Survey 2015 - ACF Investment Bank

Transcription

e
i
d
n
ISurvey 2015
The
The def initive report on the UK production sector
Sponsored by
Indies 2015
Sponsored by
LEADER
Strength in numbers
Contents
04 Introduction
Overall turnover is up but growth is slowing
07 Main tables
Full results for the 159 indies that completed our survey
12 True Indies
The top 30 companies unaffiliated to any larger group
14 Fastest risers
The small companies who enjoyed a bumper 2014
20 Top owners/consolidators
Turnover rises despite declines for largest groups
The UK TV production sector is used to change, but
some things are undeniably, irreversibly different
after the seismic shifts of 2014. This survey marks
the last time that newly merged production behemoths Endemol and Shine post their results separately (Shine’s financial year ran to June 2014, long
before the deal was official). We’re now in a position
where five companies account for 45% of the secROBIN
tor’s revenues.
PARKER
Next year, of course, we could be in a position
where BBC Studios (as it could be renamed) is starting to make shows
for rival channels, shifting the goalposts wider still. What do producers
think about this? Ultimately, it depends on your size, and how much of a
voice you feel you already have in a crowded market, as producers tell us
on page 25.
To cut through these changes, we’ve made some strategic ones of our
own. Bearing in mind the BBC’s plans and ITV Studios’ international
ambitions, plus Channel 4 and Sky’s in-roads into indie investment,
we’ve introduced a more detailed look at UK broadcasters’ ambitions in
content production.
Ownership structures within UK production are increasingly elastic
and we’ve attempted to segment the market to extract some granular
detail of the US-owned giants, the European groups and the mix of VCbacked companies and organically grown umbrella groups in the UK.
As research from strategic adviser Prospero – another survey innovation this year – shows, there’s increasingly strength in numbers for the
more traditional, small indies, where one breakout hit can make all the
difference. Elsewhere, we profile the fastest-rising companies with turnover under £10m, which could be attractive prospects for further consolidation, and look to the future by showcasing the new wave of indies,
many of them fronted by industry big-hitters, that could make a splash in
next year’s survey.
Our thanks to everyone who has taken the time to submit entries this
year, and to About Corporate Finance for again casting an expert eye over
the figures and how to present them.
22 Trends
Advisory firm Prospero looks at the year’s key trends
24 Broadcasters
BBC in-house plans and broadcaster acquisitions
26 Top suppliers
Broadcasters’ top 10 suppliers by hours and spend
32 Nations and regions
Hours up for Scottish and Welsh indies
33 Ones to watch
The indies set to be jostling for position next year
36 Peer poll
Which indies are the envy of their rivals?
With thanks to Audio Network for
sponsoring this year’s survey.
For further information visit
www.audionetwork.com
INDIE SURVEY METHODOLOGY
An email questionnaire was sent out to more than 300 producers in
February. To qualify, they had to have had at least one piece of commissioned programming broadcast in the UK in 2014, and still be in business. Any omissions are therefore no longer trading, had no shows on
air last year, or did not complete the survey.
Companies are ranked based on their 2014 turnover or the most
recent full year for which figures are available. Where turnovers are
equal, the company with the biggest UK turnover is ranked higher.
We also polled companies that own indies. Some super-indies, broadcasters and studios opted not to break down the turnover of their individual subsidiaries. These subsidiaries are not listed in the main league
table, but their turnovers are included within those of their owners.
Individual broadcaster league tables, ranking indies by volume and
spend, were supplied by the broadcasters themselves.
While every care has been taken in compiling the tables, Broadcast relies on participants to supply
accurate results and bears no responsibility for errors or omissions
Broadcast Editor Chris Curtis Supplement Editor Robin Parker Production Editor Dominic Needham Group Art Director, Media Peter Gingell Contributors
Matthew Campelli, Tabitha Elwes, Andy Fry, Jake Kanter, Will Strauss, Peter White Group Commercial Director Alison Pitchford Event Director Charlotte
Wheeler Senior Sales Manager Sonya Jacobs Sales Manager Talia Levine Business Development Manager Tiro Bestonso
www.broadcastnow.co.uk
27 March 2015 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 3
Indies 2015
OVERVIEW LEAGUE TABLES
Tough times at the top
Combined turnover is up again in this year’s survey, with true indies recording healthy rises.
However, Will Strauss reports that growth is slowing, especially among the bigger players
T
he results of Broadcast’s 2015
Indie Survey show the wind of
change is blowing through the
UK’s independent production sector.
In recent years, the talk has been
of increasing health and prosperity –
and there is still some of that to be
found here. But there is also the
suggestion that growth, especially
among the bigger companies,
may be slowing.
Before we get to that, the good
news. Overall indie turnover – across
all 159 companies that answered our
call for data – is again up year-on-year.
Mirroring the past five years, and not
making allowances for nuances in the
way figures are provided, the sector
grew by 9% last year to provide a new
estimated market value of £2.3bn.
However, this rise requires close
examination. With some companies
absent from the survey, and groups
such as Warner Bros Productions UK
(formerly Shed Productions) no
longer providing individual subsidiary results (except for Wall to Wall),
plus £142m of additional revenue
coming from the 5% of companies
that are new to the survey, the story is
a little different. For example, the
average income across the companies
that were present in both the 2015 and
2014 surveys shows just a 4.5% rise,
from £15.4m to £16.1m.
Do the terms of trade
need to be amended?
Call The Midwife: Neal Street Productions
Looking at it another way, of the 137
companies that provided figures both
last year and this, only 52% increased
their turnover year-on-year, compared
with 64% in the previous 12 months
and 67% in the survey before that.
This trend reflects a growing sense
that even before the potential loss of
BBC3’s commissioning budget and
possible changes to indie terms of
trade, increased competition for commissions and slots means that being
an indie is getting tougher.
“The economics of production are
probably more challenging than they
‘There’s a
growing
sense that
being an
indie is
getting
tougher’
INDIE SNAPSHOT CONCERNS AND CONFIDENCE
Indie confidence levels
Biggest concerns %
Lack of funds/budget
21.5
Competition from bigger
producers
14.0
Securing commissions/
appetite for genre
14.0
Commissioning engagement/
resources
10.0
17.5%
28%
72%
No
Yes
Retaining staff
6.0
Future of BBC after
charter renewal
4.0
Risk aversion
4.0
Pipeline
4.0
Based on 79 responses
4 | Broadcast Indie Survey | 27 March 2015
72.5%
More confident than a year ago
Less confident than a year ago
used to be,” says Rod Henwood, chief
executive of Zodiak UK, owner of companies such as RDF Television, Bwark
and IWC. “You certainly have to work
harder than you used to for the same
amount of turnover. The narrative that
the world for independents is healthy
and hugely profitable, while the broadcasters are impecunious, is a false one.
As an indie, you’ve got a lot of competition and squeezed margins.”
The change is most keenly felt at
the top end of the market. Although
they continue to take the lion’s share
of revenues, 16 of the 30 biggest indies
(53%) saw no change or a decline in
revenues this year. Back in 2012, 18 of
the top 20 (90%) increased their turnover. Last year it was 13 (65%). This
year it is down to 10 (50%).
Growth is slowest among big, groupowned companies. Combined revenues
for the top 30 ‘true’ indies are up to
£403m from £317m in 2013, a healthy
27% rise. Combined revenues for the
top 30 ‘owned’ indies’ are up a measly
1.1% to £1.5bn and only 12 (40%) have
increased their turnover year-on-year.
International boost
Despite international and multichannel
spend continuing to offset flat UK PSB
commissioning, the domestic/international revenue split remains steady at
an average of 78/22 per indie. So of the
indie sector’s combined £2.3bn turnover in 2014, £491m came from abroad.
For the 30 richest indie, 70%
of income came from domestic
sources, while for the sub-£5m per
year firms, there was a greater reliance
on the home market, accounting for
82% of revenues.
In all, 23 UK indies (14%) earned
more money internationally in 2014
than they did domestically. The majority are documentary film-makers and
factual format producers, although
high-end drama producers also
feature. Neal Street Productions, for
example, had a good year (turnover
up 166%) and was a great British
export, earning 65% of its money from
outside the UK.
Sponsored by
The simple reason for the Call The
Midwife and Penny Dreadful producer’s
success? “An increase in TV hours
commissioned and an increase in
revenue from TV programme sales
and ancillary rights,” says Neal Street
co-ordinator Caroline Reynolds.
For those readers who like to look
at positions in the table (pages 7-11)
as if it were the pop charts, there are
lots of non-movers at the top. But
Sunset+Vine is the biggest climber, up
16 places to number 6 on the back of
the Commonwealth Games and
Winter Paralympics, plus its work for
the newly launched BT Sport.
Taking the plaudits as fastestgrowing indie financially is Eleven
Film, with turnover up nearly 1,000%,
from £528,000 to £5.7m, thanks to
Jack Thorne’s Glue for E4. “We did
get other shows into development
during the year but that income is
insignificant when compared with
the production income,” says head
of production and commercial affairs
Jamie Hall. Now backed by C4’s
Growth Fund, a three-part drama
for Sky Living, The Enfield Haunting,
is up next.
Average programme
budget change
1.5%
17.5%
38%
40%
No change
Fall of less than 10%
Fall of 10-20%
Fall of 20-50%
Fall of 50% or more
Increase of 10-20%
Glue: Eleven Film
Among the fastest-growing small
indies (sub-£10m turnover), the mix of
companies is quite varied and includes
children’s TV producer Adastra and
Lemonade Money, which is up 134%
(see Fastest Risers, page 14).
A company that has in the past
been pigeon-holed as ‘urban’, Londonbased Lemonade Money now makes
a mixture of short- and long-form
content aimed at what it calls “a new
generation of viewers”. In 2014, it produced music show Four To The Floor
for C4 and created content for online
platforms Vevo and Vine.
“The stock answer from commissioners is that music is niche and young
people don’t watch TV,” says founder
and managing director James Payne.
“But Four To The Floor got us some
attention and enabled some conversations. It shows that there is still air in the
lungs when it comes to music on TV.”
Key numbers
£2.3bn
Indie sector global
turnover
Company
Growth in
turnover (%)
1
Eleven Film
+979.5
2
Adastra Creative
+483.3
3
+198.0
£491m
4
5
Bwark (Zodiak)
Endor Productions
(Red Arrow)
Neal Street Productions
Indie revenue from
abroad
6
Victory Television (Sony)
+144.0
7
134.1
+117.9
£403m
9
Lemonade Money
Oxford Scientific Films
(Twofour Group)
Sunset+Vine (Tinopolis)
10
Films of Record
+111.0
Combined turnover
of top 30 ‘true’
indies
Biggest fallers (all indies)
8
Company
£1.47bn
Combined turnover
of top 30 ‘owned’
indies
Biggest fallers
Of the big indies (£10m-plus turnover)
whose revenues have fallen, not one is
a true independent: those owned by
All3Media, Tinopolis and Endemol
Shine Group are firmly to the fore.
Shine’s Princess Productions is down
48% year-on-year, a drop blamed
squarely on a schedule change for
series five of Sky 1’s Got To Dance,
revenue for which has moved to a different fiscal year.
Of the smaller indies, Midnight Oil
in Wales has gone from the fastestgrowing company in the 2014 survey
to one of the biggest fallers in 2015,
with turnover dropping 62%.
“This year’s figures being down
on last year’s is more because we
had an incredibly good year before,
with a record number of commissions.
This year has just been a bit more
normal,” says executive producer
Gillane Seaborne.
Looking at the things that are
keeping producers awake at night,
the sudden appearance of “competition from bigger producers” is not
Fastest growers (all indies)
14%
of producers
made more money
from overseas
than the UK
54%
of indies that also
reported last year
grew their revenues
36%
of indies are looking
to raise external
finance in the next
five years
Four To The Floor: Lemonade Money
+190.9
+166.0
+114.3
Fall in
turnover (%)
4
World Productions
(Marcus Evans Group)
Midnight Oil Productions
Princess Productions
(Endemol Shine)
Company Pictures (All3M)
5
Brook Lapping (Ten Alps)
-34.0
6
Nutopia
-33.3
7
Maverick TV (All3M)
-33.0
8
Dartmouth Films
-30.1
9
Thumbs Up Productions
-30.0
10
Telesgop
-29.4
1
2
3
-66.7
-62.1
-48.3
-43.0
unexpected following the rush of
acquisitions in recent years. Some
14% consider this to be a major
concern; naturally, most of them are
smaller indies.
With the sector facing huge challenges in the coming months and
years – not least BBC Production
going on the open market and
changes to terms of trade – confidence
in the future has dipped slightly.
It’s not a huge change, but a 2.5%
swing to the naysayers will be worth
keeping an eye on.
Change is certainly afoot. As the old
Chinese proverb goes: ‘when the wind
of change blows, some build walls,
others build windmills’. It will be
interesting to see which way the indie
sector tilts in the 2016 survey.
Line Of Duty: World Productions
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Indies 2015
Prepared with the assistance of About
Corporate Finance, mergers and acquisitions
experts in the global TV production sector
See www.aboutcorpfin.com for more details
TOP INDEPENDENT COMPANIES 1-29
Indie
Turnover 2014
(£m)
172.70
Turnover 2013
(£m)
150.89
% change
14.45
Turnover from
UK (£m)
61.80
% of total
35.80
Key shows
Original UK
hours 2014
Premier Lge; C4 Racing; World
Snooker; World’s Strongest Man
1
IMG (WME)
2
Carnival Film &
Television (NBCU)
89.00
99.00
-10.10
89.00
100.00
Downton Abbey; The Lost Honour Of
Christopher Jeffries
3
Thames (FM UK)
85.10
86.60
-1.70
85.10
100.00
The X Factor; BGT; Take Me Out;
Family Fortunes; Break The Safe
Russell Howard’s Good News; Not
Going Out; Man Down; Trying Again
Full-time UK
staff
4,014
347
23
22
148.25
22
40.5
90
60
61
4
Avalon TV (Avalon)1
72.80
66.60
9.30
49.10
67.50
5
Tiger Aspect
(Endemol Shine)
66.20
54.10
22.40
-
-
6
Sunset + Vine
(Tinopolis)
60.00
28.00
114.30
52.00
86.70
Commonwealth Games; Winter
Paralympics; BT Sport; C5 Cricket
2,675
150
197
321
Ripper Street; Benidorm; Bad
Education; Mount Pleasant
7
Lime Pictures (All3M)
59.10
66.52
-11.10
51.56
87.20
Hollyoaks; TOWIE; Geordie Shore;
Educating Joey Essex; Rocket’s Island
8
Twofour (Twofour
Group)
57.00
58.18
-2.00
45.00
79.00
The Jump; Splash!; Educating The
East End; RM Commmando School
145
91
9
Left Bank Pictures
(Sony)2
53.40
36.00
48.30
13.20
24.70
Outlander; DCI Banks; Tommy Cooper:
Not Like That, Like This; Cardinal Burns
19
24
10
Wall to Wall (WBTP)
53.00
53.40
-0.70
53.00
100.00
The Voice UK; New Tricks; Long Lost
Family; Who Do You Think You Are?
