says Pedersen.

Our head of scheduling compares it to when you’re on Spotify: sometimes you want to go for that single hit, and that’s lean forward; and sometimes you just want a playlist and to have something served to you.

“

Troels Branth Pedersen TV2

“With foreign documentaries, we can add to that strong local content with something from the wider world – productions that are either too big for us to make or productions that have access to an international phenomenon that we could never get as a Danish broadcaster. Some of them do appeal to people who would not necessarily subscribe to TV2 Play.”

TV2 now buys documentaries it would have previously passed on, notes Pedersen, citing US feature doc WeWork: Or the Making & Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn and Showtime original docuseries

UFO, from JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot. Though neither title generated huge numbers, the win for TV2 was in attracting viewers who would not have expected to see such shows on TV2 Play, Pedersen says.

Both Nielsen and Pedersen say they’re keen to get back to attending physical events. Both attended the London TV Screenings in February, as well as the virtual BBC Studios Showcase, while MipTV is also on their itinerary.

A key priority is to ensure TV2 Play is “always fresh,” which means launching new content every day and major titles every week, says Pedersen, adding: “Of course, most of these will be local productions, but we are there to back it up with foreign content.”

There’s also more room for foreign content in TV2’s late night line-up because, like all other national broadcasters, the focus is on local production money in primetime, says Pedersen.

Openings on the flagship channel exist in late prime after 22.30 on weekdays. “It’s mostly in the off season, and that’s where we’re always looking for documentaries and factual content that can stand on its own, because marketing efforts go into our local productions,” says Pedersen.

Docs that have worked well on both linear and TV2 Play, says Pedersen, include Bad Influencer: The Great Insta Con, the BBC Three film about the rise and fall of Australian wellness guru Belle Gibson; and Channel 5 doc Inside Chernobyl with Ben Fogle, from Banijay Rights. On the latter, Pedersen says: “[Fogle is] not that well known here, but he’s still doing a great job, and that’s one thing that’s a bit different when selling to Denmark: we’re not put off by on-screen talent. I’d rather have Ben Fogle than just a voiceover, however great that voiceover is.”

Thanks to the cultural affinities between Denmark and the UK, the latter remains a key source of acquisitions for both execs. Pedersen says the countries also share ethical values, noting that this influenced the acquisition of a pair of BBC Two crime documentaries – Hunting the Essex Lorry

Channel21 International | Spring 2022

CONTENT CONFIDENTIAL: TV2 Denmark

Left from top: Documentary Chernobyl: The New Evidence, Sarah Beeny’s New Life in the Country, Prue’s Great Garden Plot and Framing Britney Spears.

Above: Channel 4’s Escape to the Chateau

Killers, which aired on TV2 in January, and Catching a Predator. While both docs tell very dark stories, they avoid sensationalism, says Pedersen. “We’re not really into the gritty, bloody crime genre, but we are definitely into big productions in crime with heart and ambition.”

Also lined up for TV2 and TV2 Play is three-part doc The Missing Children. Originally made for Irish pubcaster RTÉ and UK broadcaster ITV, it was presold to TV2 by Abacus Media Rights. Pedersen is keeping an eye out for more true crime titles.

Pre-buys have been a regular part of TV2’s factual acquisitions strategy over the past year, with Pedersen offering examples including PBS International doc Chernobyl: The New Evidence and TV4 Sweden doc DNA Detective, in addition the aforementioned UFO and The Missing Children.

Pedersen says he cherry-picks factual titles across the year to serve the changing needs of the linear channels and TV2 Play. “We just keep buying these titles with production values and robustness,

and stories that engage. They can air in January, in March or in May, it doesn’t matter,” he says.

TV2 Play’s recent roster also included a swathe of pop culture docs acquired by Nielsen, including a second Spears doc, Controlling Britney Spears, also distributed by Red Arrow; New York Times title Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson; Lifetime feature doc Whitney Houston & Bobbi Kristina: Didn’t We Almost Have it All; and BBC feature Reclaiming Amy, on the late singer Amy Winehouse.

“It’s titles like these that I’m looking for to put on TV2 Play to get some of the new audiences, make them subscribe and keep their subscriptions,” says Nielsen. “I’m being opportunistic because there aren’t that many titles around in that area. I would love to have had the Spice Girls documentary from the BBC, so I’m looking at new projects in that vein.”

A big chunk of Pedersen’s factual acquisitions are destined to go to linear lifestyle channel TV2 Fri, and these are mainly UK-sourced. They’re also largely

linear-first shows, but Pedersen adds: “We’re looking increasingly at whether they play on TV2 Play.”

