CANNES: Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock told MIPDoc delegates that all networks, commissioners and producers must have a digital strategy and should be looking for gaps in the marketplace to target underserved audiences.<\/p>\n
Spurlock spoke about the U.S. networks\u2019 moving away from \u201clow-brow, low-rent, low-bar programming\u201d to embracing \u201cthe smartest content you\u2019ve ever seen and changing what we thought about television. Changing the way we looked at content.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the scripted side, \u201cevery single network has one or two high-profile huge shows that are getting mega audiences and are smart and compelling and challenging viewers in a way that\u2019s never happened before.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, \u201cas the rising tide was lifting fiction programming, it was not happening in nonfiction,\u201d Spurlock stated. That too is changing now, he noted. \u201cWe are now in a place where more people are watching nonfiction entertainment than ever before. What\u2019s next? More people will start watching smarter nonfiction entertainment than ever before. Why? The price point is still the same. It doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re making something with a guy in a swamp or with someone in a university. It will cost the same and be equally compelling. Audiences want smarter nonfiction content.\u201d<\/p>\n
People are moving more and more towards digital content. Producers must \u201ctransition into a digital marketplace in a way that is accessible and easy and makes the most economic sense for all of us. Your production strategy has to contain a digital strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Spurlock\u2019s own production company, Warrior Poets, 30 percent of the slate is film, 30 percent is TV and 40 percent is digital. \u201cGoing into 2016 that will most likely jump above 50 percent. If you want to have a company, if you want to grow, this needs to be your focus.\u201d<\/p>\n
The digital space can serve as a \u201ctest bed,\u201d Spurlock said.\u00a0\u201cI can launch [a show] online and see what people think. Is it going to pilot well? You can do that in an affordable way before you take things out to the marketplace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spurlock called on producers to formulate\u00a0a digital strategy that is \u201ca natural extension of your current pipeline. Build a bridge between what you\u2019re doing now and your digital content.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Spurlock, most networks don\u2019t have digital strategies yet. \u201cThey don\u2019t have a focus of where they should be taking their content or what their plan is digitally. That\u2019s where you come in as a content creator. You have the ability to help them build that magical bridge to digital nirvana.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spurlock spoke about targeting Millennials, noting that 16- to 24-year-olds are consuming almost 70 percent of their content digitally. \u201cYou should chase the holes in the marketplace,\u201d Spurlock said. \u201cThere is a hole that surrounds Millennial women. There isn\u2019t programming that is focusing on what they believe in. They\u2019re the most educated generation in history. They will be 25 percent of the global workforce in 2020. Two thirds earn as much as or more than their partner. They represent $840 billion in annual purchasing power. They use multiple screens simultaneously. They\u2019re consuming content in every way, and they share content constantly. These are your evangelists. They\u2019re the people you want sharing, talking, getting everything you make out into the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for how to make money with digital content, Spurlock said, \u201cAs long as you\u2019re not losing money, you\u2019re winning. So long as you\u2019re cash-flow positive, and creating content that you can put out for people to see that will make a difference, you are winning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CANNES: Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock told MIPDoc delegates that all networks, commissioners and producers must have a digital strategy and should be looking for gaps in the marketplace to target underserved audiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[388,389],"class_list":["post-8504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","","category-top-stories","tag-mipdoc-2016","tag-morgan-spurlock","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n