World Screen Pre-MIPCOM 2019

WS_0919_COVER.qxp_WSN_109_COVER 9/3/19 9:48 AM Page 1

Pre-MIPCOM Edition

WWW.WORLDSCREEN.COM

THE MAGAZINE OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA • SEPTEMBER 2019

Drama Trends / Making NOS4A2 / Eric McCormack / Red Arrow Studios’ James Baker / Crown Media’s Bill Abbott BBC Studios’ Mark Linsey / Kew Media’s Greg Phillips / Global Agency’s Izzet Pinto / 9 Story’s Vince Commisso / SPI’s Loni Farhi

SPREAD CROWN MEDIA.qxp_Layout 1 8/30/19 5:38 PM Page 1

SPREAD CROWN MEDIA.qxp_Layout 1 8/30/19 5:40 PM Page 2

GLOBAL AGENCY 6,7.qxp_Layout 1 9/3/19 2:26 PM Page 1

GLOBAL AGENCY 6,7.qxp_Layout 1 9/3/19 2:27 PM Page 2

WS_0919_TOC.qxp_1_05 WSN TOC 8/30/19 3:45 PM Page 2

CONTENTS

SEPTEMBER 2019/PRE-MIPCOM EDITION DEPARTMENTS WORLD VIEW

By Anna Carugati

10

Publisher Ricardo Seguin Guise

UPFRONTS New content on the market.

12

Group Editorial Director Anna Carugati

IN THE NEWS Crown Media’s Bill Abbott.

28

IN CONVERSATION BBC Studios’ Mark Linsey.

32

SPOTLIGHT Kew Media’s Greg Phillips.

34

MARKET TRENDS Global Agency’s Izzet Pinto.

36

KIDS’ CORNER 9 Story’s Vince Commisso.

38

FOCUS ON 40 SPI International’s Loni Farhi.

DIGITAL SHIFT Wattpad’s Allen Lau.

43

WORLD’S END In the stars.

50

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

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

Editor Mansha Daswani Executive Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Associate Editors Chelsea Regan Alison Skilton

NOS4A2

18

Eric McCormack

20

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

SPECIAL REPORTS

Editorial Assistant, Spanish-Language Publications Jessica Ávila

Stars Zachary Quinto and Ashleigh Cummings and showrunner Jami O’Brien talk about bringing Joe Hill’s best-selling novel to AMC.

Contributing Editor Elizabeth Guider

18 MAKING NOS4A2

Production & Design Director David Diehl

22 HIGH DRAMA Leading distributors weigh in on the latest developments in the global drama market.

Online Director Simon Weaver Art Director Phyllis Q. Busell Senior Sales & Marketing Manager Dana Mattison

ONE-ON-ONE

47 RED ARROW STUDIOS’ JAMES BAKER The president and co-CEO of Red Arrow Studios discusses fostering and retaining talent, financing and packaging IP and responding to the booming demand for local content worldwide.

Sales & Marketing Coordinator Genovick Acevedo Business Affairs Manager Andrea Moreno Contributing Writers Steve Clarke Andy Fry Joanna Stephens Jay Stuart David Wood

Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development WORLD SCREEN is a registered trademark of WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, Suite 1207 New York, NY 10010, U.S.A. Phone: (212) 924-7620 Fax: (212) 924-6940 Website: www.worldscreen.com

22

©2019 WSN INC. Printed by Fry Communications No part of this publication can be used, reprinted, copied or stored in any medium without the publisher’s authorization.

8 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_PALATIN_09.qxp_Layout 1 9/4/19 9:43 AM Page 1

WS_0919_WORLD VIEW.qxp_WSN_407_WORLD VIEW 8/30/19 3:53 PM Page 2

WORLD VIEW

BY ANNA CARUGATI

Binge Therapy There is a term in psychology called bibliotherapy. It refers to the benefits patients can derive from reading a book that illustrates an issue and then discussing it with their therapists.

Reading has been providing salutary effects for millennia. The Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II reportedly had an inscription on the door to his library that said, Healing place of the soul.

Books can help us feel less alone. They can help us to confront challenging experiences too painful or shameful to discuss and to face personal traits we may not have even been aware of. To become absorbed in the experiences of a character in a novel, or a real-life person in a memoir, and learn how they overcame loss, adversity, abuse, sexual assault, addiction or discrimination, can be an eye-opening and crucial first step toward healing.

This type of therapy, also referred to as therapeutic storytelling, is not restricted to books. So many scripted TV shows today are serialized, which lend them to be enjoyed and consumed like chapters of a book—often more than one episode in a sitting. And television writing has become so nuanced and sophisticated that series also offer therapeutic storytelling—something I like to call binge therapy. Think of all the complex characters with broken moral compasses, many of them striving to do the right thing despite their shortcomings. Or all the victims of depression and addiction who inhabit the small screen, the marginalized and disenfranchised, the victims of abuse. So many plotlines and characters can help viewers recognize issues they are facing, or at least gain insight into those issues.

Consider the lessons to be gleaned from characters on The Sopranos (mob mentality and yes, the benefits of therapy), Breaking Bad (overcoming adversity in the extreme), Mad Men (ambition and the enduring effects of childhood experiences), Masters of Sex (the range of basic human needs and desires and the lifelong impact of child abuse), The West Wing (ambition, sacrificing personal needs for the public good, and how the Oval Office should be run—sorry, that’s true, but beyond the point I’m trying to make). The list goes on and on; you can add your favorites. Even comedies can offer improbable insights into human behavior and frailties, think Cheers, Frasier, The Office, 30 Rock and again, add your personal favorites.

Then there is the unintended therapy, the feel-good, comfort-food quality certain shows have. Here the list becomes highly personalized because each one of us is different. We each bring our own experiences, biases and tastes to the series we watch, and in turn, shows

resonate differently with different viewers. To some, sci-fi transports and soothes; others want to see justice served in a crime show where good guys catch the bad guys. Still other viewers escape to distant lands through travel shows or benefit from the advice and tips offered by lifestyle, cooking or home-improvement shows.

For me, the series that has consistently been my goto show whenever I need to relax, escape, wash away the stress of the day is Friends. The worse the news of the day—and lately there seems to be no end to bad news—the more I need to take refuge on the couch in Central Perk or hang out in Monica’s apartment.

Apparently, I’m not alone. Friends fandom is so loyal and dedicated, WarnerMedia is planning several events to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first episode of Friends, which aired on September 22, 1994.

There’s an immersive pop-up experience in Manhattan, where fans can stick their head in a turkey (remember when Joey gets his head stuck in Monica’s turkey on Thanksgiving?), peek through Monica and Rachel’s purple door, relax on Joey and Chandler’s recliner after playing foosball, take a picture on the legendary orange couch and browse through a Friends retail store. For fans who can’t make it to New York City, on September 23, September 28 and October 2, movie theaters across the U.S. will offer four iconic episodes a night in Friends 25th: The One with the Anniversary. Chandler, could all of this be more exciting?

It is a testament to the enduring power of a show. Very few series reach that status, but many do hit the zeitgeist. They are enthusiastically discussed in person or online, creating those legendary watercooler moments. Every writer, producer and distributor hopes to be part of one of these culturealtering shows.

Often the shows that capture hearts and minds are scripted dramas. Savvy financing and distribution strategies are essential for a series to be produced with the highest production values and enjoyed by a wide audience. We examine several in our feature in this issue.

Binge therapy won’t replace in-office sessions with psychologists and psychiatrists. But the everincreasing number of quality shows and relatable characters available to us provide companionship, respite and insight.

Relatable characters provide companionship, respite and insight.

10 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_9 A+E NETWORKS_11.qxp_Layout 1 9/3/19 2:28 PM Page 1

WS_0919_UPFRONTS.qxp_Layout 1 8/30/19 4:04 PM Page 1

UPFRONTS

9 Story Distribution Clifford the Big Red Dog / Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum / Book Hungry Bears Clifford the Big Red Dog

A fresh take on Scholastic’s iconic book property, Clifford the Big Red Dog is a lead offering for 9 Story Distribution. The show promises a contemporary spin on characters such as Emily Elizabeth, who is now stronger and more independent.

Also, for the first time, Clifford is given his own voice and speaks to Emily Elizabeth. Another book-based property, Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum features stories of iconic figures in history such as Amelia Earhart and Isaac Newton but from the perspective of when they were kids.

The show is “full of adventure and beautifully animated,” says Alix Wiseman, 9 Story’s senior VP of business development and acquisitions. For the preschool set, there’s Book Hungry Bears, which features a group of teddy bear friends who have adventures and explore the world of books and storytelling.

“Clifford the Big Red Dog features a fresh design approach, more humor and a more contemporary take on the characters.”

—Alix Wiseman

A+E Networks Miss Scarlet and The Duke / Damian Lewis: Spy Wars / The UnXplained A+E Networks’ Miss Scarlet and The Duke follows Victorian London’s first female detective and the partner—a drinker,

“Our programs are centered on universal themes and issues that resonate in the present day for a global audience.”

gambler and womanizer—she teams up with to solve crimes. Meanwhile, Damian Lewis: Spy Wars sees the actor unpack modern history’s covert missions, delving into everything from hostage exchanges to assassination plots. The UnXplained, hosted by William Shatner, seeks to shed light on how the seemingly impossible can happen.

“This new anthology series tackles subjects that have mystified mankind for centuries, from mysterious structures and cursed ancient cities to extraterrestrial sightings and bizarre rituals,” says Richard Tulk-Hart, the company’s managing

The UnXplained

—Richard Tulk-Hart

director of international content sales and co-productions.

Banijay Rights The Gulf / The Restaurant / Occupied The Banijay Rights drama The Gulf follows the moral disintegration of Detective Jess Savage, who investigates crimes in her hometown of Waiheke Island, New Zealand.

“The way the drama explores the idea that even good people, given the wrong circumstances, are capable of committing a terrible crime is universal in its appeal,” says Caroline Torrance, head of scripted at Banijay Rights. The company is also promoting third seasons of The Restaurant and Occupied. The Restaurant centers on the Löwander family, who run a prestigious eatery in Stockholm. The third season kicks off in 1968, a progressive time for the community at large as well as for Stockholm’s nightlife. The third season of the political thriller Occupied is set in a post-war era as a new parliamentary election is due.

“Occupied season three promises continued international appeal in the way it depicts a near global future through an intense political thriller that deals with themes of conflict and trust.”

—Caroline Torrance

Occupied

12 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_UPFRONTS.qxp_Layout 1 9/3/19 10:26 AM Page 2

BBC Studios Seven Worlds, One Planet / Sanditon / Traces BBC Studios’ natural-history series Seven Worlds, One Planet is narrated by Sir David Attenborough and celebrates the diversity of life on each of the seven continents. Jane Austen’s unfinished novel Sanditon is brought to life by BAFTA-winning screenwriter Andrew Davies in a new drama that follows an unconventional young woman who moves to a British seaside town full of romance and intrigue. Lastly, the brand-new drama Traces is based on an original idea by bestselling crime writer Val McDermid and stars Molly Windsor (Three Girls). “Crime drama continues to be hugely popular with our customers and Traces has an exceptional team who have created a unique, dark and captivating story that looks set to be a hit with audiences worldwide,” says Paul Dempsey, BBC Studios’ president of global distribution.

Seven Worlds, One Planet

“BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit has an unparalleled reputation for genre-defining documentaries.”

—Paul Dempsey

Crown Media International Distribution Rome in Love / Mystery 101 / 10th Anniversary of Countdown to Christmas Starring Italia Ricci and Peter Porte, the Hallmark Channel Original Movie Rome in Love is a lead offering from Crown Media International Distribution. The TV movie was shot on location in Rome, “beautifully capturing the magic of the city for a modern take on the classic film Roman Holiday,” says Francisco J. González, senior VP of international distribution.

