Power’s Susan Waddell on Company Rebrand

Power is co-producing a brand-new lavish period drama, New Worlds, along with Company Pictures for Channel 4 in the U.K. The four-hour mini-series, set in the 1680s in England and America, charts a story of love, loss and the fight for the freedoms and liberties we enjoy today. Along with launching New Worlds, Power is unveiling a brand refresh this MIPCOM. Susan Waddell, the company’s CEO, talks to World Screen Weekly about Power’s rebrand and its program highlights.

WS: What led to the decision for Power’s rebrand?
WADDELL: We want to communicate to the production and broadcast community and the industry as a whole that Power, as a company, has evolved and continues to do so.  We want to invite that audience to re-evaluate the company.   

Power came under new ownership and management in 2011 when it was acquired by the South African-based media group Sabido. Subsequently  Power has adjusted to being part of a larger group and as a result we now enjoy enormous synergies. As an example, the distribution relationship with NHU Africa and Sabido Productions, both part of the Sabido group, has provided us with a fantastic source of new wildlife and factual content. This is the first step in our strategy to expand beyond being a specialist drama distributor into a more generalist distributor of drama and factual programming. This also paves the way for Power to launch other genre divisions.  

Being part of a larger group gives Power the ability to explore the potential of drama co-productions in partnership with the production assets of Sabido, located in both Johannesburg and Cape Town. These  include the recently established film and co-production arm, Advantage Entertainment, led by Vlokkie Gordon. There is a wealth of resources and advantages to co-producing in South Africa within the group. We are able to offer the possibility of packaging all aspects of a co-production within South Africa, cashflow the very attractive South African production incentives and access the first-class production and post-production facilities in Cape Town and Johannesburg, all of which  are owned or part-owned by the Sabido group. There are also great natural advantages to shooting in South Africa itself. To name a few, it offers the perfect weather to shoot for nearly 10 months of the year, a highly skilled force and amazing locations.

With a view to building an international production base we are now also looking to acquire, invest in and make closer ties with production indies.

The  rebrand is being unveiled alongside our new website which is a great new showcase for our content. The new website is streamlined and simple to use. It is a much-improved platform that allows our clients to clearly navigate their way around, to view and screen content online, submit requests and access support materials for their acquired product.

Just as importantly, Power is delighted to announce its investment, as a co-producer, with Company Pictures, in the drama mini-series New Worlds. Power has a heritage of co-producing event drama mini-series with some of the world’s most respected producers and broadcasters, such as NBC, the BBC, ITV, ABC and CBC.  This new production is building on that heritage, with a cast of fresh new talent and it heralds a new initiative of co-production for Power with both new and established co-production partners.

WS: What are the new drama products that go along with this rebranding?
WADDELL: Our new co-production New Worlds is our leading drama product for MIPCOM 2013.

We are also pleased to announce a number of other new dramas, including the chilling TV movie Scarecrow, and on the film slate we’ve added a few new titles to our catalogue of Bankside titles: Bringing Up Bobby, a comedy starring Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil);The Caller, a mystery thriller starring Rachelle Lefevre (Under the Dome); and You Instead, a comedy starring the award winning Luke Treadaway.

Power has also acquired international rights to Otelo Burning, a beautifully shot film that tells the story of a group of township kids who discover the joy of surfing as they look for an escape during a time of turmoil in the 1990s.

WS: Will you be bringing new factual content to MIPCOM as well?
WADDELL: This year we have a wide range of factual and wildlife content.

Breaker Morant: The Retrial is a two-part TV drama documentary series to be screened on the History Channel in Australia (Foxtel). Using dramatic reconstructions and interviews, it investigates new evidence around the trial and execution of the legendary Breaker Morant, a trial that still courts controversy today.

A Different Country is a character-driven 4 part series which follows five children from Johannesburg as they embark on a year-long exchange to the exclusive Stowe School (England), endorsed by former Stowe pupil and Virgin founder Richard Branson. The documentary witnesses the children as they settle in, make friends and how they fit back in on their eventual return to Johannesburg.

We will also launch African Masters, a six-part series taking a unique and exclusive look at how modern African artists are emerging as a dynamic global force.

Honeymoon Murder is a one hour special about the murder of English bride, Anni Dewani, whilst in Cape Town on her honeymoon. The Vula Connection, is a special about the ingenuity and heroics of the man who acted as Nelson Mandela’s spy and secret messenger between his prison cell and the outside world during his incarceration. 

Power’s line-up is completed by a great range of new wildlife titles. The Great Penguin Rescue is a 6×30-minute series about a mission to help save the African Penguin. Well-known wildlife presenter and conservationist Michaela Strachan sets off to help in the dramatic rescue of hundreds of adorable penguin chicks in Cape Town, South Africa.

There’s also a one hour special, When Sharks meet Crocs, which tracks the Bull Shark as it ventures up the Zambezi river in Africa where the deadly Nile crocodile lies in wait— the question is, which of these deadly killers will reign supreme?

Trapper in Africa is a compelling 3×60-minute series following the charismatic trapper extraordinaire Darien Simpson in his quest to catch some of the most elusive big predators in Africa. He used to trap animals to kill them, now enlisted by conservationists and scientists around the world, Darien’s aim is “trap ‘em to save ‘em”.

WS: Overall, what genres from the Power catalogue have been selling best?
WADDELL: Our evergreen drama library of historical, action, disaster and family titles continues to sell incredibly well. We are also seeing strong sales of our action/disaster/thriller mini-series package including Delete, Ring of Fire, Cat 8, Exploding Sun and Eve of Destruction alongside our co-production of Alistair MacLean’s Air Force One is Down.

At the same time we’ve had a really good year for sales from our new wildlife programming catalogue, the highlights of which have been deals with Nat Geo (for Touching the Dragon and Dragons Feast), with Discovery (Saving Rhino Phila, amongst other titles) and with Smithsonian (for Predators Playground).