Tubular Labs, powered by Sharp-Eats, is a leader in global social video intelligence and measurement, providing a unified view of the passions and behaviours of audiences across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitch and more. With the largest social video database covering more than 15 billion videos and 45 million creators, Tubular helps household name brands, leading agencies and the largest media properties grow their business and lead on social by anticipating trending content new creators and what's next in culture. For more info, visit tubularlabs.com Well hello and welcome to this focus episode of Telecats, where I'm joined by varieties international editor, Monterey Reventeran, to take a look at the key stories emerging from the run up to and the first day of MittCon. Monterey, hello again, how are you doing?
Hey Justin, I'm good, how are you? I'm really well, I'm missing can, terribly. I really am, I want to see myself being on the croissettes right now, tucking into a salad miswales or something like that or running around desperately late for a meeting. I hope you found the last few days in the run up to MittCon because presumably that is your busiest time of the year, right?
It is, it definitely is one of the busiest times for sure. I mean, it's been a weird, it's been a weird old time, I mean, as it has been for everyone, I can't recall how many emails I get saying such strange times, which I completely appreciated because they are. This year's MittCon is weird, I mean, you know, we're not seeing the friends eat, I mean, honestly, if it was any other day, Monday for MittCon, we would be inundated, just, you know, completely beside ourselves in terms of navigating all of the news coming our way, all the press releases, trying to figure out how to package things. I mean, honestly, even in the lead up to it in the last week, it would have been hectic, but this year we're not really seeing that.
We're seeing companies hold off, I think, on announcing big deals, some of those kind of big project announcements just haven't really come to pass. I think part of it is a sensitivity thing people are dealing with, you know, have bigger fish to fry in terms of just treading water and keeping companies afloat and keeping, you know, trying to navigate staffing issues. And another part of it is just, you know, there's simply not a, you know, because of the production hiatus, it's really impacted everything and there's just the content simply isn't available. So we're really seeing that in terms of the news that we have to get out there.
Speaking personally, we've also seen that, you know, real change in a bit of a step change running up to a mipcon. We still have announcements for our clients, but many fewer than normal and perhaps a different type of announcement. So looking at the stories over the last few days in the run up to mipcon, what have you seen of being the, you know, the key trends? I mean, I've noticed, for example, that US networks perhaps are looking more and more overseas to fill their schedules during the pandemic.
And that's something that you've covered in variety. It's been fascinating to sort of see the likes of someone like the CW, for example, looking to Canada, looking to the UK, looking to Italy, for example, even with with Devils, in the case of Sky, Talia's drama there with Patrick Dempsey, basically they need content and, you know, ultimately at this point, international provides. There's a lot of shows with very high production values and I think US broadcasters are finally kind of rising up to the fact that, you know, their good fits for schedules. And the key thing, I think we did a story, or US based writer Will Thorne spearheaded that piece.
The key thing for us was whether that's going to continue after this period is over. And honestly, from that piece in his reporting, I think that the people that he spoke with at NBC and the CW really seem to indicate that, you know, this is going to take some time. And I think that need for content will definitely endure. I think they're realizing as well that some of this programming is actually raining fairly well.
I mean, maybe Taskmaster going to the US wasn't necessarily the hit that everyone was hoping for, but... We saw that. That was obviously a big story about, I don't know, a couple of months that Taskmaster was making its way over to the States, but it hasn't worked out. It did not work out.
I think it was pulled after just one very poorly rated episode. I mean, it's a quirky show. It's very British. And I suppose it, you know, it's not really everyone.
It's something that acquired taste. But yeah, that didn't quite land. But shows like Tefron, for example, it's not a broadcaster, but Apple TV Plus, speaking that drama up, I mean, that has been gangbusters, seemingly a lot of critical acclaim and very a lot of buzz around that. So it's been quite nice actually to see some global projects really getting a nice platform and getting highlighted in ways that wouldn't normally necessarily see it would be a little bit, you know, we do see that, but it's a little bit far in between, I'd say.
And now it's a steady role of good international programs getting US eyeballs. That's potentially a result of, I guess, countries approach to production, obviously, keeping production going. We've seen internationally, when I'm saying internationally, outside the US, it's obviously been number of countries, Canada, France, UK, in particular, have, you know, their governments have really sort of made big strides and big efforts to help production continue. And perhaps we're seeing some of the benefits of that.
One hundred percent. You know, we've certainly in the UK, I actually had a conversation with Jane Trenter for the London Film Festival. She's obviously the head of bad wolf and the producer of shows like his Dark Materials and Discovery, which is industry. But, you know, she was basically saying that the UK is people are looking to this country in particular to, I suppose, focus production on.
