All3Media’s Jane Turton

With some 40 production companies located across a footprint that extends from the U.K. to Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand and the U.S., All3Media provides a wide range of programming to worldwide clients. A leading independent, it offers scripted series, formats and premium factual shows produced by its labels and third parties through its distribution arm, All3Media International.

CEO Jane Turton is always looking out for new production companies to invest in, as IP and talent are critical to success in the content business. She also believes scale is of particular value in today’s rapidly evolving media landscape. It allows for flexibility in dealmaking and greater adaptability to changing consumer habits.

Turton talks to World Screen about the continued demand for content, even in such a dynamic market, and how All3Media’s broad program offering is satisfying the needs of streamers and broadcasters alike. She also points to the need for attracting and nurturing new voices in front of and behind the camera.

***Image***WS: When we spoke two years ago, everyone was gearing back up into production after the halt imposed by Covid. The streamers were commissioning a lot, and demand for content was at perhaps an all-time high. How do you view the market today? What has changed? What has remained the same?
TURTON: Demand for high-quality content is very strong, and we had our biggest year ever in 2022. And, yes, the impact of the streamers on the production sector has been huge and continues to play a critical role in high-quality program commissioning. We produced 41 shows for streamers in 2022, up from 22 the year before. We also developed and produced more than ever for traditional buyers—both broadcast network and cable—and they remain a bedrock for producers, building and supporting some of the most popular franchises in the world.

Change is a constant in media, and the market is more dynamic than ever. The pace of change is faster, and the impact is more global. Both of which create exciting opportunities. Nothing about this market is slow or parochial! As always, the key to success is excellence—creative and commercial.

WS: I hear that some broadcasters and platforms have become more risk-averse than they used to be. Have you found this to be the case, and is that impacting commissions?
TURTON: There’s a theory that in times of economic challenge, buyers tend to favor the familiar and well-established, hence the conversation around the number of spin-offs, reboots and adaptations with popular, proven IP considered a safer bet. We’ve had success with Lingo in the U.K. and the U.S., and then there’s the return of Big Brother, Survivor and Gladiators.Meanwhile, at the same time, and in the same market, innovation is incredibly strong, with new shows in both scripted and non-scripted launching every week. Buyers are taking risks across all platforms, and audiences are excited by both established favorites and new series launches. I think the common feature in success is quality as opposed to the age of the show.

WS: Given today’s market, what has been All3Media’s strategy for scripted series? You have a broad range of shows. Does that continue to be part of your strategy?
TURTON: Yes, absolutely. For us, scripted is critical to the program slate. Our drama titles form a broad and diverse catalog that drives primary and secondary margins over several cycles of exploitation.

Scripted builds reputations and profiles and creates value for our production and distribution business. We again had a fantastic slate of dramas in 2022 from The Tourist—which the BBC has recently recommissioned—The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe and Ridley, through to Call the Midwife and Midsomer Murders. We have 30 series commissioned for 2023 and our highest-ever drama buyer base of 43 customers, which includes new relationships with Disney+, Paramount+ and Amazon Freevee.

People in television talk a lot about the incredible talent of development and how crucial it is to sell, but perhaps don’t emphasize enough how important production excellence is. There is nothing better than a returning scripted series that sells internationally and establishes a reputation for quality. Within that, there is enormous breadth. The Gold, for example, is a lovely new drama with Hugh Bonneville and Jack Lowden, written by Neil Forsyth, from Tannadice Pictures and Objective Fiction—an example of a new show that could hopefully come back as a returning series.

WS: What trends do you see in factual and unscripted?
TURTON: For us, premium factual and formats have contributed to recent success. In premium factual, we have had ratings success and critical acclaim with single films and miniseries like The Tinder Swindler, The Puppet Master,Saving Venice, Fever Pitch: The Rise of the Premier League, Stolen: Catching the Art Thieves, My Dead Body, The Playboy Murders and The Anti-Vax Conspiracy. And in natural history, we have had huge, high-profile series like Silverback Films’ The Mating Game and Wild Isles for BBC One, as well as YouTube’s Seat at the Table. The team also produced Polar Bear for Disney+, and coming later this year to Netflix are the landmark series Our Planet II and Life on Our Planet.

