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Factual

C21Factual is the non-fiction section on C21Media.net which pulls together all our coverage of the genre in one dedicated area.

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FEATURES

Keith Scholey on Silverback’s call to eco action

YouTube, AI dominate factual execs’ new year predictions

New year, new priorities, trends and challenges – pt 2

New year, new priorities, trends and challenges – pt 1

CBC/Radio-Canada’s Catherine Tait bids adieu after six whirlwind years 

Kathleen Finch, WBD and cable TV are entering new chapters 

C21/New Forest's survey on AI in production reveals industry concerns, optimism

Congress puts future of factual in the spotlight

Old and new meet at Content London as industry weighs AI’s threats and opportunities

True crime and the importance of duty of care

The price of success in the creator economy

Europe's lurch to right puts pubcasters in peril

After Party Studios looks to embrace traditional media

Don't believe everything you hear about AI

Mipcom 2024: positives in a changing content economy

Taiwan's festival of partnership gets ready to kick off

International industry heavyweights join the TCCF line-up

Will AI lead to the extinction of natural history filmmaking?

ABC chair Kim Williams: decline in news standards threatens democracy

TCCF fast becoming a platform for global collaboration

The rebirth of TV's ‘oldest trend’  

Can lifestyle channel reboot lay foundation for a Corus turnaround?  

Opening the gate to Berlin-Brandenburg

Nat Geo on rethinking the tried and tested

Canadian broadcasters grapple with ‘mediocrity’ and discoverability

Pact’s McVay offers practical solutions to UK industry decline

Nigeria's Showmax spotlights fashion, social media and royalty

Amadasun: Netflix is here for the long haul

What global interest might mean for Africa

Philiso highlights Africa's growing influence on global content

What will the WBD rights shift mean for Canadian unscripted?

How Edinburgh was overpowered by YouTube

UK prodco bosses answer the £1bn question

Have obs docs had their day?

Influencers imbue travel with a new spirit of adventure

Incentives to work in Serbia are stacking up

bTV takes the entertainment route to diversification

Docs that do justice to the facts

Building an Icon two years in

A1 Group's route to success with ‘super-aggregation’

Reasons to be cheerful: M&A on the up

Why is LA’s unscripted production volume cratering?

Factual needs to grow out of this cycle of repetition

Architect of Deutsche Telekom's unorthodox alliance with Netflix

Gozdowski makes Max effort in Poland

Shark Teeth pivots to a new plan of attack

WBD's Cooke stirs more unscripted and docs into the mix

The new incentives making it easier to Film in Austria

TVF's Samuel Joyce offers his Sunny Side takeaways

Postcard from Sunny Side of the Doc in La Rochelle

Election casts uncertainty over French factual market

Examining true crime’s trial of the century through a new lens

What the buyers were looking for at Sheffield Doc/Fest

Streamers out to make a bundle

Canadian SVoD regulation: seven questions following landmark decision

Time to reverse the skills brain drain

Postcard from Content Warsaw

Rediscovering the lost art of distribution by Osmosis

SV Docs fund seeks to give factual filmmakers a global stage

Back to the future? Why the latest studio strategies feel familiar

Is true crime immune to the industry downturn?

The six main talking points at LA Screenings 2024

Channel 4's algorithm method in action

Unscripted added to Beers necessities at Shondaland

Hollywood braces itself for OpenAI's Sora

Is true crime immune to industry downturn?

Setting the table for FAST in Latin America

Hot properties: 21 shows for LA Screenings Independents

US shows still fly with elusive Kiwis says TVNZ's Wolfe

The view from south of the border

Crisis to capitalisation: the bright side of distribution in 2024

Music publishing giant Concord steers into originals  

How will AI change the viewing experience?

Avoiding the icebergs to land a non-scripted commission

Can Netflix keep up its momentum after two-year turnaround?

Going Dutch to finance film and TV production with the NFF

Why traditional TV should take notice of the $100m Dude Perfect deal

Time to bid au revoir to MipTV

Distributor survive and thrive strategies – part three

Spring surprises: 21 shows to watch out for at MipTV

Distributor survive and thrive strategies – part two 

Distributor survive and thrive strategies – part one

Divided by a common language

An open invitation from Norway’s NFI

Cream rises to the challenge of optimism

No end in sight for TV freelancer jobs crisis

Industry reacts to increased tax relief for high-end TV and film

1+1 Media's Pakholchuk on running a media company in the shadow of war

Excitement or fear: What's your take on AI?

