Time to reset

Following an unprecedented year, C21 will be closed for a refit and reset between December 14 and January 4. Editor-in-chief & managing director David Jenkinson reflects on 2020 and looks ahead to 2021.

We will be taking an extended three-week holiday between December 14 and January 4 to allow staff to recharge their batteries and prepare for what we anticipate will be a year of positive change in 2021.

C21 pivoted well in 2020, enhancing and launching a raft of digital products that have helped redefine how shows are taken to market. C21Screenings was at the heart of this as the world’s leading content providers moved online to launch shows. But we also introduced other digital initiatives, from our new content industry radio station C21FM to a revised approach to event publishing with CONTENT LONDON ON DEMAND and the Content Canada Digital Summit.

The success of these digital initiatives, alongside significant growth in our online publishing operations around C21Media.net and DramaQuarterly.com, allowed us to end 2020 in rude health. We will enter 2021 with the full team in place and will add new staff in January to support further growth.

In 2021, we are set to launch a series on digital territory-specific events under the CONTENT ON DEMAND brand. We will be rolling out ON DEMAND events focused on Russia, Korea, Turkey, Spain, Israel, Quebec and India in the first part of the year, with many other territories to follow. We will use the format defined by CONTENT LONDON ON DEMAND in 2020 to deliver these, with box sets of bingeable content providing a deep dive into these discreet markets.

We will also be launching a new C21Media.net website in the first quarter of 2021, introducing a variety of new elements to the publishing mix.

DramaQuarterly.com will also be a focus for development in the first half of 2021, having grown exponentially in the past year as a valuable guide to the world’s best drama and the people who make it.

And C21Screenings will continue to provide the most creative set of solutions, from digital campaigns to premieres and themed seasons.

You can find out more about C21’s enhanced digital products and services HERE.

The pandemic has forced us all to review our operations and focus on the things that matter, not just on the P&L but in a broader context. The C21 team has been remarkable this year, as I’m sure your teams have too, and our reset will allow us to focus on their wellbeing as well as the business. This will continue to be a priority, as they really are the same thing.

We do believe the environment we operate in has changed for good. In future, we anticipate a hybrid approach that marries the best in digital to effective ‘real-world’ events that deliver results.

Content London will be back as a live event between November 30 and December 3 in 2021 (you can book Tier 1 Earlybird tickets HERE), but the digital platform that surrounds it, along with everything else we deliver, will be more important than before.

What we are looking forward to the most is meeting again in the flesh. Let’s hope we are back in the room soon and can start to build a sustainable future while remembering the lessons we have learned in lockdown.

We are sending you our best wishes and look forward to celebrating the creativity of the global content business in all its glory in 2021.

Happy holidays.