All3Media’s Jane Turton

Jane Turton, CEO of All3Media, talks to World Screen about navigating a market that is extremely competitive and complex but also ripe with opportunities.

In 2019, All3Media brought in a record £745 million ($1.02 billion) in revenues. At the start of 2020, CEO Jane Turton looked enthusiastically toward building on the group’s many successes developing, producing and distributing drama, factual and factual-entertainment programming. Then the pandemic hit, shutting down production and delaying delivery of shows. But the broad footprint of the group’s 40-plus production entities (located in the U.K., the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand), its diverse output and a sizable catalog of finished shows and formats allowed All3Media to have an almost business-as-usual year. Turton does not minimize the challenges faced by the group’s employees but has confidence in their determination and creativity in developing new IP, refreshing existing formats, complying with Covid-19 safety protocols to keep production going, securing financing and finding the best homes for shows. Yes, the market is extremely competitive and complex, but as Turton explains, it’s ripe with opportunities.

WS: What were your priorities at the beginning of the pandemic? And what did you find were the best ways to manage the group through so much uncertainty?
TURTON: We had our strongest ever year in 2019, and we were looking into a very positive 2020. We had real commissioning momentum, a strong development pipeline and the talent across the group was in great shape. Then in February and March, the world suddenly changed with the arrival of the coronavirus and a near-total shutdown of normal activity.

As a sector, and at All3Media, I think that we have done a remarkable job of managing through the past 12 months. All3Media is back in production with virtually all of our shows—scripted and non-scripted—and we anticipate being back to pre-Covid levels of program delivery this year. A fantastic achievement from all of our teams around the world.

We learned a lot during a crisis. The quality of our leadership, and especially our production teams, is paramount. Good, clear communication is a must with everyone sharing insights into best practices and how to deliver a safe environment for people to work in—whether production itself or any of the support areas that are also critical to making shows. Sara Geater, our COO, involved teams of people from across all companies in the group in making sure that we were focused on people’s mental wellbeing and adapted the way we worked to ensure that we remain healthy and productive. We also took the lead in pan-industry working groups to tackle subjects such as production protocols and insurance to cover the risk in getting the industry back to work.

The fundamentals of the All3Media business are stronger than ever, and the demand for high-quality content is growing fast, so we feel confident that our prospects are excellent. Plus, we have supportive shareholders and that, too, is important.

WS: What factors contributed to such good performance across the company in 2019?
TURTON: We had a very good year across the board. In scripted, we had series including The Widow, The Feed, Catherine the Great and Baptiste. Our non-scripted formats business did very well with good performances out of the U.K. and U.S. We had new shows coming through alongside established hits like Gogglebox, Snackmasters, Flirty Dancing, Race Across the World, and The Circle, as well as Cash Cab, which has sold in 50 different territories. And we are continuing to work our IP catalog hard with new versions of formats like Lingo, which has been recommissioned by ITV, and The Cube for ITV and WarnerMedia in the U.S. Our documentary slate featured powerful stories, including RAW’s award-winning Don’t F**k with Cats, which was in the top five most-watched Netflix doc­umentaries in 2019, Generation Porn from Story Films for Channel 4, Caravan’s Killer Ratings for Netflix and Optomen’s Call the Cops.

The strong performance in scripted and formats saw our distribution business perform really well with a record year. Our digital business, Little Dot Studios, also had a stunning year as it accelerated its growth in the creation and distribution of high-quality content on platforms like YouTube, Snapchat and Facebook.

WS: All3Media recently acquired Silverback Films. Why was that acquisition important?
TURTON: As the first test for any potential acquisition, we look at two things—talent and IP. In both cases, Silverback Films passes with flying colors; they are world-class. Just look at the quality and reputation of the team, their programs and films. For us, the cultural fit is also critical and, on that basis, too, we liked them very much. And, in this case, as a further plus point, we were excited to become a part of a Bristol-based independent that produces stunning natural-history content that travels the world. The global appeal of their programs to such a large and diverse audience is exciting. The opportunity is vast, with OTT players and the cable and linear terrestrial television platforms equally keen to commission from them. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet had a worldwide theatrical release and became the widest-ever documentary release in British cinema history before launching globally on Netflix, and A Perfect Planet, a co-production with the BBC and Discovery, launched this year with fantastic ratings.

The team has recently launched a new venture called Studio Silverback that is producing environmental programming. This, too, is important on many levels, not least in communicating to mass audiences about the role that everyone can play in helping to save the planet. It has a number of projects underway and has been selected as the filmmaker for the Earthshot Prize—launched by the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge—which is the most prestigious global environmental prize in history. The first production is a major series for the BBC about the five missions of the prize, airing this autumn.