112
180
11
Hat Trick Productions
51.00
37.00
37.80
38.00
74.50
Room 101; Episodes; The Suspicions
Of Mr Whicher; Outnumbered; HIGNFY
68
62
12
Studio Lambert (All3M)
49.50
47.10
5.10
18.80
38.00
Gogglebox; Four In A Bed; Undercover
Boss; Great Interior Design Challenge
116
32
13
Optomen/One Potato
Two Potato (All3M)
48.50
57.30
-15.30
5.70
11.80
Great British Menu; Store
Detectives; Worst Cooks
14
Remarkable Television
(Endemol Shine)
46.96
52.50
-10.50
-
-
15
Kudos (Endemol Shine)
45.90
43.40
5.80
31.70
69.00
58
90
Pointless; The £100K House; Two
Tribes; Million Pound Drop
478
14
Utopia; The Smoke; The Tunnel;
Grantchester; Law & Order
51.5
38
Big Brother; The Singer Takes It All;
Soccer Aid
277
13
17.25
9
16
Initial (Endemol Shine)
43.04
45.30
-5.00
-
-
17
Neal Street
Productions3
40.00
15.00
166.00
14.50
36.25
Call The Midwife; Penny Dreadful
18
Red Production Co
(StudioCanal)
35.00
21.00
66.70
34.00
97.10
Happy Valley; Prey; The Driver; Scott &
Bailey; Last Tango In Halifax
21
25
19
Shine TV4
(Endemol Shine)
34.00
44.00
-22.70
21.00
61.80
MasterChef; The Island with Bear
Grylls; Britain’s Best Bakery
169
32
20
Raw TV (Discovery)
33.00
35.00
-6.00
7.20
21.80
The Secret Life Of Students;
Revelations; Siberian Mill
48
39
21
RDF Television
(Zodiak Media)
30.00
30.00
0.00
30.00
100.00
Tipping Point; This Old Thing;
Collectaholics; 100 Year-Old Drivers
23
18
22
Company Pictures
(All3M)
29.60
52.00
-43.00
-
-
The Village; Truckers; Moonfleet; New
World; The Missing
320
32
The Apprentice; Grand Designs;
An Hour To Save Your Life
144
22
23
Boundless (FM UK)
28.50
27.60
3.30
28.50
100.00
24
Objective Productions
(All3M)
26.80
32.00
-16.20
26.00
97.00
The Cube; Toast Of London; Bad
Robots; Katherine Mills: Mind Games
85
90
25
Boomerang/Boom
Cymru/Wales (Twofour)
24.32
22.41
8.50
24.07
99.00
Posh Pawn; The Claire Balding Show
533
260
Homes Under The Hammer; Officially
Amazing; The Wonder Of Britain
284
120
QI; Through the Keyhole;
Celebrity Juice; Virtually Famous
50
7
Alan Carr Chatty Man; The Last Leg;
Live At The Apollo; The Comedy Store
78
8
10.5
8
26
Lion TV (All3M)
23.00
25.00
-8.00
15.20
65.20
27
Talkback (FM UK)
22.30
25.00
-10.80
22.30
100.00
28
Open Mike
Productions5
20.87
21.60
-3.00
16.90
81.00
29
Hartswood Films
19.57
13.00
50.50
19.57
100.00
Sherlock; Edge of Heaven
1 Avalon companies are year to 30 June 2014; 2 Sony companies are year to 31 March 2014; 3 Neal Street is year to 30 March 2014; 4 Shine TV is year to 30 June 2014; 5 Open Mike is year to 31 January 2014
C4 Racing: IMG for C4
Not Like That, Like This: Left Bank for ITV
Room 101: Hat Trick for BBC1
➤
Indies 2015
Indie
30
Turnover 2014
(£m)
ITN Productions
17.00
Turnover 2013
(£m)
-
% change
-
Turnover from
UK (£m)
15.50
% of total
Key shows
Original UK
hours 2014
Full-time UK
staff
91.20
Young Vets; Road to Rio; The Agenda;
Dispatches; Black Market Britain
664
67
60
35
30
Betty TV (Discovery)
17.00
15.80
7.60
14.00
82.40
The Undateables; Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners
32
(Endemol Shine)
16.90
32.70
-48.30
14.30
100.00
Got To Dance; Sunday Brunch; The
Wright Stuff; The Johnny And Inel Show
665
75
33
CPL Productions
(Red Arrow)
15.90
15.70
1.30
15.40
96.90
The Taste; A League Of Their Own; Off
Their Rockers; All Star Mr & Mrs
49
62
34
Red Planet Pictures
15.66
14.67
6.75
15.66
100.00
Death In Paradise; The Passing Bells
10.5
16
35
Love Productions6
(Sky)
15.35
13.76
11.50
10.34
67.40
Great British Bake Off; Benefits
Street; My Last Summer
62.5
75
36
Mentorn including
Folio (Tinopolis)
14.90
18.00
-17.20
14.90
100.00
Question Time; Watermen; Motorway
Cops; Free Speech
145
25
37
Bentley Productions
(All3M)
14.87
15.78
-5.70
7.15
48.10
8
5
38
Tinopolis Wales
(Tinopolis)
14.80
15.00
-1.30
14.80
100.00
Hinterland; Heno; Prynhawn Da
415
140
MotoGP; Gadget Show; Guy Martin
Speed; NFL; Ross Noble Freewheeling
517.5
93
One Born Every Minute; Inside The
Wildfire; The Auction House
62
24
39
10
401
64
7
4
Midsomer Murders
39
North One TV (All3M)7
14.40
13.40
7.50
14.40
100.00
39
Dragonfly (Endemol
Shine)
14.40
15.00
-4.00
12.80
88.90
41
Zeppotron (Endemol
Shine)
14.19
15.40
-7.80
-
-
8/10 Cats Does Countdown; Would
I Lie To You
42
Rondo Media
14.10
14.50
-3.40
13.95
98.90
Rownd A Rownd; The Indian Doctor;
Frozen At Xmas
43
Bwark (Zodiak)
14.00
4.70
198.00
14.00
100.00
Drifters; Siblings; The Inbetweeners 2
43
Off The Fence
14.00
14.16
-1.20
2.50
17.90
Freaks Of Nature; Megafamilies
49
40
Natural History Museum Alive 3D; Time
Scanners; Conquest Of The Skies 3D
20
30
54.5
96
38
26
164
26
2
7
37.5
47
72
23
54.5
16
37
15
45
Atlantic Productions
13.70
11.70
17.10
13.70
98.90
46
Maverick TV (All3M)
13.60
20.30
-33.00
13.60
100.00
47
Firecracker Films
(Tinopolis)
13.50
16.80
-19.60
5.20
38.50
Worst Place To Be A Pilot; Big Fat
American Gypsy Weddings
48
STV Productions
13.30
14.24
-6.60
11.20
84.20
Antiques Road Trip; Catchphrase; The
Link; Tutankhamun: Truth Uncovered
49
Endor Productions
(Red Arrow)
13.10
4.40
197.70
12.80
97.70
That Day We Sang; That Musical We
Made
50
Windfall Films
(Argonon)
13.06
9.70
34.60
0.86
6.60
Fifteen Billion Pound Railway;
Spider House; Railroad Alaska
Location, Location, Location;
The Science Of Stupid
Embarrassing Bodies; Operation
Ouch!; Last Chance Salon
51
IWC Media8 (Zodiak)
13.00
13.00
0.00
13.00
100
52
Fresh One
12.90
13.94
-7.50
9.75
75.60
Jamie & Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast;
Bad Bridesmaids
53
Monkey (NBCU)
12.70
13.40
-5.20
11.20
88.20
Made In Chelsea; First Time
Farmers
54
Input Media
12.65
11.94
5.90
7.15
56.60
Chelsea TV; Roland Garros tennis
1,676
120
Millie Inbetween; Fort Boyard;
Zack And Quack; Scrambled
40
7
55
The Foundation (Zodiak)
11.00
7.20
52.80
11.00
100.00
55
Keo Films9
11.00
9.80
12.20
7.90
71.80
Skint; River Cottage; Welcome To Rio
21
40
38.5
47
157
9
55
Arrow Media
11.00
7.90
39.00
4.00
36.00
Live From Space; Ultimate Airport
Dubai; World’s Most Extreme
58
Spun Gold TV
10.90
9.00
21.10
10.40
95.40
Alan Titchmarsh; Love Your Garden;
Paul Hollywood’s Pies & Puds
6 Love is year to 31 March 2014; 7 North One is year to 31 August 2014; 8 IWC includes Lucky Day and Bullseye; 9 Keo is year to 31 March 2014
Off Their Rockers: CPL for ITV
Siblings: Bwark for BBC3
Live From Space: Arrow Media for C4
Sponsored by
Indie
59
October Films10
Turnover 2014
(£m)
Turnover 2013
(£m)
10.79
9.41
% change
14.70
Turnover from
UK (£m)
7.65
% of total
Key shows
Original UK
hours 2014
Full-time UK
staff
70.90
Rude Tube; Operation Stonehenge; You
Have Been Warned; Deadly Dilemmas
74
16
20
20
60
Pioneer (Tinopolis)
10.60
14.00
-24.30
2.00
18.90
UFO World; Extreme Homes; Strangest
Weather; Treasures Of The Earth
61
Zig Zag Productions
10.10
10.00
1.00
6.00
59.40
Troy; Body Bizarre; Ultimate Brain;
Close Up Kings; Xtreme Endurance
47
22
62
Darlow Smithson Prods
(Endemol Shine)
10.06
11.40
-11.80
-
-
The Mill; Richard III: The New Evidence
20
12
63
Victory Television
(Sony)2
10.00
4.10
144.00
10.00
100.00
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?;
Draw It; Tough Young Teachers
30
7
70
20
64
True North11
9.43
10.10
-6.40
9.10
96.50
Building The Dream; Homes By The
Sea; Junior Vets; The Valleys
65
Blast! Films
9.00
6.50
38.50
5.90
65.60
The Super Vet; Web Of Lies; Cops And
Robbers; CCTV: Look Who’s Watching
14
26
The Trip To Italy; Moone Boy; Uncle;
Over To Bill; Timeless
13
18
8
8
31
10
6
3
17
7
66
Baby Cow Productions12
8.75
10.30
-15.00
7.10
81.10
67
Drama Republic13
8.55
-
-
8.55
100.00
The Honourable Woman
Classic Car Rescue; Missing
Evidence; The Real Noah’s Ark
68
Blink Films
8.50
9.00
-5.50
3.50
41.20
68
Artists Studio (Endemol
Shine)
8.50
-
-
-
-
70
Gogglebox
Entertainment (Sony)2
8.20
5.80
41.40
2.60
31.70
Release The Hounds; Plain Jane;
Man v Fly
71
Icon Films14
8.10
7.90
2.50
2.20
27.20
River Monsters; Survive The Tribe;
Spawn Of Jaws; Africa’s Giant Killers
23.5
76
72
Roughcut TV
8.00
-
-
7.50
93.75
Trollied; Cuckoo; Eye Of The Tyger
12.5
9
72
Nutopia14
8.00
12.00
-33.30
1.50
18.75
The ’90s; Bumpzillas
15
16
74
Wag TV
7.55
8.75
-13.70
3.70
49.00
How Do They Do It?; Combat Dealers
40+
15
75
Remedy Productions
(Argonon)
7.44
-
-
7.44
100.00
MTV Charts; Fifteen To One; Radio 1
Teen Awards; MTV hosted shows
1,757
7
76
Eleventh Hour16
7.40
-
-
5.80
78.40
6
6
77
Somethin’ Else17
7.20
6.30
14.30
7.20
100.00
Ten Pieces; Northern Soul; Red Bull Cut
Your Teeth; Poetry: Between The Lines
10
75
78
Retort (FM UK)
6.90
8.40
-17.90
6.90
100.00
Birds Of A Feather
4.5
4
78
Raise The Roof
Productions18
6.90
6.09
13.30
5.70
82.60
Kirstie’s Best Of Both Worlds; Building
Dream Homes; Fill Your House For Free
60
16
George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces;
Shed Of The Year; Inside Asprey
42
7
80
Plum Pictures19
6.50
5.20
25.00
5.60
86.20
81
Clerkenwell Films20
6.20
8.06
-27.90
6.20
100.00
82
Oxford Scientific Films
(Twofour Group)
6.10
2.80
117.90
4.50
82
Oxford Film &
Television21
6.10
5.12
19.10
84
Blue Zoo
6.00
-
85
Rollem Productions22
5.92
4.80
86
Tigress Productions
(Endemol Shine)
5.89
5.62
4.80
-
-
87
Reef Television23
5.76
4.00
44.00
5.30
92.00
The Fall
Foyle’s War
Scrotal Recall
3
6
73.80
Wild Weather; The Queen’s Garden;
Food Prices: The Shocking Truth
14
11
4.50
73.80
Story Of The Jews; Psychopath Night;
The Brits Who Built Modern Britain
20
12
-
6.00
100.00
Q Pootle 5; Tree Fu Tom
10
100
23.30
5.55
93.80
In The Club
6
2
Operation Meet The Street; Marooned
With Ed Stafford; Crowd Control
21
9
Messiah At The Foundling Hospital;
Penelope Keith’s Hidden Villages
71
15
➤
10 October Films is year to 31 October 2014 11 True North is year to 31 March 2014; 12 Baby Cow projected turnover for year ending 31 March 2015; 13 Drama Republic is year to 31 July 2014; 14 Icon is year to 31 March 2014; 15 Nutopia is year to 31
March 2014; 16 Eleventh Hour estimated to 30 September 2014 17 Somethin’ Else is forecast for year to 31 March 2015; 18 Raise the Roof is year to 30 April 2014; 19 Plum Pictures is year to 30 June 2014; 20 Clerkenwell Films is year to 31 March 2014;
21 Oxford Film & TV is year to 30 April 2014; 22 Rollem is year to 30 April 2014; 23 Reef figure is estimated
Honourable Woman: Drama Republic for BBC2
Fifteen To One: Remedy Productions for C4
Q Pootle 5: Blue Zoo for CBeebies
➤
Indies 2015
Indie
88
Eleven Film
Turnover 2014
(£m)
5.70
Turnover 2013
(£m)
0.53
% change
979.50
Turnover from
UK (£m)
5.70
% of total
Key shows
100.00
Glue
88
Cactus TV24
5.70
3.90
46.10
5.40
94.70
90
Touchpaper Television
(Zodiak)
5.50
4.00
37.50
5.50
100.00
91
Blakeway/Blakeway
North (Ten Alps)25
5.20
4.50
16.00
4.10
92
World Productions
(Marcus Evans Group)
5.00
13.40
-66.70
4.00
Saturday Kitchen; Weekend With Aled
Jones; A Taste Of Britain; Munch Box
Original UK
hours 2014
Full-time UK
staff
8
9
228.5
20
8
8
80.00
Afghanistan The Lion’s Last Roar;
Dispatches: Hunted; Cousins At War
40
12
80.00
Line Of Duty; Bletchley Circle;
Nightshift
11
7
16
11
Cara Fi
93
Wild Pictures
4.90
3.76
30.30
4.90
100.00
The Zoo; Dangerous Dogs; Hit & Run;
Kids Behind Bars; The Betrayers
94
Outline Productions
4.82
5.08
-5.10
4.22
87.60
Great British Garden Revival; Show
Me Your Garden; Million Dollar Intern
34
10
62
7
95
Aurora Media
4.70
-
-
4.70
100.00
Formula E; Goodwood; Cars Of The
Future; Dubai Duty Free Tennis
95
Silver River (Sony)2
4.52
5.80
-22.10
4.52
100.00
Big Allotment Challenge; Nick And
Margaret; Dancing Cheek To Cheek
15
14
Big Fish Man; Air Ambulance ER;
Small Animal Hospital
44
20
The Pioneer Woman; The Barefoot
Contessa; Sibas Table; Sweet Julia
2.5
8
79
4
12.5
6
19
8
97
Tern Television26
4.50
5.40
-16.70
3.50
77.80
98
Pacific Productions
4.45
4.75
-6.30
0.16
3.50
99
Flame TV (Avalon)1
4.43
4.90
-9.60
-
-
Heir Hunters; Saints & Scroungers;
Don’t Get Done Get Dom
100
Burning Bright
Productions
4.23
4.02
5.20
3.40
80.40
Almost Royal; 50 Ways To Kill Your
Mammy; Billy Connolly’s Big Send-Off
101
Kindle Entertainment27
4.19
-
-
4.15
99.10
Hank Zipzer; Minibeast Adventure with
Jess; Dixi; Dinopaws
102
Voltage TV
3.80
-
-
2.70
71.10
The British Property Boom
1
8
103
