{"id":23234,"date":"2025-06-25T08:50:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T12:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tvreal\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T13:13:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T17:13:44","slug":"tv-real-festival-recap-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-real-festival-recap-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"TV Real Festival Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Those of you who have been following our busy summer of virtual festivals will know that I\u2019ve been on the hunt for uplifting stories amid what has felt like a downbeat content production and distribution business amid strategy shifts, economic woes and fears about the impact of AI. With conversations with channel and streaming programmers, producers and boutique distributors, the TV Real Festival\u2014available to view on-demand here<\/a>\u2014set out to explore the obstacles in the business today and, crucially, innovative approaches to tackling those issues head-on. The overall takeaway from these sessions: companies that are agile enough to pivot when needed will be able to find a way through the maze that is the global content business right now.<\/p>\n

At global giant National Geographic, the goal to keep ambition on-screen has resulted in a\u00a0\u201cfewer, bigger, better approach over the last couple of years,\u201d said Tom McDonald, executive VP of global factual and unscripted content<\/a>, in his opening keynote. \u201cRather than try and maintain a certain number of hours, which feels like a linear mindset, we\u2019re focusing on having a set of tentpoles that feel like they will stand out on Disney+. We\u2019re taking a streaming-first approach. It\u2019s great that we have linear channels around the world, but fundamentally, I\u2019m thinking about its forever home, which is Disney+, and about ideas that we think are going to pop on Disney+, where you\u2019re next to Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar and those other incredible brands. We’re taking a less-is-more approach while maintaining big ambition. Fewer shows but higher impact.”<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in strangely tough times,” said Richard Bradley, co-founder and chief creative officer of All3Media-owned Lion Television<\/a>. \u201cPeople have become more risk-averse; they\u2019re making fewer decisions, postponing decisions and battening down the hatches around the familiar. The question has been, is this here to stay, or is it cyclical? The difficult news is it probably isn\u2019t going to come back to the way it was, and what we\u2019re seeing at the moment is the way of the future. There\u2019s going to be fewer decisions, less commissions made and probably a more risk-averse decision-making process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Bradley said, the goal is devising projects \u201cthat the commissioners find impossible to resist. A commissioner once described their role as finding a thousand different ways to say no. To those of us out there who are on the other side of the fence, let\u2019s put our thinking caps on and try and find ways to make them say yes. It\u2019s getting harder, but it\u2019s not impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Focusing on buyers\u2019 needs has long been a priority for\u00a0Paul Heaney, founder and CEO of BossaNova Media, which has held Development Days bringing together buyers and producers for years<\/a>. Apps allow buyers to vote for projects they like, \u201cwhich then informs our whole greenlight process,\u201d Heaney said. \u201cThat breathes oxygen into what we need to do. It\u2019s a crucial part of the business now. We have to do what the buyers want us to do. They\u2019ve got to sell projects up as well. We have to make sure that the projects we pitch are absolutely of the level. And when they give us their briefs, we have to make sure we\u2019re not letting them down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drilling further into the indie distribution space, I convened a wonderful panel with\u00a0TVF International\u2019s Poppy McAlister and Albatross World Sales\u2019 Anne Olzmann, who shared how their boutique outfits are navigating the landscape today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For McAlister, one of the most significant pressure points for indie distributors is the need to help deficit finance productions. \u201cThere are so few full commissions nowadays that distributors have 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

