The Production 100
Tim Dams introduces Televisual’s exclusive Production 100 survey of the indie television sector, now in its 26th year, and finds the rise of the streamers is creating opportunity –but also plenty of anxiety. The report includes the top 100 indies, the
The Genre report: Factual TV
Demand for factual is growing as channels fight ever harder for audiences. Televisual Factual Festival producer Pippa Considine reports
All the Fun of the Fair
ITV and Amazon’s new Vanity Fair adaptation demanded a period drama with a modern sensibility. But how was that balancing act achieved? Jon Creamer reports
The Art of the Vfx Super
Creativity, tech know-how and a cool head are essential attributes for a vfx supervisor. Three top supers tell Jon Creamer how they help create screen magic
Channel 4's big move
Three cities are still in the running for the new out-of-London Channel 4 HQ and three for the two creative hubs. The indies in those cities say the potential prize is immense. Jon Creamer reports
IBC preview
IBC is a great place to check out both new launches and to get your hands on something already announced at NAB. Here’s a small taste of what’s likely to be on offer
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somesuch
somesuch.co
Unit 2, Royle Studios,
41 Wenlock Road,
London, N1 7SG
t 020 3487 1270
founding partners/eps
Sally Campbell, Tim Nash
MD/EP Seth Wilson
credits #bloodnormal by Daniel Wolfe for AMV BBDO/Libresse; This Girl Can by Kim Gehrig for
FCB Inferno/Sport England
Somesuch shoots straight in to the number one spot in the overall 30 this year. That’s on the back of a fantastically creative 12 months. Somesuch picks out Daniel Wolfe’s work, saying the director “made history” with #bloodnormal for Libresse that showed “realistic period blood for the first time.” There were big ads from Aoife McArdle too, including her Audi spot, the only ad from a female director in the Superbowl.
Kim Gehrig brought back This Girl Can with Phenomenal Woman, and helmed “a faultless continuous shot for Uber’s Effortless Night.” Somesuch signed its 10th female director with Lynne Ramsay, known for We Need to Talk About Kevin. The company won its first BAFTA with short film Home and is in production on three long-form docs for fashion platform M2M and in development with BBC Films on a feature length production.
02
Blink
blinkprods.com
181 Wardour Street, London, W1F 8WZ t 020 7494 0747 Chairman James Studholme partner Bart Yates partner James Bland credits Dirty Dancing by The Bobbsey Twins From Homicide for Mother/Moneysupermarket; Great British Bake Off by Parabella for 4Creative/Channel 4
“2017 has been a great year in terms of creativity, as well as some substantial awards recognition,” says Blink. The Bobbsey Twins From Homicide “made one of the biggest ads of 2017 with Money SuperMarket.” Blink also picks out Colonel Blimp’s Pedro Martin Calero’s ads for Honda and BT Sport and Parabella’s trailer for Bake Off. Dougal Wilson’s had a characteristically impressive year with ads for Apple and his C4 idents. There’s Elliot Dear’s fabulous BBC One Xmas short too. New signings include Show Yanagisawa and Michael Marczewski. Blink Art completed 250 jobs “half of which were direct to client.” Entertainment arm, Blink Industries is developing with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
03
Academy
academyfilms.com
16 West Central Street, London, WC1A 1JJ
t 020 7395 4155
owner/founder Lizie Gower managing partner Simon Cooper head of sales George Floyd credits Timeless by Seb Edwards for BETC Paris/Lacoste; For Owning the Dancefloor by Martin De Thurah for WCRS/ Bupa
Academy has had another strong year and picks out founder Lizie Gower being presented with the Chairman’s Award at the British Arrows Awards as a big highlight.
There were plenty of other awards for the mantelpiece too with gongs at Cannes, D&AD, British Arrows, Creative Circle and APA among others.
Additions to the roster are also picked out by Academy as reasons to be cheerful with German star directors Dorian & Daniel added to the Academy family at the beginning of the year.
It’s not been all plain sailing in the sector though, says Academy with the traditional concerns of “in house production” at agencies and “ever decreasing budgets” along with “procurement” rearing their heads once again.