Channel X
3.60
3.85
-6.50
3.40
94.40
Detectorists; So Awkward
4
6
104
Nerd TV (Red Arrow)
3.50
3.80
-7.90
1.30
37.10
Ctrl Freaks; Nazi Quest For The Holy
Grail
8
10
104
Double Act
3.50
-
-
0.95
27.10
Dead Famous DNA; Game Of Stones
3
7
106
Attaboy TV
3.41
2.73
25.00
3.41
100.00
Wheeler Dealers
20
12
107
The Comedy Unit
(Zodiak)
3.40
3.20
6.25
3.40
100.00
Badults; Scotland In A Day
14
9
108
Pilot Film and TV
Productions
3.30
2.40
37.50
2.20
66.67
Globe Trekker; Tough Trains
20
6
10
15
109
CTVC
3.00
1.45
107.00
1.00
33.30
Meet The Mormons; Bible Hunters;
Great War Diaries; My Life: Race to Rio
110
Britespark
2.90
-
-
0.60
20.70
Diamond Geezers And Gold Dealers;
Handsome Devils
2
9
15
3
20
1
4
3
12
10
111
Liberty Bell (Avalon)1
2.81
1.40
100.70
2.81
100.00
Dave Gorman’s Modern Life Is Goodish; Scrappers; The Joke Machine
112
Red House (Zodiak)
2.80
2.20
27.30
2.80
100.00
How Top Sell Your Home; Double Your
House For Half The Money
112
Rise Films
2.80
2.65
5.60
2.20
78.60
114
Back2Back TV28
2.72
2.45
5.17
2.72
100.00
The First Great Escape; Brian
Johnson’s Cars That Rock
115
Darrall Macqueen
2.70
2.25
20.00
2.70
100.00
Topsy & Tim; Fly High and Huggy
8.5
7
115
Indus Films (Twofour
Group)
2.70
1.58
29.90
2.70
100.00
Mekong River With Sue Perkins;
World's Greatest Food Markets
11
6
70
4
Plebs
115
3DD Productions29
2.70
3.10
-13.00
0.44
16.10
Live Vibrations; In Conversation;
Movie Talk
118
Nine Lives Media30
2.52
2.20
14.60
2.31
91.70
Pound Shop Wars; Dispatches; Age Gap
Love; Trouble With Mobility Scooters
23
18
21
4
18
8
17.5
6
119
Wildfire TV
2.42
1.77
36.70
1.64
67.80
Walking Through History; Wild Things
With D Monaghan; Inside Holloway
120
Tuesday's Child
(Greenbird)
2.40
-
-
2.35
98.00
Superstar Dogs; RV Rampage
121
Sixteen South
2.30
1.13
103.40
-
-
122
Saltbeef TV
2.20
2.10
4.80
2.20
100.00
Friday Download
19
3
123
True Vision
2.16
1.57
37.60
2.16
100.00
Curing Cancer; Breadline Kids;
15,000 Kids And Counting
14
12
Lily’s Driftwood Bay
24 Cactus TV is year to 31 August 2014; 25 Ten Alps companies are year to 30 June 2014; 26 Tern is year to 31 March 2014; 27 Kindle Entertainment is year to 31 March 2014; 28 Back2Back is year to 30 April 2015; 29 3DD is year to 31 March 2014;
30 Nine Lives Media is year to 31 August 2014
Sponsored by
Indie
Turnover 2014
(£m)
Turnover 2013
(£m)
% change
Turnover from
UK (£m)
% of total
Key shows
Original UK
hours 2014
Full-time UK
staff
124
Freeform Productions31
2.10
1.20
75.00
1.70
81.00
A Place In The Sun
51
6
124
Adastra Creative
2.10
0.36
483.30
1.50
71.40
Grandpa In My Pocket
11
2
124
Thumbs Up Productions
2.10
3.00
-30.00
1.50
71.40
50 Ways To Kill Your Lover
10
3
128
Telesgop32
2.08
2.95
-29.40
2.08
100.00
Meatloaf; Ffermio; Royal Welsh Show
35
23
129
Topical Television
(Avalon)1
2.05
2.10
-2.40
-
-
Real Rescues; The One Show; Caught
Red-Handed; Brits In Bangkok
31.75
5
127
House of Tomorrow
(Endemol Shine)
2.01
-
-
-
-
Black Mirror; A Touch of Cloth;
Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe
8
2
130
Sundog Pictures
1.94
1.14
70.20
1.37
70.60
Reggie Yates Extreme South Africa;
£999 Weddings; Edinburgh Airport
6
9
131
Newman Street (FMUK)
1.90
-
-
1.90
100.00
Suspects
9
3
131
Films of Record
(Ten Alps)25
1.90
0.90
111.00
1.60
85.00
The Kids’ Hospital At Christmas;
Panorama: Don’t Cap My Benefits
7
4
131
Brook Lapping
Productions (Ten Alps)25
1.90
2.90
-34.00
1.20
65.00
Space: Back To The Future; Extreme
Brat Camp; Perspectives
6
4
134
Vsquared TV
1.85
1.52
21.70
1.68
90.80
Tour de France; Vuelta a Espana
165
4
54.6
6
135
Juniper TV33
1.80
1.37
31.40
1.80
100.00
This Week; Sunday Politics; The Jesus
Mysteries
135
Screenchannel
Television34 (Rare TV)
1.80
1.20
50.00
1.80
100.00
Sweets Made Simple; Fake Britain;
The Sheriffs Are Coming
52.5
7
10
9
135
Matchlight
1.80
-
-
1.60
88.90
Russell Brand: End The Drugs War;
Darcey Bussell’s Looking For Audrey
137
Touch TV
1.65
-
-
1.62
98.00
Can't Pay? We’ll Take It Away;
I, Human 3D
17
5
GPs Behind Closed Doors; Jodie
Marsh docs
8
6
8
9
10
4
2
3
13
5
139
Knickerbockerglory
1.63
1.67
-2.40
1.32
80.70
140
Testimony Films
1.50
1.60
-6.25
1.50
100.00
The Paedophile Next Door; Brothers
In Arms: The Pal’s Army Of WWI
140
Pretzel Films TV
1.30
-
-
1.30
100.00
Doubt On Loan; Big Pop Art;
Superhero Challenge
142
Feelgood Fiction
1.20
-
-
1.20
100.00
Vodka Diaries; Lizard Girl; Found
142
Middlechild TV
1.20
0.93
29.00
1.20
100.00
The Dog Rescuers
144
Humble Bee Films
1.04
-
-
1.04
100.00
David Attenborough’s Natural
Curiosities
5
5
145
Rumpus Media
(Greenbird)
1.03
-
-
1.03
100.00
The Charlotte Crosby Experience;
The Complete History Of…
5
5
146
Transparent Television
1.02
-
-
0.93
91.00
Botched Up Bodies; Gourmet Trains
14
5
5
3
147
Hardcash Productions
1.00
1.00
0.00
0.95
95.00
The White Widow – Searching For
Samantha; Faith Schools Undercover
148
Lemonade Money
0.96
0.41
134.10
0.91
94.80
Four To The Floor; Random Acts
2.5
11
Evil Up Close; Restoring England’s
Heritage; Late Kick Off; Homecoming
20
5
23.5
4
3.5
2
3
3
2.5
3
149
Firstlook TV
0.95
0.80
18.75
0.95
100.00
149
Clean Cut Media
0.95
0.80
19.00
-
-
151
Clearstory
0.92
1.25
-26.40
0.72
77.90
152
Illuminations Media
0.80
1.11
-27.90
0.80
100.00
153
Dartmouth Films
0.77
1.10
-30.10
0.21
26.70
Growing Up Downs
154
Woodcut Media
0.65
-
-
0.29
45.00
Tina Malone: Pregnant At 50; Beggar
Off; Jail Birds; Girl On Girl
6
8
154
Midnight Oil
Productions
0.65
1.70
-62.10
0.25
38.00
Style Stars; Sherlock Uncovered;
Doctor Who: A New Dimension
3
4
156
Chalkboard TV
0.60
-
-
0.50
83.30
The Office Xmas Party
3
5
156
Cube Interactive
0.60
0.45
33.30
0.40
66.70
Ludus
10
7
158
Caledonia TV
0.42
0.44
-5.60
0.42
100.00
A Century of Scottish Sundays;
Creating The Kelpies
13
6
100.00
British Rallycross; Brisca F1;
750 Motorclub racing
102
1
159
AMG Television Prods
0.07
0.07
-12.10
0.06
ATP World Tour Uncovered
Long Shadow; In The Future
Anarchy In Manchester
31 Freeform Productions is year to 31 December 2013; 32 Telesgop is year to 31 December 2013; 33 Juniper figure is estimated; 34 Screenchannel is year to 5 April 2014
Indies 2015
Sponsored by
‘TRUE’ INDIES TOP 30 NOT MAJORITY OWNED BY LARGER GROUP
Indie
Turnover 2014
(£m)
Turnover 2013
(£m)
% change
Turnover from
UK (£m)
% of total
Key shows
Original UK
hours 2014
1
Hat Trick
51.00
37.00
37.80
38.00
74.50
HIGNFY; Episodes; The Suspicions of
Mr Whicher; Outnumbered
2
Neal Street Productions
40.00
15.00
166.00
14.50
36.25
Call The Midwife; Penny Dreadful
Alan Carr Chatty Man; The Last Leg;
Live At The Apollo; The Comedy Store
Full-time UK
staff
68
62
17.25
9
78
8
Sherlock; Edge of Heaven
10.5
8
3
Open Mike1
20.87
21.60
-3.00
16.90
81.00
4
Hartswood Films
19.57
13.00
50.50
19.57
100.00
5
ITN Productions
17.00
-
-
15.50
91.20
Young Vets; Road To Rio; The Agenda;
Dispatches
664
67
6
Red Planet Pictures
15.66
14.67
6.75
15.66
100.00
10.5
16
401
64
7
Rondo Media
14.10
14.50
-3.40
13.95
98.90
Rownd A Rownd; The Indian Doctor;
Frozen At Xmas
8
Off The Fence
14.00
14.16
-1.20
2.50
17.90
Freaks of Nature; Megafamilies
49
40
9
Atlantic Productions
13.70
11.70
17.10
13.70
98.90
Natural History Museum Alive 3D
20
30
164
26
10
STV Productions
13.30
14.24
-6.60
11.20
84.20
Antiques Road Trip; Catchphrase; The
Link; Tutankhamun: The Truth…
11
Fresh One
12.90
13.94
-7.50
9.75
75.60
Jamie & Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast
54.5
16
12
Input Media
12.65
11.94
5.90
7.15
56.60
Chelsea TV; Roland Garros tennis
1,676
120
13
Keo Films2
11.00
9.80
12.20
7.90
71.80
Skint; River Cottage; Welcome To Rio
21
40
13
Arrow Media
11.00
7.90
39.00
4.00
36.00
38.5
47
15
Spun Gold TV
10.90
9.00
21.10
10.40
95.40
157
9
16
October Films
10.79
9.41
14.70
7.65
70.90
74
16
17
Zig Zag Productions
10.10
10.00
1.00
6.00
59.40
47
22
18
True North3
9.43
10.10
-6.40
9.10
96.50
70
20
19
Blast! Films
9.00
6.50
38.50
5.90
65.60
14
26
20
Baby Cow4
8.75
10.30
-15.00
7.10
81.10
13
18
21
Drama Republic5
8.55
-
-
8.55
100.00
8
8
31
10
23.5
76
15
16
Live From Space; Ultimate Airport
Dubai; World’s Most Extreme
Alan Titchmarsh; Love Your Garden;
Paul Hollywood’s Pies & Puds
Rude Tube; Operation Stonehenge;
You Have Been Warned
Troy; Body Bizarre; Ultimate Brain;
Close Up Kings; Xtreme Endurance
Building The Dream; Homes By The
Sea; Junior Vets; The Valleys
The Super Vet; Web Of Lies; Cops And
Robbers; CCTV: Look Who’s Watching
The Trip To Italy; Moone Boy; Uncle;
Over To Bill; Timeless
The Honourable Woman
Classic Car Rescue; Missing
Evidence; The Real Noah’s Ark
River Monsters; Survive The Tribe;
Spawn of Jaws
22
Blink Films
8.50
9.00
-5.50
3.50
41.20
23
Icon Films6
8.10
7.90
2.50
2.20
27.20
24
Nutopia7
8.00
12.00
-33.30
1.50
18.75
The ’90s
24
Roughcut TV
8.00
-
-
7.50
93.75
Trollied; Cuckoo; Eye Of The Tyger
12.5
9
26
Wag TV
7.55
8.75
-13.70
3.70
49.00
How Do They Do It?; Combat Dealers
40+
15
27
Eleventh Hour8
7.40
-
-
5.80
78.40
Foyle’s War
6
6
28
Somethin’ Else9
7.20
6.30
14.30
7.20
100.00
Ten Pieces; Northern Soul; Red Bull Cut
Your Teeth; Poetry: Between The Lines
10
75
6.90
6.09
13.30
5.70
82.60
Kirstie’s Best Of Both Worlds
60
16
86.20
George Clarke's Amazing Spaces;
Shed Of The Year
42
7
29
30
10
Raise The Roof
Plum Pictures
6.50
5.20
25.00
5.60
1 Open Mike is year to 31 January 2014 ; 2 Keo is year to 31 March 2014 3 True North is year to 31 March 2014; 4 Baby Cow projected turnover for year ending 31 March 2015; 5 Drama Republic is year to 31 July 2014; 6 Icon is year to 31 March 2014;
7 Nutopia is year to 31 March 2014; 8 Eleventh Hour estimated to 30 September 2014 9 Somethin’ Else is year to 31 March 2015 estimated; 10 Raise the Roof is year to 30 April 2014
Penny Dreadful: Neal Street Productions
The Passing Bells: Red Planet Pictures
The Super Vet: Blast! Films
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e. [email protected] . t. 01823 322 829
A Service of:
Indies 2015
Sponsored by
FASTEST RISERS
Rising stars of British TV
For small indies, a breakout commission or format can transform their business.
Meet the fastest-growing producers in the Indie Survey with turnovers below £10m
ELEVEN FILM £5.7m (+980%)
Drama has been the driver of Eleven Film’s
growth, led by eight-part E4 murder-mystery
Glue. The indie, which made a name for itself
with meta-documentary Alex And I, had
always planned to work in scripted, but initially
took a sideways step into factual. Co-founder
Jamie Campbell is keenly aware of the ebb
and flow of drama production, but is putting
Channel 4’s recent investment in the indie into
the hire of a drama head to manage its “disproportionately large” slate, which includes Sky
Living’s The Enfield Haunting and Jesus drama
Nazareth for Fox in the US.
A Place In The Sun: Freeform
Lily’s Driftwood Bay: Sixteen South
ADASTRA CREATIVE £2.1m (+483%)
Scripted children’s content is a cyclical part
of the market and this year the wind blew in
Adastra Creative’s direction with two series of
CBeebies’ Grandpa In My Pocket. Co-owner
Martin Franks reports an 11-20% fall in budgets
on the long-running series, but two web games
for the CBeebies Storytime App – Mr Mentor’s
Custard Puffplopper and Mr Mentor’s Spectopular Lollypopper – brought in revenues of
£67,000. Like all children’s producers, there’s
concern for the future vitality of the sector and
Franks suggests part of the BBC licence fee
could be ring-fenced for children’s output on
ITV, C4 and Channel 5.
LEMONADE MONEY £1m (+134%)
The agile and versatile producer had a good
2014 with increased orders from C4 and the
BBC as well as brand partners Vevo, Nando’s
and Red Bull. New revenues came from Apple’s
iTunes and Virgin Media’s V festivals. Creative
director Faraz Osman says the non-broadcast
part of the business, from third parties wanting
to reach youth audiences in a credible way, is
the growth area. Hence the company invested
in a small in-house studio to meet clients’
needs more quickly. “We’re building a model
for future platforms and future audiences,” says
Osman. “We’re confident that our unique lens,
collaborative nature and family of talent will
continue to help us grow.”
