Focus on factual in 2022 – pt2

THE YEAR AHEAD: Distributors BossaNova Media and Flame Distribution join producers Take Two Studios and CC-Lab in becoming the latest businesses to put their 2022 strategies, priorities and challenges under the microscope.

Fiona Gilroy, content sales and acquisitions director, Flame Distribution (Australia)

What content are you developing and producing that will define the next phase of your programme strategy?
We are very excited about several true crime series that will be coming into the catalogue in 2022 including the ABC commissioned 4-part series The Family Court Murders from Media Stockade. It takes a deep dive into the shocking events the occurred between 1980 and 1985 when four murders, two shootings and five bombings were carried out by one man, Leonard Warwick, sparked by a custody feud with his ex-wife. It seems the interest in true crime is still very strong and Flame has focused on securing more fascinating new crime series which will complete in 2022 and be available to offer to the market across the year.

What are your company’s plans, priorities and developments for 2022?
Our priority continues to work in partnership with producers to develop and fund content that resonates with audiences worldwide. We’ll see more collaboration on projects in 2022 and will look to get some of our own IP into production this year too.

What will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for the industry in 2022?
The pandemic is still a part of our lives, unfortunately, but we seem to have managed to find ways to work around the challenges it poses. We have a lot of archive-driven content that has moved into production despite Covid restrictions and, of course, a lot of content from Australian producers had carried on with little or any impact from the pandemic. We see the growth of FAST channels and other streaming services will continue to drive content demand and believe Flame is very well positioned to take advantage of these opportunities.

How do you predict the business will change in the next five years?
Hopefully the pandemic will fizzle out sooner rather than later and audiences will be looking for content that is more expansionary, with travel to far-flung places and exploration of global cultures taking centre stage. Our horizons have really reduced during the pandemic, so I think global exploration and all that encompasses will be a big focus for audiences as soon as that’s possible.

Lasse Koskinen, CEO and founding partner, Take Two Studios (Finland)

What content are you developing and producing that will define the next phase of your programme strategy?
Take Two Studios focuses on drama and documentary series with a glimpse of hope that appeals to international audiences. We are especially inspired by stories based on true events. Our development slate includes crime, drama, comedy and documentaries. To support our development slate, we are planning to launch a podcast network that will work as a test bench and IP creation vehicle for our TV series.

What are your company’s plans, priorities and developments for 2022?
As a young company founded by experienced industry players our first focus is to lock in the last bits in our first series for 2022 production while continuing to develop our strong 2023 production slate. In Take Two Studios’ first productions it is important for us to create a culture where the creative people thrive. We have tied up meaningful partnerships already, including with BBC Studios. More news on the partnership side is coming in the next 30 days.

What will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for the industry in 2022?
The demand for quality drama and documentary content is rising rapidly and content buyers are looking for reliable production partners that can produce high-quality content quickly. At the same time, distributors’ margins are much lower than a few years ago and streamers are challenging the old business models by acquiring all the IP, diminishing production companies’ backend. Also there is very tough competition for top screenwriters and other talent and production companies need to create closer tied with top creatives to be able to bring alive the stories they are developing. However, we see a lot of opportunities; we are thrilled to work in the new golden era of audiovisual storytelling. We are happy to begin our first full year with an excellent international team with US and European screenwriting talent.

How do you predict the business will change in the next five years?
The dominance of English-language content is continuing to decline and more international success stories will [come from the creation of] original content from non-English-language territories. We could well see the streamer market starting to consolidate. It is also interesting to see what will happen in the Blockchain and NFT space and what kind of opportunities that might bring to the industry.

Paul Heaney, founder and CEO, BossaNova Media (UK)

What content are you developing and producing that will define the next phase of your programme strategy?
We are planning across all genres, short-run and longer, and higher-volume and we are using our development days on January 11-12 to direct our content pipeline towards where we believe our buyers will want it. It certainly [will not be] just ‘more of the same’ but at the same time we can’t be innovative for the sake of it. There are still big audiences out there but we need to offer a proposition, content wise, that’s going to work with a nod to the next couple of years of further upheaval too.

Of the projects pitched last year, Secrets of The Lost Liners, Extreme Tow Truckers, Hindenberg – The Cover Up and Hidden Histories of WW2 all came through and are delivering soon. On the volume side, we have Caught On Dash Cam, now in its third season, with true crime served by Murder First on Scene.

What will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for the industry in 2022?
Challenges – making BossaNova’s size a benefit, displaying scale and share of voice which belies our actual size in the market right now. Keeping the quality high, not just of the content coming through but of the fantastic team that is now in place. How do we keep adding to that but make sure the team make-up is at a ridiculously high standard?

Opportunities – we are fast-moving, fleet-of-foot even. Let’s keep it that way. Being open-minded to the developments around us and able to make quick decisions with integrity is a big plus too.

Jason Hocking, managing director, CC-Lab (UK)

What content are you developing and producing that will define the next phase of your programme strategy?
CC-Lab will focus on developing more programme series ideas to compliment the large one-off live events and special music projects that the company has a strong reputation for producing. Currently in development is the second series of Live Reviva, which we produced in 2021 – a four-part documentary series shining a light on the plight of grassroots music venues across the country.

We will build on our track record of developing original formats for live events and factual entertainment that engage audiences with scale and ambition.

We plan to delve into our experience and relationships built on covering the biggest entertainment events, from The Isle of Wight Festival and MOBO Awards to Slimefest, as well as a key focus on live comedy with partners such as Altitude Comedy Festival.

We have several original feature documentaries in development that utilise the great access we have with record labels and talent agents across the entertainment, comedy and music industries. We will also continue to identify and negotiate access to big, stand-out live moments in the year, such as our recent collaboration with Sky Arts on Noel Gallagher: Out of The Now.

What are your company’s plans, priorities and developments for 2022?
We are committed to putting meaning and purpose into our work, as demonstrated through our partnerships with organisations such as Apprentice Nation, MOBO and Movember.

We will work hard to improve and take substantive action around diversity, equality and inclusion in the business. Also [we will try] to improve the way we do development so it’s more efficient, look at our programme strategy to ensure our slate is focused on our strengths and look to build relationships with new broadcasters.

What will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for the industry in 2022?
Covid will continue to be a challenge and threat to the business as the projects we largely produce rely on live music and audiences gathering freely.

The pandemic has led to labour and key crew shortages that defined some of our productions in 2021, particularly with production personnel. We expect this to continue to be a problem in 2022.

The opportunities are that the demand for premium content ideas with great access remains strong, both in the UK and internationally.

How do you predict the business will change in the next five years?
The next five years will see continuing change in the content landscape as broadcasters, digital platforms and content owners compete for a share of the market.

Innovation will continue in how content is distributed, smart-selected and recommended to audiences. This will also continue to change the way in which advertisers’ brands are placed in and around content with better targeting.