AMC’s Radóczy sets out to overtake The Walking Dead

Beyond the back-slapping at London TV Screenings

Buying British: German demand for UK content on the rise

ZDF eyes more scripted copros, targets unscripted

Banijay Rights' Payne on shifting market trends

AMCNI's Sam Rowden seeks expert-led true crime on a budget

Virgin Media TV keen to benefit from UK-Irish synergies

Hungary's TV2 keeps leading with linear

Hot Properties to catch this week in London

Buying British: The trends behind the UK’s TV export figures

Jet-setter Matt Forde on BBC Studios' global ambitions

NEWS

Evgeny Lebedev-owned UK regional network London Live to close after 10 years on air

Spun Gold alum Daniela Neumann named CEO at indie Rare TV as Alexander Gardiner steps down

Former Sky boss Jeremy Darroch joins private equity firm KKR as executive adviser

Australia’s Nine Network appoints former Foxtel content chief Amanda Laing as MD of new content division

MSNBC president Rashida Jones to exit amid shake-up ahead of Comcast cable spin-off

Indielab opens applications for 10th TV accelerator programme with ‘Future of Content’ theme

Streamer Addicta TV launches as FAST platform for independent Latin American content

The ABC and Nine Entertainment revolving door spins again as Peter Tonagh joins the Nine board

US studios and streamers pledge millions for relief as economic toll of LA fires estimated at $250bn

Warner Bros Discovery appoints media agency EssenceMediacom for Aussie Max launch

Juan Solera, Jota Salinas set up Barcelona-based factual and documentary sales agency Jambika Docs

All3Media-owned Little Dot Studios hires Rachel Carson as acquisitions exec

Australia’s SBS commissions Street Food Nomad: Kolkata from Mago Films

DLT Entertainment expands into Wales, hires former Wildflame CEO Paul Islwyn Thomas as director of programmes

Corus co-CEOs remain silent on plans to tackle debt issues as Q1 profit drops 30% year-on-year

Launch of Venu Sports streamer officially called off by Disney, Fox, WBD  

Keith Scholey on Silverback’s call to eco action

Disney+ teams with Curious Films to commission follow-up Caroline Flack documentary

Sam Tatlow upped to role of head of diversity, equity and inclusion at ITV

DirecTV claims antitrust concerns remain over launch of streamer Venu Sports despite Fubo-Disney deal

Val Boreland tapped to lead Comcast’s planned cable spin-off company as president  

Israel’s Keshet International goes to Dinner with Gavin Rossdale in new unscripted food series

After Party Studios boosts senior team with head of entertainment, exec producer appointments

APAC streaming services predicted to overtake linear by 2027, driven by demand from China and India

Kelly Campbell to exit as president of NBCUniversal streamer Peacock

‘Bad eggs’ in UK television multiplying according to freelance TV producer shifting to digital content

Peacock preps docuseries on R&B stars Nelly and Ashanti

UKTV, BBC Studios appoint Sky’s Sophie Judge as global acquisitions manager

Senior Warner Bros Discovery APAC marketing exec Daniel Tan to exit

Jan Koeppen steps down as Disney restructure sees Tony Chambers promoted to president of EMEA

‘Over-reliance’ on AI risks ‘destroying credibility’ of the influencer industry, says Komodo’s Freddie Strange

Blue Ant Media launches latest factual channel Declassified FAST on Vizio WatchFree+ in the US

Urmila Venugopalan named MPA APAC president as Belinda Lui steps down after five years

Disney to become majority owner of Fubo through Hulu + Live TV merger 

Steve Morrison honoured with CBE

Agnese Štrause-Kubliņa becomes head of entertainment and documentary content at Latvia’s LTV

Amazon’s Prime Video acquires upcoming behind-the-scenes documentary following Melania Trump

Australia’s Nine Network adds M&A specialist Tim Longstaff to board and refinances debt after difficult 2024

