{"id":7391,"date":"2017-03-07T10:21:26","date_gmt":"2017-03-07T15:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/dramatic-views\/"},"modified":"2017-03-08T08:59:31","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T13:59:31","slug":"dramatic-views","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/dramatic-views\/","title":{"rendered":"Dramatic Views"},"content":{"rendered":"

From uplifting family sagas to twisty soaps and edgy thrillers, the global drama business is still booming\u2014but finding ways to cut through the clutter is no easy feat.<\/em><\/p>\n

The landscape of American players vying for the best scripted series from the global market has gotten a lot more competitive over the last 12 months. Joining stalwarts like PBS, cable TV outlets such as SundanceTV and streaming giants Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, many niche SVOD operators are competing for Americans\u2019 discretionary income. Anglophiles have Acorn TV and the brand-new BritBox. Those with more exotic tastes can now access Walter Presents, which expanded to the U.S. this month after blazing a trail in the U.K. with its eclectic mix of foreign-language series. Lionsgate and Hemisphere Media Group are setting up a Spanish-language SVOD platform this year. Fans of Korean drama can head over to DramaFever, which received a cash injection from Warner Bros. in 2016, when the studio acquired the platform.<\/p>\n

For those in the business of drama, the proliferation of windows is very good news. Whether they\u2019re putting up cash up front as commissioners or co-producers, signing up for pre-buys or taking secondary windows, the growing number of linear and streaming operators that are looking to deliver drama to their viewers is helping distributors recoup their investments and turn a profit in what has become a very expensive business.<\/p>\n

\u201cBudgets are a concern,\u201d says Liam Keelan, the director of scripted at BBC Worldwide. \u201cThey\u2019ve skyrocketed. There\u2019s no doubt about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the general-entertainment broadcasters and SVOD platforms, it\u2019s coming down to taking some pretty brave financial initiatives around intellectual property,\u201d notes Patrick Vien, the executive managing director of international at A+E Networks, which has stepped up its scripted investments via its A+E Studios division.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scripted TV business has embraced a very old economic model, which is the model of film financing,\u201d Vien continues. \u201cParticularly in network TV, it used to be that you only had deficit financing\u2014and the huge risk that went along with it\u2014as an option. [Today] there\u2019s room to deal with the international marketplace around a property that\u2019s big enough, global enough, and probably of a particular genre of storytelling that would have natural appeal to big audiences. You can mitigate some of that risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katrina Neylon, the executive VP of sales and marketing at STUDIOCANAL, reports that the \u201cmarket is no longer dominated by several key territories; rather, productions with co-pro\/financing partners from across multiple territories are now more common. Budgets continue to be tight, but the rising demand for event drama is mirrored by the increasingly diverse ways in which this often big-budget drama can be funded and developed by myriad partners from the global market. These collaborations add a unique international perspective to each project, which also strengthens its ongoing appeal across a range of markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, finding the right fit for a property is essential. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have that, then often the project can go awry,\u201d Keelan says. \u201cIt\u2019s something that we do agonize about. The advent of SVOD platforms has been a real boon to the industry, but also to broadcasters that then have the chance to partner on shows for which they might have had trouble finding partners in the past. Meanwhile, everybody has had to up their game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The importance of co-financing and co-producing has led to a greater role for distributors in putting drama projects together. \u201cOur goal is to help producers find financing,\u201d notes Malika Abdellaoui, the managing director of Newen Distribution, which represents titles from the TF1-owned Newen Group as well as third-party producers. \u201cWe can help producers at a very early stage by putting some money in development. It\u2019s not to get a producer status, but to help producers have more financing and to be ready to propose the show to broadcasters. Also, a minimum guarantee or a distribution advance could be a way for the producer to have more financing at a very early stage. It\u2019s also [important] for a distributor to understand the constraints of the producer and to provide a very good service. Marketing is a key service that a distributor can offer to the producer to highlight the series and help broadcasters to commit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sky Vision has been broadening its network of alliances to add to its portfolio of Sky originals. It took on the Canadian series\u00a0Travelers<\/em>\u00a0and has an output deal with Foxtel that includes Goalpost Pictures\u2019\u00a0Fighting Season<\/em>. Sky Vision also has an alliance in place with a Nordic producer. \u201cWe\u2019re going out there with an effort to increase our relationships with third-party producers,\u201d says Leona Connell, the director of sales at Sky Vision. \u201cWe want to grow our catalog. Drama is a genre that is doing well for us, and it makes sense for us to take on more. Sky Vision also has a number of development deals. We\u2019ve got one with Merman, Clelia Mountford\u2019s company, and one with Double Nickel. These relationships will help us bolster our drama slate and, at the same time, help these producers get more projects off the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

