{"id":16627,"date":"2021-08-11T08:00:13","date_gmt":"2021-08-11T12:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2021-08-12T09:23:44","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T13:23:44","slug":"off-the-fence-sets-new-strategy-as-market-evolves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/off-the-fence-sets-new-strategy-as-market-evolves\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Fence Sets New Strategy as Market Evolves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Off the Fence’s Bo Stehmeier and Allison Bean discuss the company’s new strategic directives.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bo Stehmeier returned to Off the Fence at the start of this year to become CEO of the respected factual outfit. In the six years since he was last at the company\u2014an eight-year run that included him serving as managing director of distribution\u2014the nonfiction business has been completely transformed, largely thanks to well-funded streamers. Stehmeier, who spent the last five years at Red Arrow Studios International, most recently as president, has spent his first six months at Off the Fence crafting a new strategy to best position the company in the landscape today\u2014one being roiled by large-scale M&A, shifting consumption habits and an abundance of new business models.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe macro system has changed massively,\u201d Stehmeier said in a press briefing with reporters to outline the company\u2019s new strategy. \u201cIt\u2019s unprecedented times. As we navigate new waters, we have to prepare for something\u2014and we don\u2019t know what it looks like or what it will be like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Off the Fence has long been known for delivering high-end content\u2014its own and third-party. Indeed, several of its current offerings have been selected as finalists at Jackson Wild, among them The Last Horns of Africa<\/em> (Cross Border Productions\/Banovich Studios), Mother of the Sea<\/em> (WaterBear Network), The Witness is a Whale<\/em> (Terra Mater) and Voices of Earth <\/em>(Gariza Films). That focus on top-notch quality will remain, centered on three themes: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. \u201cYesterday focuses clearly on history, especially ancient history. Tomorrow is focusing on science. Today is about our relationship with the planet, with ourselves and the people around us. That translates into natural history, crime, travel, lifestyle and conservation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Structurally, meanwhile, the company is organizing itself around three business models: OTF Fast, OTF Originals and OTF Studios.<\/p>\n

OTF Fast speaks to the company\u2019s need to be \u201csuper agile\u201d in the marketplace today. \u201cThere are two sides to this strategy,\u201d Stehmeier said. \u201cOne is internal, which is we have to become more digital. Our business is driven more and more by data. People want to buy content, but they\u2019re also very interested in the data attached to it. The second part is the new, exploding AVOD business and the FAST channels. The revenue-share models that are appearing are very difficult to administrate if you\u2019re not agile and digital.\u201d<\/p>\n

OTF Originals, meanwhile, is positioned to feed what Stehmeier sees as booming demand for factual content from both OTT platforms\u2014including\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 WaterBear Network, which was launched by Off the Fence\u2019s founder, Ellen Windemuth\u2014and linear channels alike. \u201cWe foresee a huge amount of production work available for European companies with the quotas coming in on the streamers. We\u2019re investing heavily into development and hybridizing core genres like history and wildlife, for example, and giving these unique ideas to the streamers. Our OTF Originals strategy is focused on access, unique visual storytelling and hybrids.\u201d<\/p>\n

OTF Studios was created in response to \u201cthe blurring of production and distribution\u201d in the market, as what were once traditional sales houses step up their efforts in \u201cco-financing, presales and investing into IP, talent and access,\u201d Stehmeier said. \u201cIn the last 15 years, I\u2019ve noticed that the way people buy or commission content has changed radically. Some want a commission; at the same time, they want a co-pro for the shoulder peak, and they\u2019ll also buy some shows for a catch-up service. Trading holistically as a studio is becoming more important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those three segments of the business operating in tandem, combined with \u201chaving the IP and the broadcast community at our heart, is going to give us the secret sauce to sail into the future,\u201d Stehmeier said.<\/p>\n

Investing in people has also been a critical element of Stehmeier\u2019s strategy, with recent personnel moves including the appointment of Allison Bean, who has been leading Off the Fence\u2019s production arm,\u00a0as chief content officer. \u201cAs the industry is evolving so fast in distribution and production, it became very clear that we needed an overarching editorial hand to help guide the company into the future,\u201d Stehmeier explained. \u201cAs part of the future of Off the Fence, we\u2019re going to build out the senior team that Allison and I will guide. The more people you have on the team, the more diverse views you have on structuring the business. In these new waters we\u2019re navigating, the new idea can come from anywhere. For a company of our size, it\u2019s really important that we have industrial reach into the world. We have a lot of business models, and that senior team we\u2019re building to pull it together is so important. I\u2019m a big believer that there is a certain size before the company loses touch with content. Content is an emotional space. The minute it becomes units, the overall quality drops. A big part of Allison\u2019s role is guiding the senior team with me and making sure that we don\u2019t turn into a units business and we remain editorially [driven].\u201d<\/p>\n

