BBC Studios gearing up for more content deals locally
British public broadcaster and now global media brand BBC Studios recently held its Showcase event in London, with a number of Australian media executives in attendance.
Fiona Lang, the general manager for Australia and New Zealand at BBC Studios, was joined at the event by representatives from ABC, Foxtel, Nine, Paramount, SBS, Seven and TV NZ.
“It was exciting to see our new content… and to be able to offer our Australian clients access to really tailored content; and offer conversations early in the piece with our producers,” Lang told Mumbrella.
The BBC Studio’s existing relationships locally include ABC, SBS and Foxtel, as well as TV NZ.
Fiona Lang
Its Death in Paradise which airs on Foxtel and also on ABC is regularly in the top entertainment programs via the ABC airing.
“We are always looking at what works for Australian audiences, and what British IP can be made locally,” Lang said. “We have so much that resonates with the [Australian] audience.
“But we are always looking at what more can be done to modify and make greater stories for Australian audiences.
She said that following the Showcase event there was “much talk” about new Boiling Point from BBC One “We are in the final stages of seeing where that will end up in the Australian market, but that is definitely another one to watch,” Lang said.
The production arm of BBC has grown locally and is looking to expand into scripted as well as unscripted offerings.
Earlier in the year BBC Studios Australia and New Zealand appointed Warren Clarke as head of scripted, as part of its push into premium scripted production locally, and to capitalise on the success of its unscripted business.
Clarke was formerly head of scripted development at Fremantle Australia, and has been tasked with delivering scripted content with local and global appeal, including original series as well as the Australian reimagining of successful BBC Studios scripted formats.
“We have quite a lot going on in that space, and anticipate sharing more news shortly,” Lang added. “Watch this space.”
BBC is also talking with global and local arms of streaming outlets such as HBO, Disney and AMC.
“It is exciting to see so much of BBC’s production work being commissioned by the global streamers – Rain Dogs on HBO Max, Dr Who on Disney Plus, Happy Valley on AMC.
“We are really fortunate at the BBC that there is such demand for British content … We have such a diverse catalogue, that we ourselves continue to experience huge amounts of growth and huge amounts of demand for our content,” Lang commented.
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Olivia Kruimel is the managing editor at Mumbrella. She has more than 15 years of experience in journalism, communications and marketing. Her journalism career began at Fairfax Media (now part of Nine) and includes various B2B publications such as B&T, Travel Today and ALB. As a marketer Olivia has worked for Standard Chartered and various global law firms.
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