ITV Studios-owned Australian prodco Lingo Pictures plans to expand its international footprint by protecting antipodean IP from big-spending US studios.
Australian comedy-drama Upright stars Tim Minchin and Milly Alcock
ITV Studios (ITVS) bought a majority stake in Lingo Pictures last November, making it the first scripted prodco from Australia to be acquired by the production and distribution arm of ITV. Now the company has revealed its newly scaled-up content strategy, which includes literary adaptions.
Recent years have seen US networks and streamers get out their chequebooks to acquire the rights to bestselling novels by Australian authors, including Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers and The Husband’s Secret.
However, Lingo now aims to develop Aussie literary IP in its native land and bring local stories to global audiences.
“We do feel a little protective of our territory; we’re often fighting off American producers for the rights to Australian books,” says Jason Stephens, creative director and co-owner of Lingo Pictures. “Aussie authors can get a bit dazzled by the US market, as American studios have book scouts operating around the world and they’ve focused on Australia in recent years.”
Lingo MD Helen Bowden previously founded Matchbox Pictures, where she developed award-winning 2011 drama The Slap, based on a novel by Australian Christos Tsiolkas, for ABC1.
At Lingo, she has overseen production of psychological thriller The Secrets She Keeps, inspired by New South Wales writer Michael Robotham’s 2017 novel, for Network 10. It was also the first Australian drama in 35 years to be given a primetime slot on the UK’s BBC One and was the fifth most watched drama on BBC iPlayer last year. A second season has been produced for Paramount+, BBC One and Sundance/AMC.
Jason Stephens and Helen Bowden
“We’ve done a lot of adaptations at Lingo and we have great relationships with writers like Michael Robotham,” says Bowden. “It’s one thing for authors to sell the rights to their novels to US companies, but that doesn’t mean it will actually go into production.
“It’s about getting a show made, so we’ll wait a while and then say to the author, ‘Hey, come to us, we’ll make it happen.’”
Lingo’s first two dramas delivered since joining ITVS are 8×30’ anthology series Erotic Stories, for SBS in Australia, and six-parter After the Party, for New Zealand’s TVNZ and ABC in Oz.
With ITVS now handling international distribution and injecting cash into the company, Lingo says it is able to “turbocharge” its production output.
“Coming into the ITV Studios family allows Lingo Pictures to flex its muscles and continue making high-end Australian drama that will sell well internationally,” says Stephens.
Lingo currently has two shows in pre-production, an equal number in post-production and one shooting. Although coy about revealing too many details at this stage, one confirmed project is 8×60’ drama Prosper.
“It’s a rather large show for us, which starts shooting very soon, and we see it as being a returnable series,” says Stephens. “It’s a dynasty story set in Sydney about a family who run a successful mega-church.”
Network 10’s psychological thriller The Secrets She Keeps
Also on the slate for 2023 is Queen of Oz, a 6×30’ comedy coproduction with ABC and the BBC. Former Doctor Who actress Catherine Tate executive produces and stars as Princess Georgiana, a disgraced member of a fictional British royal family who is sent to live in Australia to keep her out of harm’s way.
Meanwhile, ABC has commissioned Lingo’s The Messenger, an eight-part drama adapted from Markus Zusak’s novel of the same name. It tells the story of a teenager who stops an armed robbery and becomes an accidental hero but begins to receive mysterious playing cards the following day, taking him on an unexpected journey.
With the second season of Aussie dramedy Upright, starring Tim Minchin and Milly Alcock, returning to European giant Sky and Fox Showcase down under recently, Lingo’s content is in high demand, both at home and away.
“Being part of ITVS will simplify our business a whole lot,” says Bowden. “It gives us more time to work on making the shows rather than signing up with individual distributors for each project. We’ll get rapid intel on what the market is doing and advice on how we can tweak content for it to perform better internationally.
“We can now turbocharge the company to make the best of the opportunities that are out there for Lingo.”