We’ve also placed much emphasis on developing factual and factual entertainment formats that can travel globally. A great recent example is The Traitors. It’s a homegrown format coming out of our Dutch business and is now in 15 territories, including the U.K. and the U.S., where it’s made by Studio Lambert. It was the best-selling format of 2021, ahead of Optomen’s brilliant series Sort Your Life Out. Of course, titles like Gogglebox, Undercover Boss and Lingo continue to travel around the world.

WS: The last time we spoke, you mentioned that talent and IP were your guiding principles in acquiring or investing in companies. Is that still the case, and are you looking to expand the company’s footprint and make other investments?
TURTON: Yes, that is still the case. It’s all about talent and IP. To deliver a long-term and sustainable business, the quality of the team and the programs that are developed and produced are fundamental.

Are we still looking? Yes. As I have said, we are always keen to look at an opportunity to add exceptional talent to the business. And, of course, IP is, in itself, an interesting potential area for investment, either as rights’ catalogs for All3Media International to exploit or as IP that can be adapted into TV shows. We are also interested in the potential of adding new geographies to the business as, today, we do not have a particularly broad production footprint. There aren’t many opportunities, and we’re very selective. But we are keen to continue to grow the business inorganically and organically.

WS: And scale still makes a difference, doesn’t it?
TURTON: It makes a difference more now than ever for a number of reasons. One, it gives you extra insight and greater optionality when you’re dealmaking, whether it’s in attracting talent, buying rights or exploiting rights on a global basis. It also gives you more resilience. As we said earlier, when the market is as dynamic as it is currently, it’s helpful having a well-established, scaled business with supportive shareholders where you can move fast to respond to opportunities and invest to grow.

WS: In managing the more than 40 production companies in the group, in what areas do you take more of a hands-off, let-them-do-what-they-do-best approach? And in what areas is there more coordination or oversight?
TURTON: The secret is to have the best team and to prioritize. Time is a scarce resource. Wherever possible, we try to identify where the greatest opportunity lies and spend as much time driving growth in those areas. That may sound obvious, but it’s not always easy. And successful businesses do that well.

WS: Talent drives the business. How is the group discovering and nurturing new talent and new and diverse voices?
TURTON: We have invested in our portfolio of startups, most recently the sports-focused producer 3 Rock and BYO Films, with Vicky McClure. We’ve got overall deals in the U.S.—Jen Casey and Nick Gilhool came on board in January with their Los Angeles-based documentary and unscripted company, One Traveler. It’s about ensuring we’ve got the best people not only in all of the key creative roles but also in commercial positions in each of our companies.
Diversity of talent is a key focus for us across the business, on- and offscreen. We have appointed a head of diversity, equity and inclusion. Our talent, HR and resources team work closely with industry bodies, agencies and individuals to diversify our talent pools and reflect our diverse audiences and communities. For example, we are involved with the Pact Indie Diversity Scheme, the Grierson DocLab, the National Film and Television School, Edinburgh TV Festival’s TV Foundation and the Royal Television Society Bursary Scheme.

Across the group, we run numerous initiatives—including script writing, directing, accountancy and production to support diverse voices, and we also provide training on disability, unconscious bias and so on.

Attracting talent is key, but retention is also crucial. We’re helping people develop careers and making sure that there’s a place that’s fulfilling for them within the business. We’re never complacent, and there’s still a lot to do.

WS: In the U.K., there’s been a lot of discussion in the last year or so about the role and programming of the PSBs. How do you see their future? Do they remain critical to the U.K.’s production industry?
TURTON: One hundred percent—they’re very important. Speaking as an independent producer, they underpin this whole sector in the U.K. We want them to be strong because this ensures a strong independent production community.

The PSBs have gone through, and continue to go through, numerous challenges, structural and cyclical. Linear television consumption is a key consideration as competition for viewers intensifies, as is the aging audience demo and how they transition those business models from the appointment-to-view schedule to the disaggregated platform.

We have always worked closely with the PSBs. We have modernized, for example, the Terms of Trade, the most important stimulus to the U.K. media market and fundamental to the long-term viability and success of the indie sector. We’ve worked very closely for years trying to ensure that we develop and produce content that appeals to U.K. audiences.