FACTUAL TV


DOCS WITH GLOBAL APPEAL


sport, documentaries offer platforms a different slice of the same pie. “A great sports documentary offers the chance to deliver for sports fans without the outlay involved in securing premium live rights,” says Mertens. “Sports documentaries can also offer something that is real, with ready-made heroes and emotions and storylines that are often as outlandish as fiction.”


SIZE MATTERS All roads lead back to those larger-than–life stories. At Spring Films, Jackman enthuses about the possibilities. “As a producer it means that you can tackle huge subjects.” Spring Films and direc- tor Werner Herzog are behind Fireball, a feature documentary streaming on Apple TV +, which delves into the world of meteorites that have hit the earth. Jackman sees the streamer mentality moving into traditional broadcasting and feels that right now there’s a search for inspiring stories. “Within that they will be looking at opportuni- ties for scale and finding positive, inspirational, hero stories. People do want some sense of that inspiration how we can journey with someone and engage with that character.” The old world money is still on the table for


the right project. The BBC’s Storyville has recently expanded its brief into BBC 3, while Channel 4 in recent years has embraced more ideas with international themes. Jackman has been working with the streamers


since they started commissioning documentary. That said, one area that he and Spring have become practised at is imaginative financing, building packages that don’t rely solely on the


“A GREAT SPORTS DOCUMENTARY OFFERS THE CHANCE TO DELIVER FOR


OUTLAY INVOLVED IN SECURING


SPORTS FANS WITHOUT THE


PREMIUM LIVE RIGHTS”


streamer at an early stage. “Everybody wants a streaming commission. This is a creative way of maximising the chances of success. The grunt work is done to get it made and then the premium will be paid at the end of it. “


MONEY SPINNING For feature documentaries, there are several ways. There’s the route of support and seed money from a respected organisation such as Bertha DocHouse in the UK and taking advantage of the efforts of the DIT and trade body Pact to access funding. Also potentially philanthropic funding from organisa- tions such as Simons Foundation Science Sandbox in New York. A number of equity finance partners are now also on the scene, looking to invest in the burgeoning international documentary market. Jackman goes on to outline how Spring’s upcom- ing feature, Last Exit: Space is being made with the backing of independent studio Gunpowder & Sky, which is keen to invest further in the factual space, together with German co-production money, “a mix of the old world and the new.” To achieve the sort of scale required for a


global success, being open to working with others is fundamental, says Jackman, whether it’s sharing a creative vision, or pulling together finances. “Everything now is a collaboration.” At Raw, Evans adds, “we care about making


great stories with organisations we get on well with and there’s a mutual trust.” In 2021, despite the year of Covid, she shares her peers’ optimism. “It feels to me like a really exciting time, there’s more need for content than ever…everybody around the world wants content. There are huge opportunities.“


28


televisual.com Spring 2021


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