At the upcoming Televisual Factual Festival, data and analytics firm Ampere Analysis will be presenting in-depth research, on both global and domestic markets, revealing the broadcasters who are commissioning, how much they are spending and on what sort of unscripted programming.
The research will show that mature OTT players Netflix and Amazon have already spread their production spend globally with both organisations producing 51% of their new shows in the US, but with a sizeable 25% for Netflix and 24% for Amazon being produced in Western Europe. The newer players at this stage in their development are still overwhelmingly producing their new shows in the US with Quibi on 95%, HBO Max 98%, Disney+ 96%, Apple 91% and NBC Universal’s Peacock 100%.
As those players mature and spread their production wings, the opportunities for UK factual producers are clear.
The research will also show that in terms of unscripted content production, the UK is second only to the USA.
It will also show that the leaders in unscripted content are still firmly the linear broadcasters with the BBC and Discovery the leaders in the number of new unscripted programmes in production followed by Viacom but followed then closely by Facebook.
BBC commissioners speaking at the Factual Festival include BBC2 boss Patrick Holland; Controller, Factual Commissioning, Alison Kirkham; Head of Commissioning, Documentaries, Clare Sillery; Commissioning Editor, Specialist Factual, Abigail Priddle; Commissioning Editor, Popular Factual and Factual Entertainment, Catherine Catton.
From Discovery, the US-based Howard Swartz will be giving a keynote interview. The Senior Vice President of Production and Development, Documentaries and Specials who looks after Discovery events like Shark Week, Egypt Live and Serengeti will be explaining his programming needs.
There’s also a Discovery UK update, looking at the detail behind its increased spend of 85 per cent across 18 domestic channels, with Clare Laycock, head of Entertainment and Lifestyle Brands and Simon Downing, svp channel head Factual and Sport, Discovery UK & Ireland.
This year’s Factual Festival will take place on Wednesday 27th and Thursday 28th November at The Curzon, Soho.
On Thursday afternoon, delegates will hear the story of how factual indies Quicksilver and Caravan worked with Netflix to produce the true-crime original Killer Ratings. Speakers Kate Townsend, Director, Original Documentary, Netflix, Dinah Lord, co-founder/ managing Director of Caravan and Eamonn Matthews, managing director/ ceo, Quicksilver Media will explore how the Emmy and BAFTA-winning team behind the show uncovered the story of Brazilian TV host-turned-politician Wallace Souza, from the programming pitch to seven-part series.
On the same day at the Festival we will follow the journey of Studio Lambert’s hit format Race Across the World for BBC Two, from concept to screen. Chaired by entertainment journalist Emma Bullimore, the panel will include series producer Lucy Curtis, commissioning editor, Popular Factual and Factual Entertainment for the BBC Michael Jochnowitz, and Tim Harcourt, creative director at Studio Lambert.
Across the two days, 50 top level speakers will include three big interviews and panels featuring the UK’s key commissioners for Documentary, Factual Entertainment and Specialist Factual.
Channel 4 deputy director of Programmes Kelly Webb-Lamb will give critical insight into the major changes at the broadcaster on day two of the Festival.
Following her inspirational MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival in August, Dorothy Byrne, Channel 4’s head of News and Current Affairs, will join our Where’s the Big Doc? panel to interrogate whether and why we have fewer, in- depth TV productions that take to task the most important and difficult issues of our day.
Sessions designed to help build your business will include a bang up to date overview of services that are commissioning factual in the UK and with programme funding becoming an ever-increasing challenge, experts in financing will ask where to find the next investment.
Our nations and regions panel, chaired by chairman of Matisse Media Nick Curwin, will hear from Channel 4’s new head of Daytime Jo Street and head of multiplatform commissioning for BBC Scotland Steve Carson, alongside executives from Pact and from Skillset.
Chaired by Liesel Evans, creative director of UK Factual, Raw TV, the Festival’s specialist factual panel will hear from Carolyn Payne, commissioning editor, National Geographic, Fatima Salaria, head of Specialist Factual for Channel 4, BBC commissioning editor Abi Priddle and Victoria Noble, vp Original Content, Factual, Discovery UK & Ireland.
With key commissioning executives from all the core factual channels for UK producers, speakers will include leading fact ent commissioners: David Brindley, head of Popular Factual and Factual Entertainment commissioning, BBC, Greg Barnett, commissioning editor, Factual Entertainment, Channel 5, Hilary Rosen, head of Factual & Factual Entertainment, UKTV and Sarah Lazenby, head of features and formats, Channel 4.
The Festival’s Documentary commissioning panel will see Clare Sillery, head of commissioning, Documentaries, BBC and Danny Horan, head of Factual, Channel 4 joined by Guy Davies, commissioning editor, Factual, Channel 5 and Jo Clinton-Davis, Controller of Factual at ITV.
To find out more and to book tickets, go to the Festival website.
https://www.televisual.com/festival/
Staff Reporter
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