ABC Commercial
Karen Quinn of Australian distributor ABC Commercial says market forces and the US strikes have boosted worldwide demand for Australian programming and she is looking to reap the rewards in Cannes in October with a new slate of drama, unscripted, formats and children’s titles.
With a commissioning freeze in the US, Australian shows have been in high demand among international buyers over the past couple of years – and one of the key beneficiaries has been ABC Commercial, the commercial arm of public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
With 4,000 hours of programming across all genres, it is one of the biggest distributors of Australian content globally, working with many premier Australian producers to take local stories to international audiences.
ABC Commercial Manager of Content Sales Karen Quinn confirms that “the market for Aussie content has definitely changed and is continuing to broaden. Audiences for Australian scripted content are firmly global – as evidenced by the Netflix launches of comedy Fisk and drama Boy Swallows Universe. Factual and children’s content also continues to sell extremely well globally. We are seeing clients keen for dubbed content, which opens up opportunities into multiple markets and channels.”
The company’s upcoming Mipcom slate is a good indicator of the strength and depth of ABC Commercial’s slate, says Quinn. Key titles include drama series Ladies in Black (6×60’), factual format I Was Actually There, factual entertainment series Muster Dogs and preschool series Fizzy & Suds. There is also a social experiment series called Maggie Beer’s Big Mission, which tackles the high levels of neglect, social isolation and malnutrition experienced by elderly Australians living in aged care.
Looking first at scripted, Quinn says Ladies in Black will appeal to audiences “that love period programming, and characters with a lot of sass.” Explaining the backdrop to the series, she adds: “ABC Commercial’s relationship with the various ABC content teams remains a critical one. With Ladies in Black, we have been engaged on the project from the earliest development, coming in with production investment.”
In terms of the show’s appeal to buyers, Quinn says the show “performed very strongly for the ABC network at home, and we feel international audiences are going to respond to the mix of cross-generational characters and the fantastic story arc as five key characters embrace the new freedoms that came with the swinging 60s.”
Working with various production stakeholders, Quinn says: “The focus has been on securing internationally recognised talent or Australian talent investing in developing their careers internationally. Debi Mazar came on board the project early and is well known for series such as Younger, Entourage and Netflix’s fantasy series Kaos.”
The launch of Ladies in Black at Mipcom is part of a broader strategic push behind drama: “With the US strikes last year and other market forces, we have seen a slowing down of content being produced in some major English-language territories – and that has opened up opportunities for premium Australian scripted series,” says Quinn.
With a sweet spot based around comedy and family content, Quinn says: “Drama is a really significant revenue driver, as well as providing the opportunity to showcase the best Australian creatives and talent in the business. To that end, ABC Commercial has refocused its acquisition strategy towards premium Australian drama series – and, like many, we are keen on properties with known intellectual property.”
While a healthy slice of the ABC Commercial slate comes from within the ABC, Quinn stresses that “our relationship with Australian indies is also critical. For example, we have partnered with Bunya Productions, producer of Mystery Road, which has been seen on BBC4, Arte France, France TV, Acorn TV, ZDF and Sky NZ, among other broadcasters.”
Away from drama, Quinn is buoyant about the prospects for factual format I Was Actually There, from the creators of previous hit You Can’t Ask That!: “This is a bold new series from creator/director Kirk Docker, exploring events that shaped the nation through the eyes, ears and voices of those who witnessed them first-hand.”
Explaining why she thinks the show will sell, Quinn says it has performed well domestically and caused “a storm” of social media engagement: “Kirk is a very strong storyteller and has fine-tuned his skills over the last decade. He is an incredibly accomplished interviewer, drawing insights and anecdotes from his subjects that are sometimes intensely raw, sometimes funny, but always engaging. In a post-truth, AI-obsessed world, Docker’s approach to content-making is both rare and valuable.”
Quinn believes the show is perfectly suited to local adaptation because it is “high impact and budget friendly. In a risk-averse market, it requires a relatively small investment. It offers networks the opportunity to connect across the audience spectrum, tapping into the defining moments that shape a nation’s cultural psyche.”
Echoing ABC Commercial’s investment in drama, Quinn says I Was Actually There is part of a strategic investment around formats that has already paid off with the roll-out of You Can’t Ask That. “Including the original ABC version, You Can’t Ask That has now delivered 42 seasons across 12 countries in nine languages – including French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Dutch, Norwegian, Hebrew and Arabic – a testament to the power and flexibility of the format, now the ABC’s most successful ever.”
Another Mipcom highlight, Muster Dogs, also fits into the format drive. Now up to season three, the show focuses on a group of Australian graziers as they train their pups into essential working dogs for their land.
“On paper, some might find it hard to imagine that a factual entertainment show about farmers and their working dogs could get mainstream cut-through, but this is a huge brand for the ABC and there’s a lot of internal excitement about how big we can grow this heart-warming format. It has already been optioned for potential adaption in the US and the UK.”
Quinn also sees both tape sale and format potential for Maggie Beer’s Big Mission, which sets out to transform the dining experience at an aged care home – restoring health and joy to residents and carers. Quinn is convinced the show will have universal appeal because “it canvasses issues close to most of our hearts, with many people worldwide dealing with aging parents. It’s ambitious and achieves amazing outcomes.”
As a postscript on formats, Quinn notes that ABC Commercial’s strategy is not limited to adult non-scripted: “In scripted, the team is also in conversation with a German client for the format of Closer Production’s comedy-drama Aftertaste. In kids, ABC’s The Wonder Gang has been remade as Les Extra Curieux for France TV, while CBBC has commissioned a kids’ version of Catalyst competition format The Great Bee Challenge.”
As referenced above, children’s content is also a key component of ABC Commercial’s slate in Cannes. The headline title is season two of Fizzy & Suds (26×15’), in which two bubbly siblings embark on whimsical adventures. From gymnastics to demolition, penguins to noodles, their fascination sparks imaginative play and invites young viewers to join their exploration. Quinn says: “The show stands out because it was specifically developed to mirror the intense passions preschoolers experience. It deals beautifully with diversity and the importance of learning from each other.”
While ABC Commercial continues to make waves in the global content market, it is not immune to some of the seismic shifts taking place in the industry – such as commissioner cutbacks at the ABC last year. On this point, Quinn says: “We continue to work closely with the ABC content commissioning teams. But alongside this, building and maintaining relationships with independent production companies is a strong focus.”
A more universal trend is the growing importance of VoD with all its constituent parts: SVoD, AVoD, FAST, YouTube etc. In this arena, Quinn says: “While initially this space might have been seen as an opportunity to open revenue streams for deep back catalogue, we’re also seeing strong revenue flowing from recent release content. Our current focus is on a variety of platforms in the US.”
Karen Quinn, Manager of Content Sales at ABC Commercial, showcases the distributor’s slate for MipTV and discusses the new global demand for Australian programming.
As ABC Commercial prepares for MipTV, the sales arm of the Australian public broadcaster has come up with a diverse and eclectic slate that reflects the television renaissance the country has experienced over the past two years.
For Karen Quinn, the distributor’s Manager of Content Sales, offering the best of Australia’s stories to the rest of the world is a strong move. “Taking our award-winning Australian stories to global audiences is what we have been tasked to do and we are excited about the breadth of our multi-genre slate this year,” says Quinn.
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