A+E Networks EMEA Orders Shorter-Form True-Crime Content

A+E Networks EMEA has commissioned a raft of shorter-form true-crime content from U.K. production companies for Crime+Investigation digital platforms and streamer Crime+Investigation Play.

The ten-part series Cut to the Crime, produced by Phoenix Television, is the first of these new commissions to debut. The show sees survivors and reformed perpetrators confide their deepest, darkest secrets to master hairdresser James Busby.

“Creating innovative, distinctive and returnable series is at the heart of what we do,” said Miles Jarvis and Jaimi West, founding partners of Phoenix Television. “Collaborating with A+E Networks EMEA and James Busby to collide our passion for crime storytelling with hairdressing has been a hugely rewarding experience.”

Another recent commission is Model Murders from Content Kings. It follows YouTuber Meggie Foster as she collaborates with an expert model maker to pursue her fascination for true crime through scale models of notorious crime scenes, including the Oscar Pistorius shooting. This enables her and her audience to explore the cases from a new perspective.

A+E Networks EMEA has also commissioned Crime Swipe from ITN Productions, in which Satema Tarawally and Jonny Nelson explore the real stories behind the bizarre, stranger-than-fiction crimes from the U.K.

“Commissioning shorter-form content affords us an exciting new opportunity to test and learn in the true-crime genre using fresh, exciting talent and formats for Crime+Investigation and Crime+Investigation Play,” said Dan Korn, VP of programming at A+E Networks EMEA. “It also allows us to work with some of the most talented, risk-taking and dynamic creative teams currently working in media.”

The company has also been commissioning series-based podcasts such as Murdertown and Making a Monster: The Tapes, in addition to internally produced pilots for Unwanted Attention and Inside Status.

Sam Pearson, head of digital media at A+E Networks EMEA, commented, “Leveraging the power of mid-form content will help us to tap into an audience influenced by social media while enabling us to look at fresh, new talent like TikTok and podcast creators who tell true crime stories in new and innovative ways.”

These shorter-form and podcast digital originals are the latest addition to Crime+Investigation’s commissioning strategy, which recently saw the introduction of single true-crime narratives over two or three episodes, including The Bubble and Squeak Murder: The Killing of David Jackson and Cops Who Kill with Will Mellor.

“Both Bubble and Squeak Murder and Cops Who Kill have shown us the importance of covering cases and crimes which have permeated the public consciousness in a very visceral, fundamental way and which need to be covered at length and in-depth,” Korn added. “Shorter form content allows us to try to address a broader, more diverse range of crimes, in different tones and styles.”