here<\/a>.<\/p>\nFor McAlister, one of the biggest pressure points for indie distributors today is the need to help deficit finance productions. \u201cThere are so few full commissions nowadays that it means that distributors are having to get involved much earlier, helping piece together the financing. When it works, it\u2019s so rewarding\u2014when you can find those presales, or it might be that we can invest ourselves. The toughest thing is when you have to say goodbye to some amazing projects that are still being developed but we just can\u2019t find the international money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olzmann agreed, adding, \u201cAs an independent distributor, we have to stand out much more than we used to. A lot of buyers buy packages instead of one-offs or two hours, so that\u2019s become a bit trickier\u2014the buying behavior is a bit unpredictable at the moment. We know there\u2019s a shrinking volume in presales, so as Poppy said, we need to be ready to invest a bit more than we used to. That\u2019s mostly the problem for mid-budget and maybe the non-franchise factual programs. It\u2019s tricky to navigate this whole new universe that is in constant change.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are benefits to being a boutique independent in this landscape, Olzmann noted. \u201cWe can be a bit more flexible and quicker in decision-making. You\u2019re more flexible in adapting and reacting to market challenges. The boutique character also allows us to remain nimble and very personal and to keep our catalog highly curated.\u201d<\/p>\n
McAlister agreed, referencing TVF\u2019s four-decade commitment to bringing compelling factual content to broadcasters and platforms worldwide. \u201cThere is still demand for high-quality premium documentaries and factual. We don\u2019t have a huge catalog; we\u2019re bespoke in what we take on. Our producers know that it\u2019s not going to get lost in a large catalog of scripted and kids. We champion the factual genre, and our broadcasters know that, too. They come to us for the top-quality documentaries. So, remaining steadfast and true to our core heartland genres and our goals has served us well, even though it\u2019s a challenging and evolving time in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
On what TVF looks for when taking on a title, McAlister said it\u2019s \u201call about how globally focused and internationally skewing a show is. If a producer comes to me with a show that feels really hyperlocal or it\u2019s a bit too much of a personal story, it won\u2019t be right for our catalog. If a product comes with a story with a global theme, that\u2019s what we\u2019re always looking for. Wildlife is universal. History and science are, too. As long as they are kind of globally focused and developed with that wider market in mind, then we\u2019re interested. And it can be at any stage; I\u2019m always happy to review pitch decks or treatments. Getting the advice of the distributor early is so helpful because it means that we can help to encourage a show to be shaped with the international lens rather than it being shaped by a hyperlocal commissioner.\u201d<\/p>\n
The discussion then moved to opportunities in AVOD and FAST to further monetize back library content. \u201cYou can find revenue for titles that are 20, 30 years old,\u201d McAlister noted. \u201cThere are so many more opportunities now to find homes for shows that maybe you can\u2019t get linear license fees for anymore. The majority of our business still is done with broadcasters and them committing license fees, but for titles that might be older, there\u2019s definitely demand. When we take on a show, we\u2019re not taking it just for the first five years, we want to take it on for the next 55 years and see what opportunities we can find going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Albatross\u2019s wildlife-heavy slate, with a wealth of titles with a long shelf life, has seen strong gains from the AVOD and FAST spaces. \u201cFor us, the VOD sphere is about 30 percent of our revenues in the year; it is significant. But you have to keep in mind it\u2019s packages and many hours. It\u2019s a lot of work; to get the same revenues from one broadcaster, you may need ten VOD deals.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives a show a longer shelf life, but also it can take time for those shows to start to gain traction,\u201d McAlister added.<\/p>\n
I asked the panelists about sub-genres that are in demand today. Wildlife remains a perennial, but Olzmann has seen some shifts in that space recently. \u201cPeople and wildlife seem to work a bit less than pure wildlife,\u201d she said. Science has also picked up, Olzmann said.<\/p>\n
True crime and history are proving popular at TVF International, McAlister said. In true crime, the bar has been set high, given how competitive that landscape is.<\/p>\n
TVF International has been involved in bringing together co-productions, McAlister said, pairing U.K. and international broadcasters. \u201cIt\u2019s all about trying to work out the best budget and then finding those international presales. I\u2019m trying to do it for shows that are going to have a long shelf life. If you\u2019re investing, it needs to be something that\u2019s going to travel far around the world and have a long, continued shelf life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Albatross, meanwhile, does not engage in co-productions, Olzmann said. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t been in our DNA from the beginning, because Albatross was founded by a production company, so we really don\u2019t want to interfere too much with the production market. That being said, we\u2019re still working closely with a lot of German-speaking producers. When we meet producers in other markets, we\u2019re trying to link them up with a German producer who may be able to bring in the German commission and then we pick up distribution rights. For us, it\u2019s more of a networking tool at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
On traversing the road ahead, Olzmann is ensuring her team \u201cremains positive and looks for the opportunities so we can adapt and ideally grow. We need to streamline processes to remain flexible. So, hold the fort and be as flexible as possible. We want to stick to our genres as well. We\u2019re not experimenting a lot at the moment because things are so uncertain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being nimble, flexible and adaptable is also the mantra at TVF International. \u201cFor us, a key goal is working closely with our producers to develop unique, exciting international ideas that we can help piece together financing for and find co-production partners, pre-sales and deficit finance. There are a lot more opportunities that we will see with the increased presence of AI in the production and distribution world. There\u2019s a lot to be nervous about. But as an international agent, we work a lot with producers across the world, particularly in non-English-speaking territories, especially across Asia, who are producing amazing documentaries. We are finding abilities with AI companies to help re-version, subtitle, dub and create closed captions. Hopefully, we\u2019ll be able to bring more of these documentaries to the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Exploring the unique positioning of boutique independents, TVF International\u2019s Poppy McAlister and Albatross World Sales\u2019 Anne Olzmann joined the TV Real Festival today to share how their outfits are making sense of the factual distribution business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":23178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[3564,4073,4604,11095,3195],"class_list":["post-23177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-albatross-world-sales","tag-anne-olzmann","tag-poppy-mcalister","tag-tv-real-festival-2025","tag-tvf-international","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n
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