Peace Point Rights Spotlights Unique Characters

Les Tomlin, the company’s president and executive producer, discusses trends in the factual marketplace, among other topics.

Since it was founded four years ago, Toronto-based Peace Point Rights, the distribution arm of Peace Point Entertainment, has been forging its way in the factual marketplace, growing a catalogue of 1,000-plus hours of content. Its portfolio includes lifestyle programming that showcases big personalities such as its Anna Olson culinary franchise, featuring the renowned pastry chef; Colin and Justin’s Shack Attack, hosted by the home-decorating duo Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan; Keasha’s Perfect Dress, starring well known bridal consultant Keasha Rigsby; and Escape or Die!, featuring escape artist Dean Gunnarson.

“Big characters in unique worlds are selling well right now in the factual world,” explains Peace Point Rights’s president and executive producer, Les Tomlin. “Bold personalities are just engaging television.” Thus, creating successful shows and franchises is “about [having] unique characters in unique worlds.”

Tomlin adds, “In the factual and lifestyle world, it’s about building franchises. We’re fortunate to be on multiple seasons of brands we’ve been building for quite some time.”

The company has leveraged the draw of strong personalities, building character-driven franchises around figures such as pastry chef Anna Olson. There are three seasons of Fresh with Anna Olson, and the latest franchise centered on the chef, titled Bake with Anna Olson, is now in 192 countries around the world. “It’s pretty much sold out,” Tomlin tells TV Real of the series, in which Olson demonstrates how to bake everything from croissants to muffins, offering viewers skills that help take them from beginners to masters.

“We’re [about to start] our third season of Bake, which is being shot in 4K,” Tomlin says. “It’s one of the world’s first baking shows in 4K, which is very exciting for us.” Season three has been jointly commissioned by Shaw Media’s Food Network Canada and Scripps Networks Asia Pacific, with production slated to begin in March. Tomlin adds, “We’re also doing a spin-off show with Olson, which is being commissioned by Food Network in Singapore.”

Another character-driven show in its third season is the lifestyle and renovation series Colin and Justin’s Shack Attack. This show sees hosts Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan embark on a mission to renovate their lakeside fixer-upper. Like Bake with Anna Olson, the title is a Canadian export.

Alongside strong characters, another trend in factual programming is a shift toward titles that do not feel overly produced. “We’re starting to see a bit of a renaissance in doing more traditional reality that is real, as opposed to overproduced and therefore actually not real at all,” Tomlin says. “In the last 12 to 18 months, the audience has warmed up to the fact that a lot of this stuff is not real at all, and they’re tuning out. So it’s more actuality versus reality; that’s the biggest trend we’re seeing.”

Additionally, Tomlin says that he has been “hearing a lot of requests for international co-productions from buyers in the last 12 months.” This is even happening in the factual and lifestyle world, where the “big players now are saying, ‘Bring us Canadian tax credits, bring us Canadian partners, bring us international partners.” Tomlin emphasizes, “It’s about bringing in multiple partners and tax credits from various jurisdictions, and Bake with Anna Olson is a great case in point: it’s funded out of Scripps Networks UK, Scripps Networks Asia and Food Network Canada.”

In addition to pacts with more traditional partners, Peace Point Rights is making headway in the digital space. “We completed our first deal for Netflix LatAm this year for Tut, which is a scripted series we distribute from Muse Entertainment,” he says. “Digital outlets are growing exponentially, and increasingly they are another customer to go to. Plus, there’s not just Netflix, there are all sorts of other OTTs firing up around the world, so it’s another great buyer for our content.”

Looking ahead, Tomlin reflects, “Our goals for 2016 into 2017 are to continue to bring top-quality programming to our existing client base, and, as we’re only a four-year-old company, to continue to grow relationships with new clients.”

He notes that the company also hopes to “foster more relationships in the digital space with OTTs,” as well as to increase its activity in the realm of international co-productions by bringing in partners for global shows.

“We have really figured out the international co-production model, how to bring tax credits and multiple partners to factual, lifestyle and reality shows,” Tomlin says. “That [will be] a high area of growth for us well into the future.”