World Screen September 2014

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THE MAGAZINE OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA • SEPTEMBER 2014

www.worldscreen.com

MIPTVEdition Edition Pre-MIPCOM

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CONTENTS

SEPTEMBER 2014/PRE-MIPCOM EDITION DEPARTMENTS WORLD VIEW

Publisher Ricardo Seguin Guise

16

Editor Anna Carugati

A note from the editor.

UPFRONTS

Executive Editor Mansha Daswani

18

New shows on the market.

MARKET TRENDS

Managing Editor Kristin Brzoznowski

SPOTLIGHT

Associate Editor Joanna Padovano

34

Sky Vision’s Jane Millichip.

28 36

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL

30 WILLIAM FICHTNER

Endemol’s Cathy Payne.

IN FOCUS

32 TITUS WELLIVER

60

Contributing Editor Elizabeth Guider

40

Special Projects Editor Bob Jenkins Online Director Simon Weaver

42

Production & Design Director Victor L. Cuevas

FremantleMedia’s Sarah Doole.

WORLD’S END

Associate Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Jessica Rodríguez Assistant Editor Joel Marino

Entertainment One’s Stuart Baxter.

IN THE NEWS

Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari

Art Director Phyllis Q. Busell

66

Sales & Marketing Director Cesar Suero

In the stars.

Sales & Marketing Coordinator Faustyna Hariasz 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.: $70.00 Outside the U.S.: $120.00 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.worldscreen.com.

Business Affairs Manager Terry Acunzo

56

Senior Editor Kate Norris

SPECIAL REPORT

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HIGH DRAMA

The international business of drama is booming amid a new era of creative collaboration across borders.

—Mansha Daswani

Contributing Writers Steve Clarke Andy Fry Juliana Koranteng Jane Marlow Joanna Stephens Jay Stuart David Wood Copy Editor Maddy Kloss

IN CONVERSATION

56

ITV STUDIOS’ MARIA KYRIACOU

As managing director of ITV Studios Global Entertainment, Kyriacou leads the international distribution and consumer-products businesses for the leading commercial broadcaster in the U.K. —Anna Carugati

ONE-ON-ONE

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ALL3MEDIA’S FARAH RAMZAN GOLANT

The CEO of all3media talks about innovation, nurturing creativity and brand-building.

—Anna Carugati 14 World Screen 9/14

Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP & Group Editorial Director 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 ©2014 WSN INC. Printed by Fry Communications No part of this publication can be used, reprinted, copied or stored in any medium without the publisher’s authorization.

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WORLD VIEW

BY ANNA CARUGATI

Collaboration Over Confrontation, Please!

Are you, like me, in shock over the events of this past summer?

Warfare, religious persecution, disease, destruction— manmade and from the forces of nature—violence, death. Hatred, hatred and more hatred. What has this world come to? This is all maddening, incomprehensible and heartbreaking.

Wildfires, floods, shot-down commercial airplanes, barbaric brutality by ISIS, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Ebola, trigger-happy cops pretending they’re soldiers…. Every day on the news we see a parade of images of suffering, wounded civilians, orphaned children, despairing parents, gunned-down teenagers, destroyed homes, buildings and lives.

I’ve started to sardonically refer to the news as a daily dose of optimism. I can’t help but wonder, are forces of evil and ignorance pulling us backward? Putin’s delusions of recreating an empire along the lines of czarist Russia (or worse, the Soviet Union) is rekindling Cold War belligerence.

Police (mostly white) in Ferguson, Missouri, using tear gas and rubber bullets against demonstrators (mostly black) is a throwback to the South in the ’60s.

The one oasis of good feelings and excitement and joy was the great sporting moment of Kumbaya, when we (were supposed to) forget our differences and rejoice in the one sport that is played more than any other on the planet—the FIFA World Cup. But even with that our world was rocked. Besides the unexpected upsets of teams from Italy, Portugal and Spain going home early, the one constant, the one fact that has withstood throughout the history of the World Cup and that we could always count on, was that Brazil plays the beautiful game better than any other team, and what the hell? They got annihilated 7-1 by Germany. (Please don’t get me started on the outrageous kicks in the back or bites on the shoulders of opponents.)

I repeat, what is this world coming to? (Sitting through an episode of The Strain is so much easier than sitting through a half-hour newscast or some of the games in the World Cup.) Why can’t people just try to get along? Why can’t they work out their differences? Why is it that what separates us always seems to be greater than what brings us together?

Well, if we just push past the evening news into prime-time programming, we can move beyond the madness of today’s world and into the extraordinary realm of today’s drama, where a spirit of openness and acceptance—on behalf of producers, distributors, networks and audiences—has given rise to new levels of creativity in what is so often referred to as the second golden age of television.

when a story grabs you, you stick with it

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We have more and more talent in front of and behind the camera crossing the Atlantic in both directions. Forward-thinking and problem-solving showrunners and producers have built upon the ashes of the “Euro pudding,” constructing workable models of co-production and co-financing.

Crossing Lines and Da Vinci’s Demons are just two examples of co-productions that ironed out potentially thorny differences, resulting in successful shows. And there are many more to come.

Collaboration is also at work in the reversioning of hit dramas from one country to another: Broadchurch to Gracepoint, Bron to various Bridges and Tunnels, Polseres vermelles to Red Band Society, Juana la virgen to Jane the Virgin, Terminales to Chasing Life. Mansha Daswani’s feature in this issue offers a comprehensive view of the many strategies used in co-producing, co-financing and adapting shows.

And let’s not forget to credit audiences. Like never before, viewers in numerous countries are watching subtitled dramas produced in a language other than their own, whether it’s the entire show that is subtitled, like The Killing or Les Revenants, or portions of a show, like The Americans. The fact that the U.S. audience has accepted subtitles is something I never thought would be possible—but it just goes to show you, when a story grabs you, you stick with it. It was a great story that convinced Maggie Gyllenhaal to star in her first TV drama, The Honourable Woman on BBC Two and SundanceTV. We hear from her in this issue, as well as Bosch’s Titus Welliver and Crossing Lines’ William Fichtner.

Drama, in all its configurations, has become so popular with audiences around the world—see Korean dramas, Turkish soaps, Latin telenovelas, U.S. network procedurals and cable serialized shows, European crime and event miniseries—that the genre tops the slates of every major distributor.

I heard this firsthand from the interviews I did with Endemol’s Cathy Payne, ITV Studios’ Maria Kyriacou, all3media’s Farah Ramzan Golant and eOne’s Stuart Baxter.

Here at World Screen, we are beefing up our already hefty coverage of drama, having launched the magazine TV Drama earlier this year and the online newsletter TV Drama Weekly in 2013. You will see us offer more features tracking trends and interviews with executives, actors and showrunners—and I have a dream project I am working on, but more about that in 2015. In the meantime, hold on to your socks when you leaf through our MIPCOM issue. I swear, no violence intended whatsoever—there is way too much of that in the news already—but we do intend to blow you away!

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UPFRONTS

all3media international Chrisley Knows Best / Slednecks / True Tori The comedic reality show Chrisley Knows Best, which turns the spotlight on millionaire Todd Chrisley and his family, was recently commissioned for a second season by USA Network. At MIPCOM, all3media international will be talking to buyers about both installments. “The big, bold characters really hook you into this series,” says Liza Thompson, the company’s senior VP of international sales.

“The dynamics of the family are hugely entertaining. It is feelgood television. We are confident that the show will find a home in the U.K. shortly.” The Lifetime series True Tori, which features Tori Spelling, has also been commissioned for a second season. “This intimate and raw series chronicles life when your partner has had an affair,” says Thompson. “It is a very personal account of what happens next and how one copes with the daily routine with a family to run. This is a universal theme and taps into everyday life that people can relate to.” The docuseries Slednecks is another factual highlight for the company. “This fun, light series gives insight into a completely different life: what it is like living in Alaska,” Thompson explains. “It follows a group of hedonistic young people.” The cast will resonate with “the younger-skewing [audiences] in Latin America, the U.K. and Scandinavia,” she says. The 20x30-minute series was produced for MTV in the U.S.

“One of the main goals this MIPCOM is to explore opportunities with new OTT and SVOD platforms.”

—Liza Thompson

Slednecks

BBC Worldwide Intruders / Katherine Mills: Mind Games / Tumble The big drama launch for BBC Worldwide at MIPCOM this year is Intruders, produced by BBC Worldwide Productions. The eightpart thriller is written by Glen Morgan (The X-Files, Those Who Kill ) and stars John Simm and Oscar-winner Mira Sorvino. “This is a top-quality contemporary drama with a psychological edge,” says Paul Dempsey, the president of global markets at BBC Worldwide. From its factual-entertainment slate, BBC Worldwide is bringing out Katherine Mills: Mind Games, which sees the eponymous talent performing acts of mind control. “Factualentertainment content travels easily because it covers topics, from cookery to cars, that really resonate with viewers,” says Dempsey. “Katherine Mills: Mind Games introduces psychology into magic and will enthrall audiences.” In the way of formats, there is Tumble, a prime-time entertainment show from the same team at the BBC who work on Strictly Come Dancing.

“When it comes to family entertainment, it would be hard to beat a show that has glamour, celebrities, music and aweinspiring challenges, and Tumble has this in abundance,” says Dempsey. “There is always a hunger for new prime-time shinyfloor formats, which is where we are positioning Tumble.” He adds, “Along with the programs I’ve mentioned, we have an enviable catalogue packed full of high-quality and premium content, including The Refugees and Our Zoo.”

“For a drama to appeal to international audiences, there are certain components that will help make it a success: great storytelling and A-list talent, and Intruders has both of these.”

—Paul Dempsey

Intruders 18 World Screen 9/14

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Endemol Worldwide Distribution Kingdom / Gallipoli / Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Kingdom is set against the backdrop of mixed martial arts. It is one among several drama highlights for Endemol Worldwide Distribution, along with Gallipoli, produced to coincide with the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign, and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which takes place during the Napoleonic Wars in England. “All three series, although set in completely different times and worlds, are linked by the human stories to which audiences worldwide will relate,” says Matt Creasey, the company’s senior VP of sales and acquisitions for the Americas, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. “Audiences will be drawn to the action and family drama of Kingdom, the horror and loss of Gallipoli and the fantastical world and special effects of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.”

“Endemol celebrates its 20th birthday at MIPCOM, so the market will be a celebration of our belief in creativity and content, typified by the launch of an amazing slate of programming.”

Gallipoli

—Matt Creasey

Global Agency The Exchange Project / Love is Calling / Share or Dare New to the Global Agency catalogue, The Exchange Project is a fast-paced game show in which contestants are given a small budget to buy one object of their choosing and then must trade items with the public to increase the value of their item with each trade. “The clever ‘trade up’ premise of this format will draw buyers’ eyes, as it is unique from many formats in the market today,” says Izzet Pinto, the CEO of Global Agency. The company has a new live dating format in Love is Calling, a studio-based show for people looking for love. From Israel’s United Studios comes the game show Share or Dare, which combines luck, knowledge and strategy. “All three of these projects have worldwide appeal and qualities that are in high demand for any audience,” says Pinto. “I am sure they will all be new international hits.”