Regulars on Fri include several series originally made for Channel 4, including Escape to the Chateau, which Pedersen describes as a best-inclass example, George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces, and both seasons of Sarah Beeny’s New Life in the Country. It has also picked up the more recently launched Prue’s Great Garden Plot, which is fronted

by Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith and launched on TV2 Fri in March.

Meanwhile, TV2 Charlie is a primary focus for Nielsen. The previously older-skewing secondary channel has broadened out to appeal to all viewers (three years-plus), although 50-plus viewers remain a core demo. Its feel-good focus means it prioritises lighter fare across entertainment and scripted, including acquired crime-lite series. As well as its goal to attract younger viewers, Nielsen says TV2 Play is currently bringing in more people in their 50s and 60s. “That’s why when I buy the next crime series, I am really looking at getting digital rights and whether it would perform on TV2 Play.”

When it comes to securing rights, Nielsen says the growing trend of larger international streaming competitors taking pan-Nordic rights at a very early stage has made things tougher. TV2 will do panNordic deals together with like-minded partners to counteract this but is also open to second windows and co-exclusivity deals on scripted shows, says Nielsen. “It depends which platform it has been on, and what kind of content it is. But the days where we just wanted exclusive and first runs all the time have gone.”

When it comes to factual acquisitions, Pedersen highlights a broader mix of strategies. “We still try to get on board early for [doc] pre-buys, but we also get some deals done because we are an attractive platform to place your content on,” he says.

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The 33 international marketplace for documentary and narrative experiences #NEWVOICES

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Channel21 International | Spring 2022

Three-year plan

Spirit Studios Peter Cowley of Channel 4-backed Spirit Studios in the UK reveals the strategy behind building a multigenre, multiplatform studio.

By Ruth Lawes

U

K outfit Spirit Studios, which was founded by former Endemol executives Peter Cowley and Matt Campion, now CEO and creative director respectively, has always had ambitions beyond TV. Launched in 2010 as a multiplatform company, today Spirit has divisions encompassing podcasts as well as TV, branded content and social media channels.

Spirit formally established the four units in 2020 after it became independent following the collapse of its parent company, Kew Media. Cowley says the restructure was partly prompted by the demise of the ill-fated group, which bought Spirit in 2017 before entering administration a few years later. But the rebrand was also a means to cement Spirit’s long-term strategy to take a “diversified” approach to content.

Cowley believes having an ecosystem of different production methods is the future, as it helps engage audiences. “Commissioners want producers who understand how to market a show to an audience and who have a more direct-to-consumer approach through social media,” he says.

Schedules and streamers are filled with “clickable” shows that are ripe for spinning off short clips that resonate on YouTube or social media. This includes Spirit’s comedy series The Stand Up Sketch Show, commissioned by UK commercial broadcaster ITV2.

The format takes well-known comedians’ best standup stories and brings them to life in sketch form, which work well as clips on social media, Cowley adds.

In addition, having varied production outlets

The Stand Up Sketch Show

Each of the studios is able to feed into the others, with a format idea or talent, so a podcast could become a social channel, a TV show could become a podcast and so on.

“

Peter Cowley means that a company like Spirit can create a single piece of IP that is used as the basis for multiple types of content, Cowley explains.

“For example, a podcast can be a proving ground for TV, whether that’s for testing a script out or developing talent. It could also contain a new format idea that translates into other mediums,” he says.

“Each of the studios is able to feed into the others, with a format idea or talent, so a podcast could become a social channel, a TV show could become a podcast and so on.”

It’s this symbiotic approach, he says, that led to UK broadcaster Channel 4 adding Spirit to its Indie Growth Fund, which provides independent producers with funding. For Spirit, the scheme means growth, money and support. “It will allow us to attract staff

and it means we can take more risks,” Cowley adds.

“It also means we can fulfil this diversified approach to building our studio.”

Spirit is committed to promoting positive social change, he says, pointing to BBC comedy show Bamous, hosted by comedian Dane Baptiste.

Spirit Studios is also behind the Lion Whisperer TV channel on YouTube and Facebook. Founded alongside Kevin Richardson, a South African wildlife conservationist known as ‘The Lion Whisperer,’ and Wild Thring Media, the channel raises awareness about the dangers faced by lions. Cowley adds that while Lion Whisperer TV also aims to entertain, some of the revenue is reinvested into the Lion Whisperer community to fund conservation.

