Clapperboard Studios’ Mike Benson

U.K. scripted label Clapperboard Studios has been in the news quite a bit lately, from scoring a commission for the prime-time thriller The Cuckoo for Channel 5 to securing the TV rights to adapt the Uncut podcast to being aligned in a first-of-its-kind drama development deal with FOX Entertainment alongside Walter Iuzzolino’s Eagle Eye and Newen Studios label Aux Singuliers. Mike Benson, managing director, talks to TV Drama about collaborating with creatives and new voices, financing models and narrative arcs.

TV DRAMA: What’s the creative ethos guiding Clapperboard?
BENSON: Like most producers, we try to pitch and develop ideas that excite us and have a grabby top-line or concept. While it’s obviously all about the strength of the script and the creative voice behind it, I always think a refreshing top-line pitch can help it travel upward quicker in the channel.

We also try to have quite a varied slate; despite cutting our teeth in thrillers and comedy mystery, we develop musicals, period pieces, comedies and high concepts. There is a lot of fun in variety, so we always think, why not go for it?

TV DRAMA: What’s the strategy for collaborating with U.K. creatives and perhaps even bringing some new voices to the table?
BENSON: As we started out making lower-budget dramas, we had to get creative with the talent we brought on board—looking for creatives who worked in indie film, brand-new talented voices or perhaps talent moving from another genre such as comedy.

Our first Channel 5 (C5) drama, Cold Call, featured debutant writers Mark and Karyn Buckland and an incredibly talented indie feature director in Gareth Tunley, who was nominated for a BAFTA for his film The Ghoul but hadn’t made terrestrial peak drama. Our subsequent C5 dramas Blindspot and Maxine featured actresses making their TV debuts in the lead in Beth Alsbury and Jemma Carlton, respectively. Also, we worked on The Teacher with the hugely talented writer Barunka O’Shaughnessy, who was a BAFTA-winning writer in the comedy sphere on shows such as Motherland.

As we’ve started producing at a higher budget, we’ve found ourselves working with more established names, which has been great, but we are always on the lookout for opportunities for new voices, whatever the budget level.

We also like to collaborate with on-screen talent to help develop their own ideas. We work and co-produce with the amazing Sally Lindsay and Saffron Cherry Productions on our returning comedy-drama The Madame Blanc Mysteries for Acorn TV and C5. More recently, we developed a number of series hand in hand with some fantastic actors, which should be hitting the screen soon.

TV DRAMA: What’s working best in drama nowadays?
BENSON: There seems to be a want and need for shows with a lighter sensibility. There is a tipping point with the number of dark psychological thrillers at a time when a lot of viewers want a respite with something more hopeful. Certainly, we’ve had a few buyers make this point to us.

TV DRAMA: What are some of the most common financing models you’re engaging with nowadays to get programs made?
BENSON: The companies that will survive and thrive in the current economic climate are the ones who are as creative over how they finance their shows as they are over the editorial.

We’ve certainly tried to approach it in this way over the last few years—more through economic necessity than anything else. Much of our production slate is below U.K. tax credit threshold, so we have had to search further afield to complete our financing.

Often, other countries across Europe don’t have such high rebate thresholds—it’s why we filmed The Teacher in Budapest despite it being set in Bradford, and why our most recent series, The Good Ship Murder, was funded with an Irish, Maltese and Hungarian tax credit. We generally combine these tax credits with a channel license fee and a distribution advance to get us to a green light.

Increasingly, I think international co-pros will become even more commonplace than they are now—certainly, it’s an avenue we are always exploring.

TV DRAMA: What are the narrative formats you’re working with, and what’s driving these decisions?
BENSON: The main volume of shows we’ve produced have been limited miniseries with a big, bold hook and a story that zips along. Generally, if you get the casting right with these shows, the viewers will come along for the ride, but they certainly aren’t slow-burn series; there is a huge focus on EOP hooks and episodic cliffhangers. The Madame Blanc Mysteries and The Good Ship Murder are both lighter procedurals with episodic stories and a softer series arc. We’re finding there is quite a demand for this shape of series from the international marketplace. Increasingly, though, our focus has been trying to find returners no matter what the genre—it’s what a lot of the channels and distributors are looking for. Returners are very much the bedrock of trying to keep building a production company.

TV DRAMA: Where will Clapperboard be focusing its energy in the 12 to 18 months ahead?
BENSON: Our main focus is to broaden the types of series we produce. The Ex-Wife (co-produced with BlackBox Multimedia) was our first show for Paramount+ and was pivotal to us moving into a higher tier of budget. The show looks fantastic and has done incredibly well in the U.K. and via international sales.

We now have two more Paramount+ series due to come out in the coming months, The Serial Killer’s Wife and The Castaways (also co-produced with BlackBox). Broadcasters always want value for money, and in the current climate, increasingly so. Our aim is always to remain competitive on pricing but also to find creative ways to deliver production value and ratings-winning series.