MIPCOM - Cannes October 17th – 21st, 2005
DOCUMENTARY
Report by Susan MacKinnon
As the migration to new viewing platforms gathers pace it has
become the focus of any industry gathering. Television is
moving onto internet and mobile service providers which raises
obvious questions - how will this effect the way we finance
and make programs, how will revenue models evolve, how will we
watch these programs? Will we drown in too many choices? This
was very much on the agenda at MIPCOM.
Is any other business sector experiencing the same
exhilarating rate of change as the global media industry?
Barely a week goes by without an announcement of some fresh
initiative that signals a further, irrevocable shift away from
the passive, linear consumer behaviors that have sustained the
industry over the first century of its existence.
Both Channel 4 and BSkyB unveiled plans for mobile TV
channels. In the US, CBS and NBC announced deals that will
allow cable and satellite subscribers the opportunity to catch
up on their favourite prime-time shows on demand and free of
commercials, from the day following their network
transmission, for a payment of 99 cents per episode. ABC US
will make episodes of Lost and Desperate Housewives available
straight after network transmission to users of Apple's new
video iPod. British broadcasters are also working on making
on-demand catch-up TV services available across a range of new
media platforms, most notably broadband and mobile.
The most heralded such service is the BBC's Interactive Media
Player, on trial in thousands of homes and due for national
launch at some time next year. The IMP will allow broadband
users to download and watch any BBC TV program from the
previous seven days. Home Choice already offers video-ondemand (VOD) catch-up services to its small but growing
customer base.
While US networks see only a fresh commercial opportunity in
VOD catch-up, UK broadcasters also see a public-service
opportunity to ensure that TV programs remain available to
all.
It is all about flexible access to our favourite programs.
The music industry has found it already where the consumer
demands and pays for immediate and total access to product.
What does it mean for independent producers? Producers must
carve out their place in the media value chain. Relationships
with broadcasters, distributors, advertisers, platform
operators and viewers must adapt to new funding models and
industry economic drivers. The question is how to best
protect and exploit producers’ premium value as content
creators and how to participate fully in the creation of new
revenue streams.
I had meetings with commissioning editors and sales people that
included the following:
Fiona Gilroy, SBS Program Sales
Fiona is looking to take on more Australian documentaries to add to the
SBS catalogue.
Augustus Dulgaro, Manager Content Sales, ABC Content Sales,
ABC
dulgaro.augustus@abc.net.au
ABC Content Sales was representing a number of FFC documentary
titles including – The End Game, All Points of the Compass,
Poverty Of Abundance, The Shearers, Tug Of Love. To date
there have been sales or interest in Black Soldier Blues,
Silma’s School, Real Life Water Rats, Raul The Terrible and I
Told You I Was Ill - Spike Milligan.
Rosi Krupa, Head of Sales and Factual Manager, Indigo Film, UK
Rosikrupa@indigofilm.com
www.indigofilm.com
Based in London, Indigo Film & Television is a co-producer of
films, drama series, documentaries, entertainment series and
children’s programming. Indigo primarily exploits TV, video,
DVD and Non-theatrical rights worldwide. They are looking to
represent documentaries in all genres including culture,
lifestyle, history, music, natural history, reality, science,
social documentaries, supernatural and travel series. They
felt that one hour programs were generally more marketable.
However that said they are having success selling a 13 x 10
minute series called Uncle Max. It is a live action
children’s comedy series.
Lilla Hurst, Head of Co-production, Five
lilla.hurst@five.tv
www.five.tv
Lilla Hurst is a valuable facilitator of co-productions for UK
filmmakers as well as non-British filmmakers. Channel Five’s
factual output is increasingly consolidating into series
despite having the lowest programming budget of any UK
terrestrial channel. Key themes for Five are royalty, crime
and a series called Shock Docs. Lilla has found that of
Australian proposals that she receives, most do not work for
Five as they are too parochial. She says that the Australian
producers do not seem to understand the Five schedule and
programming. Programs need to be more commercial for Five,
and not so Public Broadcaster style. In an increasingly
competitive market, Five has maintained its position in the
broadcasting landscape (between 6 – 10% audience share).
However, despite this success, the channel needs to go digital
to survive. Five is planning for this next year.