“Its social content is truly global,” Cowley says of Lion Whisperer TV’s reach. “There is as big an audience in China as there is in the US, while the UK is the fifth biggest territory for the channel.”

Meanwhile, Spirit has already begun expanding its team, with the hiring of Alexandra Fraser, former joint CEO of Maverick and co-founder of 7Wonder, to the newly created role of creative and board advisor in February. Cowley reveals Fraser’s factual entertainment background was a draw for the firm, as it is looking to grow into other genres in the next three years, including scripted.

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Channel21 International | Spring 2022

Development slate

Mercury Studios Universal Music Group’s Mercury Studios is looking to tell stories through music rather than music stories, explains Alice Webb. By Nico Franks

M

ercury Studios is developing a slate of projects and is set to be made with input from the trans, non-binary with music at their core at a time when the and wider LGBTQ+ community.

Mercury Studios was formed in 2020 out of UMG’s film music documentary is entering a new era. Just as they did in pop music with 1967’s Sgt Pepper’s Lonely and TV prodco Eagle Rock Entertainment, which Webb Hearts Club Band, The Beatles last year demonstrated the joined earlier that year after a decade-and-a-half with audience’s appetite for experimentation with the release of the BBC, where she became director of the pubcaster’s children’s and education units, leading a push into digital. the documentary Get Back on Disney+.

Aiming to look beyond the usual artist-focused As well as making audiences fall in love with the iconic band all over again, another achievement of Get Back, all documentaries, Mercury Studios produces music-focused eight hours of it, was to highlight the fluidity of formats on content spanning performance/live, factual/reality, scripted, streaming and the audience’s des desire to graze on a piece of podcasts, shortform content and graphic novels. Webb also suggests a move into true crime could be on the cards. unscripted content over hours and hours.

While music-focused platforms like Spotify, Tidal and It has certainly given factual pro producers a shot in the arm TikTok remain the domain of UMG’s and CEO and co-president Alice Webb The BBC is marketing and social media units, believes work” has b lieves the “seminal body of wor be Mercury Studios instead targets already to a ready meant buyers are more open al o incredible at traditional players, as evident in its experimentation. specialist factual and links with the BBC, as well as premium This comes as Mercury Studios, which bringing that together streamers and YouTube. is owned by Universal Music Group Mercury Studios agreed a development (UMG), gets set to release a four- with our access to deal with the documentary unit of BBC part BBC Two series about abou The talent makes it a great Studios (BBCS), the UK pubcaster’s Rolling Stones. Timed to union of two giants in Tim commercial arm, in late 2021. Looking mark their incredible incre the world of media. to create a pipeline of music-driven 60th anniversary annive and returnable IP for domestic and this year, it features fea Alice Webb international audiences, the joint slate is previously unseen un footage and interviews and was made divided into four main genres: social history, social purpose, int specialist factual and factual entertainment, and will feature in collaboration with the group.

Webb says UMG’s relationship with music or music talent. Mercury Studios and BBCS are U the Stones, whic which goes back to 2008 handling distribution of projects on a case-by-case basis.

“The BBC is incredible at specialist factual and bringing and was expanded expande in 2018, helped give Mercury Studios access to the legendary that together with our access to talent makes it a great a rockers. But the p prodco does not solely union of two giants in the world of media,” says Webb.

Music transcends borders and Webb is keen to build work with UMG artists.

“We’re entirely a slate with both global and local appeal. With offices in “W creatively and editorially London, New York and LA, Mercury Studios has projects cre independent of originating out of the US, such as a series telling the story in Universal Music,” says of Daddy Yankee, the pioneer of reggaeton, one of the U Webb, who describes world’s most popular genres of music.

W YouTube is also proving fertile ground for Mercury the t prodco’s approach to audiovisual content Studios to launch new IP, with its channel featuring shows as “telling stories through such as Gap Years, where kids and their parents swap the “ music, not telling music music that they grew up with, alongside song explainers, live performances and backstage interviews with acts such stories.”

Mercury Studios’ access to talent as Self Esteem and Digga D in The Lead Up. Stud Webb describes the originals as being “mid-form,” so is obviously extensive and a among the artists it is working with is Yungblud.

Inspired by between 10 to 15 minutes long per episode. This highlights Y the track Mars on the 24-year-old’s album another format ripe for development at the studio, alongside Weird!, the shortform scripted piece is “an shortform, feature-length and, if Get Back sets a trend, uncensored, unfiltered ltere portrayal of youth” long-long-longform.

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Yungblud