WME IMG’s Rice joins Drama Summit

CONTENT LONDON: Chris Rice, partner at WME IMG and one of the most successful packagers of international drama, has joined the speaker line-up for C21’s International Drama Summit.

Rice heads the Global TV team at WME and works with the agency’s content creators, global networks and financiers to create advantageous ownership and financing solutions for WME’s clients. He will be a speaker at the summit, which is part of Content London and takes place between November 29 and December 1 this year.

WME’s Global division navigates the shifting media landscape, identifying both traditional and non-traditional sources of project financing and sales worldwide.

Among numerous international coproductions, Chris has packaged and led sales for AMC and BBC’s 12-Emmy-nominated The Night Manager, starring Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston, sold internationally through WME’s sister company IMG.

He has also led US and multiple international sales of the HBO/Sky/Canal+ series The Young Pope, starring client Jude Law, built and sold the first non-scripted Netflix original series Chefs Table and is leading the global strategy for Amazon’s upcoming motoring show The Grand Tour, helmed by ex-Top Gear trio Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

Prior to joining the Global team in 2010, Rice was co-founder and chief operating officer of Cinnamon Entertainment. At Cinnamon, he oversaw the financing, production and distribution of more than 50 hours of television, distributed in 165 countries with investment of more than US$50m including the Ironman television series with Marvel Entertainment.

Rice has also acted as an advisor to multiple media and distribution businesses, including as part of the Investment team at Creative Capital Fund – a venture capital fund focused on media investments.

You can find other speakers announced for the 2016 International Drama summit here.

The summit takes place at Picturehouse Central in London’s West End, with the venue opening for registration and the opening-night party on November 28. You can find out more about the event and register online by clicking here.

The three-day event features an unrivalled conference agenda, drama premieres, screenings programme, coproduction marketplace, networking lounges, drama series case studies, broadcaster briefings, writers room strand, craft workshops, coproduction and finance sessions, kids’ content futures and much more.