Another highlight is the Mystery 101 limited series. “As the appetite for crime mysteries continues to grow globally, our signature mystery series offer unique and engaging plots under our world-renowned Hallmark brand,” González adds. With an all-new lineup of original holiday movies, Hallmark Channel is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Countdown to Christmas, and Crown Media International Distribution can offer the successful holiday franchise to buyers around the world.

“We’re developing new opportunities to bring our signature quality content, and the power of our brand, to every corner of the world.”

Rome in Love

—Francisco J. González

Sanatorium of Love

Global Agency Magic Moms / Sanatorium of Love / Babysitter Celebrity Undercover Headlining Global Agency’s slate at MIPCOM is Magic Moms, which sees four moms competing to create the perfect birthday party, and the winner is determined by an uncompromising jury made up of their own kids. Meanwhile, in Sanatorium of Love, six elderly women and men are sent off to a resort in the mountains to get to know each other and hopefully rectify their loneliness. “The program aims to show the problem of discrimination against older people and to present their lives in a colorful and heartwarming way, emphasizing the value and dignity of a human being regardless of their age,” says Umay Ayaz, Global Agency’s head of acquisitions. Lastly, Babysitter Celebrity Undercover sees stars don disguises as they pose as the babysitter of one of their young fans.

“Global Agency draws upon a rich pool of creativity and has diversified into formats such as lifestyle, talent, dating and game shows.”

—Umay Ayaz

9/19 WORLD SCREEN 13

WS_0919_UPFRONTS.qxp_Layout 1 9/3/19 12:30 PM Page 3

Leke

Inter Medya Bitter Lands / The Perfect Couple / Leke Set in 1970s Istanbul and Çukurova in southern Turkey, the Inter Medya highlight Bitter Lands from TIMS&B Productions tells a story that shows love’s many sides. The series “has been earning increasingly strong ratings and great reviews since its first day,” says Inter Medya’s founder and CEO, Can Okan. “It’s one of the most successful series of the last season.” Also produced by TIMS&B, Leke follows two lovers with challenging pasts, as secrets, family and self-sacrifice show how difficult life can be. From Inter Medya’s formats catalog, The Perfect Couple takes 11 women and 11 men to a private island near Cartagena, Colombia, where they compete in challenges for keys to the perfect house to share with the perfect partner. Further, Inter Medya has moved into producing, making nine episodes of Behzat Ç.

“One of our primary goals is to continue to expand our distribution area by extending our product line.”

—Can Okan

Multicom Entertainment Group TheArchive / 4K Restorations / Blood 13 Huang Lu, who will be recurring in the upcoming Hulu series Little Fires Everywhere, stars as a detective who goes to extreme lengths to solve a murder case in Blood 13, a crime thriller in Multicom Entertainment Group’s library.

TheArchive, a channel that the company is bringing to audiences worldwide, features rare, retro and 4K-restored films and classic TV. Boasting more than 100 hours of 4K content, Multicom has a proprietary restoration workflow that has brought such films as the documentary The Long Way Home and Where the Red Fern Grows Part II up to UHD resolution.

Multicom’s president, Darrin Holender, says the company’s “ever-growing library of broadcast-quality feature films and television programming is growing at a rapid pace heading into this MIPCOM.”

“Multicom’s catalog continues to provide buyers with plenty of choice and depth in all genres.”

—Darrin Holender

Blood 13

Palatin Media Spides / Evolution of Driving / Backfired: When VW Lied to America The Berlin-set sci-fi fantasy series Spides is among the lead offerings that Palatin Media is presenting to international buyers. It follows as young Nora tries to uncover the largest conspiracy ever and save the world from an alien invasion— or will she prove to be the key to humanity’s doom? The company is also showcasing the car docuseries Evolution of Driving and the documentary Backfired: When VW Lied to America, which presents the story of the Volkswagen scandal that broke four years ago. Of Palatin’s MIPCOM plans, Bernd Schlötterer, managing director, says, “We are looking for partners for our new event series In the Name of the King: The Series, based on the theatrical franchise with Jason Statham, as well as for Quazi, based on the bestseller by Sergei Lukyanenko.”

Evolution of Driving

“The sophisticated car magazine Evolution of Driving shows the history, the present and the future of the automobiles of the world’s most important manufacturers.”

—Bernd Schlötterer 14 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_UPFRONTS.qxp_Layout 1 8/30/19 4:04 PM Page 4

STUDIOCANAL Savages / On Death Row Set in present-day France, the STUDIOCANAL drama Savages is adapted from Sabri Louatah’s highly acclaimed novels of the same name. “Savages is a high-end, glossy thriller that has an exceptional global storyline with universal themes of power and family, set against a backdrop of contemporary political change,” says Beatriz Campos, head of international sales. Meanwhile, On Death Row is a true-crime drama series about a man trying to prove his innocence for murder in the face of relentless insistence from a D.A. and a never-ending, painful judicial process.

“Buyers and audiences are looking for high-end production values and strong narratives, and we have achieved both with the new drama series On Death Row and Savages,” Campos says.

Savages

“We continue to focus on premium drama with strong European roots.”

—Beatriz Campos Heirs of the Night

ZDF Enterprises Heirs of the Night / Ancient Skies / Ottilie von Faber-Castell Selected for a World Premiere TV Screening at MIPJunior, the ZDF Enterprises highlight Heirs of the Night centers on Europe’s five remaining vampire clans as they set aside hostilities so their heirs can attend the same ship-set school. The heirs’ aim is to become strong enough to beat Dracula and save the world. From the factual slate, Ancient Skies uses CGI, landscape footage and astronomical artifacts to look at the cosmos through the eyes of our ancestors. The drama Ottilie von Faber-Castell, set in Germany toward the end of the 19th century, is based on the true story of the woman who inherited the famous pencil-manufacturing empire. “Our topics work internationally, whether breathtaking drama series, wellresearched documentaries or high-class kids’ programs,” says Fred Burcksen, ZDF Enterprises’ president and CEO.

“We have a lot of new programs in our catalog and we are proud to present them in Cannes.”

—Fred Burcksen

Get a FREE subscription to our 4 daily newsletters, 10 weekly newsletters and 1 monthly newsletter. www.subscriptions.ws

SPREAD INTER MEDYA.qxp_Layout 1 8/29/19 12:12 PM Page 1

SPREAD INTER MEDYA.qxp_Layout 1 8/29/19 12:12 PM Page 2

WS_0919_NOS4A2.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 8/30/19 3:57 PM Page 1

AMC’s NOS4A2.

18 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_NOS4A2.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 8/30/19 3:59 PM Page 2

Mansha Daswani talks to NOS4A2 stars Zachary Quinto and Ashleigh Cummings and showrunner Jami O’Brien about bringing Joe Hill’s best-selling novel to AMC.

Z

achary Quinto was in no rush to play another notorious villain on television (his breakout role was as Sylar on Heroes, and he went on to embody the terrifying Dr. Oliver Thredson on American Horror Story: Asylum). But AMC’s NOS4A2 convinced him to take on another fear-inducing character, Charlie Manx, who kidnaps children and takes them to a place called Christmasland. Based on the book of the same name by Joe Hill, the horror series was adapted for television by Jami O’Brien.

“I had a conversation with Jami, I read six of the scripts, and I just felt like there was a lot of dimension in the world and a lot of great collaborative energy around the project,” Quinto tells World Screen. “The aspect of this character that allowed me to transform and immerse myself in another physicality, another world, was more appealing than not.

So I decided to come on board. And then I read the novel, and I was even happier that I came on board. And then I read the graphic novel, Wraith, which is much more about Charlie Manx’s backstory. There’s so much fabric here to work with creatively that I felt like it would be a missed opportunity.”

Quinto was also keen to be back on television after a five-year gap—during which time he appeared in the feature films Star Trek Beyond and Snowden and the Broadway play The Boys in the Band. “Part of my decision [to do the show] was, if I’m going to come back to television, I’m going to do something I know people like to see me do.

But to do it on another level, with a little bit more depth and nuance. This show exists in the supernatural world but also firmly in the real world. It was operating on a spectrum, rather than in just one area.”

Ashleigh Cummings stars as Vic McQueen, a special teen who sets out to stop Manx. Cummings is a newcomer for American audiences, but in her native Australia she is well known for TV series such as Gallipoli and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. She was drawn to McQueen’s “complexity—I appreciated that it was a reimagining of the heroine story. We’ve seen a rise in films portraying strong female characters, superheroes, women who are badasses. I enjoyed that Vic was all those things, but she was also very vulnerable, and her superpowers were her empathy, her creativity, her vulnerability, her sensitivity. We broadened the scope of the term ‘strong’ to include these typically feminine qualities that make her the superhero she is.

She’s also a very ordinary girl in challenging circumstances, which is kind of what births this superpower, in a sense.”

O’Brien had just wrapped her work on the AMC drama Hell on Wheels when the network’s VP of scripted development and programming, Emma Miller, asked if she was familiar with Hill’s 2013 novel. O’Brien had not read that book but did know Locke & Key, a comic-book series from the horror and fantasy writer (who also happens to hail from horror-fiction royalty: he’s the son of Stephen and Tabitha King).

“Emma said, Check it out, we have the rights to it, we think it would make a good TV show. I read it that weekend and concurred. I was completely captivated by the characters and this fascinating world that Joe had created.”

On how she approached the adaptation from book to screen, O’Brien notes, “I thought to myself, What is the best way to squeeze as much of this onto a TV screen as we possibly can? Whenever we’ve deviated from the 9/19 WORLD SCREEN 19

book, the goal has been to serve the book.

When we first meet Vic McQueen in the book, she’s 8 years old. The first time she encounters Charlie Manx, she’s a young teenager. And then she meets him again as an adult. So when I set about adapting it, I thought, we’re going to have an adult actress play the role, but I don’t want to lose any of this stuff [from Vic’s childhood], and I don’t want to see it as a flashback with a different actress who the audience isn’t going to know as well. So I said, Let’s make her a bit older, so we can take that journey with our Vic. I made that decision wanting to not lose the childhood story.”

O’Brien adds that meeting the high expectations of fans of the book gave her “a lot of anxiety! Joe rightfully has a lot of fans.

The book is fantastic. When I love a book and am going to watch an adaptation of it, I go in with the hope they do it justice. But we’ve been really lucky in that Joe has been so supportive of the project and generous.”

Quinto, who took on Leonard Nimoy’s iconic Spock character in the rebooted Star Trek franchise movies, notes, “I’ve had a lot of experience managing fan expectations in my career. You can’t please everybody.

Our job is to do the best work we can and honor the project that we’re taking on in whatever way we can.”

“The book exists in its own right,” Cummings adds. “It’s perfect in its own sense. [The TV adaptation] has its own life.

This medium has its own properties that allow for other grooves [in the story] to be deepened and explored. You don’t want to be limited by trying to create the exact same thing that previously existed in a wonderful form in and of itself.”

AMC has ordered season two of NOS4A2 for launch in 2020.

WS_0919_MCCORMACK.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 8/30/19 4:00 PM Page 1

20 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_MCCORMACK.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 9/3/19 10:31 AM Page 2

W

ill & Grace first premiered in 1998. For eight seasons, the sitcom blended hilarity and irreverence as it depicted the lives of lawyer Will, played by Eric McCormack, his roommate and best friend, Grace, and their friends, socialite Karen and struggling actor Jack. Creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan reassembled the cast in 2016 for a ten-minute election video that ran online before the first Hillary Clinton-Donald Trump debate. To the delight of fans, the look, feel and chemistry of the characters were exactly the same. The favorable reaction convinced NBC to bring the series back in 2017. McCormack talks about the show, its impact and the craft of comedy.

By Anna Carugati

WS: When Will & Grace returned, it was as if no time had passed at all since the show’s last season in 2006. How did you keep the show so true to what it was?

MCCORMACK: We really had one choice to make, which is, do we pick up where we left off, which would mean that Will and Grace would have children in their teens, or do we just forget that? Max [Mutchnick, co-creator and executive producer] said, I don’t want to do the kids. And we said, Great!

