A Window to National Geographic

As VP of global content sales at National Geographic Channels Worldwide, Germaine Deagan Sweet is driving the sale of the factual broadcaster’s originals to third-party outlets across the globe. She speaks to TV Real Weekly about managing windows, co-producing and what’s hot in the doc space.

In July of last year, National Geographic brought the commissioning teams at its U.S. and worldwide channels together under one unified structure. And while the factual broadcaster is still commissioning certain projects for specific markets or territories, it has placed an increased emphasis on global commissions that can premiere on its feeds worldwide—and then be sold on to third-party channels.

“The move for the business is to commission more, control more windows, manage exclusivity, because that’s the very basis of our business,” says Germaine Deagan Sweet, the VP of global content sales. “In commissioning more, we can own more, so there is going to be a lot more coming through my department.”

The exclusivity window for NGC content is anywhere from six months to a year, Deagan Sweet explains. “In some territories we’re withholding key franchises to protect them for our channels, and in others we look to work with some of the local broadcasters to increase the awareness of the franchises. Every market is different.”

Deagan Sweet is keen to stress that NGC will continue to sign on as a co-producer on productions from other broadcasters. “Even though we are commissioning more we still greatly value these co-production relationships. There are some projects none of us can afford to do alone, so we will continue to work with NHK, France Télévisions, ZDF and ORF,” among others, Deagan Sweet says.

Discussing the NGC slate available to the international market, Deagan Sweet points to the breadth of the portfolio, which runs the gamut from wildlife to science and technology to human interest and current affairs. One of NGC’s most high-profile titles as of late has been Restrepo, which was launched to the global market at MIPDOC.

“It has received so much interest,” says Deagan Sweet. “It’s breathtaking. It will stop you in your tracks, as it has every buyer who has seen it. Winning the Sundance Grand Jury and being nominated for an Academy Award raised its profile tremendously. Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington [who was killed while covering the conflict in Libya in April] are masterful storytellers and documentary filmmakers and that’s reflected in the piece. It’s a question of who can find the right time slot for it. But more and more [broadcasters] are looking to find a way to put it in their schedule.”

Deagan Sweet and her team have seen particular demand for the high-end science and technology and wildlife genres. “There’s a lot of renewed interest in wildlife,” Deagan Sweet notes. “Of course with all of the commissions we’re doing through our WILD channel, we’ve got a lot of wildlife programming. Traditional news and documentary channels are now asking me for wildlife; that’s an interesting development.”

Deagan Sweet is also seeing increased demand for the specials and series that have been commissioned by NGC in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Asia, in particular, has been a focus for NGC regional commissions, with the broadcaster lining up workshops and other assistance for budding filmmakers and aligning with local organizations such as Singapore’s EDB and Malaysia’s FINAS. “Some buyers may have thought that those regional productions were too regional. They are absolutely generating revenue and interest in Europe. We have invested time and resources in [providing assistance to Asian filmmakers] and it’s paid off. We’re only going to be as successful as they are and we recognize the value in that.”