WS: What is All3Media’s acquisition strategy?
TURTON: The strategy is, first and foremost, as I said in relation to Silverback, about the best talent and IP. In terms of production footprint, we have a core market strategy, which has worked extremely well. For us, the core markets are the U.K., the U.S. and Germany, with a strong scripted company in New Zealand, South Pacific Pictures, and a very successful producer in Holland, idtv. Even though our production footprint is relatively narrow, our IP travels the world with All3Media International, our distribution company, playing a critical part in the group’s success. And Little Dot, our digital studio, creates and distributes content in a way that pays no heed to geography. Covid has changed the view of geography as well. Development and pro­duction have adapted to a virtual world. Pitches via Zoom are now commonplace and pro­ducing in remote locations where teams are based all over the world is possible. Look at The Circle made by Studio Lambert in Manchester for multiple territories for Channel 4 and Netflix, and North One, which remotely produced live MotoGP shows for BT Sport with a 22-strong team based in more than 20 different locations in the U.K. and around the world.

WS: Covid had a severe impact on scripted, more so than non-scripted. What is the strategy now for scripted?
TURTON: We love the strength of our scripted business; both comedy and drama are now back in production across the board. The hiatus in 2020 meant that series have slipped, but I’m delighted to say that commissioning is strong and new titles have been picked up from all producers in the group. Critical and rating successes for shows like Des, White House Farm, Fleabag and Britanniahave contributed to the commissioning momentum. I am confident that the series that are currently in production will do really well. The demand for high-quality scripted has never been greater. All3Media is well-positioned to benefit with series set to deliver this year, including Angela Black, Hollington Drive, Baptiste, Midsomer Murders, Van Der Valk, Agatha Raisin, Call the Midwife and The Tourist.

WS: And factual and factual entertainment are still important for you.
TURTON: Incredibly important and an area where we have been very focused on growth. With shows like Gogglebox, Naked Attraction, Chrisley Knows Best, Undercover Boss, Gold Rush, Worst Cooks in America and The Circle, you can build long-running franchises that resonate with millions of people and become an important underpinning to the buyer and the producer’s business. Then, you build off them to create new shows, and so on. During Covid, the value of well-established and popular brands has become very evident. We have benefited from formats in the catalog like The Cube and Lingo that we have rebooted and are now back on TV in numerous markets around the world.

We are also strong in factual with a range of commissions like RAW’s Fear City and The Ripper for Netflix, CNN’s The Lost Sons, Caravan’s The Wimbledon Kidnapping for Sky and Story Films’ Premier League doc­umentary with David Beckham.

WS: Assuming the rollout of the vaccine will go as smoothly and quickly as possible, are you looking to increase production in territories outside the U.K.?
TURTON: Assuming it’s safe and operationally viable, we will produce in as many markets as makes creative and economic sense. The buyers are frequently global platforms and, especially in non-scripted, want versions of their hit shows for their key geographies. As producers, we want to make those shows—either through production hubs or, in other cases, through multiple locally produced versions. In some cases, we are also more than happy to partner with a local production company. The model is very flexible, and we will do the right deal for the show and the commissioning platform; it’s whatever works best.

WS: Several Hollywood studios are holding the vast majority of their product for their streaming services. Does this create more opportunity for a company like All3Media to sell programming to broadcasters and platforms around the world?
TURTON: What we need as content creators is buyers with slots to fill and cash to spend. So, every time there is a withholding of rights or a repatriation of a catalog by one of the studios to put on their SVOD or AVOD platform, gaps are created elsewhere. That, plus the arrival of newer platforms like discovery+, Disney+ and HBO Max, which want high-quality content to establish their consumer proposition, means there are lots of buyers for shows. The market is dynamic and investment in content is growing—all of which is a positive force for content creators.

You asked why 2019 was so successful. A lot of that came from the increase in demand from the SVOD platforms. Both in scripted and non-scripted.

WS: As there are more platforms and channels buying product, the whole windowing strategy becomes more complicated for All3Media International, doesn’t it?
TURTON: I don’t think you could be a successful producer in a modern world without a very good, strategically minded and financially solid distribution partner. The market is more complex than ever, and this complexity creates opportunity—if you know what you’re doing! We are very lucky to have Louise Pedersen and her team at All3Media International sitting at the heart of the group. Her team’s role is as a long-term partner to the producers. They routinely get involved at the early stage in development conversations, funding rights deals, opening doors for international part­nerships, designing the optimal sales strategy and so on. Their experience allows us to take an informed view of opportunity and risk and is invaluable in a world where everything is so dynamic and windowing and the medium is all changing so fast.

WS: How do you see All3Media and the media landscape as you look past the pandemic?
TURTON: The first point is that content is the single most critical part of any media proposition. Our job is to make sure that we remain at the top of the list as a leading world-class content producer that can and will sell to multiple platforms for an audience that will view all types of shows and on multiple devices.

It is a competitive market, and we face lots of disruption. But this was always the case and the opportunities are exciting! There’s no doubt that this is a fantastic time to be in production.