“These three projects are one step ahead of the market with their exciting and unique structures.”

Share or Dare

—Izzet Pinto

ITV-Inter Medya Black Money Love / Stolen Life / In Between The drama series Black Money Love, sold by ITV-Inter Medya, epitomizes what’s being called the “new generation of Turkish drama,” according to Ahmet Ziyalar, the company’s managing director. The fast-paced story’s first season was a ratings hit in Turkey, and its newly released second season is on its way to continuing that success. “We are quite sure that the title will draw lots of attention from the buyers at the market,” Ziyalar says. Also on offer are the first seasons of In Between, about a young girl from the suburbs torn between two young men, and the drama Stolen Life. “These titles have interesting stories, high production values and great acting,” Ziyalar notes.

“According to our past experiences, we can easily tell that all three titles have great appeal for the international market.”

“Our main target is to increase the number of territories our company is doing business with, and to establish new business relationships with broadcasters from LatAm and CIS countries.”

Black Money Love 20 World Screen 9/14

—Ahmet Ziyalar

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ITV Studios Global Entertainment Aquarius / Thunderbirds Are Go! / The Secret Life of Students/Teens MIPCOM will host the world premiere screening of the drama Aquarius, which stars David Duchovny. “The writing and vision for the show are first class, and we have no doubt that this, plus the captivating quality of David Duchovny, will appeal to a global audience,” says Dan Gopal, the executive VP of EMEA distribution and global digital partners at ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE). MIP Junior will see the world premiere screening of Thunderbirds Are Go!, a reinvention of the classic series. “There is already so much anticipation for the show since we started to unveil its development and production earlier this year, both with commercial partners and fans of the original 1960s show,” says Gopal. The Secret Life of Students/Teens marks ITVS GE’s major new format launch for the market.

“Our priority is to bring great, quality content to our global partners, and to maximize the international audience for the programming our production partners entrust us with.”

Aquarius

—Dan Gopal

Kanal D Benim Adim Gultepe / Gullerin Savaşi / Little Lord The period drama Benim Adim Gultepe is set in the 1980s. It tells the story of four friends with clashing families, forbidden romances, platonic love stories and pursuits of hope. Kanal D is offering the title alongside Gullerin Savaşi, a modern drama about a girl with big dreams living in a small world. Little Lord is an “entertaining drama with a lighter touch,” according to Amaç Erol Us, Kanal D’s sales and acquisitions executive.

The story features the 6-year-old child of a divorced couple who tries to solve the negativity around him with a kid’s approach. “All three titles have great stories and strong characters,” says Erol Us. “Once you have both of these ingredients, you will have your content travel around the world no matter what language the storytelling is in.”

“Our producers and scriptwriters know how to put together an appealing show that will connect with the audience.”

Little Lord

—Amaç Erol Us

PFC - O Canal do Futebol Brasileirão Série A and B / Copa do Brasil / State Championships Globosat’s PFC - O Canal do Futebol is the first Brazilian channel targeted at the international market that is dedicated to the country’s most popular sport: soccer. All of its content is aired exclusively in Portuguese, according to Bianca Maksud, the network’s marketing manager. The signal currently reaches 15 countries on four continents, providing the largest coverage of Brazilian championships and tournaments, such as Brasileirão Série A and B, Copa do Brasil and the State Championships, along with soccer-themed shows like Bem, Amigos!, which features match analysis. “We are always looking for opportunities and other ways to give a better experience to our subscribers,” Maksud says. “Right now, we are making our best efforts to offer VOD content and quality HD.”

“In the long run, we intend to expand our services in Canada and Europe, where we will reach practically all Brazilians living there.”

Bem, Amigos!

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—Bianca Maksud

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Red Arrow International Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot / 100 Code / Decimate Oscar-winners Dame Judi Dench and Dustin Hoffman are featured in the family movie Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot. A highlight of Red Arrow International’s slate, the 90-minute production is based on a beloved best seller from author Roald Dahl. Red Arrow is also bringing out 100 Code, which pairs a U.S. detective (played by Lost’s Dominic Monaghan) with an investigator from Sweden (Michael Nyqvist of the Millennium trilogy) to investigate a series of horrific murders. “The gripping series combines a fish-out-of-water story with edgy Scandi crime at its best,” says Irina Ignatiew, the company’s managing director of global scripted distribution. Decimate, meanwhile, is a new BBCcommissioned quiz show that sees prize money get “decimated” each time a player answers incorrectly.

“All our programs come with builtin marketing strategies, ranging from an Alist cast and crew to high-quality production to putting new twists on existing genres.”

100 Code

—Irina Ignatiew

Starz Worldwide Distribution Survivor’s Remorse / The Holiday Tree / Eyewitness Starz Worldwide Distribution has a new series and four fresh TV movies to offer. The half-hour comedy Survivor’s Remorse follows a young athlete who is suddenly thrust into the limelight after signing a multimillion-dollar contract. On the TV-movie front, there are two new holiday films, The Holiday Tree and Merry ExMas, as well as two new thrillers, Eyewitness and Secret Past. “We continue to have unique series in our catalogue that broadcasters can market specifically to a target audience, but that are broad enough to work for the key demographics,” says Gene George, the executive VP of Starz Worldwide Distribution.

“For TV movies, our titles work great because they can play in daytime slots and also work well in prime time, so it gives our partners flexibility and utility with our content.”

“We strive to secure the position of Starz as one of the leading providers of highquality, cinematic content in the marketplace.”

Survivor’s Remorse

—Gene George

Tandem Spotless / Crossing Lines / Sex, Lies and Handwriting Tandem continues to deliver one-hour series, including the new drama Spotless. “The series is dark and funny with an unusual, imaginative script by BAFTA-winning writer Ed McCardie and Academy Award-winner Corinne Marrinan,” says Randall Broman, Tandem’s VP of sales. Crossing Lines has wrapped season two with 12 new episodes. “The series highlights relevant story lines that speak to current pressing issues, addressing and dealing with the problem of cross-border crimes,” says Broman. Sex, Lies and Handwriting promises a “fresh take” on the crime genre, centered on an artist who happens to be a forensic handwriting expert. “It’s witty and funny, with a lead character who has the genius of a Sherlock Holmes and is drawn into the world of crime-solving,” Broman says.

“We work with top-level writers and showrunners who have proven themselves as having editorial lines that transcend borders.”

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—Randall Broman

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TM International Sapphire Blue / Valentine’s Kiss / Cosmos The feature Sapphire Blue is based on the second part of the best-selling Precious Stone trilogy by Kerstin Gier. Presented

by TM International, the movie serves as a sequel to Ruby Red, which the company presented last MIPCOM. “Sapphire Blue is a unique blend of time-traveling mystery combined with adventure and a love story that just hits a nerve with the teenage audience,” says Carlos Hertel, the company’s head of international sales. TM International is also presenting a new Rosamunde Pilcher miniseries, Valentine’s Kiss.

“As with all our previous Pilcher miniseries, the production value is simply outstanding and way above other Pilcher adaptations,” says Hertel. The two-parter completes the Rosamunde Pilcher collection, now consisting of 28 episodes of female-skewed dramas with a running time of 90 minutes each. “With around 50 hours of high-quality scripted drama, the Pilcher collection offers countless programming possibilities for a female audience,” Hertel adds.

TM International also has seven additional episodes of the successful wildlife doc series Cosmos. Hertel says, “Cosmos is a one-hour wildlife documentary series that has been sold to more than 40 territories to date. So, we are more than happy to offer our clients seven additional episodes featuring astounding nature from Africa’s wilderness to Scandinavia’s beauty and from Antarctica to New Zealand.”

“As exploitation possibilities continue to grow, so does our catalogue, with a constantly expanding, high-production-value offer for linear channels and [digital] platforms alike.”

—Carlos Hertel

Sapphire Blue

ZDF Enterprises H2O: Mermaid Adventures / The Team / Apocalypse Neanderthal There are four distinct genre divisions within ZDF Enterprises, each targeted at different segments of the business. On the children’s side, the ZDFE.junior catalogue offers H2O: Mermaid Adventures, an animated series developed to appeal to young girls that uses the latest technology to create powerful and imaginative effects. A highlight for the ZDFE.drama sector is the dark, edgy series The Team, about a crew that fights crime across borders. Alexander Coridass, ZDF Enterprises’ president and CEO, describes The Team as “Scandinavian noir crossed with European cool.” Meanwhile, ZDFE.factual is showcasing Apocalypse Neanderthal, a documentary that explores the mysteries of a species that could have been our ancestors but instead became extinct. “New genetic discoveries prove that it’s time to correct a millennial mistake,” says Coridass of the doc’s focus. And finally, ZDFE.entertainment is spotlighting the format Quiz Champion, in which laymen are pitted against specialists in a duel of knowledge. According to Coridass, the multiple programming highlights from each sales category proves how much dedication ZDF Enterprises puts into providing clients with premium content.

“Client care might be the right term for it, since we place great value on quality programs and quality service for all of our clients,” Coridass says.

“We don’t only want to be there when new trends come along, we want to help initiate them.”

—Alexander Coridass

The Team 26 World Screen 9/14

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Maggie

Gyllenhaal When BBC Two and SundanceTV set the premiere dates for their new drama co-production The Honourable Woman, neither could have anticipated that the show would launch amid intensifying tensions in Gaza. The eight-part thriller from creator and writer Hugo Blick takes on the hot-button issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Repped by BBC Worldwide, it has, since its premiere this summer, been deemed “a timely Mideast whodunit” and “the year’s most important drama” by commentators. The show marks the first television series for acclaimed film actress Maggie Gyllenhaal who, since her acting debut at 15, has built up a wide-ranging portfolio from indie darlings such as Donnie Darko and Secretary to big-budget blockbusters like The Dark Knight. She tells World Screen about playing Nessa Stein, daughter of an assassinated Israeli arms dealer, who is using the family empire to foster peace.

WS: You’ve had a long and successful film career.

What prompted your move into television with The Honourable Woman?

GYLLENHAAL: I think it was this particular television project. Hugo [Blick] sent it to me and I had never read anything like it before. Also, often the television projects I have been sent, I’m just sent one little tiny piece of it at the beginning. They send you a pilot [script] and you’re meant to sign up and just go for it.

That seems terrifying to me! This was terrifying enough and I had all eight episodes. But because I had the whole piece, [I could see that] it was so expertly put together, exquisitely put together, [especially] the thriller aspect of it, which isn’t possible if you’re writing each episode each week. It was obviously incredibly considered by Hugo. So the thriller aspect was amazing and I kept reading episode after episode over a weekend. But then underneath that— and to be honest, this is the part that interests me more—there was this beating heart that I could feel. I could feel that it would demand of me that I really learn something about myself in order to [play the role]. And so that’s what drew me to it. It’s also what repelled me because I felt, I don’t know if I can take this on right now. And I tried a bunch of times not to do it. And then it just became impossible because it was so good.