And just because we have the infrastructure, things are starting to get up and going. And they have actually been for some time. I think the issue, obviously, now is the insurance here, which I think is very much needed. And we really need that EU approval to get things going.
But yeah, I mean, the UK is sort of a go-to. And similar for, you know, for places like Canada, where obviously there have been a few little roadblocks, but in general, governments are really rallied and tried to get things going as fast as they can, which is a real testament to the industries. And a real sort of Philip for those local production economies. And another story that you highlighted was HBO Max acquisition as well.
Yeah, absolutely. So we saw, obviously, I hate to use the All-Star from Bad Wolf for Sky being picked up by HBO Max. It just sort of ties into what we were saying before in terms of big acquisitions out of the US for international shows. But that was quite a nice, obviously that show did really well here.
Clearly, it's got the potential to sort of cross the pond. And we're seeing HBO Max, which, you know, I think it sort of had a number of its own original plans, somewhat thrown into question by the pandemic and they're hungry for content. And that's a classic example of them just sort of swooping in for something and filling that voice for themselves. So it's really exciting.
I think we'll probably see a few more of those in the weeks to come. Yeah, well, fingers crossed. Let's keep our eyes peeled for those. You know, many people have said to me that, you know, MIPCOM this year is going to be much more of a distributors market.
So I mean, I don't know whether that's true or not. But what we are seeing is some new players in the distribution business as well, aren't we? Yeah, we are. It's actually really, really exciting to see production companies properly get into the distribution space.
I suppose it's not altogether surprising. But for example, like Woodcut Media run by the amazing Kate Beale now expanding into distribution with Woodcut International. It's from what I understand, it's something that they've been thinking about for some time. But to actually sort of execute that during the pandemic, I suppose the question is obviously whether they feel confident enough to be able to, I mean, certainly for their own shows, they'd be able to distribute those.
But you know, will they move into third party acquisitions as well? How that kind of entity will evolve is quite interesting to me. And we've also seen, yeah, obviously with TCP founders, Paul Heaney and Dean as well, obviously starting with Nova. So another sort of distribution co-production group there as well.
And also I just wanted to highlight, I believe it was PlimSol sort of buying Magnify Media, which is another interesting distribution play there as well. I'm fascinated to see how that works, how, you know, whether other distributors are perhaps threatened by that. Or I guess the question is whether it's really the third party things, whether these new groups will look to buy other content from other producers or just distribute their own. So I'm happy to see how that works out.
It's interesting time to launch a distribution business, isn't it? Presumably, you know, content is going to be at a real premium, fresh content is going to be at a real premium, particularly over the next three, four months. So in that sense, if you've got access to it, if you've got the connections, if you've got either your own content or, you know, the right connections to bring that content to market, then it's a brilliant time. There's obviously this quite a big gap that Q media used to fill that is essentially open now.
And we're seeing lots of these new businesses, Abacus as well, obviously, that we had Jonathan Ford on the show a few weeks ago. Lots of these new businesses that are rushing to plug that gap. I have to say, I think that it's a real shame that it's not actually underway, because I think it's one thing obviously to be in that virtual environment and to sort of see things happening, you know, on your computer screen. But it's another to really be on the ground and to sort of see, to see the gap in the stands, you know, to see who's there, to see who's not there.
I mean, the, you know, kind of the fall of Q was pretty big. I mean, that was, you know, a number of months ago earlier at the top of the year. But in a way, I mean, it's wonderful to see how folks from that business have just been able to sort of pick themselves up, start new firms and, you know, and producers like Woodcut, obviously, which I believe had worked closely with Q, you know, are able to innovate and do something on their own in terms of them being able to sort of use that to their advantage. It sparked some innovation in them to just strike out on their own and realize, oh, actually, we can just do this for ourselves.
Now, more than ever, you know, Fortune favors the brave. If you ever want to try something new, experiment, or actually, you know, do that, do that thing with your business that you've been thinking about for a long time. I mean, it's now is the opportunity to experiment and grow, isn't it? Rather than just, you know, hoping that your, I guess, your regular business plan works or not.
You can take it in things in your own hands and take your new proposition to market. Now's the time to do it. I mean, I think so. I think you just have to sort of, like, even with someone like Woodcut Media, obviously, they have the backing of anthology groups.
