Becoming You THE STREAMERS
International streaming services spent £356m with UK independents in 2020, according to the latest Pact census. For 2021, all the signs are that this figure will be significantly larger and there will be more unscripted. With new entrants arriving in an already competitive market place, services are looking to boost factual, demand is hotting up.
HBO Max and Paramount+ are both commissioning UK factual. Factual play Discovery+ is a year old and has doubled its originals spend in the UK. Netflix, Disney +, Apple TV+ and Amazon have been building and diversifying their factual slates.
In other pages in this Televisual Factual Briefing you can find an update on Netflix, Discovery+, in the context of its UK operation, and the commissioning outline for ViacomCBS streaming service Paramount+, through Channel 5. While Paramount+ isn’t yet launching in the UK, it’s rolling out in Europe and has its order book open. Commissions might come from any of the streamers’
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other commissioning hubs and via partners. Indies working with the Smithsonian Channel have had shows feature on its parent’s streamer Paramount+.
DISNEY+
Disney+ has said that it’s looking for a local feel. There are over 340 original local productions in development worldwide, and confirmed plans for more than 50 originals a year by 2024 from EMEA for Disney+ and content hub Star. In November, it confirmed that it would be nearly doubling its spend on originals in 2022, allowing for regular content releases.
On Disney+, ideas – local or global - need to be at scale. David Beckham’s Save our Squad from Twenty Twenty and Studio 99 is seen as a fit with the scripted content on the channel, sitting next to the Mandalorian or Star Wars. Fulwell 73 is delivering a real version of the universe with new Disney+ series Among the Stars, which follows NASA astronaut Captain Chris Cassidy on his last mission to space.
On Star, Disney wants commissions in three different areas. No surprises that it’s after premium box sets. Stories could be in the sporting, music or entertainment world, with a new angle or revelation. Secondly, more human stories with jeopardy and drama, which could be in the worlds of business, crime, medical. Thirdly, big issue programmes that connect with personal experience: subjects such as body image or societal or political issues.
So far, the Disney+ European slate features Soprano: Sing or Die, a six- part docu-series from France with exclusive access to French rapper Soprano. Feyenoord Rotterdam is an eight-parter, going behind the scenes of the Dutch soccer club.
Meanwhile Disney+ factual content hub National Geographic is looking for stories with charismatic, passionate protagonists, meaning either characters in a documentary or presenters, who are pushed out of their comfort zone, but still have agency in their surroundings. Regional programming can be picked up for wider audiences, if
they have relatable characters or local relevance for several regions. Europe From Above, produced by Argonon Group indie Windfall Films, is one example that now features on Disney+. The series looks at stories across different countries from an aerial perspective.
AMAZON
Amazon is big on working with talent. In UK terms this has mainly translated as rolling out shows based around its Grand Tour talent. Clarkson’s Farm from Expectation has been a hit. Meanwhile James May: Our Man in Japan, produced by Plum Pictures, is being followed up with James May: Our Man in Italy.
Sport is still a focus. Forthcoming unscripted series include a biopic of Wayne Rooney, directed by Matt Smith, and another in the All or Nothing franchise, this time All or Nothing: Arsenal, from 72 Films.
Amazon Prime Video has said that it is open to ideas of different shapes and sizes. In the UK, it’s working with Louis Theroux and Mindhouse
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