CTVC £3m (+107%)
The not-for-profit indie, which specialises in
religious and ethics-themed factual programming, benefited from several sizeable commissions in 2014, most notably as the UK partner
on BBC2’s three-part international co-production Great War Diaries. It renewed its deal to
Great War Diaries: CTVC
make items for The One Show and produced
Bible Hunters for BBC2 and Smithsonian, and
C4’s Meet The Mormons. Its pipeline for 2015
spans BBC1 and BBC2 docs, plus films for BBC
strands Modern Times and Storyville. CTVC also
looked beyond TV last year, with the commercial release of an audio CD featuring David
Suchet reading the Bible.
SIXTEEN SOUTH £2.3m (+103%)
The Belfast-based children’s indie had a huge
hit on its hands with Lily’s Driftwood Bay.
The Broadcast Award-winning stop-animation
series was one of the top three shows on Nick Jr
and the company is beginning to expand its
international footprint beyond Europe to
China, Latin America and the Middle East. All
eyes are on its next phase: the producer has
three major shows in production and has
optioned several further published works for
development. “We know that we have to scale
up – which is fun and scary at the same time,”
says head of production Julie Gardner.
FREEFORM PRODUCTIONS £2.1m (+75%)
Continuing large orders for C4 stalwart A Place
In The Sun and its various spin-offs put Freeform in a good place in 2014. But with lower
Glue: Eleven Film
orders this year, it expects turnover to dip in
next year’s survey.
SUNDOG PICTURES £1.9m (+70%)
“Sundog’s business is shaping up to be about
a third TV, a third film and a third branded
documentaries,” says co-founder and managing director Johnny Webb. Examples for each
include the next series of Reggie Yates In Russia
for BBC3 and BBC1; a follow-up to its drugs
feature documentary Breaking The Taboo, this
time on population; and a multiplatform
commission from Danish company Vestas. The
latter will support a global campaign about
energy poverty that spans a TV documentary,
YouTube films and a year-long social campaign.
CACTUS TV £5.5m (+46%)
In its second full year since splitting from All3Media, Cactus delivered 228.5 hours of TV in
2014, boosted by two major new commissions.
First ITV ordered 40 hours of breakfast format
Weekend With Aled Jones, followed in the
autumn with new 20-part BBC1 series A Taste
Of Britain, fronted by Janet Street-Porter and
chef Brian Turner. Meanwhile, Saturday
Kitchen rolls on and CITV aired a second series
of children’s cookery format The Munch Box.
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Indies 2015
TOP OWNERS/CONSOLIDATORS
Consolidators tighten their grip
Despite double-digit declines in revenues for groups such as All3Media and Shine, ahead
of its merger with top-ranked Endemol, UK turnover was up overall. Robin Parker reports
T
he grip of super-indies, international broadcasters and
mid-sized groups of producers
remained strong in 2014 even before
the Endemol-Shine merger.
Combined UK revenues of the
17 companies that reported in both
2013 and 2014 were up from £1.47bn
to £1.64bn. The only change in this
year’s table is that Predictable Media
has been replaced by Ten Alps.
Analyst Prospero takes a forensic
look at the overall sector on pages
22-23, but here we break these companies down to compare more
natural bedfellows.
Last Tango in Halifax: Red (StudioCanal)
Made In Chelsea NYC: Monkey (NBCU)
Company
UK turnover from
productionrelated activities
2014 (£m)
UK turnover
2013 (£m)
Change
(%)
Global turnover
(£m)
Amount
from UK (%)
Amount
from US (%)
UK subsidiaries
Zeppotron; Remarkable; Initial; Darlow Smithson; Tiger
Aspect; Tigress; Artists Studio; House Of Tomorrow;
Bandit Television
North One; Bentley Productions; Optomen; One Potato Two
Potato; Lion Television; Company Pictures; Lime Pictures;
Maverick Television; Objective Productions; Studio Lambert
1
Endemol (Twentieth Century
Fox/Apollo)1
267.00
260.00
2.7
923.74
28.90
71.1
2
All3Media (Discovery/
Liberty Global)2
253.10
288.30
-12.2
-
-
-
3
Shine (Twentieth Century
Fox/Apollo)3
158.00
173.00
-13.3
582.40
27.10
72.9
4
Fremantle Media UK (RTL)
147.10
150.70
-2.4
147.10
100.00
0.0
5
Tinopolis
140.00
110.00
27.3
208.00
67.00
33.0
6
Zodiak UK (DeAgostini)
116.00
129.00
-10.1
-
-
-
Thames; Talkback; Boundless; Retort; Newman Street;
Euston Films
Tinopolis Wales; Sunset+Vine; Mentorn; Firecracker Films;
Pioneer
RDF TV; IWC Media (inc Bullseye and Lucky Day); Bwark;
Touchpaper TV; The Comedy Unit; Foundation; Red House
7
NBCU4
101.70
115.50
-12.0
-
-
-
Carnival Film & Television; Monkey; Lucky Giant
8
Warner Brothers Television
Production UK
85.00
110.00
-22.7
101.00
62.00
38.0
Wall to Wall; Ricochet; Twenty Twenty; Shed Productions;
Renegade Pictures; Headstrong; Watershed; Yalli
10
Twofour Group
77.00
80.80
-4.7
91.00
84.60
15.4
9
Avalon Group5
58.43
55.60
5.1
82.00
71.30
28.7
Twofour; Boom Wales; Oxford Scientific Films; Indus Films;
Mainstreet Pictures)
Avalon TV; Flame TV; Liberty Bell; Topical Television;
Tinderbox Television
61.80
51.89
19.1
172.70
48.40
51.6
IMG
11
William Morris Endeavour
6
Shine TV; Princess Productions; Kudos; Dragonfly
12
Sony
52.30
32.70
59.9
-
-
-
Left Bank Pictures; Gogglebox Entertainment; Silver River;
Victory TV; Electric Ray; Stellify
13
StudioCanal6
34.00
21.00
66.7
35.00
99.00
-
Red Production Company (60%)
14
Argonon
30.00
12.00
150
50.00
60
40.0
15
Red Arrow8
29.50
16.20
85.2
32.50
-
-
CPL Productions (51%); Endor (51%); CPL (68.25%)
16
Discovery9
21.20
18.70
13.4
50.00
42.40
-
Betty TV; Raw TV
17
Ten Alps
9.00
8.80
-
-
-
-
Blakeway; Brook Lapping; Films of Record
4.00
13.00
-69.2
5.00
80.00
20.0
18
7
6
Marcus Evans Group
Remedy; Windfall Films; Leopard Films; Leopardrama;
Transparent TV; Britespare Films; Blacklisted
World Productions
1 Endemol global figure converted from submission of €1.254bn at today’s exchange rate. Its figures include distribution arm EWD for the first time and the 2013 figures have been adjusted to reflect this; 2 All3Media group figure is year to 31 August 2014
3 Shine is year to 30 June 2014 4 NBCU figure is sum of its 100%-owned UK companies reporting figures: Carnival & Monkey; 5 Avalon is year to 30 June 2014 6 WME, StudioCanal and Marcus Evans all based on their sole UK TV subsidiary turnover
7 Converted from Sony’s submission of $80.6m at today’s exchange rate; 8 Red Arrow figure is sum of Nerd, Endor and CPL’s UK turnovers; 9 Discovery figure is sum of UK companies Betty TV and Raw TV, and does not include All3Media
Sponsored by
TOP US OWNERS/CONSOLIDATORS
Company
UK turnover
2014 (£m)
UK turnover
2013 (£m)
Change
(%)
1
Endemol (Twentieth Century Fox/Apollo)
267.00
260.00
2.7
2
All3Media (Discovery/Liberty Global)
253.10
288.30
-12.2
3
Shine (Twentieth Century Fox Apollo)
158.00
173.00
-13.3
4
NBCU
101.70
115.50
-12.0
5
Warner Brothers Television Production UK
85.00
110.00
-22.7
6
William Morris Endeavour
61.80
51.89
19.1
7
Sony
52.30
32.70
59.9
8
Discovery
21.20
18.70
13.4
T
here was much debate in 2014
about the encroachment of US
companies into the UK broadcasting landscape. But in truth, this
part of the market remained fairly
stable: with All3Media, Shine, NBCU
and Warner Brothers all posting doubledigit declines, overall UK revenues
dipped from £1.05bn to £1bn.
Endemol and Shine will have
reported 2014 figures separately
(Shine’s figures to 30 June pre-date the
merger), but Endemol has leapfrogged
All3Media to top this year’s table. Its
year-on-year growth is modest – up
2.7% compared with a 4% rise in 2013
– but it is in a healthy place.
The top two companies’ results
reflect their shifting fortunes in scripted
and unscripted. Drama is propelling
Endemol and will continue to do so
now that Shine-owned Kudos is part of
the same company, and the combined
group has also created new drama label
Bandit Television. At All3M, what was
once a 50/50 balance in revenues
between scripted and unscripted has
tipped towards the latter.
The international appeal of Gogglebox is clearly driving this and helping to
offset a weak unscripted year. Overall
UK revenues fell by £35m (12%) in the
first reporting year since Company
Pictures’ returning dramas Skins,
Shameless and Wild At Heart finished.
The figures, which represent the
year up to the completion of Discovery
and Liberty Global’s deal to buy All3
in September, also mark a gap year for
Objective’s Peep Show and Fresh Meat,
both of which will return for one last
hurrah later this year.
Wolf Hall is a feather in Company’s
cap and all eyes are on what drama
flavours Studio Lambert will come up
with under newly appointed head of
drama Susan Hogg.
All3M’s new chief executive Jane
Turton believes the likes of Gogglebox,
Toast Of London and Great Interior
Design Challenge are injecting new
life into the company, with more on
the way. “New shows already commissioned for 2015, coupled with a strong
development slate, give us confidence
that the business is in great shape in
the UK and the strong IP pipeline is
fuelling growth in the international
market,” says Turton.
Endemol chief operating officer
Richard Johnston is excited by Tiger
Aspect’s 22% growth, the breakout of
Zeppotron’s scripted slate into new
label House Of Tomorrow, and the
arrival of The Fall producer Artists
Studio at the mega-indie.
“This was a record year for Tiger
Aspect and it’s in a lovely position,
with big returning series like Benidorm, Peaky Blinders and Ripper Street,
and new projects like Fortitude,” he
says. “With these labels, and now
Kudos, we have some real talent
magnets that can bring in smaller
Peaky Blinders: Tiger Aspect (Endemol)
‘This was a
record year
for Tiger
Aspect and
it’s in a
lovely
position
with big
returning
series’
Richard Johnston,
Endemol
Toast Of London: Objective Productions (All3M)
producers such as Lovely Day and
Fifty Fathoms.”
In terms of pure production,
Endemol UK’s turnover grew by
8% from £184m to £200m in 2014.
Johnston also points to Darlow
Smithson Productions’ shift into
features under creative director Pete
Lawrence as a major development.
But entertainment remains a tough
nut to crack. Despite the megahit
Pointless, Remarkable Media’s revenues dipped by 10.5% last year and
Shine-owned Princess Productions
suffered a 48% drop due to delayed
commissioning of Got To Dance.
“Endemol Shine is strong in scripted
and unscripted, but we will keep trying
in the entertainment space,” Johnston
says. “It’s very difficult to get shows to
stick. Shiny floor is the question mark
for most companies now. I don’t think
anyone’s landed a hit in four years.”
Nevertheless, entertainment is
doing nicely for Sony’s Victory Television, which makes National Lottery
gameshow Win Your Wish List and
‘battle of the geeks’ gameshow The
Fanatics for Sky 1. Its new bedfellows
at Sony – Electric Ray and Stellify –
have both won BBC1 primetime entertainment commissions.
Elsewhere, Warner Brothers Television Production UK kept Wall to Wall
stable, but the industry will be watching to see what it has up its sleeve to
replace recently decommissioned BBC1
drama New Tricks – and what the
future of The Voice might be now that
ITV has bought format creator Talpa.
NBCU too will be looking for a
boost after Downton Abbey producer
Carnival Film & Television’s revenues
fell by 10% and Made In Chelsea indie
Monkey’s dropped by 5%.
➤
Indies 2015
TOP UK OWNERS/CONSOLIDATORS
Birds Of A Feather: Retort (FMUK)
TOP EUROPEAN OWNERS/CONSOLIDATORS
Company
UK turnover
2014 (£m)
UK turnover
2013 (£m)
Change
(%)
1
Fremantle Media UK (RTL)
147.10
150.70
-2.4
2
Zodiak UK (DeAgostini)
116.00
129.00
-10.1
3
StudioCanal
35.00
21.00
66.7
4
Red Arrow
30.00
16.20
85.2
I
t’s a mixed picture for European companies operating in
the UK production sector. UKderived revenues are up by 3.5%,
but that growth is skewed towards
companies with the smallest
British footprints.
Fremantle Media UK’s revenues
are fairly steady, with a 2.4% dip
largely accounted for by fluctuations
in scripted comedy. In the last Indie
Survey, its comedy label Retort was
enjoying a 200% boost thanks to a
cluster of shows including The IT
Crowd’s swansong; in 2014, its eggs
were in one, admittedly successful,
basket in the shape of ITV’s hit
revival of Birds Of A Feather.
Looking forward, it’s pinning
its hopes on E4’s Chewing Gum
and a yet-to-be-revealed mainstream sitcom that interim FM UK
chief executive Richard Holloway
says “brings together two
legendary writers”.
Newman Street’s semi-improvised C5 series Suspects has given
FM UK a step up into drama and
Holloway is eyeing the resurrection of Euston Films under Kate
Harwood as a chance to gain a
stronger footprint in the genre.
Thames continues to defy the
naysayers with the likes of The X
Factor and Britain’s Got Talent
helping to keep revenues fairly
steady – dropping just 1.7% despite
‘Entertainment’s a
bit disappointing.
We need more –
it’s what we’re
known for’
Richard Holloway, Fremantle Media
a 14% drop in the collective hours of
Family Fortunes and Take Me Out.
Nevertheless, Holloway says he
wants to lead a push in the genre.
“Entertainment’s a bit disappointing. We need more – it’s what we’re
known for and we’ve not produced
any new shows in recent years.”
Despite its individual labels
holding up – notably Bwark Productions, buoyed by box office
success with The Inbetweeners 2 Zodiak is this year’s biggest faller.
Chief executive Ron Henwood
describes a “tough and challenging” market, in which spend is up
but margins remain tight.
StudioCanal is basking in the
glory of a storming year for Red Production Company, which has proved
a shrewd acquisition with its mix of
old and new dramas across the PSBs.
Red Arrow benefited from more
than £1m in international sales of
Endor’s BBC1 drama The Escape
Artist and pre-sales of its New Year’s
Day 2015 BBC1 one-off Esio Trot.
Company
UK turnover
2014 (£m)
UK turnover
2013 (£m)
1
Tinopolis
140.00
110.00
27.3
3
Twofour Group
77.00
80.80
-4.7
2
Avalon Group
58.43
55.60
5.1
4
Argonon
30.00
12.00
150.0
5
Ten Alps
9.00
8.80
-
6
Marcus Evans Group
4.00
13.00
-69.2
A
way from the muchdebated US invasion of
studios, broadcasters and
mega-producers, a bunch of British
venture capitalists, umbrella firms
and small clusters of indies are
showing there is safety in numbers.
Welsh group Tinopolis grew its
UK revenues by 27% in 2014,
thanks in large part to a bumper
year for sports producer Sunset+
Vine, which capped seasonal highs
from the Commonwealth and
Winter Paralympic games with
1,227 hours of production for the
first full year of BT Sport.
Tinopolis’ US indie A Smith & Co
had a breakout hit with NBC’s
American Ninja Warrior, which is
now in line for an ITV remake from
ITV Studios, and Tinopolis Wales
made Welsh/English dual-language
drama series Hinterland for S4C/
BBC. Group chair Ron Jones attributes this to international interest in
shooting drama in Wales, with
cameras set to roll on a further five
major productions in 2015.
Elsewhere in Wales, Twofour
Group, in its first full year of
trading following the merger of
Twofour and Boom Pictures,
dipped by 5%, though its smaller
outfits, Oxford Scientific Films and
Indus Films, both enjoyed growth.
