Despite a US writers’ strike and the economic headwinds facing the industry, Sony Pictures Television will be at the LA Screenings with a full slate of content, done deals and plans to monetise video game IP.
Mark Young
Beyond the glitz, glamour, palm trees and sunshine, it would be fair to say that this year’s LA Screenings and Content LA events will play out to a rather surreal backdrop of industry turmoil.
As buyers from across the world travel to southern California to view all the major US studios’ shiny new shows, delegates will be confronted with the sobering spectacle of the on-going US writers’ strike.
Protesters from the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have been picketing various LA locations, such as Disney’s headquarters in Burbank, Paramount’s Melrose Avenue gate, Amazon’s Culver Studios and Fox and Sony’s lots in Culver City.
If, as expected, the placard-waving and chanting continues during this week’s international television markets, studio bosses will be attempting to shop the very projects the protesters themselves helped to create.
It’s a regrettable situation and many within the industry have expressed sympathy and solidarity with WGA members. However, as is always the case within the entertainment industry, the show must go on.
Mark Young, Sony Pictures Television’s exec VP of distribution and networks for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), is one of many executives visiting LA this week who hopes the dispute can be settled swiftly to everyone’s satisfaction.
“I hope there is a smooth resolution and that happens as soon as possible,” he says. “The last US writers’ strike in 2007/08 ended relatively quickly and let’s hope this one follows the same path.
“I personally handle EMEA business for Sony, so the strike is outside of my area and I can’t really comment too much. LA Screenings is a huge event for us and the whole industry, and we’ve got a lot of brilliant, finished content already in the can to sell to the hundreds of clients who’ll be coming to see us.”
Eleventh Hour Films’ thriller The Killing Kind for Paramount+ UK
Young distributes programming from SPT’s vast catalogue of TV and films. Scripted offerings include hit medical drama The Good Doctor, action series S.W.A.T., missing persons thriller Alert and crime drama Accused, to name but a few.
SPT parent Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)’s movie library, meanwhile, includes blockbuster IP such as the Spider-Man, Ghostbusters, Men in Black, Jumanji, Bad Boys and Hotel Transylvania films.
With production grinding to a halt on scripted projects in the US due to the strike, does Young believe it is now a seller’s market, with distributors able to provide the content US broadcasters and platforms need?
“That’s been happening for us at Sony anyway,” the London-based exec says. “We’ve announced some deals in the last week and there’ll be a couple more confirmed very soon. Our commissioning partners span all the streamers and many of the linear broadcasters in the US and beyond. They all come to us for the many thousands of hours of diverse TV and film content we can sell.”
The deals SPT has confirmed in the run-up to the LA Screenings and Content LA seem to support that claim. Last Tuesday, C21 reported that it had extended its content agreements with Warner Bros Discovery for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The move means Sony feature films and TV series, such as dark comedy Lucky Hank, will be shown exclusively on HBO and its streamer, HBO Max, in the region.
Just a couple of days later, SPE extended its carriage agreement with AXN Channels and AXN Now, both owned by SPT. Furthermore, Sony renewed its first-window TV series and film agreement with Spanish subscription TV platform Movistar Plus+.
“There’ll be a couple more announcements in the coming weeks, but I won’t reveal any spoilers,” says Young. “All of the deals that we are renewing at the moment are very competitive.
“Partnerships are at the forefront of our mind here at Sony. We pride ourselves on getting the right deal outcome with the right partners, then working with them to accelerate and activate the product.
“Rights and windowing are fundamental parts to every negotiation. Our clients are looking for the rights and sometimes exclusivity they need to service their platforms and customers. We’re working market-by-market in different ways to give clients what they want.”
Action-comedy Twisted Metal is based on a PlayStation game
SPT creates, develops and produces programming outside of the US for both local and global audiences. It boasts a portfolio of wholly owned and joint-venture prodcos that operate in Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific.
This includes labels such as Wales-based Bad Wolf (Industry, His Dark Materials), London’s Left Bank Pictures (The Crown, Outlander) and France’s Satisfaction Group (District Z, Les Touristes).
Young says Sony has plans to expand further into the coproduction space in the coming months and years.
“This is an interesting and positive area that we’re looking to develop more with our partners around the world,” he says. “We want to explore copros, pre-buys and other models so that partners can be brought into the creative process earlier with great IP. Their involvement and influence can help bring projects to fruition.”
On the distribution side of the business, Sony arrived in LA with a slate of finished content and shows currently in production, which will be teased to buyers.
Highlights of the roster include The Winter King, a 10×60’ drama coproduced by Bad Wolf and One Big Picture for UK streamer ITVX, based on the Arthurian book trilogy by Bernard Cornwell, and 6×60’ thriller The Killing Kind, made by Eleventh Hour Films for Paramount+ UK.
Sony will also shop Ten Pound Poms (6×60’), a drama about Brits seeking a new life in Australia during the 1950s, made by Eleven Films for the BBC and Aussie streamer Stan, plus action-comedy Twisted Metal (10×30’), coproduced by SPT, PlayStation Productions and Universal Television for Peacock in the US.
The latter title is notable because – like 2022 Sony movie Uncharted and upcoming film Gran Turismo – it is inspired by a video game franchise for the Sony-owned PlayStation console.
“It’s a fascinating space for us because of our relationship with our sister company at PlayStation,” says Young, who joined Sony in 2008, initially as sales director for CEE and the Middle East.
Period drama Ten Pound Poms for the BBC and Stan
“We’ve had a lot of success with PlayStation IP and we’ll continue to work with that team to bring these properties to life for TV and feature films. Obviously, we participated in The Last of Us, which was also based on PlayStation IP and was a huge success, and now we hope Twisted Metal will be the next one.
“These properties are, of course, beloved by millions of gamers, but if you want to appeal to wider audiences who don’t necessarily recognise the IP, the content has to be brilliant enough to stand on its own two feet as a TV property.”
With Twisted Metal set to land on US streamer Peacock, Sony is keen to continue selling its content to a VoD market currently in a state of flux, with subscriber numbers down, commissioning budgets slashed and streamers looking to return to third-party licensing to boost revenues.
A couple of years ago, Sony took the strategic decision to focus on being an independent studio, working with as many broadcasters and platforms as it could, as well as embracing the emerging AVoD and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) markets.
“It’s really important for us to have as wide a customer base as possible,” says Young. “As vertical integration continues at the studios and streamers, we’ve found clients coming to us knowing what they can get.
“We made shows such as The Night Agent for Netflix and The Last of Us for HBO, plus there are new platforms launching all the time, as well as existing partners diversifying their services with AVoD streamers and FAST channels.
“At Sony, we’re very happy with our strategy and continue to compete, sell and work with everyone.”