Laura Ibanez, Director of Sales & Acquisitions, Tapestry International
libanez@tapestry.tv
www.tapestry.tv
Laura Ibanez heads up Tapestry’s international sales
department. Based in New York Tapestry is a leading producer
and distributor of high quality television programs. Over the
past 20 years, Tapestry has produced more than 200 hours of
original programming for HBO, MTV, Discovery, Discovery
Health, TLC, Animal Planet and Turner. Tapestry International
Sales maintains a library of over 1,000 hours of television.
Tapestry sold the FFC financed series, Railway Adventures of
Australia very well and took on the rest of world rights for
The Stolen Generation.
Barnaby Shingleton, Acquisitions Executive, RDF Rights, RDF
International, UK
barnaby.shingleton@rdfrights.com
www.rdfinternational.com
RDF is now a public company. Established in 1996 RDF Rights (RDFR) is
the sales and distribution arm of the RDF Media Group and one of the
UK's most rapidly expanding independent distribution companies. RDFR
currently represents a catalogue of more than 2,500 hours of
programming in the factual, factual entertainment and reality genres.
Recently RDFR opened a Consumer Products Division to handle rights in
Video/DVD's, Publishing, Merchandising and Sponsorship allowing the
company to offer clients a one-stop-shop to represent all their rights
and exploit them both on and off screen. RDF is an important sales
company for Australian documentaries in providing the deficit finance
to trigger FFC equity. It has many FFC financed productions including
Claire Jager’s The Magic Bullet, Paul Scott’s The Secret World of
Sleepwalkers, Sonja Armstrong’s Heat in the Kitchen, Hilton Cordell’s
series The Colony and Dust to Dust, the Electric Pictures series,
Submariners and the Prospero’s series Shipwreck Detectives 1 & 2.
Barnaby was keen to acquaint himself with Australian filmmakers and is
hoping to attend the AIDC in February.
Hans Robert Eisenhauer, Head of Thematic Nights, ZDF/ Arte Germany
Eisenhauer.hr@zdf.de
www.zdf.de
Hans is responsible for programming over 80 hours a year of which 30%
is acquired from international producers. He is looking for all
genres from shorts to feature length. We talked about the Melbourne
AIDC and he confirmed that his colleague Sabine Bubeck would be
attending. They were very pleased to be involved with the FFC
financed film Tasmanian Devil – Errol Flynn. He is looking for cutting
edge, arts and cultural programs for a large audience. His themed
nights have covered terrorism, economic crises and globalisation.
Maartje Horchner, Acquisitions Executive, All3Media
International UK
maartje.horchner@all3media.com
www.all3media.com
ALL3MEDIA was formed following the acquisition of Chrysalis
Group's TV division in September 2003. ALL3MEDIA is comprised
of a group of production companies from across the UK
(including Company Pictures, Lion and North One Television),
The Netherlands, New Zealand (South Pacific Pictures) and the
USA. It also includes an international distribution company,
ALL3MEDIA International, which represents third-party
producers and broadcasters together with its own production
companies. One popular documentary at this market was a one
hour film It’s Not Easy Being A Wolf Man. This is about a
family with a rare genetic disorder called hypertrichosis or
‘Werewolf Syndrome’. The family are covered with thick dark
hair and are members of a US travelling circus. ALL3MEDIA is
selling the Hilton Cordell production A Case for the Coroner
and is keen to be involved with more independent Australian
productions. They do put up advances to help finance
production. Maartje Horchner is soon to go on maternity leave
and Pippa Lambert will take over her job. Pippa is well known
in Australia from her time at TVF International.
Marina Matteoni, Head of Programming, TVF International, London
marina.matteoni@tvf.co.uk
www.tvfinternational.com
TVF has acquired over 1500 hours of quality singles and series
from around the world. TVF International is able to raise
finance on behalf of producers, through co-productions, presales and investment advice. TVF International is part of TVF
Media, a cross-media group operating in television, internet
and multimedia production. Marina was very interested in a
number of accord documentaries that have been recently
financed. She is looking for science shows using computer
graphics to show why things happen. She reiterated that the
UK broadcasters were spending less money on high budget
documentaries, as they no longer get the rights. TVF has
picked up the very popular Janet Merewhether’s Jabe Babe – A
Heightened Life, James Ricketson’s Chanti’s World, and is
selling FFC productions such as Lonely Planet’s Going Bush, A
Cave In The Snow, The Riddle of The Bradshaws, The Madam, A
Girl, A Horse, A Dream and Why Men Pay For It. She is keen to
attend the AIDC in February
David Mearns, Producer, Bluewater Recoveries UK
David’s company is in the business of finding shipwrecks. He is
determined to find the HMAS Sydney which was torpedoed in 1941 killing
over 600 Australians – it was Australia’s greatest war loss. He was
looking for an Australian producing partner and finance.