Crackle’s former boss Philippe Guelton named president of Canela Media in drive for US and Lat Am expansion

YouTube, AI dominate factual execs’ new year predictions

New year, new priorities, trends and challenges – pt 2

Australia’s Screen NSW supports new wave of TV and feature projects with latest development fund

BBC acquires 10-part Tom Hanks-narrated nature documentary series The Americas

Ex-Disney Lat Am alum Hernán Estrada named global general manager at Latcom Worldcom OOH

BBC orders new fly-on-the-wall reality docuseries following Stacey Solomon, Joe Swash blended family

Fury in Canada as it emerges embattled Corus paid millions in bonuses to senior execs amid staff cuts

New year, new priorities, trends and challenges – pt 1

Champions: Full Gallop returns for a second season

ABC deputy chair Peter Tonagh resigns from board of public broadcaster 18 months before term ends

Boat Rocker buys up remaining 30% of Canuck Amazing Race outfit Insight Productions for $5.5m

CBC/Radio-Canada’s Catherine Tait bids adieu after six whirlwind years 

Kathleen Finch, WBD and cable TV are entering new chapters 

Pact among UK organisations calling for copyright protections in AI consultation

Channel 4 commissions Nelson Mandela documentary from Rogan, GroupM

C21’s most read stories of 2024

Former Passion Distribution exec Tom Burton resurfaces at Hearst Networks EMEA

Netflix serves up Rafael Nadal, Southeastern Conference docuseries as sports offer grows

UKTV goes prospecting for documentaries in Australia with Prospero Productions

Rare TV to appoint new CEO in 2025 as Alexander Gardiner steps down

Aussie commercial broadcasters get pre-election tax boost from government

AI content licensing outfit Calliope Networks snapped up by New York newbie Protege

C21/New Forest’s survey on AI in production reveals industry concerns, optimism

UK government proposes letting tech giants use copyrighted work to train AI

Netflix orders three-part docuseries on Mike Tyson’s rise as the ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’

Cesar Millan’s Dog Whisperer chases FAST market with dedicated channel via Cineverse and Samsung

HITN takes slew of Curiosity docs

E.W. Scripps hires A+E Networks’ Adam Harman to lead programming strategy

Australian prodco Beyond hires long-time collaborator Paul Clarke as exec producer

EXCLUSIVE: OpenAI’s Chad Nelson on how Sora will supercharge creativity

Eccho Rights co-founder Fredrik af Malmborg returns with AI dubbing start-up, hires former Endemol Shine, Kanal D execs

PBS puts Lineup Industries’ Long Lost Family at centre of new genealogy FAST channel

Luigi Mangione set to be subject of three documentaries following murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

Paramount-owned Network 10 snaps up Southern Cross Austereo regional TV stations

Australian pubcaster ABC appoints former Nine boss Hugh Marks as new MD

UK industry figures lament closure of iconic prodco 12 Yard by ITV Studios

Australia’s multi-cultural broadcaster SBS appoints Nicholas Pappas to board

Mastiff Norway appoints new leadership duo ahead of Jostein Olseng departure

Former RTL exec Henning Tewes named CEO of Antenna Group as Linda Jensen exits

Canada’s production sector caught in ‘perfect storm’ says outgoing CBC boss Catherine Tait  

Congress puts future of factual in the spotlight

ITV strengthens ties with YouTube by allowing full episodes to be streamed, sets up dedicated sales team

Netflix, Roku and SBS share the gift of festive classic Last Christmas by acquiring BBC Wham doc

ZDF Studios ventures into The Forest and Hanging Gardens to shop copro titles from Global Doc initiative

Warner Bros Discovery stock leaps 15% after restructure news as investors cheer dealmaking opportunities

Buzzfeed sells Hot Ones studio First We Feast to investor group including host Sean Evans for $82.5m

TVNZ continues reshuffling executive team with Brent McAnulty made acting news and content chief

Augusto Rovegno, Vincenzo Gratteri and Jorge Balleste leave Lat Am streamer ViX in wave of lay-offs

Warner Bros Discovery to split linear arm from studios and streaming under corporate restructure

Fremantle signs extended five-year agreement with chef and campaigner Jamie Oliver

Less than half of Australians watch linear TV as streaming hits tipping point

West Australia screen agency Screenwest handed $6.8m in annual funding from state lottery

Apple Original Films announces disability-themed doc feature Deaf President Now!

