{"id":22287,"date":"2024-11-20T08:50:44","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T13:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2024-11-21T11:32:41","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T16:32:41","slug":"lucky-8s-greg-henry-kim-woodard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/lucky-8s-greg-henry-kim-woodard\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucky 8\u2019s Greg Henry & Kim Woodard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lucky 8 produces across a variety of unscripted genres, tapping into crime, food, science, wildlife and more. Among its current series are Netflix\u2019s Unlocked: A Jail Experiment\u00a0<\/em>and A&E\u2019s\u00a060 Days In<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Booked: First Day In<\/em>, all delving into the U.S. criminal justice system. Recent feature documentaries the company has produced include National Geographic\u2019s\u00a0Jane Goodall: The Hope<\/em>, Showtime\u2019s\u00a0Bronx Obama<\/em>\u00a0and PBS\u2019s\u00a0Grizzly 399: Queen of the Tetons<\/em>. Greg Henry and Kim Woodard, co-founders and co-presidents, tell\u00a0TV Real<\/em>\u00a0about the keys to success for factual programs, securing funding in today\u2019s market and what\u2019s up next for the company.<\/p>\n

TV REAL: <\/strong>What\u2019s your perspective on the factual content space right now, especially as an indie?
\nHENRY:<\/strong>\u00a0Our industry is more of a\u00a0business<\/em>\u00a0now than it\u2019s ever been. The bar to getting a project greenlit is higher than ever, and there are a number of hurdles that need to be cleared that go beyond just a great idea and great execution. For us, success has come from aligning unique access and a rock-solid premise with the needs of the buyer. We use being an independent shop to our advantage in that we\u2019re able to take big swings in order to make our projects undeniable.<\/p>\n

TV REAL:<\/strong>\u00a0Tell us about\u00a0Booked: First Day In<\/em>,\u00a060 Days In<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Unlocked: A Jail Experiment<\/em>. What\u2019s behind the success of these properties, and what\u2019s the goal behind taking a look at the criminal justice system?
\nHENRY:<\/strong>\u00a0For any content we produce, we\u2019re always thinking about the takeaway for viewers. Yes, first and foremost, we want our series to be highly entertaining and attract the largest audiences possible, but in our experience, the way to do that is to give them something to think about. That said, our series that spotlight America\u2019s corrections system have been successful for a few reasons. First, they are relatable in that a significant percentage of the country has either been arrested or incarcerated or knows someone who has been incarcerated, and yet, there\u2019s still a lot of intrigue from the general public about what happens inside jailhouse walls. If you look at\u00a060 Days In<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Unlocked<\/em>, baked into the DNA of both series is a critical look at corrections and honest conversation about how the system can be improved.
\nWOODARD:<\/strong>\u00a0It also goes back to access. I think it\u2019s safe to say our team has more experience producing television from inside a corrections facility than any other company in our business. The facilities trust us; they trust our approach and that we\u2019ll execute in a way that won\u2019t disrupt their operations. And from a technical standpoint, we know what the challenges will be and how to overcome them.<\/p>\n

TV REAL:<\/strong>\u00a0What other types of Lucky 8 factual productions have found success?
\nWOODARD:<\/strong>\u00a0Beyond\u00a0Unlocked<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a060 Days In<\/em>, our series\u00a0To Catch a Smuggler<\/em>\u00a0on Nat Geo, which follows the work of DHS agents at various entry points across the country, has continued to rate well, and we\u2019ve just debuted a spin-off series,\u00a0To Catch a Smuggler: Tropical Takedown<\/em>, on the network. We\u2019re also multiple seasons into our docudramas for History,\u00a0The Food That Built America<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Mega-Brands That Built America<\/em>, and, of course, we have some exciting projects upcoming for different streamers and networks. We also continue to produce feature-length documentaries that have debuted at festivals across the country\u2014our most recent,\u00a0Grizzly 399: Queen of the Tetons<\/em>, debuted at Big Sky Film Festival this year and premiered on PBS.<\/p>\n

TV REAL:<\/strong>\u00a0What\u2019s been key to securing funding in today\u2019s crowded market and bringing things across the finish line? What has made your properties sell?
\nHENRY:<\/strong>\u00a0We\u2019re finding more and more that what\u2019s old is new again. In recent years, it\u2019s been unheard of for a producer to retain the rights to their series, but now, like in the early days of the unscripted business, these discussions are happening again. That said, we\u2019ve been able to retain rights to some of our new projects and to new seasons of existing series, and have been focused on the global market\u2014working with a distributor and international partners to bring content to new territories. To that end, we recently announced that we\u2019ve hired Sarah Bickley to join Lucky 8 as the company\u2019s first head of distribution.
\nWOODARD:<\/strong>\u00a0Our team attended MIPCOM for the first time this year, bringing with us a slate of projects. We\u2019re recognizing how valuable the global market will be moving forward, and we want to continue to build meaningful relationships with international broadcasters across Europe and in Australia.<\/p>\n

As a producer working in unscripted and documentary\u2014and the owners of an independent company\u2014we\u2019re problem-solvers by nature. We can\u2019t sit around and hope that the business goes back to the way it was in 2018; we need to remain flexible and adjust to meet the market where it is in 2024.<\/p>\n

TV REAL:<\/strong>\u00a0What\u2019s next on Lucky 8\u2019s slate? What role do co-pros play going forward for the company?
\nWOODARD:<\/strong>\u00a0Our aim is to keep the momentum going across all key fronts, and that includes premium streaming commissions, the legacy cable business and international sales and partnerships. We have new series in production that will be launching soon on various streaming platforms and cable networks, and as we mentioned before, we\u2019re making a significant push in the global marketplace. We brought roughly ten new projects to MIPCOM\u2014across a variety of genres, from formats to natural history, crime and feature docs\u2014and international co-productions, which we\u2019ve always embraced, will be even more of an emphasis moving forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The co-founders and co-presidents on the keys to success for factual programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1412,"featured_media":22288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,69],"tags":[1979,10262,10263],"class_list":["post-22287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews","category-top-stories","tag-greg-henry","tag-kim-woodard","tag-lucky8","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nLucky 8\u2019s Greg Henry & Kim Woodard - 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\/lucky-8s-greg-henry-kim-woodard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lucky 8\u2019s Greg Henry & Kim Woodard - TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The co-founders and co-presidents on the keys to success for factual programs.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/lucky-8s-greg-henry-kim-woodard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-20T13:50:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-21T16:32:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/11\/Lucky8-GregHenryKimWoodard-1124.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"394\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\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\/lucky-8s-greg-henry-kim-woodard\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/lucky-8s-greg-henry-kim-woodard\/\",\"name\":\"Lucky 8\u2019s Greg Henry & Kim Woodard - TVREAL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-20T13:50:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-21T16:32:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/lucky-8s-greg-henry-kim-woodard\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/lucky-8s-greg-henry-kim-woodard\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/lucky-8s-greg-henry-kim-woodard\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lucky 8\u2019s Greg Henry & Kim Woodard\"}]},{\"@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\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\",\"name\":\"Jamie Stalcup\",\"description\":\"Jamie Stalcup is the executive editor of World Screen. 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