Because then it wouldn’t be—I don’t know what it would be— but it would not be the Will & Grace that we’d always done.

And that’s what worked. We had the benefit of shooting the political video for Hillary [Clinton]. Doing it, as Sean Hayes calls it, was like a proof of concept. This can work again, but the way it was going to work was by doing it exactly the same.

WS: Are there certain subjects that can be addressed in middle age that were more difficult to deal with when the characters were younger?

MCCORMACK: There are a few. Certainly, we can have fun with older people and technology. Will and Jack didn’t have Grindr at their disposal all those years ago. So there’s that fun. Also, it’s one thing if you’re 35 and trying to find the man of your dreams, but if you’re 55 and you’ve had several men of your dreams and are choosing right now, as Will was when we started, that’s a different thing. We can show Will as a silver fox enjoying that status. You have to take advantage of that politically, too, because when Ben Platt came on as the young millennial gay man who didn’t really have any sense of his history, Will took the chance to lecture him and go, Hey, ya know, there were some battles won and lost to get us here, and that’s a great use of the show. I was really proud of that because I thought, we can be silly, silly, silly, but we can also, once in a while, use our status as one of the original gay platforms.

WS: Will & Grace is entertainment, but it interweaves serious subject matter. Does that come from the writers or the cast?

MCCORMACK: It’s definitely all from the writers, but Max particularly was frustrated as we headed into the election a few years ago, and he didn’t have these characters as

mouthpieces. He knew Karen would be a Republican, and we’d be fighting hard for our side. The arguments that we could have with her and the arguments that we could pose to America from our characters’ points of view were just too rich to not mine.

WS: How has the show been able to push the envelope so much, especially since broadcast networks are not known for being particularly in favor of risk?

MCCORMACK: I think networks are starting to figure out that they have to play the new game because that’s what audiences are expecting. There’s that expression when talking about the cost of a film; you might say, “adjusted for today’s prices.” Well, we have to adjust Will & Grace for today’s sensibility. You can’t be your parents’ gay show. We have to be right now. Luckily, Bob Greenblatt, who was running NBC at the time, very much was the one responsible for seeing that ten-minute video and saying, Yes, let’s reboot this. He told Max and David [Kohan, co-creator and executive producer], Push it; write the show you need to write.

WS: You’ve acted in comedies and drama. Are they equally challenging, or is comedy more difficult to get right than drama?

MCCORMACK: They’re definitely their own challenges, but I find that comedy is changing rapidly. Every year, there are new faces of comedy. Seth Rogen changes things and then suddenly there’s somebody else that’s making Seth Rogen movies look ten years old. What we’re doing feels like I Love Lucy a little bit. We have our subject matter, which helps, but luckily, we have some younger writers who have come in. What’s difficult with comedy is just currency.

And more than ever, a joke that we might write has already been said on Twitter before we can get it onto paper. It’s very hard to be current in comedy these days, whereas I think with drama you have to be cutting-edge, but you’re not racing against the clock.

WS: Are you working on other projects?

MCCORMACK: I’m writing a drama now with a writer that I’m excited about that we’ll try to sell.

9/19 WORLD SCREEN 21

WS_0919_DRAMA FEATURE_ALT.qxp_REAL_408_NIGHT 8/30/19 4:03 PM Page 2

Banijay Rights’ The Gulf.

22 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_DRAMA FEATURE_ALT.qxp_REAL_408_NIGHT 9/4/19 11:15 AM Page 4

Mansha Daswani checks in with leading distributors about the latest developments in the global drama market.

S

pectrum has emerged as the newest drama buyer in what is already a frenetic scripted landscape in the U.S. And reflecting trends in the broader market, the pay-TV platform appears to have extremely eclectic tastes; projects it has boarded for its Spectrum Originals lineup include the American procedural L.A.’s Finest, the Southern gothic series Paradise Lost, the Sky U.K. action thriller Curfew and Mediapro’s Spanish soccer drama Todo por el Juego (Side Games).

Spectrum’s scripted needs speak to a wider trend across the drama landscape: there’s no one particular genre or storytelling style in demand, and while some markets remain at the forefront in terms of output and reputation, a good idea really can come from anywhere. The challenge, of course, is in matching all those great ideas with the right homes for them.

“There is a sea of opportunity in drama, but you need to be smart about the right opportunity for the producer as well as the platform or the broadcaster,” observes Mark Linsey, the chief creative officer at BBC Studios.

“There is no quick fix—finding the right project and the right partners takes a good deal of time and experience,” adds Françoise Guyonnet, the executive managing director for TV series at STUDIOCANAL. “You need to be able to work with a group of creative partners and have the same creative vision from the outset.”

It’s also crucial to have a broad slate, notes Stephen Driscoll, the executive VP for EMEA and European co-productions at all3media international. “We tend to take a portfolio approach. We have lots of customers, so you need to offer them a variety of different types of shows.”

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE There are, however, a few things popping up frequently on buyers’ wish lists. “We see a trend toward lighter and more uplifting product,” observes Fred Burcksen, the president and CEO of ZDF Enterprises. “There is certain fatigue around bleak and dark shows, probably due to the current political and ecological state of the Earth. This leads viewers to look for more escapism in their daily lives.”

Procedurals, dramas with strong female leads, book adaptations and crime also remain in high demand, according to many of those surveyed for this piece. To answer some of those needs, ZDF Enterprises arrives at MIPCOM with the period dramas Ottilie von Faber-Castell, about the heiress of a crumbling business empire building a legacy for herself, and Dead Still.

Outside of specific genres, Burcksen identifies a broader division in the market.

“We believe that there are two types of projects. The bread-and-butter mainstream projects remain successful because they stick to a proven recipe. They make it easy for users to decide to invest an hour of 9/19 WORLD SCREEN 23

their time and watch a show because they know what they will get. And then some projects combine known plots in new and surprising constellations. In a world where the attention economy is the new reality, people are looking for either the wellfamiliar or the super-surprising.”

Agapy Kapouranis, the president of international television and digital distribution at Lionsgate, pinpoints the need for a “great storyteller with a flair for strong character development. Originality, authenticity and boldness are important, and having fresh creative voices behind the project with partners that support their vision is most important of all.”

Chris Stewart, commercial director for scripted at Banijay Rights, is on the lookout for “something we know we can market. A strong piece of IP. Particularly projects adapted from books. Something that the buyers and audience can buy into from the start, whether that’s a straight adaptation or a reboot of something familiar to them. Or a piece of casting: Wisting is a fantastic series, but it certainly helps to have Carrie-Anne Moss attached—it elevates it to a different level.”

And the bar has been raised for everyone, notes BBC Studios’ Linsey.

“I think buyers expect any script, any treatment, to be good, to be polished. People are asking for noisier genre, but at the same time, there’s room for looking at typical family relationships and the challenges of parenting. Particularly on SVOD, they are

WS_0919_DRAMA FEATURE_ALT.qxp_REAL_408_NIGHT 9/3/19 10:35 AM Page 5

BBC Studios is showcasing Sanditon, Jane Austen’s unfinished novel adapted by Andrew Davies. looking for universal themes. It’s about how we, as content providers, can establish the universality of those themes and make them accessible for a broad audience.”

AHEAD OF THE CURVE SVOD trends are particularly challenging to identify, Driscoll at all3media notes. “In terms of linear broadcasters, we have detective procedural customers and we know they want more. When it comes to SVOD, it’s a bit more challenging. They might have had success with a young adult (YA) drama, a sci-fi drama or a truecrime drama, but that doesn’t mean they’ll want that next year. They want you to come with something new and fresh.

That’s why we tend to take a portfolio approach. We want to have a good YA drama, an intriguing sci-fi drama, exciting domestic thrillers and interesting detective procedurals. We want to be talking to many different broadcasters about different shows, so people know we’re not trying to address just one sector of the market.”

At STUDIOCANAL, the emphasis remains on “premium drama with strong European roots that can be created in one or multiple languages,” Guyonnet notes.

She highlights the political thriller Savages, the Movistar+ commission On Death Row, the book-based War of the Worlds and the crime drama Zero Zero Zero. “They must have strong, relatable storylines, big and bold characters and transcend borders to appeal to both linear and nonlinear viewers. Unique and original formats are also very important— finding new ways of telling stories that resonate with streaming viewers is vital these days.”

has produced lots of classic British detective shows. We said, We need a new one, even if it’s not commissioned, we want to go out and put together the financing for it. She then brought us the script for Van der Valk by Chris Murray. We knew there was an appetite for classic detective procedurals coming from Europe, which is why we took it to our European clients first. ARD Germany came on board as the key first customer, then NPO in the Netherlands, followed by VRT in Belgium. From that, all3media international greenlit the project. Once we set the ball rolling, Michele went back to ITV [which aired the original Van der Valk in the 1970s] and they came on board as our U.K. broadcaster. France Télévisions followed; they will take the first window in France.

This project was a case of us listening to the market and recognizing that there is a strong appetite for more detective series.”

The other key models at all3media, Driscoll adds, are the traditional deficitfunding deals, such as Blinded (Fartblinda), a C More and TV4 commission; and U.S. co-pros and presales like The Light (working title) with Channel 4 and Hulu. “We’re looking at other ways of doing things as well,” Driscoll says. “We’re talking about having established partnerships with two or three regular customers

With the bar raised and budgets on the rise, “it’s pretty much all about co-production,” says Banijay’s Stewart on financing models. “It’s very rare for us to get a show that isn’t co-produced between at least two territories. Tax incentives and soft money play a huge part nowadays. There’s a massive race for all of the various funding [options] in Europe and elsewhere.

Competition for this funding has increased massively over the last three years. [Creative Europe] MEDIA funding used to be a fairly done deal if you had a series set up with a couple of broadcasters in Europe. But now the competition to get that money is so fierce that it’s very hard to come by. You’ve got to have something strong that is going to stand out.”

On that front, Stewart spotlights The Gulf, set in New Zealand for TV3 and ZDF from Screentime, and returning seasons of Occupied, Rebecka Martinsson and The Restaurant.

At all3media, Driscoll points to Van der Valk as an innovative financing model that came out of the company wanting to meet the needs of some of its key clients. “Buyers have told us they love Midsomer Murders, Inspector George Gently and Foyle’s War, but there are not enough new detective procedurals on the market. We didn’t have a new one commissioned, so we talked to Michele [Buck, CEO for television at Company Pictures], who Van der Valk is a new procedural from all3media international.

24 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_DRAMA FEATURE_ALT.qxp_REAL_408_NIGHT 9/3/19 10:36 AM Page 6

Lionsgate teamed up with Liberty Global on the supernatural series The Rook, which aired on Starz in the U.S. and Liberty’s platforms in Europe and Latin America. and looking at what we can commission together. You must be flexible.”

The key to making any financing strategy work, BBC Studios’ Linsey explains, lies in “starting with the creativity and working out what the other audiences would be interested in and where the synergy is and how we can piece together a deal to get it into production.”

GLOBAL VIEW

On the heels of the success of The Rook, Lionsgate is exploring ways of co-developing projects internationally, Kapouranis says.

“Our partnership with Liberty Global on The Rook for Starz is an example of how we leverage our international partnerships to create content that can travel the world.

We’ve also partnered with BBC to develop content for the U.S. market based on their intellectual property.”

Burcksen at ZDF Enterprises says there are three primary models used by the commercial arm of the German pubcaster. “We tend to be flexible in the way we assess opportunities and try to be opportunistic in a strategic way—we’d rather take a percentage of something than 100 percent of nothing. The most classical financing instrument remains the minimum guarantee for

projects we enter very late in the game to fill a gap in the budget. This is still a viable way to source content, even though the market is getting tougher for these types of collaborations. We prefer to enter projects at earlier stages. We can help find additional commissioning partners in order to reduce the amount of the recoupable minimum guarantee and create a scenario where projects break even faster and risk is shared more evenly among the partners. The last model is alternative funding, which is us coming in and helping to optimize the production structure of the project by finding the best places and partners.”

