Why it's time to 'come alive' in '25

By Siobhan Crawford 20-01-2025

Our formats correspondent is delighted to see the back of 2024 and has a series of New Year resolutions and tips to ‘come alive in 2025’.

We did it, we survived to ’25. And whatever shape you arrived in when you got here, applause to you.

But let’s agree now that ‘thrive in 25’ is not the next tagline for us. I am not sure who dreamt that up but clearly they did not read the news: look outside, try to sell a format.

I have a much more attainable tagline that I am personally striving for, I will let you borrow it: ’Come Alive in ’25’. And to accompany that thought we are putting the column anthem front and centre because I want you to collectively feel the energy with Shania Twain’s I’m Gonna Getcha Good! – Red version. Yes, my music tastes are diverse. And correct.

The year that kicked our butts
Let’s call a spade a spade – 2024 was a bad year. Comparison to others will not help you, perceptions are not reality. Personally, I had a hard year. I had to accept defeat, accept acceptance and accept failure. Embrace redirection. And these were not gentle lessons – they were one, two punches to the face.

Like many of you, I hit a wall with the industry. After 18+ years I questioned if I could seriously keep trying to sell formats in 20+ territories, hunting new IP and pretending to want copycat IP. Did I need to pivot? So I took on a mentor. I let go of a mentor. I brainstormed like a master and then I decided to stop trying to force it. I decided to play to my strengths and be open to learn, meet new people and see the world further – whatever that would bring.

I changed to a consultancy-based model with some direct distribution, working with an energetic Argentinian, an ambitious Frenchman, an amazing British woman. Am I uncomfortable or doubting myself? Hell yes. Am I learning and loving that? Yes. Would I change it for a comfortable 9-5… no (and distribution has never been that, thank you timezones).

Why am I telling you all this? Because part of living the new tagline is shaking off the pressure, releasing the expectations and learning to embrace the unknown. Because as I am living proof, it is okay on the other side.

Bringing joy in 2025
I thought I would kick off this year with a wish list. If I could Marie Kondo 2025, these are things that would bring me joy…

Breaking out of the Traitors genre and moving on!

Changing how we work with IP, recognising everyone wants to control/share it and the US will keep paying giant fees if they refuse to allow format creators to retain IP in their creations.

Admitting we have specialties and strengths, we cannot do it all and that means collaborating is important to get better deals and better distribution.

Any new markets need to be in hot countries and have roundtable learning opportunities like Conecta Fiction&Ent. We have to get smarter in 2025!

We need to get creative with how we make format deals. If the industry is changing, let’s see if the deals can too.

Let’s reduce the price of tickets to events… or if you will charge that much let’s make (more!) panels with mid-level execs we can learn from, not just aspire to be.

We stop using LinkedIn like Facebook for personal crap. We are here for the hustle. (But you should react to what you read).

Stop hating on reboots. We love those. It is like saying you hate all music from before today – no, we have dancefloor classics…. we have reboots.

Content locked in catalogues. If I could have a wish, it would be more flexibility with content. Good content cannot stay locked up, there must be a way to cooperate.

Do it for love or money. Time is precious in a ‘come alive’ year, so either get paid or decide if you love something or someone enough to give it for free. But that is it – freebies are coming to an end.

We should agree now that ‘coming alive’ is going to be more than just about the work; it can (and probably should in uncertain times) mean being more authentic, playing to and identifying your strengths, following a passion… or starting to figure out what it is, or a side hustle… or a change in role that allows all of the above.

In 2025, the least we can do is become happier in smaller ways and that means getting our eyes on a prize that matters to us. Someone very smart said to me last year it is not the pursuit of happiness, but the happiness of the pursuit. Let’s be excited by something we do in 2025.

And as an optimist, I am just going to pencil in the tagline for next year… ‘hope for a fix in ’26’.