GOT TALENT?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>
\nConnell concedes that in a highly consolidated market, it is challenging to find indie producers to partner with who are not already affiliated with another distributor. \u201cWe\u2019ve been able to keep in touch with key players thanks to the relationships our managing director, Jane Millichip, has with a number of producers. The Sky drama team and our own acquisitions team also have lots of relationships out there. As those producers go out and launch new companies, it is an opportunity to discuss arrangements with them. In addition, Sky has been investing in some production companies. We anticipate that the deal Sky has with Sugar Films, for example, will bring us some drama in due course.\u201d<\/p>\n

A+E Studios has also been busy lining up top-tier talent, including Jeremy Renner, who is exec producing\u00a0Knightfall<\/em>. Vien notes that A+E Studios has overall pod deals with Carlton Cuse and Michael Hirst, among others.<\/p>\n

Finding new talent is the holy grail for all distributors of scale, even those like FremantleMedia that have a wide portfolio of in-network producers to tap into. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to think innovatively,\u201d says Sarah Doole, director of global drama at FremantleMedia, on fostering new writers. \u201cWe\u2019re sponsoring the Greg Coote Scholarship in Australia, where we\u2019re going to take an Australian writer and put them into one of our writing teams in Europe. We\u2019ve sponsored some young theater writers\u2019 projects, which is something I\u2019m looking to do more of this year. Laurence Bowen, who runs Dancing Ledge, one of the indies we have a stake in, brings on board a young writer-in-residence every three months. They can work in development on his projects. [The first one in the program] has gone on to write a script for him. He has a second writer in now who was here meeting everybody, seeing the scale of FremantleMedia. We\u2019ve got to find those new, interesting, fresh voices. Where is the next generation? I think we need that more than ever now. Nothing is being communicated in the same way it was six months ago, whether that\u2019s a tweet or a newspaper article or the news. We\u2019re in a very different world.\u201d<\/p>\n

NEW VIEWS<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>
\nThe new world order also requires looking beyond the traditional markets and well-trodden paths for the best ideas. BBC Worldwide\u2019s Keelan cites\u00a0The Collection<\/em>, commissioned by Amazon Prime in the U.K. and France T\u00e9l\u00e9visions, as a project that came out of a slightly different route. \u201cThere isn\u2019t a traditional U.K. linear platform for that show,\u201d Keelan says. \u201cThere will never be one particular funding model or one way of doing things. Ultimately, it\u2019s all about the IP and the strength of the idea. If it\u2019s from a writer not based in the U.K. who still has an interesting story to tell, that\u2019s fine; we\u2019ll get it made. If it doesn\u2019t have a traditional U.K. or U.S. platform, if we believe in the story then we\u2019ll put the money behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Collection<\/em>\u00a0is an English-language drama set in a major European city (Paris). While such shows continue to sell well, business in foreign-language drama is also booming. Among the region\u2019s many lucrative markets is Spain, where an improving economy is helping to reinvigorate broadcasters\u2019 drama investments. Perhaps the biggest development, however, has been pay-TV platform Movistar+\u2019s new commitment to drama, observes Ivan D\u00edaz, the head of the international division at Filmax International.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest problem that we had was not just the economy\u2014it was the lack of a big pay-TV player who wanted to back good fiction,\u201d says D\u00edaz on the difficulty of the last few years for Spanish drama. \u201cThat has changed. Platforms are coming here to Spain, and Telef\u00f3nica [Movistar\u2019s parent company] is now very aggressive and aware that they need to produce their own shows.\u201d<\/p>\n

D\u00edaz is bullish about the Spanish drama export sector. Following the success of\u00a0The<\/em>\u00a0Red Band Society<\/em>, Filmax is rolling out the thriller\u00a0I Know Who You Are<\/em>, which has a second season in the works. \u201cWe financed the development ourselves, which is unusual in the Spanish landscape. Because we believed in this team\u2014the same one that made\u00a0The Red Band Society<\/em>\u2014we financed our own development for a year to have the scripts we wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