PARTNERSHIP PITFALLS Partnerships, however, are not easy. “The biggest challenge is to manage expectations between the partners and clearly define the roles and define who gets to make the decisions,” Burcksen says. “We look for co-production partners in countries with similar backgrounds to create this shared vision. We always start discussing the financing strategies very early before we dive into the depths of narrative storytelling and production details. This helps us to avoid problems later on.”

9/19 WORLD SCREEN 25

Windowing strategies also need to be in place early on. “Windowing is an essential part of each title’s global strategy—especially when local dubbing is required,” says STUDIOCANAL’s Guyonnet. “When we get involved financially, we look at the overall sales cycle of each title [and monetize] all rights included in our distribution mandate.

Even though the requests from global platforms and local pay-TV platforms are becoming more restrictive, we ensure every set of rights and holdbacks are monetized.”

“It always comes down to how we think we can maximize the revenues for each project and what is best for that project in terms of reaching the biggest audience,” says Stewart at Banijay. “For Rebellion, a big Irish production commissioned by RTÉ, we did a worldwide Netflix deal. On Versailles, we could have done a big global deal, but we decided to take a more territoryby-territory approach. That worked well for that particular show. We did a lot better commercially by taking that approach and selling to individual territories than we would have if we had done a global deal.

Likewise, windowing in those scenarios is crucial. We did first and second windows in a lot of territories, including the U.K. There is no set strategy per title. It

WS_0919_DRAMA FEATURE_ALT.qxp_REAL_408_NIGHT 8/30/19 4:07 PM Page 7

ZDF Enterprises arrives at MIPCOM with a new European period drama, Ottilie von Faber-Castell. depends on what the best approach is for that series.”

Driscoll at all3media adds, “It starts with the project and who the most likely customers are for that project. When you have a show like Van der Valk, you go to those clients who have traditionally bought your detective procedural shows and talk to them first. A show like Blinded (Fartblinda), commissioned by a linear network and a VOD platform, is designed for a box-set audience as well as a commercial broadcaster. This gives you a bit more flexibility and you can go and talk to both types of customers about the show and build a strategy based on that.

Broadcasters and customers do tend to look at who commissioned the show.

Who is it designed for? What is their audience? Do they have similar sensibilities?”

Stewart notes that Banijay is looking to ramp up its scripted business in several global markets. “We’ve set up four JV companies in the U.K. and we’re looking to expand on that presence. We have a big

production footprint in 16 territories, but in the U.K. it’s been [smaller] than in Scandinavia. So we’ve been looking at all different types of relationships. Recently we announced first-look deals with Greenacre and Clearwood Films. We have more coming. We’re also looking for larger investments in terms of equity stakes. There’s no one set deal we’re looking for. We’re very open to conversations with producers and trying to tailor the deal that works best for them. The door is open.”

All eyes will also be on how the launch of a wave of new SVOD players will change the drama market. “We are very curious to see how all these platforms will coexist together, but we can already anticipate they will come with a great appetite for premium, high-end content to allow them to compete with their competitors,” says STUDIOCANAL’s Guyonnet.

“Also, the fact that U.S. studios are launching their own platforms and keeping their own productions in-house will be a huge opportunity for European distributors,” she adds. “There will be fewer outputdeal obligations coming from the U.S.— opening up slots in local markets for premium European series. The more platforms looking for original content, the more opportunities we will have to produce going forward.”

SCRIPTING THE FUTURE As peak TV gets peakier, one of the biggest challenges for drama producers is accessing talent. Even companies like BBC Studios are looking to develop the next generation of drama creatives. “Top writers are hugely in demand,” Linsey says. “We’re building up very important relationships with a lot of emerging writers. We’re trying to develop those relationships at an earlier stage. And trying to invest in their creativity and give them backing and support. We just announced our Writers’ Academy and that’s about identifying talent of the future at an early stage.”

STUDIOCANAL’s slate includes the Spanish crime drama On Death Row, commissioned by Movistar+.

26 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_STUDIOCANAL_27.qxp_Layout 1 9/3/19 1:42 PM Page 1

WS_0919_ABBOTT-ALT.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 8/30/19 4:09 PM Page 1

IN THE NEWS

WS: How are the Crown Media channels maintaining their relevance in an increasingly on-demand world?

ABBOTT: Our brand creates a robust platform for us to create content around. A lot of viewing has migrated away from linear TV because there isn’t consistency and you don’t know what you’re going to get when you tune into many of the channels out there. And secondly, we have so much original content that our offering is always new.

Many of the channels in the landscape have focused on original series. They’ll have a run of 10 or 12 weeks that are new, but then that will be the extent of it. We have a new original movie every Saturday night, 30 weeks of original prime-time series and Home & Family, which is new every weekday of the year for two hours a day. So we have a robust offering that keeps people coming back to see the fresh content.

WS: There is so much social media traction around your popular movies. Why do you think that is, and how are you capitalizing on it?

ABBOTT: There is no limit to the amount of positivity that people will feel. And by being positive, consistently family-friendly and high quality, we’re so different than any other entertainment offering out there. We have a terrific group of winning talent that people love to see what they’re doing. That drives social media engagement. Also, a connection to the seasons is a big piece of that. [With the Countdown to Christmas programming stunt], we’re the highest-rated channel in cable in November and December.

WS: You’ve also launched a subscription streaming service. How is that faring, and what have you learned about what’s resonating with your customers there?

ABBOTT: We do have a subscription service that can attract a lot of cord-cutters. We see behavior that is very similar to the behavior around the linear platforms, and the viewing is very heavy—it’s generally five to six hours a week. We also have a very high subscription level for a general-entertainment brand, with almost 650,000 subscribers. We’re very happy with how it’s rolled out.

We’re exploring all kinds of different options internationally, and we think there’s a very compelling business there for us.

By Mansha Daswani

A

mid all the headlines about cord-cutting and the rise in on-demand viewing, Crown Media Family Networks has been steadily driving an increase in linear TV ratings across its portfolio. Hallmark Channel—with its slate of family-friendly TV movies and series, the hit morning show Home & Family and annual events like Kitten Bowl—and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries drove doubledigit increases in ad rates and volume for the 2019–20 Upfront season at Crown Media. Bucking trends in the market, the company launched a third linear network, Hallmark Drama, in 2017. At the same time, the group unveiled an SVOD service, Hallmark Movies Now. President and CEO Bill Abbott talks to World Screen about viewer and advertiser engagement and the enduring appeal of TV movies.

28 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS: Your TV movies regularly find homes on broadcasters across the globe. What’s driving that interest?

ABBOTT: First, the quality of the content. In the last five years, we’ve made enormous strides in terms of producing better movies with better storylines, better dialogue, better casting, better production values, and incorporating music to drive emotion and storylines. Those elements have made our content even better. Combine that with the brand, the positive experience, some of the seasonality of it, themed content, be it weddings or Valentine’s Day, and the fact that there’s not a lot of competition out there, if any at all, in this space. We are doing extremely well domestically and internationally.

WS: Tell us about the wider channel portfolio, with Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and Hallmark Drama.

ABBOTT: About three or four years ago, we saw how well mysteries were resonating on the channel. We made the

WS_0919_ALJAZEERA.qxp_Layout 1 9/3/19 10:47 AM Page 1

WS_0919_ABBOTT-ALT.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 8/30/19 4:10 PM Page 2

Holiday programming has a prominent place on Crown Media’s channels, with movies such as Christmas Bells Are Ringing.

decision that we would position Hallmark Movies & Mysteries as primarily mysteries so that we could have that clear brand identification. They are light mysteries, “cozy” mysteries, not the gory and violent mysteries you may see elsewhere. There’s a big void in the marketplace for that type of family-friendly mystery. A number of our stars are also on that channel, so crosspromotion is very easy. That channel has been very successful. Launching Hallmark Drama was against the grain in that no one is launching linear channels right now. But our whole heritage in entertainment with the Hallmark brand is around drama with Hallmark Hall of Fame. Some of the most awardwinning, highest-rated projects of all time were Hallmark Hall of Fame movies. We feel like we have a great opportunity to participate in that genre as well and make great content. But that wouldn’t be appropriate for Hallmark Channel because of that consistency we strive to obtain in terms of the feelgood positivity. We don’t want to disrupt that with more dramatic programming. So we made the move to launch a third service that has done extremely well in terms of garnering distribution and viewership.

WS: We keep hearing about viewers spending more time on digital platforms, even though several linear channels continue to see strong viewership.

ABBOTT: Linear is not going away anytime soon. The reality is it’s headline-grabbing to write about cord-cutting and to be a soothsayer on the future of technology, and you can sound very smart by doing that. But at the end of the day, linear TV is alive and well, as long as you are consistent and stick to your brand and don’t try to be something you’re not.

WS: You delivered double-digit increases in your most recent Upfront. How are you working with your ad clients?

ABBOTT: Nothing proves that linear TV is alive and well more than the advertising market. Digital-native companies are now migrating to TV to build scale. That story is so important to the ecosystem. TV is still the best medium to sell their products. We not only have franchises we can integrate advertisers into and create the perfect environment for their advertising message, but we have Home & Family where we can actually integrate product into a show and do segments that describe what the product is and how it can be used and offer something unique and extremely valuable for an advertiser. We also do everything from vignettes to product integrations in movies and specials that are conducive to whatever product the client is trying to sell at the time of the year they’re trying to sell it. Our pet specials, particularly, lend themselves so well to product integration by pet food companies and product companies and overall retailers. So the demand is very high for what we do. Not only because it’s family-friendly but because it’s high quality and we offer a compelling environment and compelling opportunities for advertisers.

WS: What other factors are driving gains at Crown Media Family Networks?

ABBOTT: The biggest thing is just how prolific we are in terms of producing quality original content. It’s not a volume game, although we are a leader in volume. It’s in the quality. We don’t make movies to make movies. We analyze every script and the preproduction, casting, storytelling, dialogue, postproduction, music—all those elements are managed very carefully. So while we are a prolific creator, it’s more important that what we produce is high quality.

That’s the message.

Mystery 101: Playing Dead is part of a franchise on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.

30 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_9 STORY MEDIA GROUP_31.qxp_Layout 1 9/3/19 4:56 PM Page 1

WS_0919_LINSEY-ALT.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 9/3/19 10:38 AM Page 1

IN CONVERSATION

32 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_LINSEY-ALT.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 9/3/19 10:39 AM Page 2

hen BBC Studios merged with BBC Worldwide in April of last year, Mark Linsey was tapped as the chief creative officer of the combined operation. His remit includes managing the British content giant’s portfolio of production relationships, content partnerships and overseeing its IP strategy. In the drama space, BBC Studios continues to be a prolific producer and exporter, boasting a diverse slate from story-of-the-week procedurals to bigbudget period sagas and everything in between. Linsey chats with World Screen about the latest developments in BBC Studios’ scripted business.

By Mansha Daswani

W

WS: What are some of the new projects you’re working on?

LINSEY: We have quite a range. That’s the most exciting thing about my job: the range from our portfolio producers and their creativity. We have Trigonometry, a love story about three people. It’s going to air on BBC Two. It’s a really authentic relationship piece. We have Sanditon, the completion of the incomplete novel by Jane Austen. It’s produced by Red Planet Pictures for ITV and Masterpiece. We also have Traces, UKTV’s first original scripted drama [for Alibi]. It’s a crime drama that RED Production Company is making. One of the things we’re most excited about is The Mallorca Files, a ten-part drama that will launch on BBC One. That’s been pieced together around different territories. LIFE is written by Mike Bartlett and produced by Drama Republic. It brings together four separate strands into a larger story.

WS: Can you take me through some of the key models you are using to pull together the financing on new drama projects?

