Patrick Nebout, CEO of Sweden’s Dramanation and a drama veteran with credits including Cannes Confidential and Whiskey on the Rocks, gives his take on how YouTube and AI will change the scripted content business in 2025, as he looks ahead to a year of further disruption.
Patrick Nebout
What were the biggest changes in the international TV business in 2024?
The biggest changes that took place last year saw traditional commercial TV channels facing an existential crisis and racing against the clock to shift to ‘platformisation’ before it’s too late. There was also further and exponential AI disruption with still many unknowns on how profoundly it’s going to impact the industry overall. We also saw return to a more rational market situation and more sober approach to scripted content after years of spending frenzy by the global streamers.
With younger viewers straying to YouTube and elsewhere, what does TV need to do to remain relevant?
That’s the million-dollar question. But I don’t think younger viewers will ever come back to TV. My kids’ number one screen is YouTube, before any other platform. Even if they watch a documentary from a traditional broadcaster, or a podcast, they’ll watch it on YouTube. As a medium, traditional TV is no longer relevant to kids, and neither is it to a massive number of young adults. TV is a slowly dying dinosaur. The only way forward for TV channels is to embrace platformisation – or at the very least, to actively intensify and diversify their presence on YouTube, TikTok and elsewhere in order to reach the younger audience.
The Duplass Brothers’ self-financed Netflix show Penelope
What will be the biggest challenges and opportunities for the industry in 2025?
I can mainly speak from the scripted production side of the industry, as that’s my home turf. The biggest challenge is to find creative new models to secure financing for a continued flow of compelling drama, in an environment where broadcasters and streamers are investing less but still expect premium production values.
But at the same time it’s an opportunity for the producers who are able to develop travelable drama and engineer the financing from various sources. As most streamers review their investment strategies, shifting away from fully financing and fully owning all content and leaning towards licensing, pre-buys and coproductions, it allows producers to retain control over IP in a much bigger way than just a few years ago.
What are you doing to ensure your company thrives in the new content economy?
The new content economy is a vague concept. We’re diversifying the types of projects we develop and produce, and we’re diversifying the funding sources. We don’t need to necessarily fully own all our projects, we’ll co-develop and coproduce with other partners, such as studios or other indie producers. Coproductions and pre-sales have been common practice in the Nordic region and in some other European countries for a while, but now it’s also something the American market is opening to and slowly embracing.
On the creative and editorial side, we continue to develop and produce what has become our signature, which are commercially viable, outside-the-box premium projects that cut through the noise, no matter the genre. We need to fall in love with the characters and stories we produce, and we need to be entertained by them. That’s a crucial aspect of how we run our business. That’s our philosophy.
There will always be space for bigger-than-life and epic stories, as long as they feel authentic. No matter the format or genre; no matter the media, whether it’s theatrical, TV or streaming platforms. In general, producers and creators have a stronger position in the new market situation. It’s still a risky industry, it’s tough, but now the return on investment potential is also much greater. Last but not least, we are also being very serious about travelable low-budget (and even micro-budget) high-concept genre movies and series, and for that we are engaging with the next generation of talent, crews and creators present on… YouTube!
Cineverse turned low-budget Terrifier 3 into a massive hit
What’s your one big prediction for the industry in 2025?
One word (or is it three?): B2C. It’s really where things are going to happen. Traditional gatekeepers – such as agents, studios, distributors, broadcasters and now global streamers to some extent – are gradually losing their central role in engaging with the audiences. Especially within niches that are big on a global scale. This opens things up for targeted and smart models.
Cineverse did an amazing job and has built a fascinating case with how they turned low-budget Terrifier 3 into a massive hit, using a whole B2C ecosystem of marketing tools and fanbase platforms. The Duplass Brothers’ self-financed Netflix show Penelope and this is another exciting foray in that direction. Nicely Entertainment, an indie US distributor specialised in romcoms and Christmas movies, is now also self-financing many of its movies and thereby securing full IP ownership and also has a B2C strategy through its own YouTube channel with millions of views. You’re going to see more companies and private equity funds financing shows without networks, streamers or distributors attached. That’s the future.
What are your thoughts on AI and its implementation in the TV ecosystem?
AI is an incredibly efficient assistant when properly used as an integrated tool during specific stages of the development, production and post-production process. It’s a great tool for storyboarding and as an analytical tool during scriptwriting. Another great example is the implementation of AI in the budgeting and production finance control system. It will optimise script-breakdown to budget, and during production it will guarantee a much more transparent reporting and control process.
We just need to learn how to use it in a controlled manner. Obviously, the legal framework needs to be worked in order to better protect copyrights, and I’m quite confident it will as we go. But to bluntly resist and dismiss AI across the board? That won’t work. We just need to learn to harness it.