Change
(%)
The fastest-growing owner in
this group is Argonon, which
snapped up producer Windfall
Films in February 2014. The deal
gave the Inside Nature’s Giants producer the clout to make Cabin
Truckers, a major 10-part series
for Canadian broadcaster Cottage
Life. Argonon also won major
CBBC drama series Eve, produced
through its Leopard Drama imprint
and recently recommissioned.
This part of the market continues to grow. Not yet fully represented is Greenbird, as only two
of its indies have so far reported
turnovers: Tuesday’s Child and
Rumpus Media filed combined
UK revenues of £3.3m. Rare, the
private equity-backed company
set up by former Ingenious exec
Antony Fraser and Red Arrow
chief Joel Denton, is moving fast,
snapping up 360 Production,
Babygrand Productions and
Screenchannel Television in its
first year. Further acquisitions
are on the cards.
Not every group is in such a
hurry, however. Jones says the
number of companies of scale is
diminishing fast. “It’s difficult to
grow a small company into a big
one in a polarised market. We will
see more small groups clustering.”
Hinterland: Tinopolis Wales (Tinopolis)
ADVERTORIAL CREATIVE SKILLSET
In association with
Spotlight on skills
Creative Skillset’s The Full Picture report brings into focus production companies’ concerns about the skills gaps facing the
industry. It also provides a call to arms on what needs to be done to ensure a properly trained workforce throughout the UK
Andrew Chowns
Chair of TV Skills
Council, Creative
Skillset, and CEO
of Directors UK
C
reative Skillset’s report, The
Full Picture, is a must-read for
anyone concerned about the
development of our workforce.
It lays out what the leaders of 121
UK production companies think of
the skills gaps and shortages they face.
For me and Cat Lewis, in our
roles as chair and vice-chair of
Creative Skillset’s TV Skills
Council, it is a call to arms:
what conclusions can
we draw about the
career and skills develUK production
companies thst
opment needs of our
find it hard to
industry, and how can
from drama, members
fill vacancies
we turn these findings
of the TV Council
into a plan to ensure a
based outside London
properly skilled workforce
and the southeast say there
throughout the UK?
is plenty of great talent there. CompaThe first couple of pages provide
nies are either not aware or are not
us with two key findings:
prepared to use the locally available
Some 77% of respondents find
workforce, preferring to transfer
it hard to fill vacancies and, again,
people from London.
77% describe a shortfall between the
■ Some roles that are said to be hard
skills they need and those of their
to recruit, such as series producers,
current workforce.
edit producers and factual directors,
The report then takes us through,
might be in short supply because of
genre by genre, the specific chalchanges to working practices like the
lenges. Some are fairly well-known
fragmentation of roles initiated by
and understood:
the companies themselves.
And some are clearly in danger of
■ The lack of programme strands
doing great harm to our talent base:
with a career-development role built
in, such as those that The Bill and
■ Many said broadcasters and
Skins used to offer.
production companies were riskaverse in hiring people – and not
■ The value of providing real work
opportunities, such as mentoring and just for senior roles. This is often
coupled by a lack of awareness of the
apprenticeships, that can help supavailable talent, or an unwillingness
plement basic skills with confidence,
to consider anyone outside a small
familiarity and practice.
circle of ‘approved’ specialists. It’s a
■ The difficulty of attracting and
strange paradox that we have so
retaining people with digital and
social media skills in the face of com- much access to information about the
workforce via social media, talent
petition from other industry sectors.
websites and databases, yet so much
Others are not so easy to underreluctance to give a chance to
stand, as they appear to contain a
someone new.
number of contradictions:
■ Many respondents find it espe■ A number of these factors are comcially hard to find talent to work in
bining to create a workforce that
the nations and regions. Yet aside
lacks diversity across all measures.
77%
‘There is much to do: so
much of our production
workforce is freelance and
we cannot leave their skills
development to chance’
Andrew Chowns, Creative Skillset
At this month’s Westminster Media
Forum, I called for a revolution in
recruiting to tackle these challenges.
This must include our approach to
skills and career development.
Our first task is to ensure we have a
clear understanding of the key findings of the report, especially: how can
we spread the word about the full
range of talent of the workforce in the
nations and regions and ensure every
programme made as part of the outof-London quota leaves a legacy?
■ Do we have the most open and
effective routes into the workforce –
not just from the default option of
universities but also from schools
and communities?
■ How can we create real work
opportunities that spread outside the
trusted ‘safe pair of hands’ and break
down the prevailing risk-averse culture?
■ Why do TV companies find it so
hard to recruit and retain good digital
and social media talent?
It is not all doom and gloom,
of course. In a way, we are tackling
a problem of success because of
the high demand for our talented
workforce. A number of promising
initiatives are already under way,
many with Creative Skillset support
and encouragement.
The BBC’s recent announcement of
5,000 digital apprentices was especially eye-catching, and shows that
bold steps can be taken. There are also
new apprenticeships being developed
for Broadcast Engineering and Broadcast Production, and there is Creative
Skillset’s successful Trainee Finder
programme placing paid trainees onto
drama productions.
Due to the success of the highend drama skills levy, Creative
Skillset is also supporting a number
of projects, many of which have a
diversity focus, to upskill crew and
develop writers, producers and
directors. The recently announced
CDN Commissioner Development
Programme is supported by the
Creative Skillset TV Fund.
But there is still much to do
across all genres of the TV industry.
So much of our production workforce is now freelance. It is simply
too valuable and important for us,
and we cannot leave freelancers
and their career and skills development to chance.
The truth is that we will only be
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Indies 2015
TRENDS
The rise of the mega-indie
All3Media’s sale to Discovery and Liberty Global and the merger of Endemol and Shine have
transformed the indie sector. Prospero Strategy’s Tabitha Elwes assesses the year’s key trends
B
eneath the Indie Survey’s
headline figures an interesting
story is emerging: the rise of
the ‘mega-indie’. While standalone
labels accounted for 32% of revenue
in 2011, in 2015’s survey they account
for just 26%.
Despite the creation of Endemol
Shine Group and US ownership of
All3Media, the smaller groups produced the biggest growth as the
number of consolidated groups
operating multiple labels expanded
from 12 to 20.
However, the top ‘true’ indies continue to grow strongly, with indie
labels driving significant year-on-year
growth. These firms are likely to be
the main targets for the next round of
consolidation. And the sector continues to be refreshed at a steady pace,
with 5% of revenues coming from
Revenue split by size
32%
‘5% of
revenues
come from
producers
not in last
year’s survey’
producers not in last year’s survey,
many of them first-timers.
Including estimates for BBC
and ITV in-house production leaves
‘true’ indies with just 18% of total
market revenues.
Market consolidation has been
driven by international broadcasters
looking to secure their control of
content by investing up the value
chain. In just five years, the per-
Revenue split: qualifying and non-qualifying indies
15%
26%
30%
46%
62%
15%
18%
30%
21%
53%
85%
?
54%
45%
38%
32%
2011
Top five
2015
Smaller groups
2015 inc in-house
Indies
Sources: Prospero, Broadcast
2011
In-house
2015
Qualifying
2015 inc in-house
Non-qualifying
Sources: Prospero, Broadcast
Sponsored by
Share of major groups
2011
All3Media
Endemol
Shine Group
16%
Endemol
Fremantle
Media
9%
Shine
15%
All3Media
15%
Fremantle
Media
Zodiak
2015
8%
7%
Tinopolis
5%
NBCU
5%
4%
Qualifying
13%
Non-qualifying
Sources: Prospero, Broadcast. Note: IMG excluded as it is primarily a rights company
centage of indie revenues accounted
for by qualifying indies – those not
controlled by a broadcaster – has
fallen from 85% to 54%, a figure
that looks understated given the
additional consolidation resulting
from ITV’s acquisition spree (ITV
does not break down data for The
Garden, Big Talk Productions or So
Television). Including in-house production shows that only 38% of total
market revenues now come from
qualifying indies.
This share could decline further.
Tinopolis and Neal Street are on the
blocks and, arguably, both Zodiak and
Fremantle sit slightly uncomfortably
in their current owners’ portfolios.
As a result, it is possible to imagine a
Behind the scenes on
(clockwise from left):
Evermoor, Lime Pictures
(All3Media); The Island
With Bear Grylls, Bear
Grylls Ventures/Shine TV
(Endemol Shine Group);
Midsomer Murders,
Bentley Productions
(All3Media); Marvellous,
Tiger Aspect/Fifty
Fathoms (Endemol
Shine Group)
Revenue by country of ownership
14%
29%
5%
Warner Bros
Discovery
Fox
Sony
NBCU
44%
66%
42%
2011
2015
Other
Source: Prospero analysis, Broadcast
US
UK
scenario in which qualifying indies
move away from in-house guarantees
account for just one quarter of total
and make shows for third parties.
market revenues.
Second, with 20% of UK commisFive groups account for 45% of
sioning now from less regulated comsector revenue in the 2015 Indie
mercial multichannels, and with 65%
Survey. Closer examination of
of indie revenues accounted for by just
these five illustrates how much the
10 groups, does the regulatory framesector and players have changed
work need to be rebalanced? Do the
in five years: now that
mega-indies still need regulaEndemol and Shine have
tory protection. Or does the
combined, three of the
fact that most megatop five are non-qualiindies are now NQIs
fying indies, while
effectively allow free
Standalone labels’
share of revenue,
Tinopolis, in fourth
market forces to operate
down from 32%
place, is seeking a
at the top end?
in 2011
buyer. Ironically, FreFinally, is there risk to
mantle, the only nonlong-term investment if
qualifying indie in 2011,
nearly half the sector is USbecame a qualifying indie when
owned? Will international comRTL sold Channel 5.
mercial requirements begin to
More dramatic still is the extent to
supplant UK cultural needs, making it
which this consolidation has shifted
increasingly difficult for UK PSBs to
ownership of the UK indie sector into
secure the content they require?
international hands. In 2011, 66% of
There are no easy answers to these
indie revenues were accounted for by
questions. The UK’s global leadership
UK-controlled companies; in 2015, this in production has not just been about
number has fallen to 42%, with US
regulation, it has benefited from
companies now slightly ahead on 44%.
strong, scale broadcasting and crea(If in-house production is included,
tive ecologies with multiple funding
only 31% of the market is US-owned,
models. Keeping the right balance
but it is still a significant foothold.)
between production and broadcasting
This raises several questions.
will remain key to future success.
First, the ability of the BBC and ITV
to meet qualifying indie quotas will
Tabitha Elwes is a founding partner
be increasingly challenged as a
of Prospero Strategy, a consulting
greater and greater proportion
firm providing strategy, regulatory
become non-qualifying – a factor
advice and business support to the
contributing to the BBC’s plans to
media and sports industries
26%
Indies 2015
BROADCASTERS
Big four jockey for position
Plans to allow BBC Productions to compete in the open market have divided the indie
sector, while ITV, C4 and Sky have been busy making acquisitions. Robin Parker reports
The Graham Norton Show: True North
I
TV Studios’ UK revenues are fairly
stable at £459m, up just 1% on
2013, but they account for just
under half of its £993m total revenues.
The in-house producer is making a
bigger play than ever globally, with US
revenues up by a third to £235m and
4% growth in the rest of the world,
thanks to acquisitions including Pawn
Stars producer Leftfield and a 51%
share in Teen Wolf producer DiGa
Vision. Contained within the UK figure,
but not broken down into constituent
parts, are revenues from ITV-owned
British indies Big Talk Productions, The
Garden Productions and So Television.
Over at the BBC, the hunt is on for a
head of BBC Studios, the new name
for the corporation’s in-house drama,
comedy, entertainment and factual
teams, which between them turn over
around £400m a year.
‘Director
general Tony
Hall’s plans
to let BBC
Studios
compete on
the open
market met
with a mixed
response’
Director general Tony Hall’s plans
for BBC Studios to compete on the
open market following charter
renewal negotiations met with a
mixed response from indies awaiting
more concrete information that will be
spelled out later this year, most likely
after the BBC Trust’s Content Supply
Review is closed.
AVERAGE BUDGET CHANGE
%
Increase 10-20%
1.5
Same
38
-1-10%
40
-11-20%
17.5
-21-50%
1.5
-50%+
1.5
Nevertheless, 56% are broadly in
favour of the move, which includes an
end to quotas, believing it will result in
a more even playing field, as long as it
is fully transparent and the biggest
shows are truly put up for grabs. But a
sizeable minority (29%) argue that it
will distort the market (see box.)
The remainder are indifferent, particularly smaller producers, who feel
that the debate over Hall’s plan is just
a political slanging match between the
BBC and the super-indies.
There is greater consensus on
whether the licence fee itself should
be shared with other public sector
bodies or institutions: two-thirds are
firmly against.
Supporters see merit in helping
commercial children’s content producers or boosting nations and
regions spending, but the majority say
Sponsored by
BBC QUOTAS INDIE VIEWS
Do you support the BBC’s proposal to end quotas while making
BBC Productions a commercial competitor to indies?
Yes 56%
No 29%
“In-house production is a drain on BBC
resources because indies can produce
content that is better quality for tighter
budgets. However, there would have to
be an absolute open pitching process,
not jobs for the boys.”
“The advantages this huge player
would have would entirely tilt the playing field, making it almost impossible
for smaller indies to compete.”
“BBC in-house adds to the feeling
that, as an indie, you are only party
to half the factors involved in
whether you win a commission or
not. In-house has made some really
middle-of-the-road programming and
competition can only be good for the
creative process.”
“The window of creative competition
is currently too crowded to be
sustainable.”
“Currently some licence payers’
money is wasted and doesn’t end
up on screen in the way it should.
BBC in-house spends too much
money on buildings, programme
budgets and pays more than the
market rate for programme makers
at every level in comparison with the
independent sector.”
“BBC in-house should be encouraged
to experience the commercial world.
We would hopefully end up with less
Tumble and more The Call Centres.”
Building The Dream: True North
“It is wrong for a publicly funded body
to compete in the market. It will distort the market and undermine the
work and creativity of indies.”
“There’s no way that BBC Productions
as a commercial competitor to indies
can be dressed up as a good thing.
The BBC is our public service broadcaster, funded by the people. When
that animal threatens to attack the
people, that really isn’t a good thing.”
“If it acts with complete commercial
freedom and ends the quotas system, independent producers will naturally be at a disadvantage. The BBC
wants the best of all possible worlds
– guaranteed future public funding
and commercial freedom”
Strictly Come Dancing: BBC Productions
Indifferent 15%
“The BBC will do what it wants
and the relationships and access to
talent will still be the same.”
“The BBC changes its rules and
direction for political reasons – not
for editorial or business ones.”
The Great British Bake Off: Love Productions
that top-slicing would erode the BBC’s
purpose and dilute its core services.
Meanwhile, Channel 4 took stakes
in indies for the first time in 2014
through its new Growth Fund, which
is designed to sustain the independent
production sector.
Eleven Film, True North, Arrow
Media, Popkorn and Lightbox were the
initial recipients. Of these, only Eleven
and True North report in this year’s
survey but both are in a good place:
Building The Dream indie True North’s
revenues dipped slightly in 2014, down
6% to £9.4m, but Eleven Film’s leaped
980% to £5.7m on the back of E4 drama
Glue and Fox commission Nazareth.
Sky also entered the fray, taking a
70% stake in the hottest indie around:
Love Productions. The broadcaster is
not only buying into the creative
minds behind megahits Benefits
BEST BROADCASTER
TO DEAL WITH (% SHARE)
2014
2013
ITV
26
28
BBC
24
23
C4
20
20.5
C5
11
5.5
Sky
7
11
Discovery
7
6.5
UKTV
5
-
‘2014 was
the year
when Sky
entered
the fray
with a
70% stake
in Love
Productions’
WORST BROADCASTER
TO DEAL WITH (% SHARE)
2014
C4
2013
43
33
BBC
33.5
27.5
Sky
12.5
12.5
ITV
4
4.5
C5
4
13.5
Discovery
1.5
3.5
Nat Geo
1.5
-
Street and The Great British Bake Off
but a canny international operator:
more than a quarter of its £15m turnover comes from international versions of Bake Off, Why Don’t You
Speak English and Generation Gap,
and a further £1m now comes from
the US.