LINSEY: There is a sea of opportunity in drama, but you need to be smart about the right opportunity for the producer as well as the platform or the broadcaster. That’s what we try to do according to our expertise and the different deal-making. No two deals are the same anymore. They’re all different. The Mallorca Files is a co-production between ZDF, France TV and BritBox that we’ve put together with the BBC. Good Omens, made by BBC Studios, is a co-pro with Amazon. Brexit: The Uncivil War we made with Channel 4, and HBO U.S. came on board. And we will fund project development and look to sell the global rights to a global player, such as Dracula, which we sold to Netflix, and His Dark Materials, sold to HBO. We get excited by the creatives and we try to work out ways of how to get that creativity into production. We’re really excited about how we structured a co-pro deal with Steve McQueen on his drama Small Axe, which is commissioned by BBC in the U.K., and we sold the rights to Amazon U.S. It’s really starting with the creativity and working out what other audiences would be interested in this and where is the synergy and how we can piece together a deal to get it into production.

WS: Is it becoming harder to access top talent, given how much drama is in production in the U.K.?

LINSEY: Yes, top writers are hugely in demand. We’re building up very important relationships with a lot of emerging writers. We’re trying to develop those relationships at an earlier stage. And trying to invest in their creativity and give them backing and support.

WS: We’ve talked about new projects, but I imagine returning dramas are also critical to your business. How are you working with your producers to keep delivering successful seasons?

LINSEY: The partners we have work hard at that. On Call the Midwife, it’s incredible how they keep the storylines fresh and new. Likewise with The Durrells. Doctor Who is another shining example. Arguably, you can say each episode is a reinvention. Viewers have a real appetite for those soft-in-tone, heartwarming pieces. Buyers want them because they can return in the schedule year after year and they can build a schedule around these returners. Luther has worked extremely well as a returning series. Silent Witness is on its 23rd series. Yes, they are crime-based, which helps. But they’ve managed to keep them fresh and new. [Same with] Death in Paradise, Father Brown. There’s real expertise in that and it’s something we shouldn’t get complacent about.

WS: What trends are you seeing in drama today?

LINSEY: I think buyers expect any script, any treatment, to be good, to be polished. They want to be surprised. There’s still a demand for strong, iconic characters. You want characters you can connect with, but at the same time, an element of surprise in those iconic characters. And there’s a trend towards strong female-led dramas and diverse casting. We’re still finding that true crime is going strong. People are asking for noisier genre, but at the same time, there’s room for looking at typical family relationships and the challenges of parenting. Particularly on SVOD, they are looking for universal themes. It’s about how we, as content providers, can establish the universality of those themes and make them accessible for a broad audience.

9/19 WORLD SCREEN 33

WS_0919_PHILLIPS-ALT.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 9/3/19 12:24 PM Page 1

SPOTLIGHT

Our combined force means we know even better how to deal with opportunities and issues. There is greater complexity to deals and more competition than ever before. As part of a larger group, we are now more equipped to think things through, see opportunities from different angles and figure out the best approach to take.

The fun part is that we aren’t just creative in the end result but in how we get there. The fun of it is to work it out and trust the audience agrees with you. The Kew production companies have welcomed us and our sister company TCB Media Rights into the fold and have given us both access to our own in-house supply lines; that’s been incredibly positive.

WS: How are you working with your sister production companies?

PHILLIPS: More substantially and more quickly than I anticipated and hoped for. There is great creativity and a positive attitude from our production companies. They have been embracing, inquisitive and supportive. Of course, we are achieving revenues for them, but they aren’t just paying lip service to our working with them because of that. They are sharing their development slates and ideas and asking KMD what opportunities there are around the world. We help to educate them on the international marketplace and develop contacts for them, which helps them decide what [projects] to develop and take further.

By Mansha Daswani

K

ew Media Group marked its arrival as a global media company in early 2017 with the acquisition of six leading outfits, among them Content Media and producers such as Bristow Global Media and Frantic Films. Kew has continued on an acquisition path since then and today owns a cross-section of production companies working across all sectors of the business and two distribution outfits: Kew Media Distribution (KMD) and TCB Media Rights. As the president of KMD, Greg Phillips leads a team tasked with exploiting a catalog of 11,000 hours across all platforms and working with producers, internally and externally, on financing and distribution strategies. He tells World Screen about how he is positioning KMD in a market in flux.

WS: It’s been more than two years since Kew Media Group acquired Content Media. What have been the most significant benefits of being part of this broader media company?

PHILLIPS: Resources. Not just financial—though that is of course extremely beneficial—but intellectual resources, too. The team we are involved with now has a great deal of experience in all aspects and approaches to the business.

34 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS: What does KMD offer to third-party producers?

PHILLIPS: Well, it’s more than just finance—it’s time, expertise, experience and knowledge of the marketplace, as well as, in hard terms, the whole effort from marketing to delivery. We have a genuine interest and passion for the shows we sell. We are excited by working with creative people. We are still as eager, if not even more so, to acquire the best programming from whomever we can. We want to buy in and sell the best of the best, providing we can get our hands on it! It’s about relationships with talent who have faith in us to do the best job for them—which sometimes takes longer than they might think, or want. But we offer them a commitment. Everything gets consideration— we make our business out of listening to people—and people like dealing with us!

WS: Drama is more competitive than ever. What are you doing to cut through?

PHILLIPS: We explore different ways for every partnership and relationship. We are focused on preselling more than we used to be, [which is] down to market conditions and the even more charged competitive environment. We are bolder and more creative in our thinking. The structure of the deals—who shares in what—can now be more complex. Of course, everyone always wants it all, but necessity means we must look at things and decide on the best course to take.

I believe having multiple partners not only delivers the finance but actually authenticates a project. If a number of major broadcasters or platforms believe in a show from the start, we know they will deliver their audiences to the show. We always have to look beyond the deal—the deal is just the conduit to get shows in front of audiences around the world. We want our partners and customers to share our passion for the products.

WS_0919_PHILLIPS-ALT.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 8/30/19 4:14 PM Page 2

WS: What strategies are you employing at KMD to navigate the opportunities and challenges ahead?

PHILLIPS: Hard work! To be honest, there was a time when it wasn’t too difficult. You did some gentle persuasion, of course, but clients either wanted your shows or not. But now you have to do so much more. More research and marketing. Providing ratings information and profiles. Having a better understanding of the shows we have and where they will fit in a client’s programming spectrum of offerings.

We have to be more aware of what the competition is doing. We travel more to sit with our clients for longer to learn what they need. There is a definite need to be bold.

That’s not a cavalier approach by any means; before we say that, we have to have considered all options and reached a conclusion as to what would make more sense for us.

You can’t make deals by rote like we might have done back in the day. We need to consider all the parts and market differently from day to day. We have to bring to each deal our intellectual understanding and a belief in the direction of the market.

We know hospital shows and cop shows will invariably work to one degree or another, but we’re looking for fresh ideas, new angles, new vision, we have to keep moving the dial. And we have to be prepared to take a risk and to have the courage of our convictions as there is more competition and greater creative excellence in programming out there.

We also have to make a commitment—results don’t happen overnight.

It’s all about being bold and taking carefully considered risks. We aim to be as informed as possible, but we have to move forward. We can’t just go with what we’ve done before—the market changes constantly.

WS: What areas are you focusing on over the next year?

PHILLIPS: Continuing the work we commenced when Kew acquired the former Content Media. Continuing and increasing our activity in non-scripted entertainment. We are pleased to have the “go-to” status for significant music and related documentaries and stories in non-scripted, on which we need to further capitalize. There is a significant market for entertaining non-scripted shows. Building our scripted portfolio. We have some strong dramas from third-party producers, such as the award-winning Line of Duty, which [has] a sixth season coming soon. We are continuing to build on our drama co-production partnership with the U.K.’s Channel 5 following the successful ten-part drama Clink, which has strong appeal to young adult audiences. We will launch season three of Shaftesbury’s Frankie Drake Mysteries at MIPCOM. Our in-house slate is emerging and building extremely well under Carrie Stein [executive VP of global scripted series]. We recently announced the international drama series Margeaux, created by Adi Hasak, which we are partnering on with Nordic Entertainment Group. We are going to be delivering more in the scripted arena in the coming months.

We are interested in looking more closely at youngerskewing—the YA [segment].

Being part of Kew means we can pretty much do what we want to expand. We are able to hear concepts and ideas that might work for us. We aren’t a huge monolithic, “siloed” company that is set in its ways.

We have a great team across the board and people— talent and broadcast clients—like to work with us. It’s a truly creative and entertaining business that gets more interesting day by day as it continues to evolve.

9/19 WORLD SCREEN 35

Kew Media Distribution’s factual lineup includes Body Hack 3.0, which is produced by sister company Essential Media Group.

WS_0919_PINTO-ALT.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 9/3/19 10:01 AM Page 1

MARKET TRENDS

By Kristin Brzoznowski

I

n an age of megamergers, Global Agency is thriving as an independent. Founder and CEO Izzet Pinto has built up the company over the last decade by tapping into a rich pool of creativity, developing format concepts in-house and working with producers from around the world. With a catalog that encompasses more than 150 projects—spanning formats and drama—Global Agency continues to see sales gains despite the challenging conditions facing its home market of Turkey. Pinto tells World Screen about some of the factors driving its growth.

WS: How are you maintaining the ambitious growth path you’ve set out for Global Agency?

PINTO: When we were [starting out], we would see growth of around 50 percent to 100 percent every year. As we grew into a larger-sized company, it tends to slow a bit. We had around 20- to 25-percent growth for the last couple of years. Last year, our growth rate was 12 percent.

Turkey has had an economic crisis, and, accordingly, the channels’ ad sales have been down. Because of this, many Turkish dramas were canceled in the last year and a number of new series were taken off the air after a few episodes. Shows were being canceled very quickly if they weren’t reaching high numbers, whereas in the past the channels were more flexible. It was a very difficult year for the industry. As a result, last year, there were fewer Turkish dramas to be exported. When facing a year like that, and still managing to grow by 12 percent, I consider it a huge success. I think a lot of companies decreased their sales, but we still managed to increase ours.

One of the reasons we were still able to grow is our formats. My Wife Rules, Shopping Monsters and Momsters had strong sales records. With format licensing, we were able to have a good year.

WS: What’s the rough breakdown between drama and format sales?

PINTO: For many years, format sales represented 20 to 25 percent of our overall distribution business. Last year, it was around 28 percent. I am always aiming for 35 to 45 percent as an ideal for our format sales because I’m very ambitious about formats and always have been. We started as a format company, so I almost feel like I owe something back to that industry because it’s how I began my business.

WS: Turkish dramas have been riding high on a wave of demand for a while now. How is the genre keeping its momentum at a time when drama from all over the world is traveling and given the economic crisis in Turkey?

PINTO: It’s been difficult. Clients are very selective now.

Since many dramas didn’t see second seasons in Turkey, it makes a series harder to sell. For Global Agency and its competitors in the industry, the main challenge is to find content from Turkey to be exported. Nevertheless, we always manage to find good content. So, the demand didn’t drop; it’s still out there. We just need more product to be produced in Turkey.

WS: Do classic themes still work best in Turkish dramas, or is there more experimentation with less traditional plots and structures?

PINTO: The scripts still mainly have classic themes. Turkey is known best for its unique telenovela-type dramas. We are really good at producing high-quality melodramas. Turkish-drama buyers don’t look for short episodes, anything that’s too fast-paced or thrillers. They want series that are long-running and not risky, a classic telenovela style that’s high quality.

36 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_PINTO-ALT.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 8/30/19 4:19 PM Page 2

WS: Are you eyeing more dramas from outside of Turkey?

PINTO: We are looking. In the past, we have had dramas from Spain, Portugal, Russia and the U.K. But Turkish drama still has such a good reputation. When you have the label of “Made in Turkey,” the clients are ready to have a look. With dramas from other countries, they might have doubts and require a huge track record of success since they aren’t that familiar with it. We have already invested years in proving that Turkish dramas can be successful globally.