WS: Tell me about your character, Nessa Stein. What was it about her that spoke to you?

GYLLENHAAL: I don’t know if I can explain what spoke to me about her. I had never seen such depth of possibility.

Sometimes things just call you. And this was that way. I watched the first episode, the speech that she gives about Israel and Palestine and the work she’s doing there—the speech that Hugo wrote that I performed. I thought, she’s so incredibly graceful and intelligent. And of course she has a long way to go to become who she ultimately is. There are big parts of her that I think are in darkness at the beginning. But being asked to find the parts of myself that are that graceful and that intelligent to begin with was such a massive challenge, I’d never seen anything like that. And then on the other side, she’s sleeping with strangers in the stairwell to her apartment.

And that requires a whole other set of colors. There are these complicated relationships with the people in her family. In every way, everywhere I turned, the possibility was so deep, it was infinite. So, when it’s that way, you can put yourself into it and see how much of yourself can change and shift and grow by playing it.

WS: How has your working relationship been with Hugo Blick?

GYLLENHAAL: I’ve never worked with anybody in my life who was as interested in and trusting of me. n

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By Mansha Daswani

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William

Fichtner After a slew of successful event miniseries, Tandem made its foray into the one-hour drama space with the crime series Crossing Lines. Tandem produced the project with Bernero Productions in collaboration with TF1 Production and Sony Pictures Television Networks. Rola Bauer, president and partner at Tandem, serves as executive producer on Crossing Lines, alongside fellow executive producer Ed Bernero, a former Chicago cop and founder of Bernero Productions, who is also the creator and head writer. Crossing Lines focuses on a special crime unit that investigates serialized offenses that cross European borders. The drama boasts an all-star cast that includes William Fichtner (Prison Break, Black Hawk Down). Fichtner recently met with World Screen to discuss what drew him to the show, which recently wrapped production on its second season.

WS: What initially attracted you to this project?

FICHTNER: If it’s not on the page, it’s not on the stage.

When the first two episodes came to me with the possibility of doing the show, I felt that they were really well written. Most of all, I really enjoyed the character’s journey. The bottom line is that if you don’t have that, you don’t have a show. Interesting concepts are one thing, but you really have to have something that’s on the page.

I also felt that the character of [Carl] Hickman from the beginning was so fractured in so many ways, just in the first two episodes, and that’s rare in itself to get that much insight into one character. That was fascinating.

WS: Are there differences in working on a European production compared to an American one?

FICHTNER: It’s wonderful because we [shoot] in Prague. I grew up in Upstate New York, and I’ve lived in New York City most of my life (I live in L.A. now). I have a deep, deep love affair with Prague. If the show wasn’t in Prague, I don’t think that I would be a part of it; that’s how much I love being there.

We have amazing crews in the States. To work on any production, film or television, I consider it the best in the world. I’ve got to put our incredible Czech crew right up there with them. It does make a difference. Any television show is pretty much six pounds of bologna in a twopound bag every episode—it’s a lot! There’s more on the page than the eight or nine days that you have, but you don’t have more [time] than that; you have to get it done. That comes down to amazing crews, and we have

one. Then you start to get in the ball game of making something really good.

WS: Tell us about your character’s journey.

FICHTNER: There was so much to learn about Hickman right from the get-go. In those first two episodes, you find out so much about where he came from, where he is going, the problems that he had, the things that were keeping his life from moving on. All of this stuff, to me, is the most interesting thing. He has a problem with his hand. It’s not just that he can’t use his hand; it’s how it affects him emotionally, where [the injury] came from and how it’s driven his life. All of this stuff is not backstory that I’m making up; it’s all stuff that we got in the first season. Season two starts to touch on his life back in New York. He reacquaints with his ex-partner on a personal level and certainly professionally. The character of Amanda Andrews that Carrie-Anne Moss plays, for me, was probably the season highlight for Hickman.

Having Carrie-Anne around was amazing.

There’s so much room to go [with the character] and potential in what the show is and where it could branch out. It takes a very broad subject of, Let’s get an international group of people together and basically create this new policing unit. That is such a broad concept that subsequent years after this we could tackle so many different areas with it. We’re at our best when we’re a police show, when we go after certain things and how smart we can be about them. We also touch on who the characters are and how they’re affected by things. There are all sorts of worlds to explore with Hickman.

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By Anna Carugati

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By Mansha Daswani

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Welliver You may know him as the mysterious Man in Black in Lost, or the ambitious State’s Attorney Glenn Childs in The Good Wife, or from guest-starring roles in a slew of TV series, from Suits to Sons of Anarchy to The Mentalist and more. In Bosch, actor Titus Welliver takes center stage as iconic detective Harry Bosch. From Fabrik Entertainment and Amazon Studios for launch on Amazon Prime Instant Video this year, Bosch, sold by Red Arrow International, brings the bestselling crime novels by Michael Connelly to life. Welliver tells World Screen about filling the shoes of a character that is known by millions of readers across the globe.

WS: What was it about Harry Bosch that made you want to play this role?

WELLIVER: With so many police characters, the temptation a lot of times is to make them one-dimensional.

They are either completely heroic and slightly unrealistic or they are the darkest of the dark. That’s become the norm. What appeals to me about Harry is that he is an attainable character. He is a very human character.

He is flawed, as all people are flawed, but he has a very strong moral compass. There is something behind Harry, an unspoken grief, which has great profundity.

When I read City of Bones [one of Connelly’s Harry Bosch books], I was on an airplane with my daughter, flying to Chicago, and I started to cry. My daughter, being 8 years old, said, “Are you OK? Why are you crying?” I was deeply moved by this book. That speaks to Michael [Connelly’s] narrative. He’s created a character who has tremendous humanity. We want to know what is in his past, what haunts him, what defines him, what drives him. For me as an actor, it’s the richest character that I’ve ever been able to play in my career. Because there are so many different places to go, he’s greatly nuanced. When you sign on to play a character long term—particularly for someone like me who has attention deficit disorder [laughs]—there is an aspect of, what will maintain and hold me? As I said to Michael, I’ll play this character as long as they’ll have me. I couldn’t write one for myself that would be better.

[I was making a movie but] I kept trying to meet with [the producers] and I was getting very anxious because the clock ticks on these things and at a certain point people go, Sorry we can’t meet, we have to move on. When I came into the room and sat with them, it was a little nervewracking because I realized I so desperately wanted to work with these people. A lot of that is just instinctual when you sit down with people. Thankfully, it’s all been fully realized, and it’s a tremendous gift.

WS: Were you ever intimidated by the prospect of embodying such an iconic character?

WELLIVER: Well, here’s the macho response: I don’t get intimidated. There is an enormous responsibility when you’re going to jump into the shoes of an iconic character, no matter what, and you’re not going to please everybody.

So, what I had to do was check in with Michael about certain things. I read the books. I think [Harry is] very clearly defined as to who he is. The inner life of him is something that has to be told in a cinematic way. Because Michael was there [during production], I was able to peek over the monitors and just check in with him. We have a shorthand of facial expressions. I haven’t gotten a “No, no, no.” That keeps me on track.

WS: Amazon aired the pilot and then picked up the show following positive feedback from its subscribers. What’s the experience been like for you, making a show for Amazon as compared with the traditional broadcast-network model?

WELLIVER: My experience working in television is, you shoot a pilot and then you do the whole waiting thing and ultimately the decision is made by a group of executives in a room. Sometimes I don’t know what the criteria are.

Unfortunately in this day and age, if a television show in the network world doesn’t explode out of the box, it’s cancelled very quickly. Hill Street Blues in its first season was not even in the top 25 shows. It was not on the radar, and Steven Bochco told me that he thought they were surely going to [be] axed. Brandon Tartikoff [the head of NBC at the time] said he liked the show, said he was passionate about it, and suddenly it got its audience and as we know, it went on to completely reinvent cop shows.

There is a lot of micromanaging sometimes when you’re dealing with the networks. That doesn’t diminish them and the great product they continue to create, but because we have the track record and the body of work Michael has created, it keeps the wolves away from the door. It ain’t broke so it doesn’t need to be fixed, for lack of a better term. So in that way, it’s nice that we are ultimately left to our own devices. There’s a level of trust there. You don’t get ridiculous notes like, let’s put Harry in a red Ferrari and dye his hair. Thank God!

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MARKET TRENDS

By Mansha Daswani

SKY VISION’S JANE MILLICHIP

Over the last few years, Europe’s leading pay-TV platform, Sky in the U.K., has been steadily ramping up its investments in original programming. To monetize those efforts, the company acquired Parthenon Media Group and rebranded it as Sky Vision in 2012. Led by managing director Jane Millichip, the unit is distributing a number of Sky original commissions across a range of genres—including the high-profile new drama Fortitude—as well as taking on third-party properties. Millichip tells World Screen about the expanding opportunities she sees for Sky Vision in the international market.

WS: What’s been your overall approach to building Sky Vision’s drama slate?

MILLICHIP: Drama is increasingly important to us, big drama, with quality and scale. That matches the ambitions of our Sky entertainment channels—Sky Atlantic, Sky 1 and Sky Living—as well. One of the big advantages we’ve found working with our channels is that not only is the ambition there, but there is also a desire to commission returnable, long-running series, often in the U.S. [model] of 10 to 13 parts. Outside of the U.S., few broadcasters around the world are investing in drama to the level that Sky is in quality and volume. That’s hugely exciting for Sky Vision—being part of a broadcaster with big ambitions gives us an advantage in the marketplace. It requires a considerable amount of deficit funding, copro and presale activity, but in terms of what the market wants, thinking bigger and better is certainly what we want to do in drama.

WS: I imagine Fortitude reflects that bigger-and-better strategy.

How did the show come about?

MILLICHIP: Fortitude was commissioned by Sky Atlantic and produced by Fifty Fathoms, which sits under the umbrella of Tiger Aspect [Productions] and Endemol. Sky Vision has secured a co-production with Pivot [in the U.S.], which [provided] a significant percentage of the deficit. We did a soft launch at MIPTV this year to pre-

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sell the series to key buyers internationally, which has gone very well. We’ve already secured presales to cover the Sky Vision advance against that rest-of-world deficit.

We will launch the show with full episodes at MIPCOM. It was commissioned to 12 episodes straight off the bat, which is fantastic. It’s a high-concept series, set in the Arctic, [and] naturally has a fairly international ensemble cast, which is good for international [distribution]. The setting is not only beautiful, it has that sense of wonderful isolation that works well for thrillers and mystery. In terms of the tone and style, it’s pacey drama with a fantastic ensemble cast—Stanley Tucci, Michael Gambon, Sofie Gråbøl—and very saleable internationally. While Sky Atlantic is a premium pay channel, where the emphasis is on working with the best writers and producers to have the best storytelling, Fortitude has a natural appeal to terrestrial broadcasters as well. So we’ve got the advantages of playing quite broad as well as adhering to the quality control you’d expect in a premium pay environment.