Evolving to meet the needs of the market, Curiosity has adapted its business from an emphasis on\u00a0subscriptions to one also encompassing content licensing and advertising and sponsorships, Clint Stinchcomb, the president and CEO of Curiosity, said in his keynote<\/a>. He also weighed in on the increasing role of co-pros and acquisitions at the company, noting, \u201cYou need brand-definitional content, but then at the same time, you need breadth and depth. Acquisitions and co-productions are critical. There\u2019s no substantive business without them. We\u2019ve created a lot of high-dollar originals. We know what works for our various platforms. We\u2019re doubling and tripling down on acquisitions in the areas we need them.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the importance of co-productions, Gernot Lercher, who heads up ORF\u2019s storied natural-history brand UNIVERSUM,\u00a0put it fairly succinctly when he said, \u201cNo co-production means no documentary<\/a>. Putting money together is the only way to get things done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lercher was joined in that session by Marion Camus-Oberdorfer, director of acquisitions and distribution investment at ORF-Enterprise, the Austrian pubcaster\u2019s commercial arm that has been critical in helping to get Lercher\u2019s commissions made. \u201cThe budgets from one single broadcaster or one single producer are not enough to do a high-end quality production,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Independent producers struggling to make sense of the market today should take solace from our fantastic sessions with Muck Media\u2019s Mariana van Zeller and Cristina Costantini and 11:11 Media\u2019s Bruce Robertson. Undaunted by a constricted commissioning landscape, both of those indies are emphasizing being unafraid to pivot and embracing every possible opportunity.<\/p>\n

Founded by five friends,\u00a0Muck Media has assembled a portfolio of some of the buzziest factual shows on linear and streaming, including\u00a0<\/a>Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on National Geographic,\u00a0<\/a>Karol G: Tomorrow Was Beautiful<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on Netflix and\u00a0<\/a>Sally<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on Hulu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will always want good stories,\u201d Costantini said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to try to find ways to do it in the way that we\u2019re proud of in these different mediums. So, YouTube, TikTok, all of it, I think it\u2019s exciting if you\u2019re down to play in the sandbox.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt used to be that if you just knew how to pick up a camera and tell a story and edit, that would be enough,\u201d van Zeller said. \u201cNo longer. You really have to figure out how to read a contract, how to sell, how to find financing and how to play in the sandbox of all these new mediums. At the end of the day, our biggest advice is determination and keeping at it because you\u2019re going to get millions of no\u2019s. We are used to getting rejected constantly. So, persistence but also optimism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robertson, chief storyteller at 11:11 Media, the next-generation media company founded by reality TV icon Paris Hilton and Bruce Gersh<\/a>, also remains optimistic about the way forward for companies that can be nimble in navigating the landscape. \u201cThis industry is built and thrives on creativity and innovation. We\u2019re beginning to see the green shoots coming through with people pivoting. For a period of time, brands were shut out of the streaming platforms because they were all very subscription-based, and now, of course, that\u2019s pivoting to successful ad tiers. Also, FAST channels are reinventing and rethinking. There are different independent financing models. The branded-content side of things ten years ago was a dirty phrase, but now brands have pivoted and figured out a different way to integrate into storytelling in ways that didn\u2019t feel intrusive to the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, Tom Neff sees enough demand for indie docs that he is relaunching\u00a0Documentary Channel,\u00a0<\/a>previously a cable network, as a streaming destination<\/a>. \u201cWe want to be a home for the independent documentary filmmaker. There is a crisis going on in the industry right now in terms of venues where documentary films are being shown. The majors have more or less abandoned the documentary unless they\u2019re producing it themselves. That has left the independent documentary filmmaker in a difficult position. Our mission is really clear: we promote documentaries, we promote the documentary filmmaker and we want to promote the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the TV Real Festival on-demand here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mansha Daswani recaps the major themes from the second annual TV Real Festival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":22770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,69],"tags":[9357],"class_list":["post-23234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","category-top-stories","tag-tv-real-festival","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nTV Real Festival Recap - 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\/tv-real-festival-recap-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TV Real Festival Recap - TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mansha Daswani recaps the major themes from the second annual TV Real Festival.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-real-festival-recap-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-25T12:50:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-27T17:13:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/03\/2025-03-25-TVREAL-Festival-logo-Grey.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"395\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\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=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-real-festival-recap-2025\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-real-festival-recap-2025\/\",\"name\":\"TV Real Festival Recap - TVREAL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-25T12:50:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-27T17:13:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-real-festival-recap-2025\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-real-festival-recap-2025\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-real-festival-recap-2025\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TV Real Festival Recap\"}]},{\"@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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