WS: What are the biggest challenges facing the format business?

PINTO: The biggest problem is copyright infringement.

Unfortunately, you might pitch a great format to a client and after a year you see that they have used your idea, mixing in some side elements to create their own version. That’s very frustrating. If you take them to court, not only will it take years and require a lot of money, but there’s also no guarantee that you’ll win the case.

The process is very tiring and challenging. It’s difficult for distributors to protect their format IP, but also the channels should be more supportive. They need to pay attention [to what’s being pitched] and go with the original idea.

WS: What types of formats are cutting through with buyers today?

PINTO: Daily formats have been doing well for us. When a format makes a breakthrough, like The Masked Singer did last year, it gives you courage and confidence that your format could be the next big hit. For several years, there hasn’t been a global breakout hit, so I’ve enjoyed seeing the success of Masked Singer. It helps ignite the passion in other creators and distributors. It also shows that it might take years to reach that breakthrough point. Once a U.S. network picks it up and creates buzz, then everybody takes notice. I am hopeful that in 2020, we can achieve similar success.

We launched The Legend a couple of years ago, and for some reason, it couldn’t make it on air. There was a lot of interest in it initially, and I couldn’t understand the reason it wasn’t [getting picked up]. Finally, though, it will be on air in the Middle East in October. We’re extremely excited. If it’s a success, it could gain momentum, and that could be our Masked Singer. A leading independent production company is picking up the rights to The Legend for the U.S., and maybe that will see a big network coming to the table.

WS: With all the mergers and acquisitions in the marketplace, what’s your view on consolidation?

PINTO: It’s a great success story to see a small company that’s grown every year become big enough to be sold to a large corporate brand. I admire that, but it’s not what I want for my company. I want us to remain independent. I enjoy my work so much; Global Agency is my greatest passion. Having a boss, reporting to them every week, having conference calls, etc., that’s not what I want. I’m not eyeing it, but also I don’t want to say that it’s absolutely impossible.

Because we are independent, we can work with everyone. We work with companies like Endemol, Fremantle,

Hervé Hubert, Constantin Entertainment and many independent production companies. We are very flexible. If you’re part of a large corporation, there are layers of approval before you can do something—I get to do whatever I want!

WS: As you look ahead at the challenges facing the business and where the opportunities are, what’s guiding your focus for Global Agency?

PINTO: For the distribution industry at large, the next three years might be a little bit tough. The ad revenues for freeTV channels are dropping, so sales, in general, are going to be down if you don’t have enough big projects that you can sell. The market is shifting from free TV to digital. But there are not enough digital players yet. It’s dominated by a few large companies, and if you don’t work with two or three of them, it means that you’re not working with 70 percent of the players. In five years from now, I’m sure there will be many more digital companies. I see a bright future for our entertainment business, but there could be some challenging times ahead. I’m not worried for Global Agency, though, since every year we manage to find a couple of big titles. Our sales are still strong. We will manage to maintain our position. Since there are fewer independent companies, we will shine through.

9/19 WORLD SCREEN 37

Global Agency continues to see gains in its format business, with titles such as Momsters notching up brisk sales.

WS_0919_COMMISSO-ALT.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 9/3/19 10:46 AM Page 1

KIDS’ CORNER

38 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_COMMISSO-ALT.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 9/3/19 12:39 PM Page 2

Story Media Group and its Brown Bag Films division in Ireland secured 20 nominations for the Daytime Emmy Awards this year, thanks in part to the PBS KIDS hit Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and the holiday special Angela’s Christmas. That recognition, according to Vince Commisso, cofounding partner, president and CEO, reflects the company’s investments in high-quality animation and innovative narrative techniques. Commisso talks to World Screen about the company’s positioning in the marketplace.

By Mansha Daswani

9

WS: It’s been almost five years since 9 Story acquired Brown Bag. How transformative was that deal for the company?

COMMISSO: It was incredibly transformative. It’s changed our production mantra. It’s made our company international. It added factors of production we didn’t have in CG. It brought us tremendous talent, creative and managerial. We have been able to develop best practices across the Atlantic. That was evidenced by our recent Emmy nominations: 20, with ten on this side, ten on that side! It also taught us how to integrate, how to do M&A. And we get to work with great people.

WS: Do you anticipate further M&A for 9 Story?

COMMISSO: The wonderful thing about being who we are now, not as a public company, is we’re not obligated to do M&A. We’ll only do it if the deal makes sense. You can’t build a company through M&A only. You have to have some organic growth. We’re focused on that at all times. Yes, I do think we will have more M&A. We have a very strong, stable balance sheet that will allow us to take advantage of [opportunities] as they come our way.

WS: How do you manage your development and production slates so you’re not overextended but still able to meet the needs of your client base?

COMMISSO: That question is even more relevant by the fact that OTT players are coming on market with unlimited shelf space, but they’re going to have to continuously restock the shelves with new shows. So you’re not making as many episodes. That will be worsened as all content consumption moves to OTT. That means you need to be able to turn over your slots to put new content in them. How do we manage that? We acquired Out of the Blue in New York. That’s their stock-in-trade. They are a creative shop that develops content, tests it, does research around it, delivers it and brings it to our OTT buyers with some proof of concept, knowing that the research is already saying it’s resonating with an audience. So that gives us a leg up. In the linear content world, Nickelodeon 30 years ago would spend an amount of money on content and slowly build the channel’s subscriber rate and build the creative in-house. They had a finite number of slots, and they would fill some of them by acquiring third-party content. They had time to develop the Nickelodeon brand,

have an understanding of what it stood for and have a creative team to fill that mission of the brand. Now we’re in a place where you have tech companies saying, We have unlimited shelf space, we have to put stuff there. So they’re building from the front to back versus from back to front.

They’re saying, We’re going to work with people who give us the best chance to succeed. That’s where we think our development and our research gives us an advantage.

WS: With kids bingeing entire seasons on SVOD, what do you have to do now to maintain momentum on a property?

COMMISSO: That’s one of our missions here. We have to solve for awareness. Awareness was something the broadcasters in the linear world helped you with. We have seven shows in production that we developed and we own. We do a lot more shows—some are partnerships or co-productions, for example with Scholastic or Nickelodeon, but the IP is theirs—and we do service work. We have to focus on the seven that are ours in terms of solving for awareness because on the others our partners will do that and we’ll help in any way we can. If you look at the way we develop and even produce content, we go wide. We have a lot of input for those three pipelines. With [the ones we own], we have to go deep and come up with marketing plans around each of the shows to solve for awareness. That is something you have to do today without the platform helping you. So, on the one hand, you’re hamstrung a bit because your platform doesn’t do promos—so that [wasn’t an expense before on linear]. On the other hand, you have social media and influencers that have greatly reduced the cost of solving for awareness. So then it becomes, How do you customize? So your solve for awareness is tied to the unique nature of the IP and the talent and how you answered the question of, Why this show, why now?

WS: What are your growth priorities for the company?

COMMISSO: We have to grow our live-action business. We’re going to grow our merchandising and licensing business. And our digital business is growing incredibly well as the AVOD services want some of our content nonexclusively and those revenues start to go up. Those are the three big growth priorities. But in general, our priority is to do whatever we’re doing today a little bit better tomorrow!

9/19 WORLD SCREEN 39

WS_0919_LONI FARHI_ALT 2.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 8/30/19 4:58 PM Page 1

FOCUS ON

Europe, South Africa and Portugal. There were thousands of hours of content built up in the library.

I remember the day we bought Kino Polska. It took us almost six months to turn it around and make it into a success story. Then the group created the FilmBox brand. We came to our board and said that FilmBox is on its way up and should be part of Kino Polska. They trusted us and went for it. Today, after all these years, FilmBox is the shining star of Kino Polska. The channel is thriving.

Consistency and persistence are part of my motto.

If you want something bad enough, there’s very little out there to stop you. And here we are today! After a couple of decades, we are now a huge global content company, producing its own original content, and we operate 40 television channels on six continents.

Loni Farhi

SPI International

By Kristin Brzoznowski

oni Farhi has built SPI International from the ground up—from its days as a content distributor primarily focused on Eastern Europe to its status now as a global media company operating 40 television channels on six continents. Working with more than 1,400 operators worldwide, SPI reaches 55 million subscribers with its linear and on-demand content, including live streaming of UHD programming and flagship FilmBox channels. Its recent acquisition of the Film1 movie service in the Netherlands is but one example of the ways in which SPI is still growing in the global marketplace. Farhi, president of SPI International, talks to World Screen about how the company’s various business lines are performing.

L

WS: When the company was founded, it focused purely on content distribution. What drove the entry into the channels business?

FARHI: SPI started in 1987 and by 1991 was running as a content distribution company that was active in multiple countries. Throughout the ’90s, we grew to reach all Eastern European countries, some parts of [Central] 40 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS: What’s driving the growth of SPI’s channels business internationally?

FARHI: The platforms are essential for us. We have a very clear understanding of what their clients want in terms of content. We are now offering our content in different forms: linear, on-demand and through interactive platforms. Digital-business growth is a key driving factor for our channels. We work with over 1,400 operators worldwide and strive to provide our 55 million subscribers with very strong VOD content, whether it’s premium movies or thematic programs from our thematic channels. We are essentially creating branded corners within the operators’ set-top boxes or apps with this strong library, turning them into very good on-demand content providers.

Another driving factor when it comes to our channels’ success is the quality of our content. We are acquiring and producing very high-quality content and distributing it globally. We have different genres of channels. We can create channels based on different countries and the needs of the local market.

One of our relatively newer channels, Timeless Drama Channel (TDC) is the first global Turkish drama channel and aims to connect all drama-genre lovers through universal themes and values. We have a long history with one of the best producers from Turkey, Ay Yapim. This partnership has helped us significantly in making TDC a global phenomenon with over 600 hours of fresh content and critically acclaimed dramas. The channel is already on 15 platforms and is growing rapidly.

WS: What factors went into the decision to begin producing original content?

FARHI: This decision came from the content department actually, though the channels business is certainly going to benefit from it as well. In one year, our content sales doubled. Nowadays, the demand for original content has increased immensely, and we knew we needed to become part of it.

SPI has a deal with the renowned movie director and producer Philippe Martinez. This partnership calls for two trilogies, a TV series and a movie. Salvage Marines is a brand-new series based on a book by Sean-Michael Argo. Mister Mayfair is a trilogy and the leading project. I just screened a couple of clips from

WS_0919_LONI FARHI_ALT 2.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 9/3/19 10:49 AM Page 2

it that Philippe sent me and they’re so well done, it’s really impressive! It’s a mafia comedy, and the chemistry of the cast is extraordinary. It also features original songs. The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud, starring Scott Adkins and Tommy Flanagan, is sci-fi action-comedy at its best and is produced by Goldfinch Studios. Last but not least, Miss Willoughby & Bentley is a trilogy starring Elizabeth Hurley as a beautiful crime-solving professor.

I am going with Philippe to Poland and Turkey to discuss two new projects to co-produce. These are core countries, so it’s great to have our first requests for original co-productions from there. We are open to any and every country where we can find a good project and good partners. This is going to be a beautiful additional pipeline for the company.

WS: How is the company expanding its digital offerings?

FARHI: It’s going extremely well! Compared to last year, we tripled our revenues with FilmBox Live and FilmBox On Demand. This year should be a record year for digital. Next year, the plan is to double what we did this year.

Unlike many companies operating digital platforms, SPI is not burning any money. Every business we enter has to be profitable for us. We took a very pragmatic approach to OTT, and we are very happy with our OTT division. It’s very young, dynamic and efficient. We have launched our services with almost all of the platforms that our channels are on.