French drama is also seen as a growth area. \u201cThe quality of French drama is getting better and better,\u201d says Abdellaoui at Newen, which has a stable of hits that includes the France 2 crime dramas\u00a0Candice Renoir<\/em>, sold in 30-plus markets, and\u00a0Witnesses<\/em>, season one of which was licensed to more than 70 markets. Also on the MIPTV lineup is\u00a0Ouro<\/em>, a Canal+ original series that premiered to big numbers for the platform. For Newen, the key to breaking through the international market with French drama is showcasing premium, high-quality \u201cshows with powerful marketing opportunities, strong concepts and characters,\u201d and high-end talent.<\/p>\n

French drama is fairly new to FremantleMedia\u2019s portfolio, following the group\u2019s acquisition of Kwai and Fontaram. \u201cWhen we looked around the world, the storytelling piece we were missing was France,\u201d says Doole. \u201cThe market is very strong at the moment, and we\u2019ve been successful with German dramas around the world, so we honed in and bought two companies that are talent-based.\u201d<\/p>\n

IN THE ZEITGEIST<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>
\nBeyond viewers embracing foreign-language scripted, Doole also sees changes in the types of shows that audiences want, particularly in the wake of the rise in terrorist attacks, Brexit and America\u2019s new Commander in Chief.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stories we are looking to tell in the next 18 months are very warm\u2014they have love, redemption and hope,\u201d Doole says. \u201cI\u2019m inter\u00adested in stories that are firmly rooted in the family. Family becomes even more important in an uncertain, crazy, unstable world. More than anything, we\u2019re looking for that lightened shade. You can have deep, dramatic moments, counterbalanced with some humor or color. It doesn\u2019t have to be in the dialogue; it could be a different visual tone. The audience has probably reached saturation in terms of that girl-in-a-ditch type thriller.\u00a0 It\u2019s an interesting time, and the writers who can write tonally, light and shade, will be the most successful in the next two or three years.\u201d<\/p>\n

FremantleMedia\u2019s current slate, meanwhile, is headlined by shows that Doole believes tap into the angst and anxiety that many people are feeling today.\u00a0American Gods<\/em>, for example, is an adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novel that explores immigration and issues of faith. \u201cI think audiences are willing to be pushed to the edge; in fact, I think they\u2019re asking program-makers to do that.\u00a0American Gods<\/em>\u00a0most certainly does it!\u201d Doole also mentions a two-part German drama about Martin Luther, set to air in time for the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. \u201cIt raises some interesting questions about fanaticism, about religion at the edge,\u201d Doole observes.<\/p>\n

IMPACTFUL STORIES<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>
\nWhatever the story line, drama distributors must focus on delivering \u201cchannel-defining content,\u201d says STUDIOCANAL\u2019s Neylon. \u201cWith the proliferation of channels and platforms, it\u2019s important to deliver drama that can be established as a strong brand, with engaging, relevant stories; well-developed characters and unexpected twists and turns that will draw viewers in and keep them watching as the series progresses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neylon does see \u201creal-world developments\u201d as having an impact on story lines, which was the case for STUDIOCANAL\u2019s\u00a0Below the Surface<\/em>, about a hostage crisis. However, she notes, \u201ccharacter-driven drama remains hugely popular\u2014but the stories must be original, new and intriguing.\u00a0Ride Upon the Storm<\/em>, for example, explores the concept of faith, and how it affects people\u2019s lives through the dynamics of a complex and volatile family relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sky Vision\u2019s Connell is excited by the diversity of her MIPTV slate, which includes big-budget shows for Sky Atlantic, backed by well-known talent both in front of and behind the camera.\u00a0Britannia\u00a0<\/em>is a period piece written by Jez Butterworth and starring Kelly Reilly, David Morrissey and Zo\u00eb Wanamaker, that has Amazon on board as a co-pro partner.\u00a0Riviera<\/em>, with a cast that includes Julia Stiles, is \u201ca thriller set against the bright background of the French Riviera,\u201d Connell says. \u201cIt has the look and feel of a modern-day soap, with much more depth and a strong crime story running through it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes an impact are dramas that can return, and where buyers feel there\u2019s a good opportunity to strongly market the series and make it their own in terms of being able to help create and mold the identity of their channel,\u201d Connell continues. \u201cThat\u2019s why the Sky Atlantic dramas have so much international appeal\u2014they are very distinctive, they\u2019ve got very big budgets, the production values are high, and the talent associated with them is of amazing quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

For BBC Worldwide\u2019s Keelan, it all comes down to \u201cmix and variety\u2026. We\u2019re always going to have different types of shows, not just in terms of the editorial but in terms of the length of the run. Audiences want that variety as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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