\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThough a yearslong diet of budget cuts, corporate mergers, course corrections and C-suite retrenchments have dimmed the optimism of many TV industry professionals as commissioning numbers continue to dwindle, Banijay Entertainment\u2018s head of scripted Steve Matthews insists now is the time to think big.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI do think that there is optimism at the moment, in terms of a little bit of creative risk. Things are not as grim as they were a couple years ago,\u201d Matthews said on Tuesday, speaking at Rome\u2019s MIA Market.<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter several painful years in which streaming platforms were hampered by \u201cterribly conservative\u201d decision-making, according to the Banijay exec, those very same streamers are pushing back, insisting that they\u2019re \u201cnot quite like that anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI think it\u2019s improving. I think there is a kind of doom loop where we\u2019ve convinced ourselves as producers that they\u2019re risk averse, and it\u2019s going round and round in circles,\u201d Matthews said.\u00a0\u201cBut I think\u00a0now is the time to give a bit of a push\u2026. I think that there is a little bit more openness from the buyers for other things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRecent breakout shows, such as Netflix\u2019s \u201cBaby Reindeer,\u201d have offered a blueprint for global success, according to\u00a0Tesha Crawford, EVP head of international television at New Regency in the U.K., who noted how the hit series used a \u201cvery local, very specific\u201d story to reach audiences worldwide. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI think it really had something to say about abuse and trauma,\u201d she said. \u201cI think if you\u2019re really clear about what you\u2019re trying to say, that also really resonates.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhat we look for is who\u2019s really the creator \u2014 to put a lot of stock in that person and in that [writer\u2019s] room,\u201d said\u00a0Larry Grimaldi, senior vice president of creative affairs and original movies at Fox Entertainment Studios. \u201cTo really look for that singular point of view,\u00a0that when you read it on the page, and when you talk to a writer, you want to believe that this is the only person that can write this story.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWhen it comes time to selling that story to audiences, however, the Fox exec acknowledged that the industry is becoming overly reliant on \u201cthe face in the box\u201d \u2014 streaming shorthand for casting recognizable actors whose thumbnails drive audience engagement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cTV used to be a place where you would discover new actors, and you would discover new writers. And it\u2019s kind of a shame that we have to put all this stock in people who are just the easy bets,\u201d he said. \u201cI think there\u2019s a place for both.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tL\u00e9o\u00a0Becker, head of international originals and co-productions at France\u2019s Federation Studios, noted that producers often have to go to such lengths \u201cin a market that\u2019s so competitive for everybody\u2019s eyeballs and attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhether it\u2019s the face in the box, or it\u2019s the big creator, or it\u2019s the big IP, or it\u2019s something you\u2019ve never seen before \u2014 that\u2019s the kind of show that you can specifically tailor for the international market,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n\tBecker, who\u2019s executive producing an adaptation of Charles Dickens\u2019 \u201cTale of Two Cities\u201d for the BBC and MGM+, said he passed on several iterations of the series until he was approached two years ago with a package toplined by \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d star Kit Harington, \u201cwho\u2019d been wanting to make this for years,\u201d according to the Federation exec.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYou can have the same IP, the same story, but if you don\u2019t develop it right and if you don\u2019t package it right from the beginning, it\u2019s not going to work for the international market,\u201d said Becker.<\/p>\n
\n\tBrendan Fitzgerald, CEO of Spain\u2019s Secuoya Studios, agreed that top talent can help push a package past the finish line, describing his company\u2019s strategy to secure in-demand actors as executive producers on a \u201ctwo-step deal\u201d that ensures they\u2019ll join the cast if the project is greenlit.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThat, immediately from the beginning, adds momentum to the pitches, adds credibility to the pitches, adds excitement and buzz,\u201d he said. \u201cIt also gives the actor\u2026the ability to truly engage and help drive the project from the get-go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThere\u2019s no one-size-fits-all solution, according to New Regency\u2019s Crawford. \u201cYou have to do what is best for the project creatively,\u201d she said. \u201cSometimes there are actors who don\u2019t have a big following on social media, but people do know them and love them. And I think it\u2019s just about finding roles that are really interesting for them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s not about calling up an agent and getting the most famous actor on television,\u201d added\u00a0Christian Rank, managing director at Sweden\u2019s Miso Film. \u201cIt\u2019s about packaging organically. And it\u2019s always story first\u2026.\u00a0How do I make this resonate? How do I attach the right people to the show at the right time to make those commissioners feel safe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tCoddling commissioning agents might go with the territory for TV producers in 2025. But Banijay\u2019s Matthews doubled down on his conviction that series creators can \u201cpush some things a little bit forward\u201d in the current climate \u2014 and encouraged them to take big swings.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhatever it is you\u2019re trying to do, do it to the maximum,\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t water it down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRome\u2019s MIA Market runs Oct. 6 \u2013 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Though a yearslong diet of budget cuts, corporate mergers, course corrections and C-suite retrenchments have dimmed the optimism of many TV industry professionals as commissioning numbers continue to dwindle, Banijay Entertainment\u2018s head of scripted Steve Matthews insists now is the time to think big. \u201cI do think that there is optimism at the moment, in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[15971,15973,3286,982,15972],"class_list":{"0":"post-26654","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-banijays","9":"tag-optimism","10":"tag-producers","11":"tag-risks","12":"tag-scripted"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}