{"id":13833,"date":"2020-10-02T12:00:49","date_gmt":"2020-10-02T16:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2020-10-02T14:38:01","modified_gmt":"2020-10-02T18:38:01","slug":"blue-skies-ahead-mipcom2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/blue-skies-ahead-mipcom2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Skies Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Audiences are seeking out escapist series with compelling characters and virtual trips abroad.<\/em><\/p>\n

Even before a pandemic upended the lives of people across the globe and fundamentally shifted the way they consume media, viewers were showing fatigue for darker drama. A bit of blue sky was what the international mood wanted; now it\u2019s what it needs. And not only do blue-sky dramas serve as a curative on darker days in uncertain times and a figurative escape to lower-stakes intrigue\u2014but they also transport audiences around the world to scenic locales that travel restrictions would make difficult to visit in person.<\/p>\n

\u201cAudiences are showing an emotional need for passive viewing that enables them to sit back and relax, giving them a break from the news,\u201d says Katie Benbow, director of sales planning at BBC Studios. \u201cThere is also a need for uplifting stories that allow audiences to come out the other side feeling happier, boosted and more confident about the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

BRINGING SUNSHINE<\/strong>
\nNicola S\u00f6derlund, managing partner at Eccho Rights, also finds that viewers\u2019 appetite for escapism has grown in the years since gritty dramas, with their gripping storylines and pulsing plots, began to dominate much of the drama landscape. \u201cAfter a while it can feel a little heavy,\u201d says S\u00f6derlund. \u201cNot just with the current year and the pandemic, but in general the past few years, we have had almost a sense of impending doom around the world, with the Trump administration and political and economic uncertainty often around the corner. Coupled with the sense now that people have been trapped inside of their homes for so long, a bit of blue sky is literally what people need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jan Bennemann, senior VP of acquisitions and co-productions at Dynamic Television, explains, \u201cLike most things in life, these trends come in cycles. In recent years, there was a period with dark drama, a period of elaborate serialized shows, a period with many damaged lead characters. This period of blue-sky drama is the counterbalance of people fed up with what they\u2019ve seen in the last few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

In keeping with the idea of giving people a window out of both the darker drama and the confines of their homes, S\u00f6derlund believes that a couple of blue sky\u2019s key ingredients\u2014location and environment\u2014enable the shows to pull double duty as travel programs. Maria Wern<\/em>, a crime drama on Eccho Rights\u2019 slate set on the island of Gotland off the Swedish Baltic coast, is one example of such a program. Viewers \u201ccan get lost, not just in the stories, but in the beautiful scenery and the fabulous locations,\u201d says S\u00f6derlund.<\/p>\n

Bennemann, too, recognizes blue-sky drama\u2019s transportive potential\u2014and why it\u2019s incredibly valuable at present. \u201cVisually, there are plenty of stunning sets and sceneries used as backdrops for a series, which becomes a real asset for the show. It\u2019s something that makes it globally appealing because the audience can travel the world with a show. Especially in these times, when traveling has become a complicated thing.\u201d Bennemann adds, \u201cSitting down on a Sunday night to watch a blue-sky drama that takes you to beautiful places is something that many people crave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, the scenery alone is not enough to win the hearts of audiences. Characters that provide viewers reasons to become invested in them, and the interpersonal drama that swirls around them, are essential. \u201cCompelling characters are hugely important for grounding the drama in stories in these types of shows and sucking you into the narrative,\u201d says Maartje Horchner, executive VP of content at all3media international. \u201cOnce you\u2019re engrossed in the characters, you just have such an appetite for watching their stories unfold, despite the sometimes lighter sensibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

These characters, their relationships and the emotional aspect they bring \u201csets a blue-sky offering apart,\u201d according to BBC Studios\u2019 Benbow. \u201cIt\u2019s about finding authentic characters that feel relatable for an audience and putting them in an environment where they have some sort of soft challenge they can resolve by the end of the episode,\u201d she says. \u201cThe situation doesn\u2019t have to be familiar, but if the audience can recognize themselves in characters, and their reactions and feelings, then the language is universal.\u201d<\/p>\n