WS: What are the trends you’re seeing in drama today?

MILLICHIP: We’ve seen a desire to have more highconcept genre pieces. We’re now able to have quite high-concept series set in either fictional or unusual settings that aren’t culturally and territorially bound.

For instance, the setting of Fortitude is in the Arctic. It’s home to no one and therefore can be home to all of us in terms of our consumption of that story. So for international, the high-concept genre trend has been good, because it makes those shows less culturally bound.

They’re not set in a specific precinct: it’s not a French cop station or a German hospital or a British firehouse.

That also means we can do period or contemporary— both have done well as a result of moving to a more high-concept approach. The ensemble cast (something we’ve learned from the U.S. system), returnable concepts—all of that is good for international.

WS: What are some of your priorities for Sky Vision’s overall distribution business?

MILLICHIP: Drama is really spearheading our move into bigger-budget, high-quality programming. We are in a position to invest extensively in those bigger-ticket items, whether that’s big specialist factual, drama or entertainment. In the last year, we have moved to being a general-entertainment distribution company and our genre mix reflects that: drama, factual entertainment, comedy and documentary. We’re in the key prime-time genres. Third-party programming is still vital to our lifeblood; 80 percent of our programming is non-Sky. We still work extensively with the independent sector, mostly with the U.K. and U.S. That will continue to be the case. We will take on more and more of the Skycommissioned programming, but we will also maintain the level of our investment in thirdparty product. We need that to build the scale of the catalogue we need.

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SPOTLIGHT

By Anna Carugati

ENDEMOL’S

CATHY PAYNE When Endemol acquired the Southern Star Group in January 2009, the producer of megahit formats like Big Brother and Deal or No Deal not only significantly augmented its library of finished programs, it also got an experienced executive to run and expand its distribution business. In the past five years, Cathy Payne, the CEO of Endemol Worldwide Distribution (EWD), has merged the Endemol and Southern Star catalogues, identified key third-party acquisitions and continued to build relationships with producers. She talks to World Screen about EWD’s new slate of shows, managing rights effectively, and the much anticipated return of Mr Bean!

WS: Since Endemol acquired Southern Star, what has been your strategy in expanding and diversifying the merged catalogue?

PAYNE: When we put the two companies together, we had a look at the distribution market and we decided that we were going to go for broad-audience scripted, broad-audience factual and broad-audience entertainment programming. Our strategy is to focus on shows that can sell in 80 percent of the world rather than a show that would only sell in 20 percent.

We also continued the strategy we had back in the Southern Star days of having third-party as well as internal content to be able to protect ourselves in those years when there might not be as much coming through the pipeline and to increase our relationships.

Certainly before I joined Endemol the amount of their third-party content was tiny. Now, in our overall catalogue, third-party content is 50 percent of what we sell.

In addition, we’ve had a strategy of reviewing everything in our library. When the company was in its early days, it was about production more so than creating assets for future sales. So, we went through and identified brands that could be taken out internationally and we have been doing that. One of the key things we wanted to do with a number of our catalogue items was sell them as a franchise for a channel, for example Wipeout. When you buy Wipeout, it’s not just Wipeout U.S., it’s also Total Wipeout (Wipeout U.K.) and Wipeout Canada—we’re grouping the English-language shows together and creating volume so a franchise like Wipeout can really be useful to have in the schedule.

WS: The EWD catalogue spans many genres. Which titles are selling well?

PAYNE: Broad-audience entertainment programming, the likes of Wipeout—that is an evergreen for us. From the U.S., we sell the factual documentary series Cold Justice made by Wolf Films and Magical Elves for TNT. We sell Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown for CNN. That is a great talent and the show does very well for us. We also have Death Row Stories and Crimes of the Century from CNN. And from the U.K., our shows Bodyshockers and Secret Eaters, those franchises perform very well.

WS: There is a lot of drama programming out there.

How do you differentiate your offer from the other drama in the market?

PAYNE: No doubt in the last couple of years the drama that’s come from the cable sector in the U.S. and British drama have had a real renaissance, while the drama that hasn’t performed well has been the broadcast-network drama. The nature of the British short run or the U.S. cable series is that in those environments, writers are allowed to do things that they wouldn’t normally do—there is more risk-taking. And when there is more risk-taking, there are going to be more programs that break through. To me, it all starts with a fantastic idea and very well-written scripts.

Being able to combine that level of writing with interesting and challenging roles along with a couple of really strong theatrical directors and names just makes for a really good offering.

What we look for in drama is something that is going to look different. What is distinctive about the show? It might be the creative team or the on-screen talent.

WS: And your MIPCOM slate will have a lot of drama?

PAYNE: It’s a heavily scripted slate. We have Gallipoli, an eight-hour miniseries for the Nine Network in Australia. It’s the equivalent of D-Day for Australia and New Zealand and is about a battle that happened on the Turkish peninsula. We have a

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EWD has been adding a number of comedies to its catalogue, including Darren Star’s Younger for TV Land.

very big fantasy series, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, for BBC One based on a best-selling book by Susanna Clarke.

We have season two of The Fall. Season one was a fantastic success on BBC Two, so much so that we bought the company and are doing a deal with Content Media to take back the rights to season one. We have season two of Peaky Blinders. We have Kingdom, a family drama set in Los Angeles, and Younger, the new comedy for TV Land starring Hilary Duff, with Darren Star (Sex and the City) as executive producer.

WS: You have quite a few comedy series. How did that come about and how are they performing?

PAYNE: It started off with Hot in Cleveland from TV Land. I remember when I first read that script, I thought, it’s kind of old-fashioned, but there is something good about it. Hot in Cleveland is a bit of an oldfashioned comedy with four fantastic pieces of talent.

What works with the TV Land shows, and we have quite a few of their properties, is when you pick up one of those comedies, you know you are going to have ten episodes. TV Land launches two, maybe three shows a year. For them, it is a huge investment, so there is more opportunity to succeed there than there is on a broadcast network. Look at some of the big names that didn’t make a second season this year, [including] Michael J. Fox. It’s tough; the level of success there is so finely tuned and you don’t get a chance. On cable, they are more likely to give you a chance at success and give you another go.

WS: And almost every show that TV Land has launched has been renewed.

PAYNE: Yes, nearly all of them have, and what I like about the new slate is Jennifer Falls, which stars Jaime Pressly, and Younger, which is coming later in the year. TV Land is aging down its audience all the time, which is good, but they are not alienating their regular audience.

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WS: In the entertainment category, you mentioned Wipeout. Are there other shows that Endemol produces locally and that EWD sells internationally?

PAYNE: If we look in the entertainment space, you’d be surprised at some of the shows that we sell all around the world. Snog, Marry, Avoid? has aired on the BBC for several years and is being made in the U.S. now as Kiss, Marry, Avoid? A man chooses a girl he would rather kiss, marry or avoid. We are now producing the show in so many countries; we are doing an Italian version and a Russian version. We are selling the finished English version and now we are doing a U.S. version. At the moment, we’ve got 50 or 60 episodes of the show, and it’s a constant performer for us. The Brits do very good factual entertainment. Those programs do very well.

We continue to sell our big franchises like Fear Factor and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition; they are constantly relicensed to networks around the world. Our big announcement in entertainment this year is that Mr Bean is coming back! Mr Bean has more than 55 million friends on Facebook. He is about the eighth most popular channel on YouTube. He is one of those few characters that have nonverbal humor. As well as having the new animated series, we’re also remastering the original. So, Mr Bean is back with a vengeance!

WS: Are you finding sales opportunities with over-thetop (OTT) platforms?

PAYNE: Yes. To me, OTTs are another distribution channel. But one thing that I think is more important than ever is really managing your windows. When SVOD came around, everyone said, Oh, another opportunity to sell and make more money. But as the SVOD platforms mature, they want exclusivity— everyone wants some form of exclusivity to manage the windows. And remember that SVOD has caused, to some extent, the decline of the rental business. I hate it when people use the term digital, because digital can be anything from digital television to a permanently retained copy of a program to a subscription to a monthly service. [When selling rights,] you need to be clear about what you have, what you’ve lost, and then you look at your real growth.

WS: What issues are impacting the distribution business?

PAYNE: Channels want to offer viewers more opportunities to view content and to keep them on their channel and their services. So, broadcasters are pushing for more rights and more exclusive rights, but not always wanting to pay for them. Shows cost so much to produce, and whether you are a start-up service or you are a major broadcaster, if you want a first-class show with big stars and big creative attached, it’s going to cost [you]. Production costs haven’t gone down. It’s always the push and pull of what rights and more rights and not having to pay for them. I’m always very interested in managing windows so you have a proper tail. You don’t [sell] everything in the first cycle. Making sure you effectively manage the life of a show is more important than ever.

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IN FOCUS

eOne’s WS: Tell us about eOne’s relationships with the AMC and El Rey networks.

BAXTER: eOne is the co-producing, co-financing and distribution partner for AMC Networks and El Rey, for which we provide a significant part of the financial muscle and distribution to the shows they develop. AMC is a progressive, growing network that has turned into a drama powerhouse built on hit series like Breaking Bad and Mad Men. The idea of partnering with them to create more compelling, critically acclaimed shows, and to give eOne that edginess AMC has, is a huge advantage. El Rey was a new network starting up, owned by Robert Rodriguez in partnership with Univision. Robert’s vision for El Rey is to target the growing middle-class emerging markets in the U.S. with programming that is very much in the vein of his films and work he has done before, i.e. male-skewing, edgy, dramatic, high-quality, high-budget productions. In order to realize this vision, Robert was looking for a financial and distribution partner who could help cover the expense of producing those shows and bring them to market. We bring both to the table.

It’s hard to believe that Entertainment One (eOne), a leading producer, acquirer and distributor of television, film and music, started as a modest retailer of records and tapes in Ontario, Canada, in the ’70s. Today, alongside selling music and independent feature films, it offers high-quality scripted television fare, including The Walking Dead, Haven, Turn and Klondike, as well as formats and factual programming, to linear and nonlinear outlets around the world. eOne recently forged content agreements with AMC Networks and El Rey Network in the U.S. Stuart Baxter, the president of Entertainment One Television International, talks about the programming that has emerged from those deals and his plans for growth in this ever-changing business.

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WS: What are some of the scripted shows you are offering the international market?

BAXTER: Halt and Catch Fire is a depiction of the American dream in the 1980s, encapsulating the rise of the PC era. It isn’t a techy, geeky show about the evolution of the technology space, but rather a serialized drama about quirky characters that chose to disrupt the technology industry. The real drama of the relationships and the backstories of these eccentric individuals make for great viewing.

From executive producer Robert Rodriguez and Roberto Orci we have an exciting action-adventure series called Matador. It’s James Bond in a soccer world featuring a young and beautiful cast with bright colors and tones.

