Scripted Buyers Weigh in on Drama Renaissance

CANNES: The Channels Talk at MIPTV this morning, moderated by World Screen’s Anna Carugati, featured programmers from CBC, Telewizja Polska, Mediaset, TV2 Denmark and Radiodiffusion Télévision Ivoirienne talking about their drama needs.

The panel featured Sandra Coulibaly, the distribution manager at Radiodiffusion Télévision Ivoirienne (RTI); Maciej Chmiel, channel director at TVP2 in Poland; Zelda Stewart, head of acquisition at Mediaset in Italy; Katrine Vogelsang, head of fiction at TV2 Denmark; and Tara Ellis, executive director of scripted content at Canada’s CBC.

Asked about striking a balance between long-running series and event specials, CBC’s Ellis noted, “We have a combination. We have some long-running series that keep delivering ratings year after year. Then we have some event miniseries. We continue to look at literary adaptations. It’s led by the creative and the story for us.”

In the Ivory Coast, audiences look to RTI for long-running series, said Coulibaly. “They like to have a permanent appointment every day or every week for six months. When a show is popular they like to talk about it at home or at work.”

Stewart said that Mediaset has a number of long-running soaps that have become part of people’s lives. “We have these important appointments to view, but we also acquire a lot of series which we hope will become long-running series. And we produce a lot of series which become long-running series too. On the production side it’s really important because a long-running series gives you an identity for your channels.”

TV2’s Vogelsang noted that there’s been a change in strategy at the Danish broadcaster. “We used to only want long-running shows. But we have a substantial public fund in Denmark that only supports first seasons so to finance drama in general we have to have one-offs. The audience like it. The combination [of miniseries and long-running shows] is welcomed. For co-production we are more and more looking at event scheduling. Miniseries is absolutely preferable for us for co-production.”

Chmiel said TVP2 has a long tradition of continuing series; two of its shows have been on the air for 15 years.

In terms of financing, co-production is the preferred method for RTI’s Coulibaly. “We’ve been doing them for two years now. Generally we finance 50 percent of the budget. Sometimes we even go to 100 percent if the project has good potential for us and it seems that the show has an international potential.”

CBC does one or two co-pros a year, Ellis said. “Partnerships enable us to do shows with substantially higher budgets and open us up to different talent. It makes for a vibrant schedule.”

Vogelsang says TV2 is a frequent co-producer. “When it’s crime it’s normally a co-production” because those are easier to find partners for. “My dream is to do two true co-productions a year. I’m looking mainly to see if it’s possible to co-produce with countries we have something in common with.”

Mediaset started co-productions quite recently, Stewart noted. “We’re looking for as broad a project as possible when we’re producing or co-producing.”

On topics they’re looking to explore, TV2’s Vogelsang mentioned romance and the European royal houses. RTI’s Coulibaly has her eye on a historical show for 2017.

Carugati asked the panelists about acquisitions versus original shows. Acquisitions don’t work very well for TV2, Vogelsang observed. Broadchurch and Doctor Foster did “OK,” she said. On the niche channels there is a place for U.S. acquisitions.

Almost 70 percent of the drama on RTI is acquired, Coulibaly said.

Chmiel would like more originals on TVP2 and is looking for international partners.

Mediaset’s Stewart acquires over 1,000 hours of drama series per year, including from the Hollywood studios, with output deals in place with Warner Bros. and NBCUniversal, and from distributors across Europe.

She added that she’s looking for more procedural series, as is TV2’s Vogelsang. “For the main channel, local serialized works very well but for acquisitions procedurals work much better. For the SVOD platforms, serialized works well as well. It’s difficult to find something that works on all the platforms.”