Entertainment One’s Stuart Baxter

Stuart Baxter, the president of international distribution at Entertainment One (eOne), on the company’s library of popular titles, first-look deals with A-list talent and high-profile new shows.

In the past year, distributors have had to adapt to several challenges: Covid-19 halting production and delaying delivery of shows, buyers in need of programming to fill gaps in their schedules and working with clients and colleagues virtually instead of in person. Baxter and his sales executives have overcome these problems and continued to serve their customers. A library of popular titles, first-look deals with A-list talent and high-profile new shows have been crucial in maintaining a varied programming offering.

WS: How have you and your teams adjusted to selling to clients without in-person markets?
BAXTER: Our general principles remain the same—we want to spend as much time as we can with our clients, building relationships, understanding their local market challenges and what they’re looking for, as well as ensuring that we are keeping them updated on our growing pipeline. While that underlying principle is exactly the same, our approach is very different now as we’ve adapted quickly to conducting business virtually.

Physical markets have always been one of many interactions with our clients, and there will continue to be a need for both physical and virtual events. Prior to Covid and outside of markets, our teams traveled in-territory for strategic meetings with clients to properly present our slate, and while they may not be traveling now, those types of discussions are still ongoing. In the current environment, we are continuing dialogue and direct one-on-one meetings with clients as we are consistently looking for new ways to communicate online through screenings, webinars, presentations and virtual meetings.

In lieu of the in-person London Screenings, we will be hosting our eOne Preview event virtually on March 9, which will be a more bespoke personal experience tailored specifically to each of the regions. We’ll be showcasing our new and returning series in-depth, including the much-anticipated psychological thriller series Cruel Summer from the executive producers behind The Sinner, Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple, as well as providing a first look at the upcoming drama The Newsreader, starring Mindhunter’s Anna Torv, in addition to brand-new seasons of long-running dramas such as Burden of Truth and Private Eyes.

WS: How have you seen buyers’ needs evolve during the last 12 months?
BAXTER: From last spring through to autumn, buyers were initially focused on their immediate schedules and needing content that was already available and dubbed. Our strong portfolio of library series helped to meet those needs with tried-and-tested content like Rookie Blue, Saving Hope and Haven, which were delivered quickly.

Since then, we have seen that there is much more willingness to look at broader sources for content, rather than the traditional way of sourcing programs. Buyers are acquiring shows from many more international markets than ever before, like the Australian drama Between Two Worlds and the French-produced limited series La Garçonne. In addition, buyers are looking at second-window options for shows like Nurses, which is now in production on its second season and recently launched on NBC in the U.S.

Clients have also looked to lighter entertainment like the Jason Priestley-led investigation series Private Eyes, as well as factual shows like Lost Relics of the Knights Templar and Lost Worlds and Hidden Treasures to plug a lot of gaps in their programming schedules. And, of course, sports have also started to work their way back into schedules, filling some of those needs.

WS: How are you working with clients whose budgets are smaller than before the pandemic, such as commercial broadcasters whose advertising revenues have dropped?
BAXTER: As always, and especially during this unprecedented time, we try to be creative and flexible partners in working with our clients, whether it’s for library content, extending license periods for existing titles, additional runs or exploring different types of windows and rights.

While we recognize ad revenues have been impacted, we’ve observed that broadcasters still need to deliver audiences, and for that, they still need the strongest shows. There is broader demand for commercial or smaller broadcasters taking shows in a second window after SVOD or free TV. What used to be ruled out on principle has now become a viable option.

WS: What demand for library product have you seen? More among SVODs than other clients?
BAXTER: We’ve been well-positioned in a way where we can offer a varied selection of long-running successful library titles like Ransom, Halt and Catch Fire, Into the Badlands, Bitten, Hell on Wheels and The Walking Dead that are dubbed in markets and ready to go. We have also been able to react quickly to opportunities for those, whether it’s with new buyers or clients wanting to come in and extend their existing deals.

WS: Are you seeing growth in AVOD platforms, whether stand-alone or tied to existing broadcasters? What type of product are they looking for?
BAXTER: Yes, the number of minutes being watched in AVOD and the number of active viewers on platforms like Roku, IMDb TV or Pluto TV are rapidly growing. AVOD is an exciting, new medium, which is why we’re pleased to be in business with a number of the AVOD players like Rakuten and Huawei in the U.K. and Spain, Globoplay in Latin America, Plex in Canada and Kidoodle.TV in the U.S. and the U.K. We recently concluded a significant deal with Roku in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., which signifies a revenue stream not seen before.

AVOD is an important and growing market that is evolving. Historically, AVOD was known to conduct non-exclusive deals; however, recently, we’ve seen more exclusivity for them to attract viewers, particularly to their platform and content. The type of product they’re looking for tends to be more scripted, with a focus on drama as well as feature films and TV movies.

WS: In general, everyone wants exclusive rights—is that changing? Is there a willingness to make co-exclusive deals or find other ways of sharing rights?
BAXTER: It’s rare not to do exclusivity nowadays, but there are still some territory divisions. We’re finding other ways of sharing rights as it all comes down to the term of exclusivity. For example, a buyer might have a show exclusively for a three-year license, but only the first year is exclusive, whereas another buyer can come in after the first year.

WS: Would you give an example of how you have windowed a title to provide it with the best exposure?
BAXTER: Designated Survivor is a great example. Seasons one and two aired on ABC in the U.S. and CTV in Canada, with the second window on Netflix internationally. Then, for season three, it moved to the first global window on Netflix, which marked the first time an independently produced drama moved from a U.S. broadcast network to an SVOD platform. In addition, we continued licensing the series to more international buyers for second and third windows. We also partnered with Asia’s leading drama production house Studio Dragon on its first format co-production in the region for the Korean adaptation of Designated Survivor, which premiered on CJ ENM’s tvN channel.

WS: Tell us about the TV adaptation of the Hasbro property Risk and the first-look deal with Beau Willimon and Jordan Tappis’s company, Westward.
BAXTER: Beau Willimon is an esteemed Emmy- and Academy Award-nominated writer and producer who has an extraordinary and wonderful take on the TV adaptation of Risk. He has demonstrated how familiar he is with the game and its fanbase. We’re excited the brand is being reimagined for television and that this is an example of how having access to Hasbro’s IP creates new pathways for innovative content.

WS: eOne has made several other first-look deals with talent, such as the one with author James Patterson. Tell us about the adaptation of Patterson’s upcoming book The Noise.
BAXTER: The Noise is a unique thriller that follows a deadly scientific mystery. It’s told through the eyes of two young sisters living in the Oregon wilderness and the brilliant doctor trying to save them. The mystery grows when a destructive force begins to threaten humanity. We’re really looking forward to working with James Patterson. He is undeniably one of the most iconic and prolific storytellers of our generation.

WS: As the Covid vaccine tames the virus, how do you see the business in the second half of 2021? Do you expect to see more commissions and acquisitions in 2022?
BAXTER: I’m hopeful we’ll see more optimism returning into the market. As markets open, the rest of the sports calendar becomes available and will start to occupy slots in the schedules. Production will accelerate as many shows have been waiting or delayed. Hopefully, it will give broadcasters and platforms some confidence in what they need for the autumn and beyond.

We saw a lot of new global OTT platforms and streamers emerge in 2019 and 2020, all needing content. I suspect the demand from the new players, plus all the traditional broadcast commissions, will have created continued growth in demand. But once the backlog of delayed productions is through, the market will settle and find a new equilibrium—higher than before.