However, we are very cautious about D2C [directto-consumer] distribution when it comes to OTT. We are giving it a try in a couple of countries but on a small scale. We’ll see how it works.

windows. The windowing is done in such a way that we have very little downtime on any of our content. We’ve been careful in achieving this and it’s how we created our channels—and they grew, and they are growing, so we’re doing it right.

WS: What does the Film1 acquisition bring to SPI? FARHI: It came to our attention at the eleventh hour that Sony wanted to sell Film1. We were interested immediately. We were connected with the right people, and a successful deal was achieved for both parties. It is our foray into Western Europe. We are open and looking for additional possibilities like this.

The channel launched under our leadership on August 1, with double the number of movies. We put it together in less than two months, so that’s a big achievement. The fact that we were able to get a full channel up in 45 days is a miracle [laughs], but we are known for making a lot of miracles into realities.

WS: Are more acquisitions on the horizon?

FARHI: M&A is a solid part of our existence. First came FilmBox being purchased by Kino Polska. Then we made the Stopklatka free-TV channel part of our group. Then the Zoom free-TV channel became part of our group, and we recently acquired Film1. We are already looking into a couple of companies. As long as it touches our business in some way, it’s of interest for us. We are very energetic; we are looking for ways to grow our company—and it is growing.

WS: As content distribution continues to be a strong pillar of the overall business, what’s the windowing strategy you’ve carved out?

FARHI: So far, we have doubled our sales revenues compared to last year. I have been leading our content department since inception.

I know that in our business, content is the king. If you know how to handle content, everything else is secondary. This is our attitude toward content, and we know the importance of windowing. We have established very solid windowing that gives a good amount of time for the content on our channels, but still respects what we sell and our buyers’ 9/19 WORLD SCREEN 41

Among the newest channels in the SPI bouquet, Timeless Drama Channel features Turkish series such as Black Money Love.

WS_0919_REED MIDEM_42.qxp_Layout 1 9/3/19 2:11 PM Page 1

WS_0919_LAU-ALT2.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 8/30/19 4:31 PM Page 1

DIGITAL SHIFT

WS: Tell us about the Wattpad story. How did the company come about?

LAU: The company started in 2006, but I had the idea for it in 2002. At that time, I was the CTO and co-founder of my first company, Tira Wireless, which was a mobile gaming company. I’m very passionate about mobile— not too passionate about gaming! We just accidentally got into that business. In my spare time, I wanted to do something that I was truly passionate about. I read a lot, so that’s why I had the idea for a mobile reading app.

The most popular phone at the time was the Nokia. It was very hard to read on—just three or four lines of text at a time. After I tried the prototype, I knew it was not going to work. Fast forward to 2006 and the most popular phone was the Motorola Razr, where instead of 4 lines of text I could read 10 or 15 at a time. That’s when I thought the timing might be right. Out of the blue, a very good friend of mine, Ivan [Yuen], instant messaged me to tell me he was working on a new product idea and he wanted some feedback. He was also working on a mobile reading app, and he was one step ahead of me.

He had built a website where people could share their stories. We joined forces and then started the company.

The rest is history.

By Mansha Daswani

M

edia companies around the world are clamoring to get in business with Wattpad Studios.

Mediaset in Italy, Lagardère Studios in France and CBC in Canada are among the latest to have sealed development partnerships with Wattpad Studios, joining the likes of Entertainment One (eOne), SYFY and Sony Pictures Television. A division of the social storytelling platform, Wattpad Studios is working with content companies to turn Wattpad stories into TV series and films, with successes that have included The Kissing Booth on Netflix, Light as a Feather on Hulu and the feature film After. Allen Lau, the CEO and co-founder of Wattpad, talks to World Screen about the company’s journey from being a modest mobile reading app to an incubator for up-and-coming talent and the power of using data and analytics to identify narratives that will resonate with audiences.

9/19 WORLD SCREEN 43

WS: How did you build the global community of Wattpad users to what it is today?

LAU: It was 100 percent organic. In the first two or three years, we struggled a lot. The traffic was growing, but when you’re only at 100 users in the first few months, doubling that is easy! By 2008-09, the iPhone had come out, the App Store came out, and then Android phones.

Equally importantly, in 2006, YouTube was one year old and Facebook had 12 million users—sharing on the internet was a very boring concept for a lot of people. In 2009-10, everyone was sharing; socially, it wasn’t a problem anymore. So with the combination of better mobile devices, everyone having a data plan and sharing on the internet becoming much more acceptable, the environment was right for the company to take off. Traffic started to take off in 2009-10, and we never looked back. We now have 75 million monthly users, of which 4 million to 5 million are monthly writers who upload half a million chapters every day in 50 different languages. A couple of years ago, the most popular [Wattpad] story in India was written by a Filipino living in New Zealand. That could never happen before we existed. Because of the internet, because of our platform, this type of cross-border traveling of stories has become a possibility. That’s one of the main reasons we have grown as fast as we have. And we were very good at internationalization and localization. We supported multiple languages early on because we knew that not everyone would be reading and writing in English.

WS: How many of your 75 million users are outside of the U.S.?

LAU: More than three quarters. Of the 75 million, roughly 13 million are from the U.S. Then Indonesia and the Philippines, and then Vietnam has 4 million, Turkey has 4 million, Mexico 3 million, France has nearly 2 million.

It’s very fragmented but in a good way.

WS_0919_LAU-ALT2.qxp_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 9/3/19 10:51 AM Page 2

Korea. These join our existing partnerships with SYFY and eOne. In the Philippines, we have a partnership with Anvil Publishing [for a YA and romance book imprint called Bliss Books].

Light as a Feather, produced by Awesomeness for Hulu, is based on a Wattpad story.

WS: Why have Indonesia and the Philippines become such significant markets for Wattpad?

LAU: In Indonesia and the Philippines and many other countries, the first experience of the internet is on a mobile phone. In Indonesia, there are 17,000 islands—and not every one has a bookstore! Now you have a device that you carry all the time that has bandwidth-friendly content— long-form textual content—that you cannot get otherwise because there is no bookstore near you. And in many countries, the publishing ecosystem is not as well established.

Even to get published in the U.S. is not an easy job. With Wattpad, you can write something in Bahasa, on one of the tiniest islands in Indonesia, and press a button and 15 million people in Jakarta can read your content.

WS: What led to the creation of Wattpad Studios?

LAU: We had this idea in 2011-12. We had reached critical mass and we realized, perhaps we can take some of our best content, our best IP, and turn it into other formats. But we didn’t pursue it because the company was quite small at that time. We didn’t have the resources to execute. And then in 2014, out of the blue, TV5 from the Philippines approached us to work together. They were thinking of a concept called Wattpad Presents—a series where each episode is a different story from Wattpad. We connected, we both loved the idea. We had been thinking about it for quite some time. It didn’t take long for us to sign on the dotted line. It started as an experiment and before you know it, we had done six seasons with them, 200 episodes. It was one of the most popular young adult shows in the Philippines. We helped TV5 increase their ratings by 30 percent. That’s when we knew the concept would work.

After we had done two or three seasons with them, we said, Let’s start Wattpad Studios and scale this business.

WS: Tell us about the partnerships you have.

LAU: Sony in the U.S., Bavaria [Fiction] in Germany, Mediacorp in Singapore, iflix for movies, entirely focused on Bahasa Indonesia. In 2019, we’ve announced a string of new entertainment partnerships, including Mediaset in Italy, Lagardère Studios in France, NL Film in the Netherlands, CBC in Canada and Huayi Brothers in 44 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS: How are your analytics used in the adaptation process?

LAU: We can tell the screenwriters and producers, Keep chapters one, five and seven. In chapter seven, only keep the first two paragraphs because they generated the most comments. By analyzing the 100,000 comments on a story, we can tell you, Cut out this character. We can provide data and insights that weren’t possible before. In the past, with so many movie adaptations of books, people would say, It sucks, the book is so much better! It was because the screenwriter had no idea what the audience would like and which chapters or paragraphs are the most important. It’s all based on guesswork. We take that out of the equation. We’re not replacing the job of the screenwriter; we’re not replacing the job of the editor. We’re turning humans into superheroes. We equip them with the right data and insights so they can make the best possible decisions.

WS: What are your primary revenue streams?

LAU: There are three buckets. One is advertising, that’s easy to understand; 75 million people spending over 22 billion minutes on our platform every month. Advertising is an obvious business model! Two, we have various paid models on the platform. We also put some content behind a paywall with our Wattpad Paid Stories program.

People can buy virtual coins and pay per chapter. It’s only a few pennies per chapter. This model is very innovative and it’s working well for us. We also have a subscription tier. The subscription is mostly feature-based: ad-free, certain themes, specific features designed for the premium users. And then finally the studio: TV shows and movies.

WS: Of those revenue generators, where are you seeing the biggest gains?

LAU: We’ve been doing the ad business for a very long time; it’s the most mature business. The pay model is only a year old but is growing very fast. We’ve been doing the studios model for three years, but it takes time to make a movie! That part is also growing fast with all the partnerships we’ve talked about. In the next few years, the last two buckets will become a much bigger business and should overtake the advertising.

WS: Where else would you like to have partnerships in the next year or so?

LAU: There are 200 countries in the world and we want to be in all of them! In Europe and North America, we’re covered. In Asia, we have a few partnerships already, but there are so many different countries. Latin America is one of our most important regions. We have a lot of users, but we don’t have a partner there yet. I would like to see one or two partnerships in LatAm.

WS_0919 LIMELIGHT DESIGN_.qxp_Layout 1 8/13/19 10:29 AM Page 1

WS_0919_ATF.qxp_Layout 1 8/13/19 10:46 AM Page 1

WS_0919_BAKER-REVISED.qxp_1005_ONE-ON-ONE 8/30/19 4:33 PM Page 3

ONE-ON-ONE

s economic headwinds and shifts in consumer behavior put pressure on traditional ad revenues, European media giant ProSiebenSat.1 Media has been looking to its production and distribution division, Red Arrow Studios, as a critical growth area. With 20 production companies and labels in seven markets, and the distributors Red Arrow Studios International and Gravitas Ventures, the segment recorded a 28-percent increase in revenues in the second quarter of this year. At the heart of the business is a focus on independent creativity, with outfits maintaining their own brand identities and production slates as they cater to the factual, scripted and formatted entertainment needs of channels and platforms.

Red Arrow Studios International is broadening the reach of titles from its sister production companies as well as third parties, pioneering new financing and distribution models as it invests in projects early on in their life cycles. As president and co-CEO of Red Arrow Studios, James Baker is ensuring that the group’s companies continue to do what they do best, responding to the seemingly endless appetite for high-quality content from around the world. He talks to World Screen about fostering and retaining talent, financing and packaging IP and responding to the booming demand for local content worldwide.

WS: Red Arrow Studios has been a significant highlight in ProSiebenSat.1’s financials this year. What’s driving those results?

BAKER: We are having a good year, with our U.S. companies especially firing on all cylinders. We’ve had some fantastic shows from 44 Blue Productions, which produced Jailbirds for Netflix and First Responders Live for FOX; and Left/Right with The Weekly, the New York Times show for FX and Hulu. Those add up. We’ve had some really good performances from Dorsey Pictures, Karga Seven Pictures, Half Yard Productions, Kinetic Content, Fabrik Entertainment [and others]. All in all, the whole portfolio is having a really strong year, and that seems to be following through into next year as well. Our development slate across scripted and non-scripted is looking strong, and we’re positive about the way the business is going.

JAMES BAKER

RED ARROW STUDIOS

By Mansha Daswani

WS: Looking at your production network, how are you managing these various labels so that they keep their distinct identities while also functioning as part of the broader Red Arrow Studios group?

BAKER: We were always very clear that we wanted to give the companies and the creative leads in the group independence to do what they do best: produce shows they believe in and are passionate about.

There’s a danger when you apply groupthink to creative people, as they all have different approaches to how they develop, create and produce programs.