Ellen Windemuth, Managing Director, Off the Fence, Amsterdam
ellen@offthefence.com
www.offthefence.com
Based in Amsterdam and established in 1994, Off the Fence is
an independent television distribution and production company,
specialized in non-fiction programming for the international
marketplace. The Off the Fence catalogue contains over 600
hours of natural history, science, health, adventure, history
and social documentaries.
In 2003, OTF was appointed as the worldwide distributor of
NHNZ’s over 200 hours of award-winning non-fiction programmes.
Off the Fence also develops, finances and co-produces
international non-fiction programmes. This has resulted in
over 85 hours of co-produced programmes in the past four
years.
OFT has acquired the recently financed Naked on the Inside,
from producer Ian Walker and US producer Jack Lechner. "This
is a very special project," said Liliana Lombardero, director
of distribution at OTF. "It is about notions of beauty and
shows how we see people against the way they see themselves."
The series, which tackles the question of who we are beyond
our clothes, skin and physical identity, follows six people
who 'shed their armour' and share intimate secrets as they
search for their inner selves. Each person is interviewed both
clothed and naked.
Ellen is keen to meet Australian producers and consider
projects that may be suitable. Off The Fence has a Sales
Executive based in Melbourne, Nha-Uyen Chau. Her email is nhauyen@didimau.com
Barbara Truyen, Films Transit, Amsterdam
barbara@filmstransit.com
www.filmstransit.com
Founded in 1982 by Jan Rofekamp, Films Transit, the Haute Couture
Documentary Boutique, is one of the worlds leading international
distributors of quality documentaries in two specific genres: Arts &
Culture, which includes Biography, Cinema and Music and films about
Society & Politics, which includes Human Interest and History. Films
Transit is a strong believer in a festival strategy to add prestige to
the films international career.
Each year they take on between 20-25 new films with a catalogue total
of 150 titles. Films Transit is generally looking for two types of
documentaries: firstly epic feature docs, generally with more cultural
rather than social-political subjects. They can be historical and
contemporary and must tell a story that everyone in the world can
relate to. Secondly, they want ‘urgent’ docs. These are generally TV
hour length films on very strong, edgy, provocative, contemporary
subject matters that people must see because of their political or
social relevance. Films Transit continues to be interested in all
types of (timeless) documentaries on Cinema and smart docs on Sex.
They are not interested in science, sports, wildlife, factual
entertainment, and programs with a very specific national or local
content. They do not want series or docs shorter than 45 minutes.
Films Transit is presently selling numerous FFC financed films
including - Andrew Ogilvie’s The Black Road, Sharyn Prentice’s
Tasmanian Devil – Errol Flynn, The President versus David Hicks, The
Man Who Stole My Mother’s Face, The Men Who Would Conquer China.
Barbara is keen on a number of productions presented at the last AIDC
in Adelaide and is returning to the Melbourne AIDC in February.
Claire Aguilar, Director of Programming, PBS ITVS
claire_aguilar@itvs.org
www.itvs.org/producers
Claire is looking for strong international stories. ITVS acquire
programming for Independent Lens, a weekly primetime 29-week series on
PBS, airing October – June. The average acquisition fee for
Independent Lens is US$20K per hour for a standard PBS licence window
of 4 releases over 3 years. For other production/ completion funding,
the program licence fees vary from US$50k to US$350K. ITVS
administers a new International Media Development Fund that is
designed to showcase international documentaries for US television.
The fund provides production finance. ITVS will premier funded
programs on the US public and commercial television. For more
information on how to apply, go to the website
www.itvs.org/producers/imdf_guidelines
proposal per application round.
Producers may only submit one
Melanie Wallace, Senior Series Producer, NOVA, WGBH
Melanie_wallace@wgbh.org
www.wgbh.org
Seen in more than 100 countries, NOVA is the most watched science
television series in the world and the most watched documentary series
on PBS. It is also one of television's most acclaimed series, having
won every major television award, most of them many times over. NOVA
programs attract over 6 million viewers per week, on average, in the
U.S. alone, who have shown themselves hungry for uninterrupted, hourlong programs on a single topic, presented in a non-sensational way.
NOVA has commissioned Ruth Berry’s and Mark Chapman’s Dinosaurs on Ice
which has been financed by the FFC. Stephen Sweigart, NOVA’s
supervising producer, will be attending the Melbourne AIDC.
