Louise Pedersen

World Screen Weekly, September 11, 2008

Managing Director

ALL3MEDIA International

Growing its contacts base is a key goal for ALL3MEDIA International, be that in new media or new territories or with new stations and new buyers. “We’re always on the look out for new partners,” says Louise Pedersen, who has served as the company’s managing director since 2004. “Even though our coverage across markets is fairly good, you never know everybody.”

And MIPCOM provides the perfect forum for this type of networking, “It’s a great chance to connect with our buyers,” Pedersen says. “It’s a good chance for us to introduce producers to the markets. In addition to selling shows, we’re always on the lookout to pick up and distribute more material from the world,” in particular, she notes, from Australian, Canadian and American producers.

This time around, Pedersen says ALL3MEDIA International will head to Cannes looking to add some high-quality factual and factual-entertainment programs to its catalogue. “We’ve had big success with some Australian factual entertainment, and if we can pick up some more of those that will be good. It’s an area that we exploit very well and it fits in very well with our catalogue.”

ALL3MEDIA International will also be looking to shore up sales on its three lead dramas, each of which has a very different appeal. The supernatural mystery Apparitions stars Martin Shaw as Father Jacob, a Vatican saint-maker, miracle detective and exorcist combined. Also starring Martin Shaw, George Gently is a more classic English murder mystery. Appealing to an edgier, younger audience is Raw, about a group of twentysomethings who all get their first jobs working together in a restaurant in Dublin, Ireland.

“Even in those three, there really is something for everybody in there,” says Pederson. “We’ve got the breadth and that’s what’s going to help us hit the international buyers—the range and the quality of what we’ve got.”

Pedersen has been in the business long enough to know what sells in the global market. “I’ve been in sales for donkey’s years,” she jokes about her 20-year history. “The sales side of it has been the bulk of my career, and as far as how many MIPs I’ve been to, I don’t really want to think about that! It is great though, and there are a lot worse things that we could all be doing. I think on a whole, it’s a great bunch of people and a fantastic industry. I haven’t got any complaints.”