TV DRAMA
GENRE REPORT
CAROLINE HOLLICK HEAD OF DRAMA CHANNEL 4
Which of your upcoming dramas are emblematic of C4 drama right now? Peter Kosminsky’s The Undeclared War takes the hot button issue of cyberwarfare and the threat to democracy, and creates an intense character driven thriller. Chivalry, written by and starring Steve Coogan and Sarah Solemani, is a romantic comedy, but one that asks challenging questions about gender relations post #MeToo. Screw, our prison-set drama, is very much in the Channel 4 tradition of distinctive, entertaining workplace series. And we’ve got a brilliant younger- skewing drama from the makers of The End of the Fucking World, written by new writer Pete Jackson. What are you looking for? We’re always looking for dramas which shine a light on who we are today and make audiences think about the world in a different way. Entertainment with purpose. So, for me the point of view, what a writer is burning to say, is the most important thing. But it’s telly, it’s got to be a great watch! What is the state of the drama market like going in to 2022? Drama in the UK is in an incredibly exciting place right now. There are so many exciting international partners out there who are really keen to collaborate on Channel 4 shows, because we are such a strong, respected brand. But the competition for talent is tough – particularly off-screen talent, there’s a difficult crew shortage right now and that’s a real challenge. How can C4 drama stand out? By telling stories which feel fresh and new, which are brilliantly executed. Easy, right?! We make fewer hours of drama than the other mainstream channels, or the streamers, so we have to make each opportunity count. But on the upside, we can have a boutique approach, the drama we make gets so much love, care and attention, not just from us in the commissioning team but from press, marketing too and all areas of the business.
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is now one of the most difficult things that any production faces. Crews are just so overworked.” She says the unsung heroes of the past 18
months have been production teams, who have not only negotiated crew shortages but complex Covid-19 safe shooting protocols. “I’ve had two amazing heads of production at Red – the stress they’ve been through, and the situations they have had to deal with, have been extraordinary. And it’s been the same for every production company.” Belinda Campbell, joint managing director of
Death in Paradise and Sanditon producer Red Planet Pictures, concurs. “There is a proper, proper shortage of everything – crews, studio space…” Even if producers manage to assemble
a brilliant crew in the first place, Levin says that hanging on to them all the way through a production is another matter altogether. The demand for crew has led to greater
opportunity for younger talent to climb the production ladder quickly. However, some people are taking on massive
shows without necessarily enough experience. “It used to be that you went through a process,” says Shindler. “There isn’t time for that now. Training is out of the window. For a lot of people it is sink or swim. Most people are swimming and doing brilliantly. But there are always going to be a few
that really struggle.” Levin too worries about the impact of
experienced crews and creatives being spread too thinly around the industry. “The danger is that can dilute the potential to build pieces of proper excellence. Brilliant work in TV drama is always the culmination of so many clever heads and so much expertise.” Over at Sky, director of drama commissioning
Gabriel Silver, takes a slightly different view. He agrees that there has never been a better time to be working in UK drama. British talent, both on and off screen, is in high demand from the global content community - but he argues that there’s plenty of talent to go around. “There are craftspeople working here -
writers, directors, producers - who have learnt their skills over years, often decades, whether that’s through the UK’s proud tradition in long- running, continuing drama – which provides a rigorous training ground for some of today’s top creatives – or from the stage, which is still our most undervalued creative resource in television drama,” says Silver. At Channel 4, head of drama Caroline
Hollick says that competition is acute for on-screen and writing talent too. “But the competition for on-screen talent or writers can be energising, because you have to think outside the box and not just go for the obvious choices.
SUCCESSION
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