In search of superbrands with Banijay’s Lucas Green
Banijay’s Lucas Green discusses creating new format superbrands and streamer-friendly shows and how AI could be a game-changer in unscripted.
For Lucas Green, Banijay Entertainment’s chief content officer, operations, the European production giant’s entertainment portfolio is in rude health.
Lucas Green
2024 proved a resounding success, with titles such as Good Luck Guys, Banged Up and The Summit among the new IP currently being licensed around the world.
Green jointly leads the Creative Networks division at Banijay, overseeing the group’s existing formats and so-called ‘superbrands,’ such as MasterChef, Survivor and Big Brother. He promotes production best practice in returning formats and reboots, setting the global strategy for premium content and priority titles, encouraging roll-out, reinvention and spin-offs.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Green is keen to champion the importance of introducing new concepts as a way of keeping heritage formats on their toes and hopefully creating the new superbrands of tomorrow.
“It takes so much work these days to launch a new brand, right from development to the pitching process, then making sure they’re produced really well, to budget, delivering a good margin and doing the right job for our clients and their viewers. Then – if you’re really lucky – you might have a chance of creating an international hit, but you have to do a lot of work just to even scratch the surface,” he says.
“When Banijay acquired Endemol Shine Group [for US$2.2bn in 2020], there was a conscious decision to spend more of our creative funds on creating a pipeline of fresh formats to complement our huge catalogue. We have superstars like Big Brother and MasterChef, but tastes change, so which formats will be among the next generation of superbrands? To use a football analogy, it’s great to have tentpole, marquee signings like Cristiano Ronaldo, but you need youth players to help them.”
Banged Up is currently being licensed around the world
Over the past 12 months, Banijay has rebooted several golden oldies, such as Survivor UK (Remarkable Entertainment for BBC One) and Big Brother (Initial for ITV), while spinning off Deal or No Deal Island (Endemol Shine North America for NBC).
“Sometimes reboots are a bit of a dirty word,” says Green, a former Fremantle executive. “However, they’re a very underestimated creative commodity in this business. These shows have a lot of wriggle room, which allows us to play around and make them feel fresh. We pride ourselves on the health of our superbrands. Why would anyone want to kill off a successful heritage brand that people know and marketeers can get behind?”
The Summit was a huge hit for Banijay
With many broadcasters now pivoting towards a digital-first future, Banijay increasingly finds itself developing formats that can work for BVoD platforms and global streamers. Examples of this include Building the Band for Netflix and Good Luck Guys, which has been picked up for local-language adaptations by Prime Video and Germany’s Joyn.
“A lot of linear broadcasters are catching up and developing sophisticated streaming platforms. They’re not thinking about traditional Saturday primetime slots anymore,” says Green. “The natural consequence of that is structuring shows for people who might binge-watch five episodes back-to-back, so you need a story arc with lots of chapters and bombshells to keep them watching.”
Green is also convinced AI tech can be a game-changer in unscripted.
“There’s no doubt that AI can allow us to bring down production costs and instead put that money on the screen,” he says. “Traditionally, things like subtitling are hugely expensive, but AI tools can help with that as well as better logging, speech, automation and creating better disability aids for people who are hard of hearing.
“There is a fear and anxiety among some that AI might just create homogenous ideas that are similar to ones from the past, but let’s see. I’m sure it can improve.”