BBC docuseries 7/7: The London Bombings to tell story of 2005 terrorist attack

Digital platforms in Australia face being forced to pay for local news content under updated regulations

ITV Studios teams with Roku for FAST launches

Erik Barmack’s Wild Sheep Content to produce fiction series set around Latin American football team

Senior sales exec Tom Burton bound for new role after leaving Drag Race sales house Passion Distribution

ZDF Studios ready to shop Hitler’s Entourage

News Corp edges closer to Foxtel deal with Len Blavatnik-backed sports streamer DAZN

ITV tops up Gary Barlow’s Wine Tour

V10 sets up division to license library of 2.3 million user-generated content clips 

Canadian prodco Frantic Films moves into North American FAST market with financial advice channel My Money

Ted Sarandos rejects idea Trump-fuelled M&A wave could shake up media landscape and boost Netflix’s rivals

Vivendi shareholders vote to split up French media giant, with Canal+ to list on London Stock Exchange

Sky, Warner Bros Discovery extend long-term partnership, settle lawsuit over rights

Blue Ant Studios and WildBear greenlight 18 hours of factual series through new co-funding partnership

C5 spends Christmas at Four Seasons with Plum Pictures

WBD Spain, Radio-Canada among buyers of Ramses the Great: King of Ancient Egypt

Pubcaster TVNZ promotes Nicola van der Meijden to newly created role of content director in restructure

OpenAI’s Sora Turbo given wide release as industry braces for impact of revolutionary text-to-video tech

Buyers take premium science titles dealing with AI, carbon and bats from TVF Int’l

Tyler Perry Studios president Steve Mensch killed in Florida plane crash  

A&E, WWE wrestle with expanded partnership, launch new in-ring competition

Silverback Films’ Keith Scholey: AI video will soon rival blue-chip natural history shoots

SBS claims to have raised the bar on inclusion, equity with landmark guidelines

Channel 4 orders Wonderhood docuseries on Michael Jackson ‘trial of the century’

Chinese platform TikTok still facing US ban after court rejects appeal

Old and new meet at Content London as industry weighs AI’s threats and opportunities

Your complete round-up of coverage from Content London 2024

WBD’s Max ‘covered’ for UK launch in ‘26 without need for local slate, says Casey Bloys

ID preps Aaron Hernandez special as Sarlanis goes ‘toe-to-toe’ with streamers in true crime

CBS preps Extraordinary World with Jeff Corwin

Don’t be too locally authentic if you want a show to travel, warns Fremantle’s Richter

WBD’s Oflaz reveals Max will be rolled out in Turkey next year to replace BluTV

Next version of OpenAI’s Sora coming ‘very soon’ with potential to upend film, TV

Tin Roof Media launches distribution label, appoints Alice Bennett-Leyh

Amazon MGM Studios’ Anderson highlights brand opportunities in unscripted

Channel 4 seeks digital-first content for Channel 4.0 on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram

Media MDs’ Lawrence: commissioners who axe diverse shows acting ‘like dinosaurs’

Little Dot Studios to increase focus on History Hit video podcasts for YouTube

Sony’s Eli Holzman reveals unscripted renewals rising as US buyers shun new ideas

Borgerhoff & Lamberigts takes stake in Tom De Baerdemaeker’s new indie

Prodcos have a place in the new creator economy, says BBC Studios’ O’Donnell

Sky on the hunt for more returnable tentpole dramas and access-led factual

Propagate’s Silverman reveals plans to invest and develop in ‘exploding’ doc space

Seven.One, Edel Motion nab On the Case  

Take a leaf from Taylor Swift’s book, Sir John Hegarty tells Content London

US nets no longer ‘printing money’ but cable remains ‘healthy’, says WBD’s Finch

Blue Ant promotes Nick Solowski to sales VP

Quintus Studios to ramp up commissioning, Content London delegates told

Netflix highlights spending $6.8bn on European content between 2020 and 2023

Up to 30% of social content will be AI-generated in 2025, says Adam Cunningham  

Ampere forecasts global commissioning slump will ‘bottom out’ and stabilise in 2025