We’re also launching an epic six-part miniseries called The Book of Negroes, which has been selected as MIPCOM’s opening night gala screening. It’s absolutely stunning, with a filmic tone and quality to it. The miniseries will be available for buyers around the same time that many broadcasters will have 12 Years a Slave, so it will be a great companion piece.

WS: What percentage of your revenues are coming from digital platforms and what percentage comes from “traditional” broadcast, cable and satellite?

BAXTER: I’ve been in this industry for 20-plus years and I can remember when free TV was 70 percent of a company’s budget, pay TV was 25 percent and digital was 1 and 2 percent. Today, if you put the over-the-top operators, the SVOD operators, HBO GO and Sky’s NOW TV all in the digital pie, frankly, digital in many markets is

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STUART BAXTER 20-plus percent. It has grown many multiples, and by the way, every year it continues that growth. The truth is, some of that is substitutional, because if you look at various genres of content, in movies, for example, the free-TV guys are scheduling fewer and fewer films. Those movies now either appear in the pay-TV premium services like Sky Movies, or they appear on Netflix or Amazon. The good news is, so far, all of these supposedly disruptive evolutions have actually grown the cake. Is the cake different? Yes, very different.

WS: In what areas do you see the greatest potential for growth?

BAXTER: Our industry is cyclical. Five or ten years ago, light-entertainment shows ruled the airwaves. Today, the money and the audiences are following the big dramas. At eOne, we are very conscious that we need to have a breadth of content, and specifically what we are focusing on is higher quality. That’s what really moves the needle.

Our areas of growth are, first, a move into more quality content, and then, a move into international. We will have an enhanced focus on the international market, where we will spend a lot more money over the next two or three years building production relationships, producer deals and first-look deals in Europe. We are going to bring into the fold more in-house people with real production credibility and experience. We are also going to move into Europe establishing distribution and production partnerships in the major countries, because when you suddenly see shows like The Killing coming out of Scandinavia, formats coming out of Holland or The Farm coming out of Sweden, no one country has all the best ideas. The best way to find those opportunities is by having an aggressive reach within all the major television markets.

Companies are being bought, whether TV- or filmproduction companies, and the costs are accelerating through the roof. I think it’s a function that there is more money coming into the industry and there are fewer people who have amazing track records, so their prices are going up.

We all have to find a balance. When you look at some of the production companies that were bought

by Endemol ten years ago, or by Shine, all3media, FremantleMedia or by the studios in the last few years, many were bought at very high multiples. Prices have been high for a while and companies have done well to sell at the levels achieved, but in hindsight, there are some questions as to the real value going forward.

So that is something the industry is going to have to come to grips with—is buying what’s been produced in the past the best way, or is it better paying for what they will produce?

By Anna Carugati

eOne is launching The Book of Negroes, adapted from an award-winning novel, at MIPCOM.

WS: What are the major issues impacting the distribution business right now?

BAXTER: Piracy is an issue; it’s always been an issue.

However, it is increasing online, becoming much more prevalent in some countries than others. Piracy has to be treated, frankly, in the same way as smoking or drinking and driving—until it is socially taboo, people will continue to do it. I was in Spain recently and was amazed when a buyer turned to me and said he had seen all ten episodes of Halt and Catch Fire and had loved it. I asked, “Well, how did you see it?” “Oh, I got it online. I pirated it.” I thought, you shouldn’t be willing to tell me that! It’s socially acceptable in that environment and we’ve got quite a challenge to persuade people that IP is valuable and our whole existence in the industry depends on protecting that IP. Another challenge is that production budgets are going up. There is a chase for the best talent.

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IN THE NEWS

By Mansha Daswani

FREMANTLEMEDIA’S

SARAH DOOLE As the director of global drama at FremantleMedia, Sarah Doole oversees a broad portfolio that includes everything from long-running daily dramas across Europe to high-profile U.S. premium-cable projects like the hotly anticipated American Gods for Starz. Formerly at BBC Worldwide, Doole is promoting cross-fertilization throughout the FremantleMedia network of scripted producers and aligning with top third-party talent to ramp up the company’s slate of high-end drama.

best writers in their own territories. My job is to fit them all together so they cross-fertilize and talk about each other’s projects. For instance, our German producers are really keen to work with top English writers. There’s a real flow of ideas and IP. We saw that with one of our shows, Wentworth, that came out of our in-house producers in Australia. We’ve remade that using our in-house producers in Germany and Holland.

WS: What’s your overall drama strategy?

DOOLE: We make 1,500 hours of prime-time drama a year around the world. We’re one of the world’s biggest drama producers. A lot of those shows are top-rated in the countries they play out in. To create a daily drama and for it to be top-rated every week is a huge skill. That means we’ve got access to really great writers and producers who know how to put a show together and are connected with their audiences and know what they want to watch. We’ve also got producers who are making non-soap prime-time drama. I’ve got this global family of producers that is at the top of its game around the world, working with the very

WS: How did American Gods, based on the Neil Gaiman book, come about?

DOOLE: That’s coming from our studio in L.A. run by Craig Cegielski. Stefanie Berke, head of development [at FremantleMedia North America], is a personal fan of Neil Gaiman and has a really good relationship with him. She’s lured him into working with FremantleMedia. We’re massively excited about this. It’s a standout piece, and it’s going to bring on board a cult fantasy audience that’s out there waiting for a Neil Gaiman project. Hopefully the way the story is told, it’ll bring on a prime-time audience as well. Viewers around the world are hungry for multilayered, multi-character dramas, and Neil’s a god in his own right in the world of fantasy.

WS: What are your plans for expanding your offering of British drama?

DOOLE: Ironically, the area of the world that we haven’t been making drama in is the U.K. So, we’ve put a lot of effort in the last year to really ramp up our ambitions in the U.K. production space. We’ve got Paul Marquess at Newman Street working on Channel 5’s drama Suspects.

It’s an improvised, almost-reality crime series, but using top actors. Also, we’ve brought on board Kate Harwood to open up a new label within our U.K. drama slate called Euston Films.

WS: What are some of the trends you’re seeing in drama?

DOOLE: Netflix has meant that you can tell a story over an arc and people get really hooked. Binge viewing has changed the way stories are told on television.

I think we’ll see more scripted format adaptations.

Some of that is economic. You are buying a brand, so that makes your marketing a lot easier than if you were starting from scratch. Also, getting great writing talent is really difficult. That’s why if you can buy a show with the scripts pretty much shaped, even if you do a bit of local adaptation, you know you’re getting quality and it de-risks it for the broadcaster.

People are looking for drama that is entertaining as well. We have recently had a lot of “prostitutes being murdered and found in a ditch” in the first five minutes of the show. I’m just wondering if we might have a little bit of an overload on that around the world, and whether people are looking for those lighter moments in drama.

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SPECIAL REPORT

HIGH

BBC Worldwide’s Da Vinci’s Demons.

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DRAMA

The international business of drama is booming amid a new era of creative collaboration across borders.

By Mansha Daswani f you need proof that the international drama business has opened up in ways that few could have anticipated even just a couple of years ago, take a look at the schedules of the major U.S. broadcast networks. Almost all have, for the 2014-15 season, at least one drama based on an imported idea. In the mix there’s FOX’s Gracepoint (adapted from the U.K.’s Broadchurch) and Red Band Society (Spain’s Polseres vermelles), NBC’s The Mysteries of Laura (Los Misterios de Laura, also from Spain), ABC’s Secrets & Lies (from an Australian drama of the same name) and The CW’s Jane the Virgin (the Venezuelan novela Juana la virgen). And that’s just on the broadcast-network side. U.S. pay-TV networks, among them BBC America and SundanceTV, and OTT platforms such as Netflix and Hulu, have gone a step further, creating a strong and expanding market for imported drama. “[U.S.] audiences are now certainly more comfortable and open to shows with European content, especially after the success of Lilyhammer on Netflix, or Downton Abbey on PBS,” observes Rola Bauer, the president of Tandem.

“More and more European elements are finding their way into U.S. productions, and U.S. productions are being set in Europe.”

Bauer’s company is one of numerous European-based producers and distributors engaged in

I

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striking innovative partnerships to bring high-quality drama to the screen. And many are finding fruitful partnerships in North America.

“There are twice as many platforms buying drama now as there were seven years ago,” says Nadine Nohr, the CEO of Shine International. “Particularly in the States, there’s a lot of demand, a lot of competition, and a need to stand out.”

STARZ IN THEIR EYES At premium channel Starz, British co-productions have been an integral element of its original programming strategy. One of the network’s biggest hits this year was the second season of Da Vinci’s Demons, a coproduction with BBC Worldwide. It has signed up for a third season, and recently partnered with all3media international and the BBC on the upcoming crime thriller The Missing. “We have a budget to manage,” says Carmi Zlotnik, the managing director of Starz. “We’ve got a few projects that are a little bit more expensive, so finding coproductions that suit our network are key to managing the budget in a sensible way. On things like The Missing, which is a co-production, we don’t have to pay the lion’s share [of the budget] because the BBC is already financing that.”

In this new golden age of drama, “co-production” no longer has the Euro-pudding connotation of years past. But it’s been hard work getting to this stage, with many lessons learned along the way.

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Sky Vision is the international distributor of the new Arctic mystery drama Fortitude, which was commissioned by Sky Atlantic in the U.K. and has Pivot as its U.S. co-production partner.

“Gone are the days when the third policeman from the left needed to be German and the fourth needed to be an Italian,” quips Jane Millichip, the managing director of Sky Vision, which brought Pivot on as a U.S. co-pro partner for Sky Atlantic’s Fortitude.

TALKING IT OUT For Liam Keelan, the director of scripted content at BBC Worldwide, a good co-pro relationship can only emerge out of open, healthy dialogue. “There’s a lot of conversation that needs to be had in the run-up to these things to make sure everyone is happy with the way the production is going to go,” says Keelan.

Ultimately, he continues, “It’s about the editorial vision. If we get the story right, if people have bought into the vision of what that story should be, that’s half the battle won; the rest of it falls into place. Obviously there are huge discussions about financing and the structure of the deals, but first and foremost, it’s about the idea.”

“You have to start with a writer who has a really clear voice and a really clear idea of what they want the production to be,” agrees Caroline Torrance, the head of international scripted at Zodiak Rights. “If you have too

many voices in the mix, if you try to have too many partners, if you try to shape it, you just end up with something that doesn’t work for anybody. It really works when you’ve got a good, clear idea that people buy in to.”

Tandem’s Bauer echoes that sentiment, noting that co-productions can go wrong when the partners “have divergent viewpoints on the target group or the content. This was often the problem with shows being labeled ‘Euro puddings’— [they were] trying to incorporate everything to satisfy everyone without the various elements being organic to the content.”

Sky Vision’s Millichip adds: “I don’t think there’s a magic wand you can wave at a co-production. It requires a great deal of diplomacy, as well as passion and early engagement and clarity of communication. The important thing is not to bury or gloss over any concerns.