All eyes will be on Sky over the next
year to see how much deeper it dips into
its pockets in a bid to rival ITV and the
mega-indies on the international stage. ➤
Indies 2015
TOP SUPPLIERS
BBC NON-MOVER
➤ BBC TOP SUPPLIERS (BY HOURS)
T
Hours
Key shows
IMG Media
Cactus TV
314
169
Snooker; Darts; Football League Show
Saturday Kitchen; A Taste Of Britain
3
12 Yard Productions
150
Who Dares Wins; Pressure Pad
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Fremantle Media UK
Endemol Entertainment
Lion Television
Mentorn
Slam Media
STV Productions
Sunset + Vine
147
136
113
97
88
86
65
Escape To The Country; Sweat The Small Stuff
Jedward's Big Adventure; £100K House
Officially Amazing; Homes Under The Hammer
Watermen: A Dirty Business; Free Speech
Darts; Snooker: Welsh Open
Antiques Road Trip; The Link; Tutankhamun
Football: Women's WC 2014 Qualifiers
➤ BBC TOP SUPPLIERS (BY SPEND)
A Taste Of Britain: Cactus TV
he BBC’s ranking in the
best and worst broadcaster stakes remains the
same as last year: second on each
measure. Channel 4 may have
been voted the worst broadcaster
to deal with, but the BBC’s commissioning issues have been well
publicised in recent months.
The corporation introduced a
raft of indie relation guidelines in
2013, but at the Edinburgh International Television Festival in
August last year, it was revealed
that it had not improved. Director
of television Danny Cohen said he
was “not satisfied” with this,
laying the majority of the blame at
the door of his factual team.
Since then, the BBC has sped
up the processing time for factual
ideas and relaunched its e-commissioning system, BBC Pitch.
The latter is cited by some indies
as an improvement on what was
previously available.
However, there’s work to
be done to speed up decisionmaking, and a number of
producers complained
about the gestation period
for their projects. The BBC
will be encouraged,
though, by comments
about open and collaborative relationships and placing
trust in indies.
The BBC worked with
a total of 276 suppliers
last year, down 7% on
the 296 it did business
with in 2013. Of this
Company
1
2
group, 45 were indies it had not
previously worked with – up
from 43 in 2013.
IMG Media leads the BBC’s
top suppliers by hours table for a
fourth year in a row, even though
its share of the corporation’s
output fell 15% year-on-year. This
trend is set to continue into 2015
after Channel 5 nabbed the rights
to The Football League Show.
Cactus TV grew its hours from
155 in 2013 to 169 last year,
including 10 hours of new commission A Taste Of Britain. Sports
producer Slam Media is a new
entry in the top 10 with 88 hours,
while STV Productions makes a
return after adding The Link to its
lucrative daytime brand Antiques
Road Trip. However, there is no
room for MasterChef producer
Shine TV, nor Heir Hunters indie
Flame Television.
In the suppliers by spend category, Wall to Wall is again top,
with The Voice UK (pictured)
helping it hold off competition
from Fremantle Media UK. It
will have one more series of
New Tricks this summer before
the long-running series comes
to an end.
Company Pictures
moves up to third on
the back of series
including co-pro drama
The Missing, while
is a new entry in
fourth place. Tiger
Aspect slips from
third to eighth.
Company
Key shows
1
2
Wall to Wall
Fremantle Media UK
Who Do You Think You Are; New Tricks; The Voice UK
The Apprentice; QI; Never Mind The Buzzcocks
3
Company Pictures
The Village; The Missing; George Gently
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Hat Trick
12 Yard Productions
Endemol Entertainment
Shed Productions
Tiger Aspect
Red Planet Pictures
Mentorn
Have I Got News For You?; Episodes; Outnumbered
Eggheads; In It To Win It; Perfection
Pointless; Two Tribes; Restoration Home: One Year On
Waterloo Road; Impractical Jokers
Peaky Blinders; Bad Education; Backchat
Question Time; The Big Questions
Source: BBC
*BBC brackets together FM UK companies under one banner and Endemol
companies Initial and Remarkable Television as Endemol Entertainment
WHAT THE INDIES SAY
PROS “Commissioners are supportive and
demonstrate a lighter
touch than in recent times”
“Supportive on both creative
and business side, and very
aware of indies’ cash flow
issues”
“Stability, BBC Pitch initiative
and clearer communication from
most commissioning editors”
“Open dialogue, trust and
support”
CONS “It takes so long to
make a decision – and then
it makes the wrong one”
“Arrogant/poor at responding”
“Career paths appear to come
before commissioning, and the
needs of the channels are
poorly communicated”
BROADCASTER RESPONSE
Danny Cohen
BBC director
of television
“I’m pleased to see the BBC maintaining its
position as number two in this survey of the
best broadcasters to work with, but we still
want to do better. Our indie producers across
the UK rate us highly in certain areas – and
have noted the improvements we have made
in the past few months – but we still have
plenty of work to do in others. I’m working
with all my commissioning teams to focus on
practical ways in which we can continue to
improve our relationship with our suppliers.”
Sponsored by
ITV INDIES’ FAVOURITE
➤ ITV TOP SUPPLIERS (BY HOURS)
Company
Hours
Key shows
1
2
RDF TV
Thames
228
142
Tipping Point; Lucky Stars; Dickinson's Real Deal
The X Factor; Britain’s Got Talent; Take Me Out
3
Spun Gold
107
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Cactus TV
Shine
Lime Pictures
Remarkable TV
Talkback
ITN
Twofour
59
55
36
30
29
28
27
Alan Titchmarsh Show; Love Your Garden
Weekend; The Munch Box
Britain's Best Bakery; The Undriveables
The Only Way Is Essex; Educating Joey Essex
Ejector Seat
Through The Keyhole; Celebrity Juice
Tonight; The Agenda; On Assignment; FYI Daily
Splash!; Harry's South Pole Heroes
➤ ITV TOP SUPPLIERS (BY SPEND)
Ejector Seat: Remarkable Television
I
RDF’s output was 17% lower
TV is the toast of the indie
sector for the second year in a than Zodiak’s total number of
row, with one in four voting it hours last year, with Tipping Point,
Lucky Stars and Dickinson’s Real
the best broadcaster to deal with.
Deal its most prominent shows.
Director of television Peter
Hungry Sailors producer
Fincham and his band of commisDenham Productions, Paul
sioning editors took 26% of the
O’Grady indie Olga TV and
vote and were praised on several
Downton Abbey’s Carnival have
fronts. Prompt decision-making,
all dropped out of the top 10.
good budgets and efficient comWeekend and The Munch
munication were among the
Box producer Cactus TV,
standout points of the feedback.
Several producers commented Endemol indie and Ejector Seat
producer Remarkable Television
on the openness and respect
and ITN Productions take their
shown by ITV’s commissioning
places. Hours supplied by The X
team. One indie boss said the
ability to build relationships with Factor producer Thames
decreased for the second year in
ITV commissioners was made
simpler by the fact that they tend a row, down from 151 in 2013 to
142 in 2014.
to be in their positions for subLove Your Garden indie Spun
stantial periods of time.
In 2014, ITV spent £260m with Gold’s output fell by six hours to
107, while Twofour’s business was
the indie community, flat on last
cut by 57 hours to 27.
year’s total. It shook hands with
Lime Pictures, producer of
80 independent suppliers, 12
ITV Be’s flagship format The
of them new to the broadOnly Way Is Essex, grew its ITV
caster. This was down on 89
output by five hours to
in 2013 and 81 in 2012.
36, while Shine TV’s
Zodiak Media indie
business surged by
RDF TV was ITV’s top
162% to 55 hours.
independent supplier
However, not all feedby hours last year. In
back was positive.
2013, its parent
There were concerns
company produced
about the broadthe most hours for
caster “lacking in
the commercial
Endeavour:
ambition”, while one
broadcaster, but it has
Mammoth
producer called ITV
stripped out the label
Screen
“a closed shop”.
in its 2014 data.
Company
Key shows
1
2
Thames
Carnival
The X Factor; Britain’s Got Talent; Take Me Out
Downton Abbey; The Lost Honour Of Christopher Jeffries
3
RDF TV
Tipping Point; Lucky Stars; Dickinson's Real Deal
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Kudos
Twofour
Lime Pictures
Red Production Co
Talkback
Mammoth Screen
Left Bank Pictures
Law & Order; Grantchester
Splash!; Harry's South Pole Heroes
The Only Way Is Essex; Educating Joey Essex
Scott & Bailey; Prey
Through The Keyhole; Celebrity Juice
Endeavour
DCI Banks; Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This
Source: ITV
WHAT THE INDIES SAY
PROS “Straightforward approach
and efficiency in
dealing with production houses
and payment.”
“ITV is led openly and
creatively from the very top.”
“Speedy decisions, sensible
budgets and fair deals.”
CONS “Slow, ponderous and
lacking in ambition.”
“Super-efficient to deal with.
The deals are clear and it
trusts its producers.”
“Commissioners tend to stay
put, so a relationship can be
built with them.”
“Doesn’t cash flow.”
“A closed shop.”
Peter Fincham
Director of
Television, ITV
“I’m really pleased to hear that for the
second year running, indies have rated
ITV as the best broadcaster to work with.
I want this to be the case, as our relationships with the production sector are really
important to us. We want producers to
bring us their best ideas. That is our
top priority, and ITV’s commissioning
team will continue to listen to the feedback we receive.”
➤
Indies 2015
TOP SUPPLIERS
CHANNEL 4 ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
➤ C4 TOP SUPPLIERS (BY HOURS)
Speed With Guy Martin: North One
T
here may well be a sense
of déjà vu at Horseferry
Road with this year’s indie
feedback, after C4 recorded an
identical result to last year.
Indies still reckon it’s the worst
broadcaster to deal with. Almost
half (43%) of the producers surveyed put C4 at the top of that
ignominious list, while it remains
lodged in third position behind
ITV and the BBC in the best
broadcaster to deal with table.
The rumblings of discontent
from 2013 have not resurfaced to
the same extent this year.
However, the results highlight a
lack of improvement in the eyes of
its suppliers, and will make uncomfortable reading for Jay Hunt and
her commissioning team.
Several producers complained
about frustratingly little delegation in decision-making, resulting in micromanaged projects.
Others said there was a lack of
clarity about what C4 wants, as
well as a lack of speed when
responding. One indie boss said
commissioning editor meetings were “really depressing
and demotivating”.
Not all the feedback
was bad. It remains the
third most popular
broadcaster to
deal with and was
commended for
making a “real effort
to bring business and
creative together”.
One producer said
there was “an ambition
and hunger to make
Company
Hours
Key shows
1
2
IMG Media
RemarkableTelevision
361
326
Channel 4 Racing; Transworld Sport
Deal Or No Deal; Million Pound Drop
3
ITN Productions
306
Channel 4 News; Dispatches
4
4
6
7
8
9
10
ITV Studios
Lime Pictures
Sunset+Vine
North One
Studio Lambert
Remedy Productions
286
198
126
120
104
74
65
Countdown; Come Dine With Me
Sunday/Daily Brunch
Hollyoaks
Sochi Winter Olympics; Pokerstars
NFL; Gadget Man; Speed With Guy Martin
Gogglebox; Four In A Bed; Undercover Boss
Fifteen To One
➤C4 TOP SUPPLIERS (BY SPEND)
better programmes”, while
others said that deals were fair
and payment efficient.
Sports producer IMG Media
has leapfrogged Remarkable
Television as C4’s top supplier
by hours, with C4 Racing and
Transworld Sport contributing to
an increase of 14% to 361 hours.
Deal Or No Deal and The
Million Pound Drop indie
Remarkable has fallen to second
place after its number of hours
decreased from 378 hours to
326. C4 News producer ITN Productions and Come Dine With Me
indie ITV Studios are close
behind with 286 and 306 hours
of output respectively.
Sunday Brunch and Daily
Brunch producer Princess Productions enters the top 10 with
198 hours, while Hollyoaks
remains important to producer
Lime Pictures.
Gadget Man, Speed With Guy
Martin and the NFL American
football coverage have all contributed to North One’s ascent to
the top 10, while All3Media
stable mate Studio Lambert
again produced 74 hours of
TV with Gogglebox, Four
In A Bed and Undercover Boss.
C4’s exact 2014
commissioning
spend, and the
number of indies it
worked with throughout
the 12 months, will not
become apparent until it
publishes its annual
report later this year.
Company
Key shows
1
2
Lime Pictures
Remarkable Television
Hollyoaks
Deal Or No Deal; Million Pound Drop; Singer Takes It All
3
ITN
Channel 4 News; Dispatches
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
ITV Studios
Twofour
Open Mike
Studio Lambert
Zeppotron
IMG
The Garden
Countdown; Come Dine With Me
The Jump; Educating The East End; RM Commando School
Alan Carr: Chatty Man; The Last Leg; Comedy Gala
Gogglebox; Four In A Bed; Undercover Boss
8 Out Of 10 Cats; 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown
Channel 4 Racing
24 Hours In A&E; 24 Hours In Police Custody
WHAT THE INDIES SAY
PROS “Alpha
Fund has helped
broadcaster commission from a wider
supply base.”
“Skills, collaboration,
risk-taking.”
CONS “Feels like commissioning
teams have no strategy and are
in a constant panic to fill the
schedule.”
“Completely London-centric
and in thrall to indie
favourites.”
Jay Hunt
Chief creative
officer,
Channel 4
“Channel 4 has had an unprecedented
run of critically acclaimed shows. That’s a
result of hundreds of successful creative
collaborations with indies. The commissioning team has worked hard to make our
relationships with producers as supportive
and constructive as possible. We’ve introduced a range of initiatives, from a comprehensive programme of nationwide briefings to
scrapping our e-commissioning system in
favour of proper conversations. If there are
still occasions when we are falling short
of the standards we have set ourselves, I
want to know so I can do something about
it immediately.”
Sponsored by
CHANNEL 5 SHIFTING PERCEPTIONS
Alex Polizzi’s Secret Italy: Twofour
C
hannel 5’s ratings were
steady in 2014 and in his
second full year in charge,
director of programmes Ben Frow
helped refresh industry attitudes
about the channel. This should
satisfy new corporate owner
Viacom, which paid £463m for
the broadcaster in May.
Frow and his new bosses are
clearly shifting perceptions from
the days of Richard Desmond. C5
was named best broadcaster to
deal with by 11% of producers,
double last year’s figure of 5.5%
and almost three times 2012’s
3.6% . The number of indies that
named it the worst broadcaster to
deal with has dropped from
13.5% last year to just 4%.
Producers were positive about
Frow’s open-door policy and
quick replies, and the data suggests that real change has been
made, with further improvements
anticipated through a new commissioning processes.
The broadcaster welcomed
29 new indies through its Lower
Thames Street doors last year,
taking the total number of production companies it works with
to 73, up on the 59 it commissioned in 2013.
The Wright
Stuff producer,
Endemol
Shine-owned
Princess Productions,
remained its
largest supplier with
502 hours
Company
Hours
Key shows
1
2
ITN Productions
502
349
The Wright Stuff
News; Police 5
3
Initial
257
Big Brother
4
4
6
7
8
9
9
Sunset + Vine
Twofour
Raw Cut Television
North One Television
ITV Studios
Touch Productions
46
41
32
26
23
22
15
Cricket
Alex Polizzi's Secret Italy; The Railway
List shows
Police Interceptors
The Gadget Show
Gibraltar
Can't Pay, We'll Take It Away
➤ C5 TOP SUPPLIERS (BY SPEND)
of The Wright Stuff (pictured) in
2014, while ITN Productions,
which provides news coverage
and bluelight format Police 5,
produced 349 hours and Big
Brother producer Initial made
an extra 10 hours compared
with 2013.
ITV Studios enters C5’s top
suppliers table for the first time
with 22 hours of shows including
Gibraltar: Britain In The Sun, as
does Can’t Pay, We’ll Take It Away
producer Touch Productions.