UK streamer Freely boosts content offering with four new partnership deals

Banijay, Sparknews launch unscripted version of ESG guide Screens of Tomorrow

BossaNova adds Revolutionary Leader doc Bobby, Danny & Atlanta Tim to slate

Seven partners with Keshet, Woodcut to launch true crime FAST channel down under

Canada-UK panel highlights opportunity for more copros, consider Trump’s impact

Former YouTube exec Lindsay Doyle to lead public policy for Netflix Canada

Baby Reindeer wins drama category at Rose d’Ors as Netflix takes trio of prizes

ABC Commercial partners tech outfit Amagi as it eyes FAST channel expansion

Love Nature and Sky Nature take flight with Keeley Hawes-narrated Airborne

Gangs of London producer Thomas Benski unveils transatlantic media, VC outfit Lumina

Canadian news outlets sue OpenAI claiming damages of $14k per ‘scraped’ article

True crime and the importance of duty of care

UK industry hangout The Groucho Club closes as police investigate alleged ‘serious crime’ 

Broadcaster Sky, Louis Theroux’s Mindhouse step up to the oche for darts doc

Sky History, Stan to debut doc feature The Tattooist’s Son: Journey to Auschwitz

Australia’s Nine overhauls code of conduct following toxic workplace culture review

PBS digs into archaeological mystery with Zed doc The Lost Tombs of Notre-Dame

ABC chair Williams calls for more ‘fuel’ to win back ‘unsurpassed storytelling mantle’

BBC Scotland docuseries to revisit The Firm

British TV exports fall and copro market slumps due to US market turbulence, Pact survey reveals

Discovery Asia, SBS, Foxtel, Knowledge Network shop at Harbour Rights

ZDF Studios gets into holiday spirit with WildBear docuseries How We Celebrate

WBD faces class-action lawsuit from investors over ‘misleading’ NBA rights claims

The price of success in the creator economy

STV Studios delivers growth despite ‘challenges’ as STV Group unveils Q3 results

Production house Tinopolis Group promotes Jennifer Roberts to CEO

Sky Documentaries commissions original feature doc Becoming Madonna

SPA calls for industry-wide overhaul as content development faces ‘crisis point’

Critics in France warn that the impending London flotation of Canal+ could be a flop

C4 commissions Wonderhood Studios’ factual series on the Salisbury poisonings

UK broadcaster ITV’s shares jump by 10% amid reports of takeover interest

US platform DirecTV axes deal to buy Dish due to bondholder opposition

NZ on Air supports drama, documentaries and kids TV in latest funding round

Netflix stock hits a high after Tyson-Paul fight, WBD, Paramount, Disney shares also climb

BBC Two unpacks Florida with Alison Hammond travelogue

Finland’s YLE could cut over 300 jobs in bid to slash budget by $69m

Europe’s lurch to right puts pubcasters in peril

Prime Video confirms Molly-Mae reality series for January

Broadcaster VoD audience numbers lag behind Netflix in the UK, data reveals

Smartphones set to overtake TV in sports content consumption, IMG report claims

Wedotv to tell True Stories on new channel

2025 slate from Australia’s ABC led by kids, drama and comedy commissions

MP Caroline Dinenage calls for UK industry to stamp out bullying and elitism

Dirk Hoogstra among five to exit as Lionsgate Alternative TV trims headcount

Tom Hiddleston Pompeii project, Princess Diana doc lead Nat Geo factual slate

Quintus Studios launches original doc series Drug Wars

AMC Networks Int’l Southern Europe, Spain’s TV3 shop for factual at Off the Fence

LA-based prodco Ventureland appoints producer Dan Janvey as head of film

Comcast poised to confirm cablenet spin-off, Mark Lazarus to lead new company  

Apple TV+ orders fully authorised Fleetwood Mac doc directed by Frank Marshall

C4 takes a festive journey on An Alpine Train

Sky extends partnership with Amazon’s Prime Video

Max launches in South-east Asia as WBD extends platform’s global footprint

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