Robert Montgomery

World Screen Weekly, May 22, 2008

CEO

Achilles Media

Several markets throughout the year cater to buying and selling programming, and are characterized by a hectic pace with people rushing around to keep back-to-back meetings in crowded convention centers.

But one event is different from the rest, first by virtue of its venue—it is set amid the beauty of the Canadian Rockies—and secondly for its focus: it is dedicated to the creation of content. It’s the Banff World Television Festival, and this year its 29th edition will take place from June 8 through 11, once again at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.

Robert Montgomery, the CEO of Achilles Media, the company that produces Banff, is intent on maintaining all the elements of the event that have made it popular. “We want to continue in our role as facilitators of the process whereby people with ideas meet people who can do something about them,” says Montgomery, emphasizing that Banff is focused specifically on development and production.

“The most important thing we are sensitive to when we program the festival is the environment,” says Montgomery. “It is a retreat-based event, where people aren’t meeting every 15 minutes or half hour, but they are taking the time to propagate [ideas] in the kind of environment that is conducive to the creation of content that audiences will consume. Achilles Media does events in several cities and conference centers and everything speaks to its own market. Banff is special not only because of its legacy and the feeling it evokes when people go there, but due to the incentive to take advantage of the natural surroundings to engender positive and fruitful discussions which lead to deals and shows.”

Banff has traditionally appealed to producers and commissioning editors and in recent years has attracted quite an international contingent. This year, along with a who’s who of Canadian producers and broadcasters, there will be representatives from such companies as A&E Television Networks, ABC, the BBC, Beta Film, Beyond Distribution, Disney Channel, DR TV, Fireworks International, FremantleMedia, Granada International, MarVista Entertainment, Mediaset, Scripps Networks, TV Globo, NBC Universal Television, PorchLight Entertainment, RTE, RAI, Warner Bros. International Television and ZDF.

The creative talent that will be attending Banff includes Jason Katims, the executive producer and show runner of NBC’s Friday Night Lights; Alan Poul, the executive producer of the CBS mid-season drama Swingtown; Doug Ellin, the creator and executive producer of HBO’s Entourage; Hart Hanson, the creator and show runner of Bones on FOX; Michael Poryes, the creator and executive producer of Disney Channel’s smash hit Hannah Montana; Stephanie Savage, the executive producer and co-show runner of The CW’s breakout Gossip Girl; and Craig Wright, the creator and show runner of Dirty Sexy Money, which is returning for a second season on ABC this fall.

Also at this year’s festival, the 2008 Outstanding Achievement Award will be presented to ABC Studios and actress Kim Cattrall will receive the NBC Universal Award of Distinction.

What makes Banff special, explains Montgomery, is its informal atmosphere and the events, set up to bring creators, producers and broadcasters together. For example, this year Bowling with a Decision Maker has been added to the existing sessions Breakfast with a Decision Maker and Cocktails with a Decision Maker. Two other new additions are The Craft—workshop-style, hour-long sessions that bring writers, directors and producers together to break down the creative process of making television—and The Biz, which examines various legal and business-affairs issues relating to the production of television and new-media projects.

One unique aspect of Banff is the opportunities for pitching programs. Producers can meet with commissioning editors and pitch ideas, share knowledge and cultivate relationships. Another is the Banff World Television Awards. With more than 900 international program entries and 23 international juries, the Awards have become a prestigious recognition of quality within the television industry.

Countries and territories represented in this year’s program competition include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, the U.K., the U.S. and, for the first time, the Czech Republic and Liberia. The Banff World Television Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, June 9.

While Achilles Media organizes a number of events throughout the year, including History Makers: International Summit of History and Current Affairs Producers (formerly the World Congress of History Producers), Montgomery derives great personal satisfaction from Banff. “Its sole purpose is to facilitate the relationships that result in great content, and to even be a tiny part of a process that enables people’s ideas to flourish is tremendously satisfying,” he says.

—By Anna Carugati