Pat Ferns, Executive Producer Tower Productions, Canada
patferns@shaw.ca
Pat is executive co-producing with John Lindsay based in the US. They
are looking for productions of US$1million or more. Ideally they want
4 one hour mini series with budgets of US$2million +. They can fund
development up to US$150K.
Annie Roney, Managing Director, ro*co films international, USA
annie@rocofilms.com
www.rocofilms.com
ro*co films is based in Tiburon, California, near San Francisco and is
present at MIPTV and MIPCOM, Sundance Film Festival, Silver Docs and
other major festivals. Annie is the founder of the company which she
launched in January 2000 after working for 8 years with CS &
Associates. Annie has a growing and highly selective catalogue which
began with Regret To Inform. Annie represents the Academy Award
winning Born Into Brothels, Gunner Palace, Street Fight, The Fall of
Fujimori as well as representing the PBS Wide Angle Series including
the film H5N1 – Killer Flu. It was selling like hot cakes. Annie is
also selling the FFC financed film Take this Job (aka 1-800-India).
Andy Halper, Senior Producer, Wide Angle, WNET Thirteen New York
halper@thirteen.org
www.thirteen.org
The Wide Angle documentary series has entered its fourth season
on PBS this summer in the US which included a FFC financed film
Take This Job by Anna Cater. It was an Indian story about the
boom in high-tech service jobs, and the cultural repercussions
of ‘outsourcing’. Wide Angle delivers 45-minute reports from
global hotspots to give television viewers a forum for
understanding the complex and dramatic stories that are shaping
the world. Stephen Segaller from WNET will be attending the
AIDC in February.
Ian Jones, President, National Geographic Television International,
London
Ian.jones@natgeotv-int.com
www.natgeotv-int.com
Ian Jones joined NGTI when it was called Explore. NGTI will make
high-end blue-chip programs with CGI costing millions as well as low
cost, long running series, all of which will be factually accurate.
NGTI co-invested with the FFC on the Electric Pictures production
Superflu. He is attending the AIDC in February.
Catherine Le Clef, Doc & Co, Paris
Doc@doc-co.com
www.docco.com
Created in 1996 by eight French independent producers to
distribute their documentaries. Under the management of
Catherine Le Clef since July 1999,
DOC & CO has broadened its mandate and today distributes
internationally documentaries from all over the world. DOC &
CO represents a large catalogue of quality titles in the
following categories: Society, Current Affairs, History, Arts
& Culture, Science, Discovery & Adventure. Catherine is
selling The Mademoiselle and the Doctor as her first
Australian film and hopes to find more. It has sold to
Sundance, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, TV1 and Israel. She was
interested in a number of films in development in Australia
and keen to return to the AIDC.
Ann MacKenzie, CEO, Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation, Canada
A delegation of 20 Canadians is visiting Australia in February and
will be attending the AIDC in Melbourne. We discussed the details of
this visit and how the FFC could participate in briefing the
filmmakers.
Matthew Street, General Manager, Omnilab Group, Sydney
Matthew.street@omnilab.com.au
www.omnilabgroup.com
The Omnilab group is the umbrella for Australia’s largest independent
media services business. It includes Digital Pictures, The Lab,
Cornerpost, Island Films, Ambience and AAV New Zealand. The company
is looking to invest in particular films.
Danny Cohen, Head of Documentaries, Channel Four, UK
d.cohen@channel4
Danny took over from Peter Dale who has moved to head up Channel
Four’s new free-to-air digital factual channel, More Four, which had
launched a few weeks previously. Danny is looking for contemporary
documentaries as well as formats and big docu-dramas. Two recent
productions for Danny have been Gaza – The Fight for Israel and
Mississippi Burning – The End Game. Meredith Chambers commissions
major series such as access to the family court, popular documentaries
as well as working with the documentary stars such as Angus McQueen
and Kevin McDonald. Once a month on a Thursday, a big documentary
will be screened such as 9/11 or Super Size Me.
The BBC and Channel 4 are both dealing with death with recent
commissions How To Have A Good Death and C4’s The Anatomy of Death.
The Ofcom Broadcasting Code does not contain any specific rules on
what can and can’t be shown with regards to a human death. C4 has
commissioned a series called Dust To Dust which will document the
decomposition of a human body. Hamish Mykura, head of history,
science and religion was quoted as saying the subject (donor) of the
film who is suffering from a terminal illness is enthusiastic. Mykura
says that it is not about content but tone. Mykura says it is taboo
for serious programs to show decomposing bodies but fine for
entertainment such as CSI.
