Sabrina Duguet Talks all3media’s Asian Expansion

SINGAPORE: Heading up all3media International’s new office in Singapore, Sabrina Duguet, executive VP for the Asia Pacific, is looking to boost the company’s regional business across formats, factual and scripted. She tells World Screen about her strategy.

WS: When did all3media international start thinking about setting up an Asian office?
DUGUET: It started in December [2015]. As you know, we were bought by Discovery and Liberty Global two years ago. The company has grown so much in the past few years. We thought as we were doing so many more things locally [in Asia], it would be great to be closer to our clients, see them more regularly and ultimately service them much better. So in December the entire company was restructured, for two reasons—mainly we incorporated Optomen, and previously we had a department for finished programs and a department for formats. We have now merged them per region, to enable us to do what’s best per title in each individual territory. We still have people specialized in formats in each of the departments, which is very important, but we work together, looking at what’s best for each title. Also, especially for Asia, last year was a great year for us. It was our strongest year ever in China. We created Undercover Boss and Gogglebox in Japan, Gogglebox Mongolia, and there’s more coming. There were so many things going on that we felt this is the right time to have a dedicated team for the region.

WS: What are the drivers of your format business in Asia?
DUGUET: It’s a good time because [broadcasters] are taking much more risk than they’ve taken in the past. As you know, we don’t have any talent shows currently in the catalog, that’s not our specialization, and a few years ago that was probably what was working best. Now a lot of countries are willing to try [something different]. We’ve managed to make a great success out of Undercover Boss Japan, which was for me the unlikeliest place to do it in Asia. It shows they’re willing to try something new, take some risks. What we are most well known for is factual entertainment and we do also have game shows. Are You Normal? was a big hit in China, we’re doing it in Vietnam, a second series is coming up, and it’s pending in other territories. Cash Cab has traveled so much. Recently interest has grown in the factual-entertainment space. Undercover Boss’s success in Japan has opened new doors. Gogglebox has been created in 36 territories [worldwide], including Mongolia. We are in discussions with several territories in Asia at the moment. There are some fantastic reality shows from Lion Television. And a genre I’m extremely excited about is constructed reality. We are the largest producer and distributor of constructed reality globally, with 15,000 hours of constructed reality worldwide (local versions and adaptations). We have around 15 constructed reality formats in our catalog. Out of them, a number are extremely suitable for Asia and are being discussed at the moment. We have so many scripts available, a lot are closed-ended, with a different story every day, so if for cultural reasons some of the scripts are not suitable, that’s fine because we have over 1,000 scripts for the same format. For Asia, the reason I’m excited is many countries love and produce a lot of drama and scripted content; they also broadcast some reality programming. So [we can offer] a hybrid, taking the best of drama and the best of reality.

WS: On the finished programming side, what’s doing well?
DUGUET: As a group we’ve focused on a massive boost of our scripted content. We’ve invested in many drama companies and have 13 commissions for the next year for high-end drama. For Asia, it’s more difficult. We’re still doing really well in Japan with our scripted content—a lot of our big high-end dramas are very popular there, particularly the detective dramas we represent, many of which are our key brands such as Midsomer Murders and Foyle’s War. Where we have a lot of opportunity is with the new VOD platforms. There is a lot of fantastic local drama, so it’s harder for us to place our titles—but for the high-quality drama there is a place. For us, all the new platforms opening is a great way for us to give the audience that option to watch our scripted content.

For factual, Lion TV is definitely one of our key producers. Lion TV has a fantastic slate of Chinese factual including China: Lost Tombs of the Jade Empire and Confucius, which have a lot of resonance and work really well in the rest of Asia.

It’s interesting to see that some of our big factual-entertainment and lifestyle content also has a place, also thanks to the many more platforms available. We have brands that travel very well, such as Guy Martin, and travel shows that work well.

There’s also a new show based on a star from the world of snooker—which is now huge in China (his name is Ronnie O’Sullivan and the show sees him hustling around the U.S.).

WS: What areas do you want to be doing more in now that you have a dedicated regional office?
DUGUET: Southeast Asia has been fairly unexplored for us, which is fantastic for me right now because it means that our key brands are still available. India is a territory where we have not done enough. We are very strong in China, Japan, Korea. It’s about spending more time in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. There are so many more opportunities than there ever were throughout the region.

WS: How are you managing your business in China given the new regulations?
DUGUET: Last year was our best year ever in China. It’s true that this year the regulations have slowed things down a little, but my clients are still looking for great ideas and great programs. At Shanghai TV Festival people were very concerned. Now it’s nearly back to business as usual.

WS: What opportunities do you see with branded entertainment?
DUGUET: I think you cannot not look at it for Asia. It’s a different way of working for us. I consider all the media agencies as much my clients as production companies or TV stations. We definitely want to spend more time on it, especially now that we have more resources to be able to collaborate with the media agencies and come to the channels and say, Not only do we have a great format, we also have investment on the side to help you do it. Now that I’ll be there, I also want to look at meeting with some great producers, because we don’t have any production companies in Asia. We can make the life of the broadcasters easier by coming to them with a great format, some funding and an option for you to produce it.

WS: And you’re doing the ATF Formats Pitch.
DUGUET: This is very important to us to show that yes, we’re coming to Asia, yes we have a great catalog and great producers in the all3media group and we do want to exploit our catalog in Asia, but also, we want this to be a two-way relationship. We want to find great producers, we want to find great content creators, and use the strengths of the group, all our production companies, to work on great ideas and take them to market. Now it’s not just the West to the rest of the world, great ideas can come from anywhere. Having the great idea is not the issue, it’s how you market it, how you present it, how you pitch it, and using the strengths of the group, the marketing we have, the exposure we have, to exploit it fully worldwide.