{"id":23427,"date":"2025-09-16T09:48:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T13:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T09:15:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T13:15:37","slug":"electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/","title":{"rendered":"Electric\u2019s Sonia Mehandjiyska Talks Drama Distribution Trends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cost-effective crime procedurals with built-in international appeal have proven to be a strong calling card for Electric Entertainment. The independent producer and distributor led by Dean Devlin has made a name for itself in the U.S. and globally with returning properties like Leverage\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0The Librarians<\/em>. As the company marks its 25th year of operations, Sonia Mehandjiyska, head of international distribution at Electric, talks to\u00a0TV Drama<\/em>\u00a0about trends in scripted today.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong>\u00a0We\u2019ve seen the numbers about the reduction in commissions at the global platforms. How are you approaching this contraction in new content production?
\nMEHANDJIYSKA:<\/strong>\u00a0Unfortunately, yes, the commissions have declined, so we have to be creative and collaborative with our commissioning partners. We have to believe in our productions and be confident that our content will be successful and continue its run. Another way is to explore new platforms and distribution options, as opposed to the traditional television channels. Finally, more deals are necessary to get to a bottom line, which will allow us to continue producing.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong>\u00a0What elements does a project need to cut through today, with commissioners and buyers?
\nMEHANDJIYSKA:<\/strong>\u00a0As always, you need to have compelling and well-developed characters that will make the audience interested in and care for\/about them. They don\u2019t necessarily have to be \u201cheroes,\u201d but they need to be intriguing and constantly evolving throughout a series. Familiar names and faces are also very important and help decision-makers commit.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong>\u00a0Are there any particular trends you\u2019re seeing in terms of what\u2019s in demand?
\nMEHANDJIYSKA:<\/strong>\u00a0Foreign broadcasters are continuing to look for American crime procedurals.\u00a0 It\u2019s a formula we have perfected and have been very successful with, as illustrated by multiple franchises we originally created and produced, such as\u00a0Leverage<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Librarians<\/em>, as well as our series\u00a0Almost Paradise<\/em>. In addition, we have seen that, although a niche genre, sci-fi is an evergreen trend. Dean\u2019s many credentials and track record alone attract buyers to our sci-fi series, such as\u00a0The Outpost<\/em>\u00a0and our newest SYFY original,\u00a0The Ark<\/em>.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong>\u00a0How do you see AI impacting the scripted business in the year ahead?
\nMEHANDJIYSKA:<\/strong>\u00a0AI is a tool to be used to enhance projects; it can\u2019t replace humans and creative minds. AI can only create based on past data. If humans are replaced with AI to create and generate content, eventually it will run out of unique and imaginative stories and ideas to tell. We also believe AI could assist the dubbing process and make original versions in different languages more accessible, and, hence, more content available to international audiences.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong>\u00a0What have been the biggest shifts in financing models? How are you approaching pulling projects together?
\nMEHANDJIYSKA:<\/strong>\u00a0The industry is in a challenging time and we are seeing that risk is much higher, leaving us having to rely on multiple sales and partners to compensate. That being said, we are lucky enough to have dedicated, long-term partners who believe strongly in our content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The head of international distribution talks about trends in scripted today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":23433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews","category-top-stories","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nElectric\u2019s Sonia Mehandjiyska Talks Drama Distribution Trends - TVDRAMA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Electric\u2019s Sonia Mehandjiyska Talks Drama Distribution Trends - TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The head of international distribution talks about trends in scripted today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-16T13:48:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-17T13:15:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/09\/ElectricEntertainment-SoniaMehandijyska-0925.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"308\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/\",\"name\":\"Electric\u2019s Sonia Mehandjiyska Talks Drama Distribution Trends - TVDRAMA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-16T13:48:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-17T13:15:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Electric\u2019s Sonia Mehandjiyska Talks Drama Distribution Trends\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\",\"name\":\"TVDRAMA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. She can be reached on mdaswani@worldscreen.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/author\/mdaswaniworldscreen-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Electric\u2019s Sonia Mehandjiyska Talks Drama Distribution Trends - TVDRAMA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Electric\u2019s Sonia Mehandjiyska Talks Drama Distribution Trends - TVDRAMA","og_description":"The head of international distribution talks about trends in scripted today.","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/","og_site_name":"TVDRAMA","article_published_time":"2025-09-16T13:48:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-17T13:15:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":308,"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/09\/ElectricEntertainment-SoniaMehandijyska-0925.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mansha Daswani","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mansha Daswani","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/","name":"Electric\u2019s Sonia Mehandjiyska Talks Drama Distribution Trends - TVDRAMA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-09-16T13:48:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-17T13:15:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/electrics-sonia-mehandjiyska-talks-drama-distribution-trends\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Electric\u2019s Sonia Mehandjiyska Talks Drama Distribution Trends"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/","name":"TVDRAMA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad","name":"Mansha Daswani","description":"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. She can be reached on mdaswani@worldscreen.com.","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/author\/mdaswaniworldscreen-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}