{"id":9591,"date":"2017-01-11T11:13:05","date_gmt":"2017-01-11T16:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/female-skewing-series-propel-breakthroughs-factual-drive\/"},"modified":"2017-01-12T09:32:16","modified_gmt":"2017-01-12T14:32:16","slug":"female-skewing-series-propel-breakthroughs-factual-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/female-skewing-series-propel-breakthroughs-factual-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"Female-Skewing Series Propel Breakthrough\u2019s Factual Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"
Craig McGillivray, the VP of distribution at Breakthrough Entertainment, talks to\u00a0<\/em>TV Real\u00a0about the company\u2019s growing factual and lifestyle catalog and trends he has been seeing in that space.<\/em><\/p>\n Toronto-based producer and distributor Breakthrough Entertainment handles a wide-ranging catalog spanning series, feature films and digital content. \u201cWe\u2019re a Canadian company that\u2019s known for doing a bit of kids, a bit of documentary, a bit of lifestyle and a bit of scripted and movies,\u201d says Craig McGillivray, the company\u2019s VP of distribution. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to up the game in every one of those genres.\u201d With factual programming currently booming across the globe, Breakthrough is capitalizing on the trend.<\/p>\n Both titles are female-skewing, and McGillivray says that there has traditionally been an appetite for such programming internationally. \u201cThere\u2019s always been a need on the female channels. They need programming from the international marketplace, perhaps because they don\u2019t produce as much\u00a0 The acquisition of shows like\u00a0Breaking Bread with Brooke Burke<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Wonder Women<\/em>\u00a0is part of Breakthrough\u2019s overall strategy to bring premium content to the company\u2019s catalog. \u201cYou need to have premium content, and that\u2019s the investment we made in\u00a0Breaking Bread with Brooke Burke<\/em>, that\u2019s the investment we\u2019ve made on some of the lifestyle programming that is higher-end. We would like to do more of that. There\u2019s some risk involved, but we\u2019re happy to do it. Knowing your marketplace mitigates the risk, and that\u2019s where we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Alongside programming that serves female viewers, Breakthrough\u2019s factual catalog features true-crime titles such as\u00a0Hollywood Homicide Uncovered<\/em>, which the company produces and distributes. The program tells of real murders connected to the pursuit of celebrity, with each episode centered on a suspicious Hollywood death, told from the point of view of the investigators. Episodes examine the O.J. Simpson trial and mysterious deaths such as that of rapper Tupac Shakur. Another true-crime series with a link to Hollywood movies that Breakthrough distributes is\u00a0The Shocking Truth<\/em>. Produced by Pyramid Productions, the documentary series looks into real-life murders and paranormal events, and how Hollywood turned these true stories into memorable films. \u201cThey\u2019ve done very well,\u201d says McGillivray. \u201cThere\u2019s always a need for crime,\u201d especially following the success of the Netflix series\u00a0Making a Murderer<\/em>\u00a0and HBO\u2019s\u00a0The Jinx<\/em>.<\/p>\n The company has also had success with the eight-part lifestyle\/reality series\u00a0Young Once<\/em>\u00a0from Tricord Media, which is filmed on location in California and follows students who attend one of the U.S.\u2019s most conservative universities. \u201cThink\u00a0Little House on the Prairie<\/em>\u00a0meets\u00a0The Hills<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0Laguna Beach<\/em>,\u201d McGillivray says of the series. \u201cThere\u2019s always a need for high-quality, engaging content,\u201d he adds. \u201cThere\u2019s always a home for that, so it\u2019s done very well.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking ahead, Breakthrough will continue to push \u201cour new content and our premium series out to the market [and place them with] the right homes.\u201d McGillivray adds that another aim is to monetize the catalog and get it on VOD platforms, which will help generate revenue. He notes that preparing titles for VOD platforms requires quite a bit of work, \u201cbecause it\u2019s digitizing, it\u2019s metadata, but once you start, it becomes a lot easier for future platforms. That\u2019s going to be a big thing for us [this] year. We\u2019ll want to get our entire catalog on as many platforms as possible, making it available without jeopardizing any opportunities for linear.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Craig McGillivray, the VP of distribution, talks about the company\u2019s growing factual and lifestyle catalog and trends he has been seeing in that space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":477,"featured_media":9592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,69],"tags":[346,1840],"class_list":["post-9591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-breakthrough-entertainment","tag-craig-mcgillivray","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n
The company recently acquired international distribution rights for two factual programs from Hallmark\u2019s streaming service Feeln. The first is\u00a0Breaking Bread with Brooke Burke<\/em>, which looks on as the titular host of\u00a0Dancing with the Stars<\/em>\u00a0fame meets with her celebrity friends to discuss secret recipes, conduct cooking demonstrations and share her personal tricks and tips in the kitchen. Breakthrough also snapped up distribution rights for\u00a0Wonder Women<\/em>. The title explores inspirational stories of women from around the globe who have broken boundaries in their efforts to improve the world. \u201cIt\u2019s only two series for now, but it\u2019s been great to have this pipeline,\u201d McGillivray says of the partnership.<\/p>\n
at home, and that works well for us.\u201d<\/p>\n