04
Rattling Stick
rattlingstick.com
1 Portland Mews, London, W1F 8JE
t 020 7851 2000
president Johnnie Frankel
first lady Katie Keith
credits Clowns by Ringan Ledwidge for BBH London/Audi; Elton John’s Bennie and the Jets by Jack Whiteley & Laura Brownhill for Rocket/Universal
Big hits for the Rattling Stick roster this year with Ringan Ledwidge’s Clowns for Audi voted Best in Show in our poll. His Nike The Switch, Audi Duel and Jose Cuervo Last Days have made waves throughout the year too. Daniel Kleinman helmed the big M&S Christmas ad featuring Paddington plus ads for Boddingtons, Specsavers, McCoys and Vodafone and recently released is King of the City Jungle for Mercedes. Rattling Stick’s first feature doc, Nureyev: An Orgy of One, a co-pro with directors, David and Jacqui Morris, has sold worldwide and the company is “in discussions” with both Netflix and Amazon Studios on large scale docuseries and has “a series drama in development with the BBC, and we’ve amassed a large slate including animated series, features, feature docs and dramas with highly acclaimed directors, writers and producers.”
05
Outsider
outsider.tv
41-42 Foley Street, London, W1W 7TS
t 020 7636 6666
founder Robert Campbell managing director Richard Packer executive producer Simon Elborne credits Test Results by James Rouse for adam&eveDDB/Marmite; Freedom is Electric by Scott Lyon for Engine/E.On
Outsider says the past year’s been about “consolidating the quality of our output with our established directors and continuing to grow our new talent to compete at the highest level.” It says the past 12 months has been “for us, absolutely fantastic in a tough market” and looking ahead the company will be “further diversifying the type of work we make, further diversifying our roster offering, growing our new talent signed earlier this year, becoming makers of branded entertainment and building stronger relationships with brands and marketers.” But there are worries about the wider economy due to “Uncertainty – With Brexit hanging in the balance and its effect on our industry is unclear.”
06
Rogue
roguefilms.co.uk
2-3 Bourlet Close, London, W1W 7BQ t 020 7907 1000 founding partner/CD Charlie Crompton md/ep Orlando Wood head of sales/ep Barney Richard credits Delivering Awesome by Sam Brown for BBH/Virgin Media; Smile by Mark Zibert for Wieden + Kennedy/Nike
Big moments for Rogue include signing Pleix, Luis Cervero “and doing some amazing work that we’re very proud of. Also, getting Mark Zibert some great opportunities in the UK with his work for Nike and Axa.” The company says it’s “doing fine, but it’s never been harder. We all knew this was coming, but it’s here earlier than anticipated and thankfully we’re fit enough to live in this new environment.”
07
Smuggler
smugglersite.com
6/10 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 8QL t 020 7636 7665
managing directors Fergus Brown and Chris Barrett executive producer Trine Pillay credits Get Feeling by Miles Jay for Grey/Bose; The Light by Jaron Albertin for Publicis/IOC
There have been some major creative hits for Smuggler of late with both Adam Berg’s More Than a Game starring Christian Ronaldo for Fifa 18 through adam&eve DDB as well as Randy Krallman’s Coach Driver for Paddy Power ordered by Lucky Generals getting into the top ten in our poll of the most fancied work of the past year. There were awards too at Ciclope, Clios, APA and Cannes among others.
08
Pulse
pulsefilms.com 17 Hanbury St, London, E1 6QR t 020 7426 5700 ceo/founders Thomas Benski, Marisa Clifford commercials/branded Davud Karbussioun md/ep James Sorton credits Human Made Stories - Music of The Mind by DARYL for Grey London/Volvo; Thought Train by Sam Pilling for AMV BBDO/Mars
09
Knucklehead
knucklehead.co.uk
7 Portland Mews London W1F 8JQ
t 020 7292 7950
managing partners Matthew Brown and Tim Katz ep sales Claire Leaver credits Madness by Tony Barry for Leo Burnett/McDonalds; We Are Family by FinnMcGough for adam&eve/DDB/McCain
10
Stink
stink.co 5-23 Old St, London, EC1V 9HL president Daniel Bergmann global ceo James Morris UK mds Blake Powell and Sophie Kluman md Stink Studios Jax Ostle-Evans credits The Heist No One is Talking About by Tom Green for Don’t Panic/Oxfam; A Very British Fairytale (interactive Harrods windows + website) for Burberry
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