There’s also a danger in forcing those companies to work in the same way or operate under a strict set of group rules. Everyone in Red Arrow has independent creativity—with the companies keeping their own names and identities—resulting in two really good things: it gives them the confidence to get on with what they do best, without too much interference; and when Nina Etspueler, our group creative director, identifies opportunities that can connect the group up—either by sharing content between companies or developing opportunities with our distribution business—they are open to it because it doesn’t feel like it’s a rule-driven process. That’s been demonstrated by us retaining great talent. Chris Coelen, the CEO of Kinetic Content, is a good example, as he’s recently re-signed with us for an extended period. All of our key creative leaders have extended, making for a really solid creative base.

WS: And Chris is now working with Red Arrow to expand into scripted.

BAKER: We sat down with Chris and asked, Where do you want to go next? He said he’d love to carry on doing their great work in non-scripted but felt, and we agreed, that the scripted space is an exciting place at the moment.

All the old rules seem

9/19 WORLD SCREEN 47

WS_0919_BAKER-REVISED.qxp_1005_ONE-ON-ONE 9/3/19 10:54 AM Page 4

Red Arrow Studios’ Left/Right worked with The New York Times on The Weekly for FX and Hulu. to have gone out the window. Chris’s background is in managing and championing talent, and finding great stories and producing them, all of which seems a perfect fit for the scripted space. And it touches on a strategy that we believe is important: it’s much better for us to develop and grow the companies and the talent we have in the portfolio than to endlessly search for shiny new things in the market. IP and talent are at the core of the success of any business, and I firmly believe it’s less about the quantity of companies we have, and more about the quality and the success of those companies. We have a wellbalanced portfolio, so the need for us to buy and bolt-on more is small compared to growing the businesses we already own.

WS: Your U.S. production companies, in particular, are known for innovative factual content. How are they remaining at the forefront in a very crowded factual landscape in the U.S.?

BAKER: A lot of networks, particularly given the competitive pressures they are facing, want to feel secure that they are going to get shows that not only are successful but can return. Our non-scripted companies are massively well respected in the U.S., with big returning brands like Little Women, Say Yes to the Dress, Pit Bulls & Parolees and The Circus—and that’s very helpful. And the other part is the way that we deal with developing opportunities. Nina gets in the middle of the group, looking at new ideas coming out of our Danish company, Snowman Productions—which created Married at First Sight—or A League of Their Own and Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds creators CPL in the U.K., or in Germany,

Israel or Turkey, and makes sure they flow to all our companies in the U.S. It’s a very positive, creative ecosystem.

WS: How has Red Arrow Studios International evolved as a distributor amid the massive changes in how content is monetized today?

BAKER: Red Arrow Studios International is a relatively young company, so it has to be incredibly innovative about how it

develops content for its pipeline. Bo Stehmeier, who runs the business, and his head of acquisitions, Alex Fraser, can’t wait for content to come to them, or get into expensive buying competitions with other distributors—the market is too tough to do that anymore. We have to get out there and behave more like a developer, packager and financier than a traditional distributor. In a way, we are operating as a mini studio: getting engaged with ideas from within the group and from third parties and investing early, taking an active role in steering development and then going out and pitching. All this can be seen in action with Carlo Dusi—Red Arrow Studios International’s executive VP of commercial strategy, scripted—who has a wealth of scripted development projects underway for international. We have a tight, dynamic setup and don’t have the endless fear that we’re a legacy business that relies on a decades-old catalog of titles that chug along. We are always looking for new shows and new opportunities.

As a result, the catalog is fresh.

WS: Red Arrow has made a big bet on scripted over the last few years. What’s the strategy on both the production and distribution sides of the business?

Married at First Sight, based on a Danish format, is produced by Kinetic Content for Lifetime in the U.S. 48 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_BAKER-REVISED.qxp_1005_ONE-ON-ONE 9/3/19 10:55 AM Page 5

Red Arrow Studios International recently licensed the European period crime drama Vienna Blood, from Endor Productions and MR Film, to the BBC in the U.K. BAKER: On the production side, our core drivers are Henrik Bastin and Melissa Aouate at Fabrik Entertainment in the U.S., which produces Bosch for Amazon and the forthcoming new CBS All Access show Interrogation; and Hilary Bevan Jones at Endor Productions in the U.K., who most recently has been making Deep State for Fox Networks Group [Europe & Africa] and the forthcoming drama Vienna Blood, and has an amazing track record. They are our two engines. They operate in two very different ways, which reflects our approach, because I see the scripted market split into two different models. One is the U.S.-driven model where budgets commonly start at $4 million an episode and go up to much higher numbers. That needs a whole different approach from the European one, where the price point is still $2 million per episode.

While Fabrik is our company for U.S. scripted production, there are also fantastic opportunities in international co-production and packaging. We’re building a slate through our companies, including key talent such as acclaimed director Kari Skogland and her Mad Rabbit production company, and we’re investing in scripted projects from thirdparty producers through Carlo [Dusi] and Red Arrow Studios International that we believe have the potential to work in an international co-production market. Strategically, I think there is going to be growth and real opportunity in European co-production. You have global streaming platforms looking for

great projects, but you also have the European free-to-air networks and public channels desperately needing to invest in and create content that can help them fight the platforms. That, in turn, provides a lot of growth potential.

Vienna Blood is an excellent example of getting European channel partners—ZDF and ORF—and a company like us cooperating to create a great show. It is a brilliant period detective series shot in Vienna and produced in English by Endor and Austrian producer MR Film. It has an impressive pedigree, including Steve Thompson writing the show based on an excellent series of books, and a great cast. We’re just taking it to market now and the response has been fantastic, including a recent sale to the BBC. It’s a great example of how you can create a superb English-language series commissioned by European partners and with global appeal, which is a real testament to high-quality European drama. And there’s more where that came from!

WS: As the U.S. majors keep more of their product for their own streaming services, will that create additional opportunities for companies like Red Arrow in the global marketplace?

BAKER: We’re in the middle of an extraordinary period in our industry. As the dust settles and we start to understand the ecosystem of the platform side of the business, we’ll see opportunities on both sides.

9/19 WORLD SCREEN 49

As Netflix, Amazon and others have less opportunity to buy from competing studios and platforms, they are going to look to producers and creative talent to fill that gap, in the U.S. and internationally. That’s an opportunity. And I think European broadcasters are now very aware of the evolution of the platform business in Europe—not least our parent company, ProSiebenSat.1, which launched its streaming platform Joyn in June and already has over 3.8 million monthly users across all platforms. I think we will see European platforms increasingly recognize that creating local content is a vital part of a strategy to differentiate themselves. We have local content producers to take advantage of that opportunity, and it’s a great time to be a producer.

WS: What are the other growth opportunities for the company in the year or two ahead?

BAKER: Our global digital studio, Studio71, is also having a fantastic year, showing double-digit revenue increases in Germany and the U.S. They are an important partner to have because they are absolutely at the center of the evolution of where technology and data, content and a new generation of talent and creators meet. So we get a lot of learnings from them. I’ve been around for more years than I care to remember, and I can’t think of a more exciting time to be in the content business.

WS_0919_WORLDS END.qxp_WSN_1108_WORLD'S END 9/3/19 10:56 AM Page 2

WORLD’S END

IN THE STARS Almost every national constitution forbids the establishment of an official state religion. But this secular bent doesn’t stop people from looking to the heavens for answers to life’s most troublesome questions: Will I succeed? Will I find love?

Will I do magic mushrooms with Harry Styles?

Every day, papers, magazines and websites worldwide print horoscopes— projections for people born in a specific month, based on the positions of the stars and planets. While many people rely on these daily, weekly or monthly messages for guidance in their lives, some readers skip over them entirely.

The editors of WS recognize that these little pearls of random foresight occasionally prove pro phetic.

But rather than poring over charts of the zodiac to predict world events, our staff prefers to use past horoscopes in an attempt to legitimize the science.

As you can see here, had some of these media figures remembered to consult their horoscopes on significant dates, they could have avoided a few surprises.

Harry Styles

Chace Crawford

Jennifer Lopez

Jimmy Kimmel

JOHN TRAVOLTA

JENNIFER LOPEZ

Global distinction: Saturday Night Fever star.

Sign: Aquarius (b. February 18, 1954) Significant date: August 26, 2019 Noteworthy activity: The 65-year-old is presenting

Global distinction: Actress & singer.

Sign: Leo (b. July 24, 1969) Significant date: August 25, 2019 Noteworthy activity: The multihyphenate entertainer

the award for video of the year at MTV’s VMAs with his Hairspray co-star Queen Latifah. When Taylor Swift is announced as the winner and joined onstage by the cast from her “You Need to Calm Down” video, Travolta mistakenly attempts to hand the statuette to RuPaul’s Drag Race star Jade Jolie, who is dressed as Swift in drag.

Horoscope: “Being organized will help you avoid frustration when dealing with people who are inconsistent or unpredictable. Don’t let someone from your past disrupt your life or cause confusion.” (mercurynews.com)

shares a behind-the-scenes story while promoting her new movie Hustlers along with fellow stars Constance Wu, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart and Cardi B. Lopez says that when shooting a fight scene with Wu, the take got more aggressive than planned and she thought she’d broken the Fresh Off the Boat star’s nose. Rapper Cardi B interjects, “Wait a minute, actresses. So y’all be really fighting?”

Horoscope: “Fight the good fight at work, where you remain duty-bound to put on a bravura performance.” (theguardian.com)

HARRY STYLES

BLAKE LIVELY

Global distinction: Music heartthrob.

Sign: Aquarius (b. February 1, 1994) Significant date: August 19, 2019 Noteworthy activity: The former One Direction mem-

Global distinction: TV & movie star.

Sign: Virgo (b. August 25, 1987) Significant date: August 25, 2019 Noteworthy activity: The actress, who is pregnant

ber and X Factor contestant appears shirtless on the cover of Rolling Stone. Inside the article, the singer admits to taking psychedelics to aid in his creative process and reveals that he once bit off part of his tongue while on magic mushrooms.

Horoscope: “Let your creativity flow and you’ll find the magic formula you need to impress everyone.” (my.astrofame.com)

with her third child with husband Ryan Reynolds of Deadpool fame, turns 32. Celebrating his wife’s big day, Reynolds takes to Instagram with no less than ten pictures of his other half—none of which feature Lively with her eyes open or in the most flattering of poses.

Horoscope: “If you can’t laugh at yourself, life is a sad, gray existence.” (latimes.com)

CHACE CRAWFORD

JIMMY KIMMEL

Global distinction: Gossip Girl alum.

Sign: Cancer (b. July 18, 1985) Significant date: August 16, 2019 Noteworthy activity: A pic from a promotional calen-

Global distinction: Talk show host.

Sign: Scorpio (b. November 13, 1967) Significant date: August 23, 2019 Noteworthy activity: The Jimmy Kimmel Live! funny-

dar for Amazon’s The Boys featuring Crawford, who plays Kevin/The Deep in the series, goes viral after fans are given an eyeful from the actor’s skintight superhero suit. The photo, which leaves little to the imagination, ignites a Twitter storm, with some questioning if a prosthetic may have been used to enhance his assets.

Horoscope: “A little modesty goes a long way. Don’t worry; you’ll be acknowledged for what you know as long as you don’t make others feel inferior.” (dailyom.com)

man shares a prank he pulled on his aunt, in which he paints her house orange and green for her 80th birthday. Comedian Tom Green claims that the idea was stolen from him and wants some retroactive recognition. “Sometimes I don’t understand why people can copy all of my classic bits from The Tom Green Show and get no push back?” Green writes on social media. “Love ya Jimmy but I want a writers credit.”

Horoscope: “Embrace your power and give credit where credit is due.” (refinery29.com)

50 WORLD SCREEN 9/19

WS_0919_MULTICOM_51.qxp_Layout 1 9/3/19 2:51 PM Page 1

WS_0919_ZDF.qxp_Layout 1 8/30/19 11:33 AM Page 1