Big Owl Pictures’ Shaun Murphy

Earlier this year, BBC Studios entered into a global first-look deal outside of Australia with Big Owl Pictures, the Australian production company founded by former head of television at Warner Bros. Australia, Shaun Murphy. Murphy has had creative oversight of ratings hits such as The Masked Singer, The Bachelor, Little Big Shots, Celebrity Apprentice, Who Do You Think You Are? and Dancing with the Stars, among others, and he executive produced Australia’s Next Top Model. Now, as CEO and executive producer at Big Owl Pictures, he is working to build out innovative concepts that can travel to become global hits.

TV FORMATS: What led you to set up Big Owl Pictures?
MURPHY: Our Big Owl partners and I began kicking the tires on TV formats due to our team’s success in that space over many years. There were very few new formats that had cut through in recent years, and that was challenging and exciting for us, so that format-creator space was the place we wanted to be.

TV FORMATS: How did your time at Warner Bros. Australia and working on a myriad of local adaptations of big hit formats influence the work today at Big Owl?
MURPHY: When you make a big format, you start dreaming and see or picture other shows in your head. So the existing formats provide a headspace to roam and develop your own. The excitement is now new, fresh concepts that develop out of our TV minds to build into hit shows.

TV FORMATS: How did the partnership with BBC Studios come about, and what does this bring to the company?
MURPHY: Our team had a previous relationship with BBC Studios through producing Dancing with the Stars. Matt Forde [managing director of international production and formats] and I then opened up the discussion to partner with a long-term goal for both companies. The partnership means when we develop shows, we bring BBC Studios into the discussion at an early stage and discuss our domestic and international plan for the series.

TV FORMATS: Looking at the unscripted entertainment landscape, what seems to be working best at the moment?
MURPHY: We look more at what’s not in the schedules and where the buyers could say, “Mate, this is a great fresh idea that’s different, and we love it.” Something that stimulates a different way to look at a genre, that’s either big, noisy, funny or just beautiful.

TV FORMATS: What are the types of formats Big Owl will be eyeing for the year ahead?
MURPHY: Our range is broad. Big entertainment, music, quiz, game, as well as lower to mid-cost returnable factual and factual entertainment. It’s a fun space to be in, where our team can let their imagination run wild, then nail the idea into a solid format that becomes a great proposition for buyers.