Those need to be aired early and quickly, so you’re both aware of the direction of the piece.”

Given the importance of planning ahead and having a shared editorial vision, distributors are getting involved in drama series very early on in the process.

“If significant international deficit funding is required, it’s really

important to engage the distribution partner early,” says Millichip.

“Not only is it important to secure a high-value license fee for that copro or presale, you [also] need to bring in a creatively sympathetic partner. The more you know from the beginning and have a sense of the creative taste and tone of the piece, the easier that’s going to be.”

Irina Ignatiew, the managing director of global scripted distribution at Red Arrow International, says that early involvement has been central to the company’s strategy for expanding its drama output. “We have to invest at an early stage to secure talent and story-driven projects that can sell worldwide,” she says. “From a commercial point of view, this early involvement is also necessary to get more than just the sales commission. Investing into IP, optioning book rights—this is all part of [our] growth plan.”

As Louise Pedersen, the managing director of all3media international, notes, early involvement translates into a “little bit more of a seat at the table creatively” as the production is coming together.

“The areas we might get involved in include casting and scripts, if there’s something that won’t resonate with international audi-

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ences. We’re generally giving feedback on what we think our international buyers want.”

TEAM SPIRIT Ruth Clarke, the senior VP of acquisitions and co-productions at ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE), says she and her team will frequently work with production partners on developing ideas.

“We’ll provide market intelligence and feedback around how to steer the slate. But when it comes to the shows, they absolutely drive [the creative], with our support when they need it. That generally is in finding partners to co-produce with, or ways to fund the budgets, or looking at international distribution partnerships.”

Given the increasingly complex management of rights, early investments are essential.

“There is an evolving business model which is about very carefully choreographing the rollout of a drama across multiple markets, multiple versions, holdbacks and rights windows,” observes Shine’s Nohr, whose team is selling The Bridge and The Tunnel—two versions of Bron— as well as Broadchurch and its American adaptation, Gracepoint.

“The way we sell and the way we maximize value has changed and is

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continuing to do so. We work very hard to offer as much commercial flexibility as possible and also get involved at a very early stage so we can broker partnerships, deficit finance and help fund development. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, both in terms of the way in which we work with our partners and the content itself.”

A SEA OF STORIES Indeed, the array of new dramas set to be launched this MIPCOM by some of Europe’s top distributors runs the gamut from crime thrillers to sci-fi to romance, some period, some contemporary, some in English, many not.

“It all begins with the story,” says Tandem’s Bauer when asked what kinds of properties she’s pursuing.

“The narrative, the pacing, the writing—it has to have a global appeal that can transcend boundaries. The story and themes must speak to a broad audience and cannot be too narrow or provincial in nature.”

Alexander Coridass, the president and CEO of ZDF Enterprises, has several criteria he looks out for when determining what kinds of projects to invest in. “A good script, a story with a certain degree of uniqueness and innovation, a creative team that works, partners working closely together and the team’s clear yet flexible vision of a common goal,” he says.

ZDF Enterprises has emerged as a significant provider of European drama in recent years, led by its early investment in the Scandi drama trend with The Killing. It will be bringing season three of Bron to MIPCOM, and launching the panEuropean crime show The Team, which was “written and directed by Scandinavian talent, and has a cast of outstanding European actors,” Coridass says. A co-production of ZDF, ORF, SRF, DR, SVT and ARTE, The Team “benefits from Europe’s huge cultural diversity.”

ZDF Enterprises has also invested in content from other parts of Europe, co-producing the crime drama The Fall, which is returning for a second season on BBC Two this year.

Also in Germany, Tele München Group (TMG) has been a prolific

producer of drama for years, with a current portfolio that includes the miniseries Richard the Lionheart and Valentine’s Kiss. It is also a frequent collaborator in international drama co-productions.

“We are looking to partner with reliable producers who believe wholeheartedly in a project,” says Herbert L. Kloiber, TMG’s managing director. “We are usually looking for only one partner per project, usually from a significant market. Our partners share risk and bring credibility and access to talent.”

Kloiber continues, “It is essential that a project address a clear audience, which requires the right balance of story, cast, look and feel. It can’t be all things to all people. Since we are engaged very early on in a project, we bet on great talent, top showrunners and partners who have a proven track record. And we are willing to take risks.”

To be sure, everyone is on the lookout for great talent, and the competition has never been fiercer.

TALENT SEEKERS “Everyone is chasing top-level talent, which makes them more expensive,” says Stuart Baxter, the president of Entertainment One (eOne) Television International, which is stepping up its drama activities in Europe. “If you want to be a significant player, you have to partner [with] the strongest talent and the best projects. We’d rather focus on a select number of big, high-quality projects rather than an abundance of smaller, mediocre projects with players that really aren’t going to move the needle dramatically for us.”

Co-productions are not a new arena for eOne, which has engaged in several between the U.S. and Canada, among them the upcoming The Book of Negroes. The company

is also taking another approach to beefing up its drama slate, developing relationships with El Rey Network and AMC Networks in the U.S., and it has a first-look deal with producer Eleven Film in the U.K. “We’re very strong in Canadian co-productions and continue to build and foster relationships through our L.A.-based office,” says Baxter. “We’re focusing on getting stronger in international coproductions by targeting Europe. eOne has some very strong film ventures in Europe, including in Spain, Benelux and the U.K. We’ll probably put TV operations first where the film businesses are, and then establish TV businesses elsewhere.”

Many of Europe’s major content houses are already well established with companies across the continent. Their distribution arms can then benefit from the output being created across the group. However, Europe’s top distributors are also

Tele München is well known for its European drama output, with a slate that includes the Rosamunde Pilcher miniseries Valentine’s Kiss.

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ZDF Enterprises is involved in drama co-productions across Europe, among them the crime thriller The Fall, starring Gillian Anderson. eagerly pursuing relationships with third-party producers.

“There are so many different types of broadcasters now,” says Zodiak’s Torrance. “Free-to-air, cable, SVOD— everybody is looking for something different. The best thing you can do is have a real spread of different types of productions.”

“Our aim is to find the best drama, wherever it’s from,” says ITVS GE’s Clarke. “Globalization has really opened doors to finding the strongest stories, wherever they might be. In the U.K., we work with the ITV Studios companies. We help with the development, financing and international sales for the shows that they make. We also work with third parties, where we might be looking at an overhead deal or an equity stake.”

Clarke cites as an example ITVS GE’s partnership with Mammoth Screen, which is making the new BBC One and Masterpiece drama Poldark. She’s also particularly excited about a recently formed relationship with 42, a U.K.-based production-and-management company. “They have a strong man-

agement roster [of] actors, writers and directors. We’re already finding that there are several exciting projects coming up that involve their talent. One of the key trends we’re seeing at the moment is film talent coming to television; 42 and some of the other companies we work with, like Warp Films and Ruby Film and Television, are really well placed to capture that.”

She is also eager to see ITV Studios’ U.S. arm—which is working on the new NBC drama Aquarius and HISTORY’s Texas Rising— collaborate with British talent.

CROSSING BORDERS Fusing European and American sensibilities has been an important strategy at Tandem, which is majority owned by French film giant STUDIOCANAL. In addition to pursuing opportunities with sister companies RED and SAM, Tandem has begun partnering with independents, among them American showrunner Frank Spotnitz.

Red Arrow is also looking to bring the best of the U.S. and Europe together in 100 Code. With

an American showrunner, Bobby Moresco, and stars Dominic Monaghan and Michael Nyqvist, the show explores the partnership between a New York City cop and a Swedish detective in investigating a series of murders in Stockholm.

There can be a bit of a learning curve when American showrunners begin working on productions in Europe, given the differences in style, schedules and episode counts.

Starz’s Zlotnik points out that the American screenwriter and director David S. Goyer, when venturing to the U.K. to make Da Vinci’s Demons, wanted to teach local crews some elements of U.S. TV production methods, “but he’s also flexible enough to learn. You’re going to build a lot of resentment if you come into a foreign country and expect everybody to work and behave in the same way that you do.

The approaches that [are successful] are from people with the cultural sensitivity to work with the local crew and see how much they’re willing to change their process, but not try to replace it. They come up with a happy medium.”

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Da Vinci’s Demons, which also counts FOX International Channels as a global partner, hails from Adjacent Productions, one of the ventures owned by BBC Worldwide.

Much of BBC Worldwide’s drama output, however, consists of BBC U.K. commissions, among them the upcoming Wolf Hall, based on the Hilary Mantel novels, and War and Peace, which has The Weinstein Company as a co-pro partner.

“First and foremost, our provider is the BBC and we’re immensely grateful for that,” says Keelan. “We get a pipeline of amazing content.

But I would be lying if I said that’s enough for us, because we know that globally there’s now a huge demand for quality drama. We are a part of the BBC—it is really important to us to reach that quality threshold, so anything we get involved with has to feel as if it’s fresh and innovative. We genuinely feel like a global media producer, so we’re open to any kind of idea as long as it reaches that quality level.”

As part of that new direction, BBC Worldwide is working with Atresmedia in Spain on a highconcept sci-fi series called The Refugees, which does not have a U.K. broadcaster attached.

ZDF Enterprises first expanded out of home-grown drama with partnerships with international producers. Now, the company has set up an in-house division, G5 fiction, “to develop our own dramas from scratch,” Coridass says. “Investments during the development phase are as important as ever,” he adds, “and we currently have three concrete first-look deals with highcaliber partners in the pipeline.”

IN THE NETWORK For many of the biggest international drama distributors today, being part of conglomerates that own ventures around the world has been a significant advantage. Shine International, for example, boasts a catalogue that includes shows from Kudos (Broadchurch) and Lovely Day (Grantchester) in the U.K., Norway’s Rubicon (The Third Eye), Shine America (Gracepoint) and Shine Australia (Catching Milat).

The distributor is also partnering with companies outside of its own

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Shine International features a drama portfolio of titles from fellow Shine-owned companies—such as Lovely Day’s ITV commission Grantchester—as well as third-party fare. network, inking a three-year deal with Ecosse Films, “a significant scripted producer with a fantastic and proven track record,” Nohr says.

“It’s all about the company you keep,” Nohr says on building Shine International’s drama portfolio. “We want the shows and the producers to feel comfortable alongside the other content in our catalogue. And we can’t be prescriptive and say, ‘We’ve got something about X, now we need something about Y.’ Each show stands on its own merit.”

Pedersen says that all3media international is also ramping up its drama catalogue through partnerships with independents. “The all3media group of producers are fantastic and we are in an incredibly privileged position to have a relationship with them, and it’s a relationship that we value very highly,” Pedersen notes. “But we’re always looking to grow the business and supplement the fantastic shows we get from them.”

At Zodiak, part of Torrance’s remit is fostering continued collaboration among the group’s companies. For example, Yellow Bird and GTV are already working on Occupied, a thriller from Jo Nesbø, and Torrance is exploring similar pacts across the Zodiak Media network.