Alex Polizzi’s Secret Italy
producer Twofour more than
doubled its total hours to 41 last
year, while Objective Productions, which makes a number of
list shows for C5, and Raw Cut
also fared well. Cricket provider
Sunset + Vine and The Gadget
Show producer North One both
had a slight dip in total hours.
The broadcaster ordered 50%
more shows from its in-house
production division, 5 Production. A clutch of benefits docs, plus
docu-drama Britain’s Bloodiest
Dynasty: The Plantagenets,
accounted for 79 hours.
However, one concern is C5’s
regional balance. It continued to
spend an increasing amount
of its £200m budget
within the M25:
90% in London
and the southeast, up from
87% in 2013,
with Scotland
suffering
the largest
drop-off.
Company
Key shows
1
2
Initial
ITN Productions
Big Brother
News; Police 5
3
Objective Productions List shows
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
ITV Studios
Twofour
Sunset + Vine
Raw Cut Television
Crackit Productions
The Wright Stuff
Gibraltar: Britain In The Sun
Cricket
The Gadget Show
Police Interceptors
Countdown To Murder
Source: C5
WHAT THE INDIES SAY
Pros: “Quick,
clear decisions
and editorial guidance. It allows producers to
produce.”
“Clear, straightforward,
reliable commissioning
strategy and responds
quickly on all levels, editorial
and business affairs.”
Cons: “Tough to get meetings or
developments with C5 if you’re
not already in production for it.”
“It has no money for publicity,
no money for marketing.”
Ben Frow
Director of
programmes,
Channel 5
“We work with all indies from big to small
and teeny tiny ones, and it’s really important
that we have a good relationship with them.
That’s one of the reasons I introduced the
new commissioning process, so there was
clarity and no confusion. I may not be able
to commission as much as I want, and my
budgets might not be as big as other people’s, but the one thing I can do is give
indies a quick decision.”
➤
Indies 2015
TOP SUPPLIERS
SKY GROUP OPAQUE FIGURES
➤ SKY TOP SUPPLIERS (BY HOURS)
Company
1
2
CPL Productions
3
3
5
5
7
8
8
8
Hours
Key shows
19
17
Got To Dance
A League Of Their Own
Magnum Media
15
Duck Quacks Don't Echo
Director's Cut
Tiger Aspect
Burning Bright
Tidy Pictures
Kudos
Storyvault Films
Neal Street
13.5
12
12
11.5
8
8
8
South Bank Show; South Bank Show Originals
Psychobitches; Mount Pleasant
Adam Buxton's Shed Of Christmas
Stella
The Smoke
Sky Arts Portrait Of The Year
Penny Dreadful
➤ SKY TOP SUPPLIERS (BY SPEND)
Duck Quacks Don’t Echo: Magnum Media
S
ky has followed through
with its promise to spend
£600m a year on British
content by the end of 2014.
The pay-TV broadcaster
hit this target last year, but
for the second year running,
it has declined to share how
much of this figure was spent
on indie productions.
Sky’s overall spend on British
content – up from £527m in 2013
– does not include sports rights or
international programme acquisitions. Yet much of it covers the
cost of production of its sports
and news teams, as well as rights
for its booming international distribution division, Sky Vision.
In 2012, the broadcaster spent
£139m on indie content and
Broadcast understands it had
hoped to spend £250m on firstrun content by 2014, but it’s
unclear whether it managed this
via the 386 hours of first-run
content it commissioned last year.
Sky’s most expensive 2014
series included Kudos-produced
The Smoke, Left Bank’s Mad
Dogs, Neal Street’s Penny
Dreadful and Big Talk’s
Mr Sloane (pictured).
It worked with
38 new indies in
2014, down from
70 in 2013.
But its supplier base was
relatively
steady: eight
of its top 10 producers by spend
were the same as the previous
year, with Hat Trick, which
revived The Kumars At No. 42
and has since gone on to make
medical drama Critical, Neal
Street (Penny Dreadful) and Yonderland producer Working Title.
Princess Productions remained
Sky’s top supplier by hours in
2014 but was massively hit by the
demise of Got to Dance and The
Face: overall, the Endemol Shine
Group producer lost more than
50 hours. Tiger Aspect also suffered from lower output, while
Left Bank Pictures has dropped
out of the top 10 entirely.
Duck Quacks Don’t Echo indie
Magnum Media; Directors Cut
Films, which makes The South
Bank Awards for Sky Arts; and
Portrait Of The Year indie Storyvault enter the top 10 by hours
table for the first time, but Britain
& Ireland’s Next Top Model producer Thumbs Up and Ashley
Banjo’s Secret Street Crew indie
Shine TV have dropped out.
Sky has dropped a place to
become the fifth
best broadcaster to
work with: 7% of
respondents chose
it as their favourite, while 12.5%
labelled it
the worst
broadcaster,
putting it in
third place.
Company
Key shows
1
2
Tiger Aspect
Left Bank Pictures
Psychobitches; Mount Pleasant
Mad Dogs
3
Kudos
The Smoke
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Tidy Pictures
CPL Productions
Neal Street
Big Talk Productions
Working Title
The Kumars at No. 42
Got To Dance
Stella
A League Of Their Own
Penny Dreadful
Mr Sloane
Yonderland
Source: Sky
WHAT THE INDIES SAY
PROS “Crystal-clear
objectives, supportive
and quick
responses.”
“The most straight-forward to
deal with – they make decisions relatively quickly.”
“They’re open to small indies.”
CONS “Micro-management and
control-freakery at every stage
means that working with them is
not a creative process.”
“Interfering.”
Stuart Murphy
Director of
entertainment
channels, Sky
“It’s really great that we have a strong
reputation for quick decision-making and
that people know we work with indies of all
shapes and sizes, as we’ve worked hard on
both of those things. We’ve set up a range of
ways people can give us feedback safely.
Micro-managing is not something I’ve heard
of, but I will keep an eye out for it. Hopefully,
if that happens again in the future, someone
will tell me so I can address it effectively.”
Sponsored by
TOP SUPPLIERS
UKTV SPENDING GROWTH
U
KTV went deeper into its
new-look commissioning
strategy in 2014, focusing
chiefly on comedy and entertainment
for Gold, Watch and Dave.
There was more channel crosspromotion online via UKTV Play,
on-air pilots for Watch and a hit UK
version of Dave’s US banker Storage
Hunters from North One.
The biggest beneficiary of commissions in 2014 in terms of volume
was Phil McIntyre Entertainment,
which produced Gold’s Monty Python
programming, including the broadcast of comeback show Monty Python
Live (Mostly).
The producer was also behind one
of UKTV’s most successful new
formats: Alan Davies As Yet Untitled
for Dave.
Four indies made their first UKTV
shows in 2014: ITN (Road To Rio);
Renegade (24 Hours To Go Broke),
EVR/Pitch Productions (England
Football Specials) and CPL Productions, which recorded the Watch pilot
Who Repairs Wins.
WHAT THE INDIES SAY
PROS “Practical people
who value independents.”
“Great communication, good feedback, positive support.”
Richard Watsham
Acting director of commissioning
“UKTV’s investment in originations
is building pace and our commissioning team is working hard to
make the most of this opportunity
with indies. Together we’re making
more shows with genuine ambition
across more entertainment genres
than ever before.”
In September, chief executive
Darren Childs pledged to grow
commissioning spend from 2013’s
£125m to £150m in 2015, with Dave
in particular set to benefit from a
70% increase.
Monty Python Live: Phil McIntyre
➤ UKTV TOP SUPPLIERS (BY HOURS)
1
2
3
4
5
6
6
8
8
8
8
Company
Hours
Key shows
Phil McIntyre
True North
UMTV
Twofour
Liberty Bell
North One
Wild Rover/Fuji
ITN/Brand A Part
Humble Bee Films
Renegade Pics
Objective Prods
21
15
14.5
13
8
6
6
5
5
5
5
Alan Davies As Yet Untitled; Monty Python Live
Dream Derelict Home
Red Bull series
Choccywoccydoodah
Dave Gorman's Modern Life Is Goodish
Storage Hunters UK; Memory Slam
Dara O Briain: School Of Hard Sums
Road to Rio
David Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities
24 Hours To Go Broke
Katherine Mills: Mind Games
DISCOVERY COMMISSIONIING BOOST
‘M
ake your world bigger’
is Discovery UK’s new
motto – and the international broadcaster did just that
in 2014, airing original commissions from 78 indies, 14 of them
first-time suppliers to its channels.
Its biggest supplier remains
Discovery-owned Raw TV, holding
steady with 46 hours of flagship
shows Gold Rush and Jungle Gold.
Like another of the broadcaster’s
indies, Betty TV, it secured one
extra hour of programming in 2014.
Gold Rush: Raw TV
➤ DISCOVERY TOP SUPPLIERS (BY HOURS)
Company
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
8
10
Hours
Raw TV
Attaboy TV
October Films
Wag TV
World Media Rights
Betty TV
Firecracker Films
Windfall Films
Maverick TV
Pioneer Film & TV
46
40
38
32
30
29
26
22
22
21
WHAT THE INDIES SAY
Outside of the top 10, the indies
working with Discovery reflect its
continued shift towards talent-led
factual entertainment. Among the
companies producing its highestrated shows are Renegade Pictures (Naked And Afraid),
Knickerbockerglory (Jodie Marsh
On…) and Talent TV South (Tina
Malone: Pregnant At 50).
Discovery continues to impress
with its alignment of commissioning, business and finance, and its
understanding of indies’ needs.
Key shows
Gold Rush; Jungle Gold
Wheeler Dealers
You Have Been Warned; Obsession: Dark Desires
Turbo Pickers
The Rise Of The Nazi Party
Bear Grylls Extreme Survival Caught On Camera
My Big Fat American Gypy Wedding
Railroad Alaska
My Naked Secret
How The Universe Works
PROS “A joy to work
with.”
“Its business affairs
people are exceptional and its
editorial staff strong.”
“It has been very supportive
and greenlit some ambitious
projects.”
CONS “Ridiculous notes and
no payment for overruns.”
Phil Craig
Executive vice-president and
chief creative officer, DNI
“I’m delighted that the indie
community has great things to
say about working with us. I
am confident we can do even
better in the years ahead and
I’ll give thought to streamlining
the greenlight and note-giving
processes.”
➤
Sponsored by
CHANNEL 5 SHIFTING PERCEPTIONS
Alex Polizzi’s Secret Italy: Twofour
C
hannel 5’s ratings were
steady in 2014 and in his
second full year in charge,
director of programmes Ben Frow
helped refresh industry attitudes
about the channel. This should
satisfy new corporate owner
Viacom, which paid £463m for
the broadcaster in May.
Frow and his new bosses are
clearly shifting perceptions from
the days of Richard Desmond. C5
was named best broadcaster to
deal with by 11% of producers,
double last year’s figure of 5.5%
and almost three times 2012’s
3.6% . The number of indies that
named it the worst broadcaster to
deal with has dropped from
13.5% last year to just 4%.
Producers were positive about
Frow’s open-door policy and
quick replies, and the data suggests that real change has been
made, with further improvements
anticipated through a new commissioning processes.
The broadcaster welcomed
29 new indies through its Lower
Thames Street doors last year,
taking the total number of production companies it works with
to 73, up on the 59 it commissioned in 2013.
The Wright
Stuff producer,
Endemol
Shine-owned
Princess Productions,
remained its
largest supplier with
502 hours
Company
Hours
Key shows
1
2
ITN Productions
502
349
The Wright Stuff
News; Police 5
3
Initial
257
Big Brother
4
4
6
7
8
9
9
Sunset + Vine
Twofour
Raw Cut Television
ITV Studios
Touch Productions
46
41
32
26
23
22
15
Cricket
List shows
Police Interceptors
The Gadget Show
Gibraltar
Can't Pay, We'll Take It Away
➤ C5 TOP SUPPLIERS (BY SPEND)
of The Wright Stuff (pictured) in
2014, while ITN Productions,
which provides news coverage
and bluelight format Police 5,
produced 349 hours and Big
Brother producer Initial made
an extra 10 hours compared
with 2013.
ITV Studios enters C5’s top
suppliers table for the first time
with 22 hours of shows including
Gibraltar: Britain In The Sun, as
does Can’t Pay, We’ll Take It Away
producer Touch Productions.
Alex Polizzi’s Secret Italy
producer Twofour more than
doubled its total hours to 41 last
year, while Objective Productions, which makes a number of
list shows for C5, and Raw Cut
also fared well. Cricket provider
Sunset + Vine and The Gadget
Show producer North One both
had a slight dip in total hours.
The broadcaster ordered 50%
more shows from its in-house
production division, 5 Production. A clutch of benefits docs, plus
docu-drama Britain’s Bloodiest
Dynasty: The Plantagenets,
accounted for 79 hours.
However, one concern is C5’s
regional balance. It continued to
spend an increasing amount
of its £200m budget
within the M25:
90% in London
and the southeast, up from
87% in 2013,
with Scotland
suffering
the largest
drop-off.
Company
Key shows
1
2
Initial
ITN Productions
Big Brother
News; Police 5
3
Objective Productions List shows
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
ITV Studios
Twofour
Sunset + Vine
Raw Cut Television
Crackit Productions
The Wright Stuff
Gibraltar: Britain In The Sun
Cricket
The Gadget Show
Police Interceptors
Countdown To Murder
Source: C5
WHAT THE INDIES SAY
Pros: “Quick,
clear decisions
and editorial guidance. It allows producers to
produce.”
“Clear, straightforward,
reliable commissioning
strategy and responds
quickly on all levels, editorial
and business affairs.”
Cons: “Tough to get meetings or
developments with C5 if you’re
not already in production for it.”
“It has no money for publicity,
no money for marketing.”
Ben Frow
Director of
programmes,
Channel 5
“We work with all indies from big to small
and teeny tiny ones, and it’s really important
that we have a good relationship with them.
That’s one of the reasons I introduced the
new commissioning process, so there was
clarity and no confusion. I may not be able
to commission as much as I want, and my
budgets might not be as big as other people’s, but the one thing I can do is give
indies a quick decision.”
➤
Indies 2015
NATIONS AND REGIONS
Nations stage a comeback
Broadcasters’ devolution to the nations is reflected in this year’s figures, with Welsh and
Scottish indies benefiting from more hours in a year when overall production was down
T
he 36 nations and regions
companies taking part in our
survey have combined revenues of £337.5m, and for the 28 that
reported in both 2013 and 2014, performance is marginally up: combined revenues of £319.7m beat
the £316m reported last year. But
growth is slowing: in 2013, they
reported £19m year-on-year growth.
Some £2.5m of this year’s £3.7m
growth comes from Wales and
Scotland. The average revenue per
nations and regions indie is up 3%
to £9.8m this year – £300,000 more
than in 2013 and £1m up on 2012.
But in what could be the start of
a worrying trend, the amount of
original nations and regions-produced TV shown in 2014 dropped
by 161 hours to 2,595 hours. In
2012, the figure was 2,845 hours.
Out-of-London indies had an
average of 74 hours of programming broadcast on UK television in
2014, eight hours (12%) fewer than
in both 2013 and 2012. In fact, 12 of
the top 20 had fewer hours in 2014
than in 2013.
As usual, the 10 biggest nations
and regions producers pocketed the
bulk (76%) of out-of-London turnover – but only two of these grew
their revenues. This compares badly
with last year’s survey, when revenues were up for eight of the top 10.
Yet the combined value of this
year’s top 10 is stable at £255m,
thanks to impressive growth at Red
NATIONS AT A GLANCE
REGIONS AT A GLANCE
WALES
THE NORTH
1393 hours/£66.87m
431 hours/£114m
SCOTLAND
THE MIDLANDS
265.5 hours/£31.8m
Turnover in Wales and Scotland last year was
marginally up on 2013. Of the 12 companies
taking part in both year’s surveys, revenues
rose from £84.5m to £87m.
Reflecting broadcaster devolution to the
nations, of the five companies in the nations
and regions whose original hours went up in
2014, three were Welsh: Tinopolis Wales,
Rondo Media and Indus Films.