So I think you really do need some, some investment and you need to be able to manage the risk. I think for a lot of companies, they probably, I mean, I think, as much as I hate to say this, I think they're probably the exceptions to the rule. I think people are able to innovate, but I think it's all about managing risk and, and really just making very smart user resources at this point, because as we know, this pandemic has just been brutal for our sector. I mean, it's really, you know, I think people are really struggling.
So it's really great to see companies like that sort of doing something different and clearly feeling that, you know, being confident enough to take that step. In general, probably people are, they might be a little bit more risk-averse going forward too, for some of the other companies, which I understand. Fascinating that the changes that this winter is presumably going to ring on the industry and will be keeping a rise out for those. Co-production and high-end international co-production has been a massive growth area over the last few years, but it's been experiencing somewhat of a downturn during the pandemic, hasn't it?
I think so. I think just sort of the physical challenges in terms of travel restrictions, I guess co-productions are probably the most obvious area in terms of taking a hit. But again, not to harp on about my conversation with Jane Trengetron too much, but I sort of put this question to her and she sort of said that co-productions are still, you know, are still very much possible. It's just that instead of being spread out across various different countries, they're kind of, you'll have the different various partners, but production is focused very much on one place.
And the UK obviously is a great place to do that. Hopefully, until the next round of restrictions, which I'm praying to God, don't affect our industry. But yeah, so I think, I think productions from what someone, you know, if her ilk very high level has to say, like it seems to be that, you know, deals are still being made or certainly people are looking forward to keeping up with those co-production deals. But it's just production is largely concentrated in sort of one market, rather than spread out.
I read in one of your pieces recently, which Amari Corvin, which was around Spain and production in Spain is a particular production business, Marina Films, who are actually going into production on a feature with no insurance. I mean, that's super brave. I have to say, you know, that's probably something that I don't think I would quite have the stomach for. Yeah, I know.
I mean, I have to say it's really, really, really worrying when you think about, you know, I don't think it's them alone. I mean, there's so many, so many productions, both on the film and TV side where people have just had to sort of go it alone. They haven't had the support. I mean, in Spain, you know, it's not, the situation is simply not the same as what we're seeing in Canada, where there's a $50 million fund there in the UK with the 500 million pounds.
Without support, I just, I don't, I think producers simply are feeling that they just have to kind of stick to the protocols, do a good job as they can sort of muster, keep people in bubbles and hope to God that that they can, if something happens, that they can, I suppose, quarantine people. And hopefully there is a production can kind of continue on hindered because, yeah, I mean, what else can you really do, I suppose? I mean, in the UK, here as well, you know, keep in mind this kind of insurance fund that we've got in place, it's still not live. I mean, they're opening applications now that are processing, processing them, but ultimately, we still need that European Union approval.
So until that, that scheme is not going to go live. And I believe the applications, you know, your projects can sort of back date from July, but still, I think it's, if that team is an extended, I think that you are looking kind of at a very small window of time there. And it's not, it's not, it's not ideal, really. No, absolutely not.
Well, well, good luck to anybody going into production right now, you know, whether they're covered insurance or, you know, in particular, if they're not, goes back to what we're saying, they want fortune favors the brave, I would imagine. Manori, fantastic. Thank you so much for joining us today. In what is a very different kind of mid-com experience, but I've really enjoyed having you on the show.
Can you believe it's four months since we last spoke that four months seems to have gone by in a, you know, in a heartbeat? I know I was thinking that because the last time I think we were sort of scratching our heads about the next DG, I remember you asking me about, oh, yeah, it was going to be and all of this. And, um, and yeah, obviously now we, um, we know who and we're, we wait with eager anticipation to see how, to see how Tim Davies navigates the, the beams through this period. But, um, but yeah, I mean, a lot can, a lot can happen and yet nothing can happen too with that period.
I find, um, yeah, quite sad, but, you know, here we are, we're still muddling through it and, um, I think we'll get there, you know, I mean, if anything, we've seen a lot of, yeah, a lot of positive news stories come through this period too. A lot of people who are innovating and trying new things and it always keeps our jobs very, very interesting. We just want to support people doing their jobs and filming TV as best we can. Absolutely.
Well, thank you again. We'll, uh, keep her eyes on variety and see, uh, see all these stories that, uh, that you can be featuring in the, uh, in the weeks and the months ahead. So thanks again for taking some time out of your really busy schedule to speak to us. Nice, Justin.
All right. Bye. Well, thanks for joining us. That's about it for today's MIPCOM mini show.
We'll be back tomorrow night when I'll be joined by broadcast magazines, international editor, John Elms, because we look at the highlights and key news stories of day one of MIPCOM online plus, including the Ted Sarandos interview. Until then, stay safe.