Sally Miles

TV Real Weekly, August 13, 2008

CEO

Passion Distribution

Against the backdrop of a wave of consolidation in the British media market, Sally Miles this summer unveiled her new venture, Passion Distribution. The founder and former chief of iD Distribution, Miles is, as the name of her new venture indicates, passionate about how she is positioning the company in the international marketplace.

“At iD distribution, the agenda of the investors was to take it into a consolidated model and into a corporate structure. That was everything that I didn’t want to be in. What did I think I’d lose if I went into a very corporate environment? The passion we have for individual projects and for the business. For me it is all about the relationships and it’s all about having a very boutique feel and a very hands-on approach.”

It is the strength of Miles’ relationships with the independent production company that landed her the first titles in the Passion Distribution catalogue—programming from acclaimed factual outfit World of Wonder Productions, led by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. “I’ve worked with Fenton now for well over a year. He joined me when I was running iD Distribution and we built up a relationship. It’s about knowing that someone is really going to look after your best interests with your intellectual property, and Fenton asked me to do that. His loyalty and his trust to me and my team make us all want to go out and so over-deliver for him.”

The World of Wonder deal gives Passion Distribution the rights to three seasons of Tori & Dean, one of Oxygen’s highest-rated series, among a number of other titles. “Tori & Dean is an exciting package to go out to the market with. World of Wonder also do things I like to call wild and wonderful! They cover subjects that sell really well because they’re voyeuristic and interesting characters and worlds we don’t even know exist.”

In addition to selling already completed fare, Passion is working with World of Wonder to secure financing from the international market on new titles in development. “You can only do that when a company is so credible and broadcasters know what they’re going to get.”

Negotiating the complexities of today’s challenging distribution market, Miles is counting on her extensive production background—she got her start as an assistant at September Films, rising to CEO of that company—as well as lessons learned from her experience at iD. “On day one of opening the doors of iD Distribution, I wasn’t thinking about a rights management system. I was thinking about programs and the sales team and going out and selling! This time around I guess I’ve grown up a little bit and seen the sort of handicaps that you can have in the business of distribution if you don’t have great systems in place. We’re working with a company called RSG, based in New York, developing this distribution system with them. It’s knowing that you’re putting those sorts of investments and time into your business early on that will pay dividends and we’re not going to have the issues that we had.”

Miles is also launching Passion into a British content marketplace that has evolved considerably since the early days of iD, when the change of terms of trade allowing producers to retain the rights to their shows had just come into effect. That change in policy, Miles explains, allowed producers “to put more money into their development and into their businesses, made them more profitable because they had all the distribution revenue coming in and made them saleable—and then they went and consolidated,” often ending up as part of bigger distribution firms. “We will continue to work with a lot of U.K. production companies that are enjoying their independence,” Miles says.

Working with American production companies to help them monetize their offerings is another key strategy for Passion, Miles explains. Also on the planner is looking beyond the core documentary and factual-entertainment genres, if a scripted product comes along that Miles believes she and her team can sell well internationally. “I want very quickly to be a player in the market with the brand and the company well known,” Miles says of the goals for the next year. “I want people to understand why we’re called Passion, and to enjoy doing business with us.”

—By Mansha Daswani