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C21 DIGITAL SCREENINGS

Theme Festival - International Drama

Programming Profile

Distributors go hunting for spies and commit to armchair crime

21-11-2022

International distributors reveal what’s coming down the production pipeline as espionage and ‘cosy crime’ series attract the attention of buyers worldwide – to the detriment of period drama and comedy.

 

Predicting television trends can be as tricky as forecasting fashion fads on the catwalks of Milan or guessing this weekend’s winning lottery numbers.

 

In a dynamic, progressive and constantly evolving industry, the winds of change can shift radically at any moment, driven by the vagaries of audience demand, global economics and market research metrics.

 

However, by talking to the distributors who sell content to major networks and streaming platforms, we can piece together an informed picture of the kind of drama that is selling – or not, as the case may be – in this ultra-competitive market.

 

One area of scripted that buyers are particularly interested in is spy thrillers. Recent hits such as Slow Horses on Apple TV+, starring Gary Oldman, and the BBC’s Killing Eve, with Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, have driven viewer appetite for more shows set in the shadowy world of international espionage.

 

“People cannot seem to get enough of spy thrillers,” says Keren Shahar, chief operating officer and president of distribution at Israel-based Keshet International, which this year produced the Uma Thurman-starring Suspicion for Apple TV+. “Espionage is a very enticing world for audiences; there is plenty of action and the stories being told are so smart they really get you hooked in.”

 

Indeed, the trend for secret agent and closely associated counter-terrorism thrillers shows no signs of abating. Right now, HBO and UK commercial broadcaster ITV are going head-to-head to see who will deliver the definitive drama about the real-life poisoning and murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. HBO’s version, Londongrad, features Benedict Cumberbatch, while ITV has cast David Tennant in its four-parter, Litvinenko.

 

Suspicion
Suspicion

“The spy/action/thriller space is hugely popular right now,” says Jimmy George, VP of sales and acquisition at Mumbai-based GoQuest Media. “Within this genre we’ve sold our own such series – Serbian secret service drama Civil Servant and Traitor from Estonia – in many territories. These shows are just very exciting and people all round the world are fascinated by the stories being told.”

 

At the opposite end of the spectrum, networks and streamers are also crying out for scripted content with a strong feel-good factor, especially given events in the news right now.

 

“Safer armchair viewing is big at the moment,” says Nicky Davis Williams, CEO of UK distributor DCD Rights. “We’ve got an Australian drama/romance series called Love Me, which is very kind in tone and is doing incredibly well for us.

 

“What I’d call ‘cosy crime’ is another very popular genre – things like the BBC’s Death in Paradise and My Life is Murder, starring Lucy Lawless. They may be crime-of-the-week procedurals in one sense, but there’s no blood or violence so it’s much safer territory.

 

Civil Servant
Civil Servant

“Dramatised true crime is moving fast too. Adaptations of high-profile real-life crime has great promotional opportunities for broadcasters and can result in real watercooler TV – that real ‘wow factor’ that can help a drama stand head-and-shoulders above the rest.”

 

Although buyers are always on the lookout for genre-specific scripted content to target key demographics, producers should not be afraid of developing potentially game-changing IP that defies easy categorisation or prevailing fashion.

 

“I feel an appetite for fascinating and untold stories, for untapped IP and horizontal storytelling in the future,” says Marcus Ammon, MD of content at Bavaria Fiction, the Munich-based production and distribution company. “Both public broadcasters and streamers are very open-minded when it comes to the format.

 

“When developing new projects, we naturally think of younger audiences and digital outlets. Ideas conceived exclusively for linear platforms are no longer commissioned.”

 

While demand for spy thrillers, true crime, romance and light domestic dramas might be booming, other less-popular genres are fast losing traction.

 

Traitor
Traitor

“For a while now, buyers have been telling me ‘no period dramas,’” says Keshet’s Shahar. “The appetite is for more modern and contemporary subject matter – so fewer historical or costume-based shows.”