Doole at FremantleMedia is also helping to bring together projects across the company’s production

outlets. In addition, she’s pursuing select partnerships with established writers and creators.

“The old way of doing it was a distributor would do an output deal with a producer,” Doole says. “The problem with that is it’s a scattergun approach. If a producer comes to you with their development slate, their main market is domestic. It may be that five things on that slate are never going to travel. Do output deals deliver those big standout projects? I’m not totally convinced they do. They deliver you a relationship with a producer or a set of talent. But I think it’s an expensive way of doing it. So, I’m more interested in sitting down with talent directly, asking them what stories they want to tell and then between us creating and collaborating on a project that we know the international market is looking for.”

SPLIT ENDS As the drama business has globalized, traditional ideas about episode counts have been thrown out the window. The Americans are doing more European-style, shorter-run seasons. The Europeans are doing more U.S. cable-style, 13-episode seasons. And everything in between is being deemed acceptable, as long as it suits the story.

BBC Worldwide’s Keelan references the megahit Sherlock as an

example of a show where the small episode number has not been an impediment to international success. “We’ve only had nine episodes! It’s absolutely huge for us.

Not just in what it brings back in terms of revenue, but in the reputational dividend it gives to the BBC.” “The so-called ‘limited series,’ which we used to call ‘miniseries,’ are back in full bloom,” notes TMG’s Kloiber, “providing a wonderful canvas for in-depth storytelling.”

Red Arrow’s Ignatiew has found that many free-TV broadcasters in continental Europe “are looking for crime procedurals because the U.S. studios are no longer producing them—with a few exceptions. There is definitely a trend in event programming, as it gives broadcasters extra exposure in the market. Of course, long-running series provide programming security. Ideally, broadcasters have a mix of both.”

While returnable crime procedurals remain at the top of the wish lists of many broadcasters, the trend in the market appears to be much more serialized storytelling.

“Seasonal character arcs, including story points that track themselves over the course of a season, have become accepted and even appreciated by audiences,” says Tandem’s Bauer. “It’s up to those of us creating the pro-

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grams to find the right mix between vertical and horizontal storytelling, so that one can miss a couple of episodes and still get back into the story, or so a broadcaster can rerun the show with a different episodic order.”

CHASING THE MONEY As the demand for drama booms, another key trend to watch is the development of TV production incentives worldwide. Indian Summers, from all3media, for example, is using locations in Malaysia—which introduced a production rebate this year—to recreate colonial India. The U.K. is also attracting increased interest with its new scheme for high-end drama production.

“There are countries like the U.K. where the established production centers are completely overbooked,” notes Starz’s Zlotnik.

“Now, we’re breaking into the secondary and tertiary markets, which is what we’re doing in Swansea [with Da Vinci’s Demons], and trying to develop an industry where one hasn’t existed.”

Ultimately, while the old rules no longer apply in this brave new world of drama, there is one constant. As FremantleMedia’s Doole says, “If a great story is worth telling, it does actually travel all around the world.”

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IN CONVERSATION

ITV Studios’ MARIA KYRIACOU 56 World Screen 9/14

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By Anna Carugati

As the distribution arm of the leading commercial broadcaster in the U.K., ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE) has access to some of the best made-in-Britain programming, plus a whole lot more. With more than 40,000 hours of TV and film content, ITVS GE offers international buyers a broad range of programming across numerous genres. As managing director, Maria Kyriacou heads up the international distribution and consumer-products businesses.

WS: What does ITVS GE represent to buyers?

KYRIACOU: Our content covers a wide array of genres.

We’re strong in drama and represent a number of longrunning drama franchises. We’re heading to MIPCOM with the second season of Rectify, a super-smart show for SundanceTV in the U.S., as well as the 100th episode of our Canadian show Murdoch Mysteries. The lead actors, Yannick Bisson and Helene Joy, will be coming out to help us celebrate. Shetland, Mr Selfridge and Vera are also all returning.

Our new dramas originate from all over the world and build on our quality portfolio. On Monday at MIPCOM, we will be premiering Aquarius, a straight-to-series crime drama for NBC set in the 1960s, starring David Duchovny and written by John McNamara. We’re also bringing Schitt’s Creek’s creators and stars, Eugene and Daniel Levy, to Cannes. Schitt’s Creek is another straight-to-series, this time a comedy for CBC in Canada.

We don’t often invest in comedy, but every now and then a script comes along that is so good we can’t say no.

We’re also launching Poldark at MIPCOM, which is a new period-drama adaptation of the classic book series.

Beyond drama, we are known for our formats, with a good reputation for quality factual-entertainment shows. It’s important to have shows that a broadcaster can rely on season after season, and we have that with Come Dine with Me, but more recently also with The Chase. And we like innovators. We like to bring something fresh to the market every year and this year that’s a show called The Secret Life of Students/Teens. The Secret Life is the next stage of evolution for the observational documentary, using a digital rig to tell stories: letting the individuals tell their own stories through their online world—their Twitter feeds, their Facebook pages, their emails, their Google searches. We love this show. People are a lot more honest online than they are in the real world. They open up to the camera much, much more than you’d think they would. Another new title that we’re bringing to the market as both a finished series and format is 24 Hours in Custody from The Garden [Productions]. An observational documentary in the style of 24 Hours in A&E, it combines the humanity and humor of that show with all the drama of policing.

WS: You now also oversee ITVS GE’s production business outside the U.K. and the U.S. Tell us about that activity.

KYRIACOU: We have production offices in Australia, Germany, France and across the Nordic territories. We have invested a lot in content over the last few years and we have a strong belief that content creation should be our number one priority. Having production

companies in key areas is critical because it feeds back into a network of studios and a distribution business. I think the fact that I am managing both a production and distribution business is a sign that as you grow a global business, bringing the creative and the commercial sides closer together makes sense. I look forward to more ideas originated from these studios and exported around the world, and making use of all the fantastic people we’ve got on the ground. One of our new formats for MIPCOM is Quiz Duel, which has been produced by ITV Studios Germany for ARD and is based on a wonderful app that began in Sweden. It’s an innovative quiz show that integrates the second screen into the game play. We’ve got a lot of interest in it already.

WS: You mentioned Come Dine with Me. Which other formats are finding success?

KYRIACOU: The idea of tried and tested is very compelling.

We are able to offer shows that come back season after season. Come Dine with Me is a classic example of that.

The Chase has become another one of those shows.

Produced in seven territories so far, it has a 100-percent track record of recommissions. That assurance that our shows have worked over and over again is good for clients and a very good position for us to be in. At the same time, they are always open to something that is fresh and new, and The Secret Life of Students/Teens is an example of that, and we’ve had a very positive response to it.

WS: Does British drama continue to sell well?

KYRIACOU: Yes, absolutely; the appetite for British drama is getting bigger and bigger. But we have to question that idea of tagging a show British or American because you should just look at it as good drama that travels, irrespective of where it’s from. If you look at the way on-screen and off-screen talent is now mobile and working on shows across the world, a good distribution business should emulate that. You might have a really good idea that starts with a British writer but there is no reason why it can’t have a U.S. commission first. A number of our established shows are co-produced with WGBH in America, like Mr Selfridge, Poirot, Lewis, Endeavour, etc. The list of U.S. partners who are open to co-producing European shows is getting longer and longer.

Also worth mentioning are the non-English-language shows in our new lineup. We have a wonderful Swedish show for SVT called Jordskott that we’ll be launching at MIPCOM. It’s a mystery drama set in a small rural Swedish town. It’s got all the wonderful elements of

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Workshop to bring Thunderbirds Are Go! to screens in 2015. We will be screening the first completed episode on Saturday night at MIP Junior. We’ve been working hard to create a very unique look and feel to the show by combining a CGI overlay of characters, crafted onto the live-action model sets.

They are just gorgeous. Everybody involved has been careful to preserve the best elements of the original. Our voice cast is topnotch, too, with Rosamund Pike as Lady Penelope and the original [Aloysius] Parker, David Graham, returning.

WS: What are your consumer-products plans for the new series?

KYRIACOU: Vivid is the master toy partner for Thunderbirds Are Go! in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. There are a lot of possibilities, and the other merchandising conversations are happening right now. We are conscious of how children are turning more to virtual toys and games, and of the need to ensure the show lives and breathes in a digital world.

Among the series that ITVS GE is launching at MIPCOM is Schitt’s Creek, a Canadian comedy co-created by and starring Eugene Levy.

Swedish noir that everybody loves so much. We want to invest wherever the best drama is.

WS: One of ITVS GE’s big news items is that Thunderbirds is coming back! Tell us about the new show.

KYRIACOU: We have been working with a very talented writer and producers from Pukeko Pictures and Weta

WS: Have digital platforms become a good distribution outlet for you?

KYRIACOU: Absolutely. The digital players provide more choice, which means you can connect to a broader audience than ever before.

In certain territories, the sales we make to digital platforms outstrip the sales we make to linear platforms.

But we always come back to that core principal that if you offer great content, people are going to watch it, no matter what device. Our task is to respond quickly to the needs of the market and make content available as widely as possible.

The 1970s British costume drama Poldark is returning to television in 2015 with a new six-part series commissioned by the BBC and being sold internationally by ITVS GE. 58 World Screen 9/14

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ONE-ON-ONE

all3media’s

FARAH RAMZAN GOLANT

ll3media’s 18 companies have produced such scripted shows as Midsomer Murders, Shameless and The White Queen; the unscripted Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, Undercover Boss and The Cube, as well as factual and documentary programming.

To CEO Farah Ramzan Golant, nothing is more important than creative autonomy and commercial independence. As she tells World Screen, when Discovery Communications and Liberty Global formed a joint venture to acquire all3media, she saw an opportunity to take the company to the next level, all the while preserving

By Anna Carugati creativity, which is at the heart of the content business.

WS: How did the Discovery and Liberty Global deal come about, and how does all3media benefit from it?

RAMZAN GOLANT: We were coming to the end of a cycle of ownership by private-equity company Permira, which had started in 2006. The private-equity model predicated that the shareholders would be keen to realize their investment and exit. At the same time, we were starting to see real traction in a variety of investments. Our investment in all3media america was starting to pay dividends with increases in revenue and profitability. There was a sense of real opportunity in Germany, where we have a substantial business that had its highest ever growth in the year leading up to the sale. And the U.K. business had, against quite challenging odds in the landscape, increased revenues by 4 percent.

So on the one hand, our shareholders were coming to the end of their cycle; on the other, the company was ready for its next stage of growth, and [along came] Discovery and Liberty Global.

They represented the three things that were critical to the next stage of our growth and what this company needed in its shareholders: they are very well informed, very decisive and they have a good understanding of our company. They were able to say, upfront and transparently, that they were going to make a new 50/50 joint venture. Discovery, clearly a megabrand, and Liberty Global, another megabrand, [wanted] to acquire all3media as an asset, with a real interest in getting very close to program makers—not just buying programming, but securing IP at the source. They wanted to take a long-term horizon, and through the governance of the 50/50 venture, were able to show us—because our P&L would not be consolidated into either Discovery or Liberty Global—that we would have autonomy from our shareholders. And the one thing we prize more dearly than anything is our creative autonomy and our commercial independence. So, two backers turn up. They have a longterm horizon, they understand the company and are very well informed, and they say, We want you to grow according to your creative model and we can give the strategic backing that can take the company to the next level—so, what’s not to love?