MIND YOUR LANGUAGE<\/strong>
\nFurther boosting a series\u2019 ability to travel is audiences\u2019 increased openness to watching foreign-language titles, either with subtitles or dubbing. \u201cAn element of blue sky is the importance of being authentic to where the story takes place; the central aspect of that is language,\u201d says Dynamic\u2019s Bennemann. \u201cThe fact that foreign-language drama has in the last couple of years picked up in terms of marketability enables us to take grounded drama to interesting places across the world and have them in the original language. The international appeal and acceptance of watching a drama set, filmed and spoken within the location and society faithful to the original storyline are invaluable and open immense creative opportunities to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

S\u00f6derlund of Eccho Rights agrees, pointing to how Nordic noir helped to crack through the language barrier to reach English-speaking audiences. \u201cAs with many other genres, we see the market becoming more open to non-U.S. and non-English-language content. The Nordic noir movement has opened people\u2019s eyes to the amazing creative talents in our region, for example, but we have no doubt that some lighter fare from a Swedish fishing village, with light comic and romantic touches, can work just as well internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, literary adaptations remain popular with viewers and broadcasters alike, as they come with built-in fans and a story that\u2019s already proven its ability to enrapture. \u201cBook IP and true-life narratives are really fertile material for TV adaptation,\u201d says Horchner, who points to All Creatures<\/em> Great and Small <\/em>as the type of blue-sky drama that provides \u201clighter, warmer, escapist worlds to truly get immersed in,\u201d set against the wonders of the Yorkshire countryside.<\/p>\n

Eccho Rights, meanwhile, is launching Hammarvik<\/em>, a series created by the Swedish novelist Camilla L\u00e4ckberg, who has sold over 20 million books worldwide that have been translated into 40 languages. \u201cWith that kind of a track record, it is easier to get a commission and subsequently make an impact on the international market,\u201d says S\u00f6derlund. The Viaplay original centers on an unsolved missing persons case, a family feud and a romance that rocks a fictional seaside community.<\/p>\n

At BBC Studios, Benbow says, \u201cOur customers are still really hungry for literary adaptations,\u201d adding that the company has gone into production on The Pursuit of Love<\/em>, an adaptation of the Nancy Mitford novel from Emily Mortimer, which has Amazon on board. \u201cThere is still really high demand for literary IP from both a commissioning and acquisition point of view.\u201d Also in demand is fantasy, which, as Benbow points out, \u201chas endless possibilities when compelling new worlds are created.\u201d BBC Studios is soon to roll out The Watch<\/em>, inspired by Terry Pratchett\u2019s Discworld<\/em> series, which \u201cweaves together fantasy and crime, with a great deal of humanity and humor about it too,\u201d Benbow says.<\/p>\n

MIXING IT UP<\/strong>
\nBlue-sky drama procedurals are natural hybrid series, according to Dynamic\u2019s Bennemann. \u201cIt takes a recipe that has worked for years, like The Sommerdahl Murders<\/em>, which we built on the back of Nordic noir\u2019s success,\u201d he says. \u201cWe turned it into a \u2018Nordic blue.\u2019 Blue-sky procedurals are hybrids and very successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

And these blue-sky shows can find success whether they are long-running staples or event pieces. \u201cShows like Death in Paradise<\/em>, Gavin & Stacey<\/em>, The Vicar of Dibley<\/em> and Call the Midwife\u00a0<\/em>are all doing incredibly well due to their long-term value,\u201d says BBC Studios\u2019 Benbow. But, adds Benbow, \u201cyou only have to look at the success of I May Destroy You<\/em> to see how an event piece that connects so personally with viewers can reach phenomenal success with an international platform, in this case, HBO.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bennemann adds, \u201cIt all comes down to finding an arena and finding a place to set the drama that is close to home.\u201d<\/p>\n

In agreement is all3media international\u2019s Horchner, who says that universal subject matters like relationships, friendship, family dynamics and love are really important in a blue-sky drama. Referring to Ackley Bridge<\/em>, one such series on all3media international\u2019s slate, she says, \u201cYou\u2019ll laugh, you\u2019ll cry\u2014and you\u2019ll certainly engage as real life collides with dreams and aspirations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBlue-sky drama enables that little moment of respite,\u201d explains BBC Studios\u2019 Benbow. \u201cThat is what people are looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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