 

“We’ve found readymade comedy difficult to license,” adds GoQuest’s George. “That has to do with the nature of humour – comedy has to be a very strong premise-driven format, otherwise what’s funny in one territory may not translate so well to other regions of the world.”

 

The last couple of years have seen the streaming giants ringfence their Hollywood content. Disney+, for example, markets itself largely on its exclusive rights to Mouse House, Star Wars and Marvel films; while HBO Max lays claim to more than 140 movies, TV and animated shows from the DC Universe.

 

However, industry veterans say there is no need for producers to feel intimidated by the dominance of blockbuster franchises on major SVoDs. Instead, content creators should double down on their own boutique productions, which offer the kind of unique localised drama that viewers increasingly crave as an alternative.

 

“Streamers have an enormous thirst for content and they’ve been very good at putting people in local offices,” says DCD’s Davis Williams. “Those offices recognise the need for local programming, so there are opportunities there.”

 

Love Me
Loved Me

“Budgets that used to be raised for the acquisition of content from Hollywood had to be re-allocated and local production has benefitted from that development,” agrees Bavaria Fiction’s Ammon. “Not being part of a big Hollywood player, Netflix has reacted early and successfully invested in local productions that have shined globally, such as Squid Game and Money Heist.”

 

Certainly, there are seams of TV gold to be mined across the globe, with the emergence of Nordic noir such as The Killing and The Bridge a decade ago, followed by Turkish series and later K-dramas such as Squid Game, All of Us Are Dead and Extraordinary Attorney Woo.

 

So which territories will stake their claim to be the next go-to destination for scripted?

 

“Poland is definitely a country to look out for,” says Shahar. “The production values of their shows are amazing and we’re starting to see more Polish drama pop up on streamers. South Africa is also hot, with so many rich stories being told from that territory.”

 

“I would definitely agree with Poland,” adds George. “I also see Portugal and Greece coming out with some really interesting stuff in the future.

 

Death in Paradise
Death in Paradise

“Generally speaking, the growing popularity of non-English-language drama is just fabulous. What we are seeing now is audiences who are very agnostic about where a drama comes from. They’re much more interested in what the story is saying and how deep rooted the narrative is.

 

“At GoQuest, we’ve sold shows made in Estonia to Japan and Serbian drama to India. When did you ever think that would happen? So I strongly feel that the industry is truly globalised in that sense.”

 

It goes without saying that even the best scripts in the world can be difficult to get off the ground without the necessary level of finance in place, married to a sound sales strategy. The industry buzz from Mipcom last month was that coproductions are back in a major way, especially as inflation means production budgets are soaring.

 

“There’s a growing openness for collaboration,” says Ammon. “The current economic situation is driving all of us to join forces and constantly search for efficient partnerships. Copros obviously help to finance high-end content.”

 

With the stakes higher than ever, one emerging trend is that producers may have to surrender some editorial control to the distributors that have invested in their projects. “It all comes down to the economy of the deal,” explains Davis Williams. “If distributors are contributing more financially, it gives us more of a voice at the table – without being too overbearing.

 

“If producers want to own the back-end of their shows and sell their programming successfully, international market intelligence is increasingly important to them. As distributors, we can advise on whether, for example, casting a certain actor or a slight tweak to the storyline can have a big impact on the project’s success.”

 

My Life is Murder
My Life is Murder

“Distributors can bring their expertise of the international markets from day one of development,” adds George. “When you’ve got skin in the game, that kind of understanding can really help.”

 

Despite a somewhat gloomy forecast for the global economy in 2023, the television industry would appear to be encouragingly resilient. Certainly, with more streaming platforms launching every month, it could be argued that the demand for content has never been higher.

 

Some fear that tighter purse strings could lead to broadcasters slashing their budgets for scripted and instead turning to cheaper reality and gameshow formats, though plenty of others are optimistic that drama will weather the storm and come out fighting.

 

“Drama shows are still driving subscribers to streaming platforms and retaining them, so the demand for high-quality scripted is not going away any time soon,” says Shahar.