More Four has kicked off cleverly calling itself the Adult
Entertainment Channel. More Four’s budget is £33 million pounds, £20
million of which is for programming. Peter Dale wants to spend large
amounts of money on a few key pieces providing authorship for the
channel. The channel will also show smaller-scale documentaries,
acquired programming and updated Channel Four shows at 9pm.
Acquisition prices will range from £20 – 30K for one hour films to be
screened on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. More Four will also repeat
Channel Four’s lifestyle and leisure shows such as Location, Location,
Location. It airs fresh content each day between 4pm and 12am with
repeats until 6am.
Peter and Danny were interested in a number of films the FFC was
involved with either for the main channel or More Four.
David Pounds, Managing Director, Electric Sky, Brighton, UK
david.pounds@electricsky.com
www.electricsky.com
The company has a large catalogue with over 800 hours of television
including documentaries, lifestyle programming, entertainment docusoaps, reality series and special events. Electric Sky has helped
finance the recently approved FFC production Cuttle Fish. David says
that natural history is on the rise again and he is looking for strong
singles or short series. He was very interested in a number of FFC
productions and has followed up on some offering deals. He has been
invited to the AIDC.
Mark Vennis, Moviehouse Entertainment, London
info@moviehouseent.com
www.moviehouseent.com
Moviehouse is selling Rampage, the FFC financed feature documentary
directed by George Gittoes. Moviehouse Entertainment is a Londonbased film sales company formed in October 2001. Moviehouse handles
nine to ten films annually with budgets up to $15 million. Moviehouse
have negotiated a line of credit for project finance via the Royal
Bank of Scotland to help finance production. It carries a number of
documentaries in its catalogue, including all Nick Broomfield’s films.
John Morris, Head of Factual & Entertainment, TWI London
info@moviehouseent.com
www.moviehouseent.com
This company is aggressively looking for product to finance and to
develop relationships with reliable producers who deliver. They are
particularly interested in developing formats, history programs, wild
life and science. That said TWI has helped financed the Electric
Pictures Channel 10 documentary tele-movie Bali Ravine of Hate which
is being co-produced with the UK company Brooke-Lapping. Simon
Gallagher is based in the Sydney TWI office.
Himesh Kar, Senior Executive, New Cinema Fund, UK Film Council
Himesh.kar@ukfilmcouncil.org.uk
www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk
The New Cinema Fund supports innovation, new talent and
cutting edge filmmaking. Its budget is £5 million per annum.
The contact for documentaries is Himesh Car.
The Fund has supported feature theatrical documentaries
including the very successful Kevin Macdonald's BAFTA winner,
Touching the Void, Game Over and the Diameter of the Bomb.
The deal structures to date for theatrical documentaries have
been mixed but the most straightforward have been an
international sales agent for ROW, a domestic sales agent for
the UK, a UK TV licence and equity, and the Film Council
equity.
The Black President – the Fela Kuti story is about Afro beat,
the precursor to disco. This documentary was financed by a
licence from SABC, a South African distributor Ster Kinekor,
private equity, the Film Council and More Four. The
production company is Smoking Dogs.
An enviable documentary company is Darlo Smithson which has UK
Film Council slate funding of £400K because it is seen as a
‘centre of excellence’.
Jacquie Lawrence, Commissioning Editor for Documentary, Sky One.
There is a new UK home for documentary. Sky is repositioning itself
to convince subscribers that it has something for everyone. Despite
this push upmarket, changing perceptions of Sky is not easy. Jacquie
is looking for programs that look at contemporary life, with opinion,
she was quoted saying, ‘popular sociology’. She wants Sky One to be a
home for serious factual shows. Forthcoming programs on infidelity
and another exploring British and US culture will assist this. For
filmmakers trying to secure a commission, negotiating the Sky identity
is a tricky thing. It is somewhere between lowbrow and highbrow and
combining authorship and entertainment. Jacquie has assisted the
financing of the recently FFC financed Bali Ravine of Hate, the Brooke
Lapping-Electric Pictures documentary telemovie.
Richard Klein, Commissioning Editor, Documentaries, for BBC 1,
2, 3 & 4 with strategic, commissioning & executive producing
responsibilities in Documentaries.
Richard works with in –house and independent producers of
factual programming. He is attending the AIDC in Melbourne
along with Alan Hayling, the commissioning editor for in-house
production.