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WS: Are you letting the individual companies in the group manage creativity on their own, or are you addressing creativity across the company?

RAMZAN GOLANT: Of course everybody goes along with the principle of collaboration, but in real life, what makes good sense? Our group is founded on the principle of individual companies that are like tribes in their own right. We have very strong drama companies, very strong factual-entertainment companies, a strong constructed reality capability, etc.—and they are very rooted in their creative product and creative capabilities that you would be mad to tamper with. Each company runs its own P&L and is completely autonomous in its development slate and its creative leadership. We have a mechanism to review each company monthly; we review talent, the product pipeline, the P&L. Each company grows in its own right; it isn’t forced or mandated to collaborate with others. I think collaboration is an act of voluntary eagerness; it’s not something that somebody can dictate.

Collaboration comes because there is chemistry between people, because they come together and say, I come from factual entertainment, or I come from drama, or I come from documentaries and one plus one can make three. So [each company’s first responsibility] is to grow their own distinctive labels and then, where they want to and where we can facilitate collaboration, we’re always thinking about the methodology to enable that. I see the development slate of each of the companies, and sometimes I can spot something and say, Hmm, Company Pictures is a prestigious drama company and Lion Television is an amazing multi-genre company, and they both have an interest in China and they might collaborate on a very good project for China. Sometimes we’ll have a group event where we’ll put a significant amount of development money on the table as a prize and we’ll get individual companies to compete for it. Then there is another form of collaboration that we are starting to see the benefit of. We created all3media america, where our diverse labels are supported by one production infrastructure on one campus in Culver City. Objective [Productions] or Maverick or Lime [Pictures] or Studio Lambert can show [projects to] their development executives in all3media america and say, We can get this over the line in our market. If you give us U.S. market intelligence and creative spin, we can see if this is one we can bring to America quickly. That is another form of collaboration.

WS: What are your priorities for all3media america?

RAMZAN GOLANT: Years ago, Studio Lambert went to the U.S. and so did Maverick. It then became clear that scale in America was really important. Instead of a variety of tiny little offices trying to get traction, we brought them together in one campus, preserved the diversity of labels, so each company has its pod, with creative and development execs talking to customers and pitching ideas and then actually producing through one infrastructure, which is all3media america, so they get the best deals, and they get the best precedents. There is a really muscular production capability that we have funded so that the individual companies aren’t wasting their money on all sorts of back-office activities—finance, HR, legal.

We’ve found that this really pays dividends. A year ago,

we had three or four of the companies there; now we’ve got nine or ten. We’re building bigger, better relationships with the U.S. networks. CBS knows us from Undercover Boss, and FOX knows us from Kitchen Nightmares. They are hearing from us in a much more coordinated way. all3media america is also a receiving vehicle for any acquisitions we might want to make. In March, we announced a partnership with Heather Schuster for the start-up Morocco Junction Entertainment. That’s another way to optimize all3media america. This is all in addition to our East Coast presence, where Optomen and Lion [Television] have been operating successfully for over ten years.

WS: The traditional flow of formats for European companies has been to make a show, make it work in Europe, and then make it bigger and better in the U.S. Do you see all3media producing in America and then taking those shows internationally?

RAMZAN GOLANT: I’m really wired to be optimistic, so my natural tendency on opportunities is to say, Of course, anything is possible! We do Gogglebox in the U.K. and then we take it to America and it’s on Bravo as The People’s Couch. We do Undercover Boss and take it to the U.S., and that is the natural flow. But The Million Second Quiz didn’t start [in the U.K.] We developed it here and [pitched it to British broadcasters], but we didn’t get the traction we wanted, so without any precedent—it was a paper idea—it went to NBC. NBC got right behind the ambition of the idea. Million Second Quiz didn’t turn out to be the hit that we wanted, but it showed great capability and innovation,

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Midsomer Murders, produced by Bentley Productions, a member of the all3media group, has been on air on ITV since 1997 and has landed on broadcasters across the globe.

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Studio Lambert’s Gogglebox was originally produced in the U.K. for Channel 4 and has since been formatted in many markets, including the U.S.

a hybrid between a live sporting event daily strip, 24/7 online, and a prime-time show every day with a playalong app and second-screen element and a fully engaged audience. We learned from that. Now, whether the second iteration will play in the States, for which we are actively talking to NBC, there is no reason not to bring it back to Britain in its evolved state. It might be that we made a really big thing in the States and an evolved version of it might come back home.

WS: Innovation is key nowadays. Could you give some other examples of innovative initiatives at all3media?

RAMZAN GOLANT: There are different types of innovation.

First, innovation in content. Gogglebox is a genuinely new kind of show. It’s people watching people watching TV. Who would have known that we would have had such a hit on our hands? It’s quite a modest show, where you watch people watching TV and they are talking about stuff. It isn’t really about people watching TV; it’s about the fabric of people’s lives. There just hasn’t been anything like Gogglebox, that sense of it being the world’s largest focus group turning into a TV show, which is live and current and shows the events of the preceding three or four days. Then there is innovation in competency. We have launched little dot studios, which is a different kind of company for us; it’s not a long-form TV maker but it’s a short-form content company that works with YouTube making original YouTube channels, making our own original content channels, reaching out to brands to manage their channels, program brands, as well as advertising brands like Pepsi. We have launched Apollo20, which is our branded-content company. There

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is innovation in content matter, there is innovation in competency and then there are good old-fashioned experiments like Midsomer Murders, which is in its 16th season and is a proper “grande dame” of drama.

And then we launched a Facebook game. Who would have imagined that a traditional, beautiful drama [could get] a new lease on life with a Facebook game?

WS: Looking at the group as a whole, in what areas do you see growth in the next 12 to 24 months?

RAMZAN GOLANT: We are famous for both scripted and unscripted. Over the years, we have had such success in unscripted, factual entertainment, and while we have drama coming out of Company Pictures and Lime and Objective and South Pacific Pictures, I would like us to think about drama more carefully.

This is the golden age of drama, never mind the golden age of TV—and it’s not only drama that is produced in individual territories but also drama that sells internationally. And with new entrants into the market, like Netflix and Amazon putting dollars into the origination of drama, it’s a very exciting place to be.

One of the areas where we want to push further is entertainment. We have a great company in Objective. They have done The Cube and Reflex.

Studio Lambert has done Million Second Quiz. We could do with more entertainment.

We really want to continue our growth trajectory in America, because apart from all3media america, which is on the West Coast, we have two companies on the East Coast, Lion and Optomen, and they are really going gangbusters. We want to support, challenge and enable our American companies to grow and grow.

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TRULY GLOBAL

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WORLD’S END

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

Will I find love? Will I get caught in a sharknado?

Idris Elba

Tara Reid

Larry King

Jenny McCarthy

IDRIS ELBA

TARA REID

that these little pearls of random

his upcoming film go viral thanks to a very visually distracting bulge in his pants. Elba takes to Twitter to make light of the situation and clear things up.

“The good news is I got a sh--load of followers. The bad news is, that is a mic wire. #egowentintospaceshipmodethough,” he tweets. “Calvin Klein called my mobile, they want me in their next campaign.

Foot-long john’s coming Winter 2014.”

Horoscope: “The Virgo ego can handle lots of attention and stroking without becoming inflated, so go ahead and learn how to take a compliment.” (spirit-alembic.com)

Syfy hit Sharknado 2: The Second One, the busty blonde tells GQ magazine that she believes an actual “sharknado” could really happen. “I mean, the chances of it happening are very rare, but it can happen, actually,” she says to the mag. “Which is crazy.

Not that it—the chances of it are, like, you know, it’s like probably ‘pigs could fly.’ Like, I don’t think pigs could fly, but actually sharks could be stuck in tornadoes. There could be a sharknado.”

Horoscope: “You don’t always need to say what’s on your mind, Scorpio. Sometimes it’s best to keep your opinion to yourself.” (scorpio.net)

foresight occasionally prove pro-

JIM PARRACK

LARRY KING

ture, the 33-year-old actor—best known for his role as Hoyt in a show about vampires—discusses his occasional consumption of blood in real life. “I guess the best way to put it is, sometimes I just like the way it tastes,” he says. “It’s kind of like you’re in the moment, and the impulse comes, and...I like it.”

Horoscope: “There is this little thing called too much information. Don’t spill it all.... Adopt a little mystery as your latest value.” (sasstrology.com)

Conan, the famed interviewer confesses to having enjoyed marijuana a few times with his doctor a long time ago. The octogenarian then agrees to eat part of a pot brownie on air with host Conan O’Brien and his comedic sidekick Andy Richter. The results, as one would imagine, are quite amusing.

Horoscope: “When opportunity knocks, jump to your feet and answer the door.... Your efforts can bring large rewards.” (mercurynews.com)

KIM KARDASHIAN WEST

JENNY MCCARTHY

admits to taking 1,200 photos of herself while on holiday in Thailand earlier this year. The brunette beauty is parlaying her pics obssession into a moneymaking opportunity, with plans to release a collection of selfies in a coffee-table book titled Selfish in April 2015.

Horoscope: “You are a little more self-centered than usual, and this is quite natural and healthy as long as you don’t take it too far.” (cafeastrology.com)

spills some anecdotes about her 12-year-old son, who she deems a “rule follower,” on her new Sirius XM radio show. She confesses that he recently called the cops on her for texting while driving. How did the blonde stunner react? She threw his cell phone out the car window.

Horoscope: “Others will be watching you to see if your words and actions match up today; set a good example!” (susynblairhunt.com)

Every day, papers and magazines 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

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.

Global distinction: Handsome English actor.

Sign: Virgo (b. September 6, 1972) Significant date: August 9, 2014 Noteworthy activity: Photos of the Luther star on set of

Global distinction: True Blood star.

Sign: Aquarius (b. February 8, 1981) Significant date: August 10, 2014 Noteworthy activity: During an interview with Vul-

Global distinction: Reality-TV diva.

Sign: Libra (b. October 21, 1980) Significant date: August 8, 2014 Noteworthy activity: The wife of rapper Kanye West

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Global distinction: Perpetual party girl.

Sign: Scorpio (b. November 8, 1975) Significant date: July 24, 2014 Noteworthy activity: While promoting the summer

Global distinction: American interrogator.

Sign: Scorpio (b. November 19, 1933) Significant date: August 6, 2014 Noteworthy activity: While appearing as a guest on

Global distinction: Outspoken TV personality.

Sign: Scorpio (b. November 1, 1972) Significant date: July 29, 2014 Noteworthy activity: The former co-host of The View

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