PRODUCTION
NATIONS AND REGIONS
England for them to be covering isn’t there?” The BBC also has a co-commissioning
strategy. “It’s an important part of our plans to deliver more high-impact content with authentic portrayal,” says Pembrey. While they’re generally based in London, international commissioners account for a good slice of nations and regions production spend, 18% according to Pact figures. Air TV in Leeds has returning factual series with Discovery. “I think people just want to be entertained with programmes that reflect people they know and places they know and stories they can associate with,” says Matt Richardson, md at Air. “And the majority of the population doesn’t live in London. “The broadcasters we work with
Doctor Who, BBC Studios, BBC One
now spread across Britain.” Zinc-owned Tern TV is a Scottish success story, with 17 series on the go. “It’s definitely improved no end from the place we were in 10 years ago,” says md Harry Bell. “I think largely because the broadcasters have been beaten over the head with a stick and forced to commit to more representation and more commissioning from nations and regions. “There’s no doubt that the BBC Scotland
channel, which was set up three or four years ago has been an absolute lifeline,
and a breeding ground of creativity and nurturing and everything else in Scotland.”
Our ambition is to increase decision-making outside of London over time, which includes senior commissioning editor roles, as well as investing in the next generation of commissioning talent. DAVID PEMBREY COO OF BBC CONTENT
36
televisual.com Summer 2023
THE ROLE OF NATIONAL BASES The money is pooled in certain areas. According to Pact’s census figures, 75 per cent of all nations and regions production spend was in Scotland, Wales, South West and North West England. The PSBs, which account for 65% of regional and national spend, have to make choices about where to put down roots. The BBC has its national bases and its Manchester hub. Channel 4 made the big move to Leeds in 2021, with about 200 of its 900 staff, with other hubs in Bristol and Glasgow. The BBC has doubled its number of commissioners outside of London, from fifteen to 30. It has recruited nine assistant commissioners across all four Nations. “It’s a significant proportion of our team,” says Pembrey. “Our ambition is to increase decision-making outside of London over time, which includes senior commissioning editor roles, as well as investing in the next generation of commissioning talent.” This is one part of the picture that Curley at Pact wants to understand better: “What are those roles? What is the role of an assistant commissioner? Those 30 commissioners, there’s an awful lot of
don’t have certain quotas to hit. The programmes could be made anywhere. But there’s a natural benefit to making programmes out of London: being able to tap into genuine stories, a brilliantly talented production base and, of course, the lower overheads. I think broadcasters are waking up to that.”
EXPANDING HORIZONS The big boom in high end drama has also lifted investment. The BFI/Creative England report Screen Business showed that in the two years before the pandemic, film and High-End TV production in the English regions alone rose by 42%, generating more than £900m in GVA (gross valued added). The expansion of major studio sound stage complexes, including Belfast, Manchester and Sunderland - is also testament to this trend. “Streamers are agnostic,” says Bell at
Tern, which also has a base in Northern Ireland. It’s making a second series of its paranormal show Spooked: Scotland for Discovery+ and has developments in with Netflix and Amazon. “They don’t give a damn that we’re from Scotland or Northern Ireland.”
One big issue is just who is benefiting from regional and national spend. As well as pop-up scripted location shooting, a lot of production outside that magic M25 boundary is work that is moved into a region, but not into the hands of an indigenous indie. There’s MasterChef going to Birmingham with Shine; Mastermind now in Northern Ireland with
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112