Bean added, \u201cOff the Fence has always had a reputation for being quite single-minded in the content it wishes to create, rather than responding to more of a mass-market request. That\u2019s turned out to be our strength. We want to do more of that. We\u2019re lucky to be partnered with a big mother company who gives us 100 percent autonomy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, Off the Fence\u2019s 2019 sale to ZDF Enterprises (ZDFE) was one of the many factors that brought Stehmeier back to the company. \u201cThey own us 100 percent but are very hands-off,\u201d Stehmeier told TV Real<\/em>. \u201cWhat I enjoy about working for them is that they have a commercial angle, but also, they only buy companies that are 100 percent strategically aligned to the mothership. That doesn\u2019t mean we have output deals or anything like that, but we have a very clear route into the channels for pitching and also acquiring from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the change in ownership, \u201cWe noticed an increase in trust for more bulk deals,\u201d Bean added. \u201cThere seems to be a network of broadcasters aligned with ZDFE that would like to have specialist factual content\u2014to commission or buy\u2014that isn\u2019t from the BBC. There\u2019s been an increased focus on us to provide that content since being purchased by ZDFE. We\u2019ve suddenly been given quite a lot of weight behind us. We\u2019re not independent anymore and therefore are less of a risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Stehmeier and Bean spoke to the rising demand for factual amid the pandemic. \u201cIt seems that people find some peace and tranquility watching natural history,\u201d Bean said. \u201cIt feels evergreen, and it can be globally shared and celebrated. The way the stories are told does evolve, but [the genre] doesn\u2019t go out of fashion. When times are hard, there seems to be an increase in people wanting to watch natural history. We\u2019ve noticed a significant increase in demand. We have to evolve to stay ahead of that. We made an active choice to be selective with the programs we make in order to solidify our brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked by TV Real<\/em>\u00a0about how Off the Fence is devising its development slate to meet this surging demand, Bean noted, \u201cWe have different members of the development team to service different broadcasters. We try to avoid too much overlap. Higher-end premium documentaries like My Octopus Teacher<\/em> [which won an Oscar this year] sit in natural-history development. Debbie [Hinnigan] leads natural history\u2014she\u2019s focused on exploring a range of programming. Different members of the development team have very specific focuses. Leila [Monks] was brought in to look for new opportunities [as head of commissioning]. Interestingly, those new opportunities seem to be more within our own company than out of it. That\u2019s because of the streamer market and us being able to turn things over quite quickly and having the content. We also have a lot of historical relationships with the broadcasters. Those are very carefully looked after and curated. It\u2019s not a development slate that looks like blood spatter; it\u2019s quite tidy. And it is a range.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stehmeier also responded to a question from TV Real\u00a0<\/em>about the state of the traditional distribution model for factual, where an outfit like Off the Fence would pick up completed series and specials from third-party producers and proceed to sell them worldwide. \u201cThe old days of meeting a Canadian producer with hundreds of hours of completed shows in the catalog are gone,\u201d Stehmeier said. \u201cYou have to get in very early, or you find producers in less mature markets who need a bit of warehousing. You have a great idea, you\u2019ve shot a lot of it, we bring you into the Off the Fence family through OTF Studios and then help you build a business around it. You need to be an octopus\u2014you need to have your arms in many different businesses. That\u2019s why the senior team is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Off the Fence’s Bo Stehmeier and Allison Bean discuss the company’s new strategic directives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":16628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,69],"tags":[5630,4918,760],"class_list":["post-16627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-allison-bean","tag-bo-stehmeier","tag-off-the-fence","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nOff the Fence Sets New Strategy as Market Evolves - TVREAL<\/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\/tvreal\/off-the-fence-sets-new-strategy-as-market-evolves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Off the Fence Sets New Strategy as Market Evolves - TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Off the Fence's Bo Stehmeier and Allison Bean discuss the company's new strategic directives.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/off-the-fence-sets-new-strategy-as-market-evolves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-11T12:00:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-12T13:23:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/07\/OTF-Strategy-721.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"319\" \/>\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=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/off-the-fence-sets-new-strategy-as-market-evolves\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/off-the-fence-sets-new-strategy-as-market-evolves\/\",\"name\":\"Off the Fence Sets New Strategy as Market Evolves - TVREAL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-11T12:00:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-12T13:23:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/off-the-fence-sets-new-strategy-as-market-evolves\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/off-the-fence-sets-new-strategy-as-market-evolves\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/off-the-fence-sets-new-strategy-as-market-evolves\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Off the Fence Sets New Strategy as Market Evolves\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\",\"name\":\"TVREAL\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. 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