DOCS WITH GLOBAL APPEAL
FACTUAL TV
to work in 129 countries. It has to be such a globally interesting story with universal themes that everyone is going to watch it.” “The challenges are that you need to bring that
scale to an audience and find longevity as much as a classic Star Wars film. Docs have to have that same sense of timelessness,” adds Jackman.
ALL AROUND THE WORLD While the global streamers are leading the charge for ideas with huge scale, they are not alone. Terrestrial broadcasters have long been ambitious to have landmark factual programming in their schedules and on their own streaming platforms. Budgets are undoubtedly tighter and ideas skewed towards the UK, but the horizons are widening and co-production is an option. Meanwhile, streamers are building presence and
budgets in the UK, keen to fund the best projects. Netflix has doubled its UK content spend to US$1bn for 2021 and moved to establish a UK documentary TV series team. This leaves UK-based Netflix execs Kate Townsend, Reva Sharma and Jonny Taylor to focus solely on feature docs. Disney + is forging ahead with content creation,
despite a dent in revenue from theatrical releases during Covid. It plans to spend $US14bn to $US16bn on content by 2024, bringing it closer to Netflix’s current global content budget of US$17bn. In the UK, Disney has recently appointed former Channel 4 exec Sean Doyle as director of original production for unscripted general entertainment, with a focus on Disney +. He will report to Liam Keelan, vp of original productions in Europe. Amazon Originals UK recruited another former Channel 4 executive Fozia Kahn at the start of
NETFLIX, IT HAS TO WORK IN 129 COUNTRIES”
“FOR ANYTHING TO WORK ON
2021, as commissioner to work alongside UK head of unscripted Dan Grabiner. And Apple put its UK unscripted chief Alison Kirkham in place last summer, reporting to creative director of worldwide video Europe, Jay Hunt. Comcast-owned Sky announced a doubling in its
content budget to $1bn by 2024 in a bid to compete with its streaming rivals. It is also investing in its own studio space in Elstree. Director of Documentaries and factual production Poppy Dixon will head a programming slate of around 30 titles in 2021 and has recruited two executives - Janine Thomas and Hayley Reynolds - to bolster her team, overseeing content for Sky Crime, Sky Nature and Sky Documentaries. Dixon is looking to build “a world class slate of must-see documentaries across our factual channels.” Of course, not all the spend ear-marked for
factual, will be for global documentaries, but they are high on the agenda. With all this potential, what is it that presses the right buttons for world-class documentary?
WILD AND FREE Natural history has been one stand-out genre that can generate ideas at scale and with global appeal. UK producers, largely based in Bristol, are top of the natural history tree,. “We’ve never been as busy in Bristol as we are now, it’s extraordinary,” says Alastair Fothergill, executive director at Silverback Films, the production company behind the first epic foray into the genre for Netflix, with Our Planet. Discovery has boosted its natural history content,
with its partnership with BBC Studios as it launches its global streaming service and Nat Geo now feeds into Disney +, which includes natural history
Spring 2021
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