{"id":21786,"date":"2024-07-31T08:50:47","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T12:50:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2024-08-01T09:42:40","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T13:42:40","slug":"title-roles-helen-tonge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/title-roles-helen-tonge\/","title":{"rendered":"Title Role\u2019s Helen Tonge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Navigating the factual space while budgets are under pressure and broadcasters, streamers and audiences are in a state of recalibration can be a challenge, but it also presents a unique opportunity for producers to collaborate and branch out. This reset is especially evident within true crime, where key industry players have formed the Association of True Crime Producers (ATCP) to promote and maintain protection standards in the genre. Helen Tonge, CEO of Title Role and an ATCP committee member, talks with <em>TV Real<\/em>\u00a0about the bright spots in the unscripted space, what makes the ATCP so crucial now and in the future and where Title Role is headed as it approaches its 20th anniversary.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/newsletters.worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/img\/2024-07-30-Helen-Tonge.jpg\" alt=\"***Image***\" width=\"163\" height=\"272\" \/><strong>TV REAL:<\/strong>\u00a0What motivated you to co-found Title Role?<br \/>\n<strong>TONGE:<\/strong>\u00a0I was thinking about this, and it took me way back. I loved coming up with ideas when I was at ITV before I set up Title Role, and a few of them got commissioned. Following on from that, I got the opportunity to start an independent, and it was one of those moments where you either stay where you are with a broadcaster or you go and jump. I got the opportunity with [co-founder and chief technical officer] Ian Bradshaw, who I worked with at ITV, and I loved the fact that we could take on the world. We had lots of passion, energy and stamina. We built the resilience along the way. That was that. There was a desire to go out there and creatively try to make our mark with worthwhile, compelling shows. From those early beginnings, we developed one of our prime formats that still goes today,\u00a0<em>Crimes That Shook\u2026<\/em>. It airs in over 150 territories, so we must be doing something right. Title Role will be 20 next year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TV REAL:<\/strong>\u00a0What\u2019s been the key to creating unscripted content that stands out in such a crowded market?<br \/>\n<strong>TONGE:<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s a tricky time, isn\u2019t it? Just when you think [you know] the broadcasters and the channels inside out, they change and pivot. It\u2019s harder than ever to get an understanding of what will be successful. We\u2019re hearing some similar themes, though. Top-level access is what\u2019s rising to the top in these uncertain times\u2014the bold, adventurous ideas. Scripted is having a bit of a heyday, [along with] reality and tried-and-tested formats. Those are key areas at the moment that will cut through.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TV REAL:<\/strong>\u00a0Let\u2019s talk more about Title Role\u2019s strategy for dealing with the industry circumstances you\u2019ve touched on.<br \/>\n<strong>TONGE:\u00a0<\/strong>We have been, just like everybody else, finding new and different ways to collaborate, be that in the financing of projects or branching out into new areas. For example, the premium docs space is a \u201cnew\u201d area, but it\u2019s not a new area for us. We\u2019re building on the skills that we\u2019ve had for years, looking into how we can utilize them to cut through in a time like this. We\u2019re trying to understand the fundamental changes in the industry. Traditional TV is changing, and we\u2019re pivoting with that. We\u2019re also exploring other areas of the digital space: the streamers, FAST channels and creating content in different ways. We\u2019re keeping an eye on how content is being consumed and what that means for how we\u2019re creating it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TV REAL:<\/strong>\u00a0You are a committee member of the ATCP. What do you feel is the importance of the organization, and how do you implement its core principles at Title Role?<br \/>\n<strong>TONGE:<\/strong>\u00a0An association like this is brilliant. It\u2019s absolutely critical as true crime is becoming more and more popular. I was keen to establish the association with Kate [Beal, chair of the ATCP and CEO of Woodcut Media] and the team. The principles behind it, such as the duty of care, have been the fundamentals of Title Role from the [beginning] because we started off producing true crime. I want to continue and work on those key pillars. Our duty of care to the contributors and the crew is paramount. I\u2019m so pleased that more and more is being done in this space. As an industry as a whole, we\u2019re getting better, but there\u2019s a lot of work to be done. I\u2019m pleased that I\u2019m part of the committee that not only helps shape the guiding principles of the duty of care but also continually learns. You never know everything, do you? We frequently check in with our teams and the contributors. We\u2019ve got very robust systems in place that we are on all the time, but whenever something new comes out or arises, we\u2019re keen to bring that back to the team. We make sure that we\u2019re doing the best we can. It\u2019s such an important association, and I\u2019m proud to be part of it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TV REAL:\u00a0<\/strong>What\u2019s next for Title Role? Let\u2019s look ahead to the next 12 or 24 months, if we can imagine them.<br \/>\n<strong>TONGE:\u00a0<\/strong>If we can! We\u2019re doing a lot of work in the premium doc space. That\u2019s a big area for us. True crime continues. We are investing in the formats side of things more. Formats aren\u2019t an area we\u2019ve done much of in the past, but we are growing that within the company. We\u2019re growing our digital presence. It\u2019s all about knowing where the platforms are and pivoting. We\u2019ve also got our eye on the U.S. Our content goes worldwide, and we film in the U.S. a lot, but we are actively moving into there as well, which is hugely exciting. Finally, we\u2019re thinking about our rights and collaborating with new partners in terms of ideas, rights and funding. It\u2019s a collection; there is a lot going on. In the end, we try our best to do the work that we do and continue to make great programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The CEO talks about the bright spots in the unscripted space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3087,"featured_media":21787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,69],"tags":[8172,9818,2339],"class_list":["post-21786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews","category-top-stories","tag-association-of-true-crime-producers","tag-helen-tonge","tag-title-role","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Title Role\u2019s Helen Tonge - 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\/title-roles-helen-tonge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Title Role\u2019s Helen Tonge - TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The CEO talks about the bright spots in the unscripted space.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/title-roles-helen-tonge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-31T12:50:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-01T13:42:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/07\/Helen-Tonge.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"462\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"286\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alexa Alfano\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alexa Alfano\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/title-roles-helen-tonge\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/title-roles-helen-tonge\/\",\"name\":\"Title Role\u2019s Helen Tonge - TVREAL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-31T12:50:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-01T13:42:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/2653b97e27eaf76a4713c75f0e821dad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/title-roles-helen-tonge\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/title-roles-helen-tonge\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/title-roles-helen-tonge\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Title Role\u2019s Helen Tonge\"}]},{\"@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\/2653b97e27eaf76a4713c75f0e821dad\",\"name\":\"Alexa Alfano\",\"description\":\"Alexa Alfano is associate editor at World Screen. 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