Conversely, despite being the fastest-growing Welsh producer with revenues up 8.5%,
Boom Pictures Wales went the other way,
making 143 fewer hours last year.
Mirroring the situation in Wales, several
Scottish companies -– including The Comedy
Unit, Raise the Roof and Caledonia TV -– had
more content on air in 2014. But Scottish
indies were also more financially stable: four
out of seven grew or retained revenues. Of
those, Screenchannel Television, producer of
Sweets Made Simple and recently acquired
by the new Rare group, fared best, with turnover up 50% from £1.2m to £1.8m.
Despite our best efforts, Northern Irish
indies have once again proved difficult to
coax into joining in with our survey. The
exception remains Belfast children’s producer Sixteen South, which had a stellar
2014, with revenues up 103% thanks to the
success of Nickelodeon’s Broadcast Awardwinning Lily’s Driftwood Bay.
74.5 hours/£14.6m
SOUTH-WEST
251.5 hours/£87.4m
SOUTH-EAST
151.75 hours/£17.9m
Manchester’s Red Production Company got 21
hours of drama on air in 2014, including Happy
Valley, The Driver and Last Tango In Halifax for
BBC1, and Prey and Scott & Bailey for ITV.
This helped the StudioCanal-owned company
increase its turnover by 67%, allowing it to leapfrog Boom Pictures Wales to become the third
biggest out-of-London supplier behind Twofour in
Plymouth and Liverpool’s Lime Pictures. (Red is
still behind, but the gap between the two has
closed to just over £2m; last year it was more
than £8m, and the year before it was £13m.)
Other Northern indies had a mixed year.
True North from Leeds saw a dip in turnover,
and has dropped out of the top 10, while other
indies were absent altogether.
But it was an excellent year for The Foundation, and Kay Mellor’s indie Rollem Productions, also based in Leeds, did well thanks to
BBC1’s In The Club.
Nine Lives Media in Manchester grew almost
15% on the back of C4’s Dispatches, a good
relationship with C5 and slot-average busting
BBC1 series Pound Shop Wars. “To expand,
you need more execs,” says founder and chief
Production Company in Manchester
and Zodiak-owned The Foundation
in Maidstone, Kent. The latter had a
strong year after a fallow 2013, with
turnover up £3.8m (53%) on the
back of increased volume (Millie
Inbetween, Fort Boyard) plus international hit Zack And Quack.
Producers in the nations and
regions became slightly more
reliant on domestic revenues in
2014, with 85% of turnover derived
from the UK, up from 82% last year.
executive Cat Lewis. As such, head of development Asif Hasan, who originated Pound Shop
Wars, has been promoted to exec producer.
The Midlands remains comfortably the smallest player in the regions. Although Remarkable
TV and North One have offices there, Maverick
Television is the last big independent network
presence in what was once a proud TV region.
“Many of our most successful shows are produced from Birmingham,” says chief creative
officer Mark Downie. “But in the past few years,
we have seen a greater commitment to commissioning from the nations, which is detrimental to
the English regions, in particular the Midlands.”
Downie believes genuine commissioning
power should be devolved to English cities
outside London, where both ticks are with the
commissioner. “If commissioning editors were
closer to the ground, we would see more
diverse and interesting output on our screens
that properly reflects the whole country.”
In the south-west, Bristol-based Off The
Fence and Icon Films both continued to buck
the trend for UK producers to be reliant on
domestic indie commissions. For the former,
revenue from the UK accounted for 18% of
turnover, down from 21%, while 27% of Icon’s
revenue was domestic, versus 38% last year.
The south-east is one of the stronger regions,
with nearly all producers increasing their turnover. Southampton-based Topical Television
is the only exception, recording a fall of 2%.
Huntingdon-based Adastra Creative, maker of
Grandpa In My Pocket and games for the
CBeebies’ Storytime app, is used to cyclical
changes created by its production schedules.
In 2014, it was the fastest grower outside London, surging 483% from £360,000 to £2.1m.
Sponsored by
REGIONAL INDIES TOP 34
Company
Locations
Turnover
2014 (£m)
Turnover
2013 (£m)
Change
(%)
Turnover from
UK (£m)
% of total
Key shows
1
Lime Pictures (All3M)
Liverpool
59.10
66.52
-11.10
51.56
87.20
2
Twofour (Twofour Group)
Plymouth
57.00
58.18
-2.00
45.00
79.00
The Jump; Splash!; Educating The East End
3
Red Production Co (StudioCanal)
Manchester
35.00
21.00
66.70
34.00
97.10
Happy Valley; Prey; The Driver; Scott & Bailey
4
Boomerang/Boom Cymru/Wales
(Twofour Group)
Cardiff
24.32
22.41
8.50
24.07
99.00
Posh Pawn; The Claire Balding Show
5
Tinopolis Wales (Tinopolis)
Llanelli
14.80
15.00
-1.30
14.80
100.00
6
Rondo Media
Cardiff
14.10
14.50
-3.40
13.95
98.90
Rownd A Rownd; The Indian Doctor
7
Off The Fence
Bristol
14.00
14.16
-1.20
2.50
17.90
Freaks of Nature; Megafamilies
8
Maverick TV (All3M)
Birmingham
13.60
20.30
-33.00
13.60
100.00
Embarrassing Bodies; Operation Ouch!
1
9
IWC Media (Zodiak Media Group)
10
The Foundation (Zodiak)
11
True North2
12
Artists Studio (Endemol Shine)
13
Icon Films3
Bristol
8.10
14
Raise The Roof4
Glasgow
6.90
15
Rollem Productions5
Leeds
5.92
16
Tigress Productions (Endemol Shine)
17
Tern Television6
Hollyoaks; TOWIE; Geordie Shore
Hinterland; Heno; Prynhawn Da
Glasgow
13.00
13.00
0.00
13.00
100.00
Location, Location, Location
Maidstone, Kent
11.00
7.20
52.80
11.00
100.00
Millie Inbetween; Fort Boyard; Zack and Quack
Leeds
9.43
10.10
-6.40
9.10
96.50
Chepstow
8.50
-
-
-
-
7.90
2.50
2.20
27.20
6.09
13.30
5.70
82.60
Kirstie’s Best Of Both Worlds
4.80
23.30
5.55
93.80
In The Club
Building The Dream; Homes By The Sea
The Fall
River Monsters; Survive The Tribe
Bristol
5.89
5.62
4.80
-
-
Operation Meet the Street
Aberdeen/Glasgow/
Belfast
4.50
5.40
-16.70
3.50
77.80
Big Fish Man; Ambulance ER
Badults; Scotland In A Day
18
The Comedy Unit (Zodiak)
Glasgow
3.40
3.20
6.25
3.40
100.00
19
Back2Back TV7
Brighton
2.72
2.45
5.17
2.72
100.00
The First Great Escape
20
Indus Films (Twofour Group)
Cardiff
2.70
1.58
29.90
2.70
100.00
Mekong River with Sue Perkins
21
Nine Lives Media8
Manchester
2.52
2.20
14.60
2.31
91.70
22
Sixteen South
Belfast
2.30
1.13
103.40
-
-
23
Freeform Productions9
Chorleywood, Herts
2.10
1.20
75.00
1.70
81.00
A Place In The Sun
24
Adastra Creative
Huntingdon, Cambs
2.10
0.36
483.30
1.50
71.40
Grandpa In My Pocket
10
Pound Shop Wars; Dispatches; Age Gap Love
Lily’s Driftwood Bay
25
Telesgop
Swansea
2.08
2.95
-29.40
2.08
100.00
26
Topical Television (Avalon)
Southampton
2.05
2.10
-2.40
-
-
27
Screenchannel Television11
Glasgow
1.80
1.20
50.00
1.80
100.00
Sweets Made Simple; Fake Britain
28
Matchlight
Glasgow
1.80
-
-
1.60
88.90
Russell Brand: End the Drugs War
29
Blakeway North (Ten Alps)
Manchester
1.60
-
-
1.40
90.00
Perspectives: Under My Skin – Emeli Sande
30
Testimony Films
Bristol
1.50
1.60
-6.25
1.50
100.00
The Paedophile Next Door; Brothers In Arms
31
Humble Bee
Bristol
1.04
-
-
1.04
100.00
David Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities
32
Firstlook TV
Stratford on Avon
0.95
0.80
18.75
0.95
100.00
34
Woodcut Media
Eastleigh
0.65
-
-
0.29
45.00
Tina Malone: Pregnant At 50; Beggar Off
Style Stars; Sherlock Uncovered
33
Midnight Oil Productions
35
Caledonia TV
36
AMG Television Productions
Meatloaf; Ffermio
Real Rescues; The One Show
Evil Up Close; Restoring England’s Heritage
Cardiff
0.65
1.70
-62.10
0.25
38.00
Glasgow
0.42
0.44
-5.60
0.42
100.00
A Century Of Scottish Sundays
Marple, Cheshire
0.07
0.07
-12.10
0.06
100.00
British Rallycross; Brisca F1
1 IWC includes Lucky Day and Bullseye; 2 True North is year to 31 March 2014; 3 Icon is year to 31 March 2014; 4 Raise the Roof is year to 30 April 2014; 5 Rollem is year to 30 April 2014; 6 Tern is year to 31 March 2014; 7 Back2Back is year to 30 April 2015;
8 Nine Lives Media is year to 31 August 2014; 9 Freeform Productions is year to 31 December 2013; 10 Telesgop is year to 31 December 2013; 11 Screenchannel is year to 5 April 2014
Millie Inbetween: The Foundation
Surviving The Tribe: Icon Films
The Paedophile Next Door: Testimony Films
Indies 2015
Sponsored by
THE ONES TO WATCH
The next generation
Among the indies jostling for position in next year’s poll will be a host of new players,
many set up by big indies and broadcasters. Here’s a snapshot of what to expect
BANDIT TELEVISION
NEW PICTURES
The first label to be launched by the newly
merged Endemol Shine Group extends the
mega-indie’s scripted footprint. Founder
Phillippa Giles executive produced Luther
and Jane Eyre in her 25 years at the BBC. Initial
projects range from a 40-hour detective series
for China State Television to Penalty, a drama
co-pro with Idris Elba’s indie Green Door.
Company Pictures co-founder Charlie Pattison
parted ways with George Faber after leaving
the All3Media-owned company back in 2013.
Pattison’s re-emergence with New Pictures has
already delivered two hits, both recommissioned:
BBC1 drama The Missing, a co-pro with Two
Brothers Pictures, and Channel 4’s best-performing drama launch in a decade, Indian Summers.
BROWN BOB PRODUCTIONS
Reality Bites: Hungry Bear
SID GENTLE FILMS
The factual indie, set up by former Leopard Films
execs Jacqueline Hewer and Nicki Gottlieb, won
its first daytime order last summer in the shape
of BBC1’s domestic tradesmen format Cowboys
And Angels, which is due to air in May. The
appointment of former Flame Television head of
development Yasmin Pasha has been made with
a view to securing more commissions.
The internationally focused drama indie set
up by former Carnival Films creative director
Sally Woodward Gentle is backed by global
investment firm The Yucaipa Companies. It is
working on its first order: SS-GB, a five-part
detective series for BBC1 set in a fictional,
Nazi-occupied, 1940s London.
ELECTRIC RAY
Sony’s newest indie, Northern Irish producer
Stellify, has just won a major BBC1 primetime
entertainment commission for its physical
gameshow Can’t Touch This, less than a year
after it was formed. Founders Kieran Doherty
and Matthew Worthy have pedigree, notably
BBC1’s Secret Fortune and ABC’s Take The
Money And Run.
Former BBC exec Karl Warner and ex-Twenty
Twenty creative director Meredith Chambers’
Sony-backed indie hit the headlines in Broadcast in 2014 with the muddied journey of entertainment format Prized Apart. The BBC1 show
is a big commission, and the indie has also
secured a three-part doc for the same channel
featuring former footballers Ryan Giggs and
Paul Scholes.
STELLIFY
Indian Summers: New Pictures
SUGAR FILMS
HAPPY TRAMP
‘Bold, provocative and diverse’ mainstream programming for all platforms is the ambition of
this London and Cardiff-based indie, formally
launched this month by former BBC chief creative
officer Pat Younge and former C4 execs Lucy Pilkington and Narinder Minhas. Early developments
are targeting C4 and the Travel Channel in the US.
Zeppotron co-founder Neil Webster and The
Inbetweeners director Ben Taylor paired up in
2013 and two major projects are now coming to
fruition: Woody, a BBC1 sitcom starring Kayvan
Novak, and Morgana And Friends (working
title), a BBC sketch vehicle for Morgana Robinson that’s currently at a non-TX pilot stage.
debuted with a Bruce Forsyth Christmas
special, Bruce’s Hall Of Fame, a variety format
with ambitions to be a returner.
HUNGRY BEAR MEDIA
LITTLE GEM
Dan Baldwin’s indie has shrugged off negative
publicity around ITV2’s Dapper Laughs,
bouncing back with reality show panel game
Reality Bites for the same channel. Hungry Bear
also delivered BBC1’s 2014 Christmas Day
offering Michael McIntyre’s Very Christmassy
Christmas Show and has launched a new indie
with the comedian.
‘Feelgood factual’ are the watchwords for Ben
Gale and Natasha Bondy’s newly established
indie Little Gem. The pair quickly secured a firstlook deal with ITV Studios Global Entertainment
and a 60-minute single for BBC1, Best Day Ever.
Neil Crombie and Joe Evans left Alain de Botton’s Seneca Films at the end of 2013 to set up
Swan, teaming up again with artist Grayson
Perry for his Channel 4 series Who Are You?.
The pair are on a mission to shake up factual,
with ambitions for entertaining provocation
across the channels.
MAINSTREET PICTURES
THE FORGE
With former ITV drama execs Laura Mackie
and Sally Haynes at the helm, it was inevitable
that it wouldn’t take long for Mainstreet to pick
up its first commission. Filming starts this
month on The Forgotten, a police drama from
the writer of A Mother’s Son and the producer of
Death In Paradise.
The other Company Pictures co-founder,
George Faber, is set to deliver Channel 4 drama
The ABC, a fictional twist on Educating Yorkshire and its ilk, this autumn. The company is
setting off on a sure footing with a five-year
first-look distribution deal with All3Media
International.
KALOOKI PICTURES
After winding up Splash Media in 2013, Jane
Lush is back with this indie specialising in
popular factual, entertainment and fact ent.
With co-production support from Hat Trick, it
Grayson Perry: Who Are You?: Swan Films
SWAN FILMS
Nobody wants a
creative accountant
But you do want an accountant who understands the
creative industry
Baker Tilly’s specialist media and technology group is dedicated to helping our clients
overcome the challenges of this fast-moving sector. From start-ups to established
multinational businesses, we understand the key business issues facing those
in the creative industry. This means we can provide you with proactive and
strategic advice, freeing you up to focus on running your business.
David Blacher
Head of Creative
T: +44 (0)20 3201 88652
[email protected]
www.bakertilly.co.uk
Baker Tilly Corporate Finance LLP, Baker Tilly Restructuring and Recovery LLP, Baker Tilly Risk Advisory Services LLP, Baker Tilly Tax and Advisory Services LLP, Baker Tilly UK Audit LLP and Baker Tilly Tax and Accounting
Limited are not authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 but we are able in certain circumstances to offer a limited range of investment services because we are members of the Institute of Chartered
Accountants in England and Wales. We can provide these investment services if they are an incidental part of the professional services we have been engaged to provide. Baker Tilly & Co Limited is authorised and regulated
by the Financial Conduct Authority to conduct a range of investment business activities. Baker Tilly Creditor Services LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for credit-related regulated activities.
This communication is designed for the information of readers. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, information contained in this communication may not be comprehensive and recipients should not act
upon it without seeking professional advice. © 2015 Baker Tilly UK Group LLP, all rights reserved. 0728
Indies 2015
PEER POLL
Love conquers all-comers
The breadth of its output and ability to get noticed helped Love Productions reach the top of
the Peer Poll, with Bake Off and Benefits Street two of the most talked-about shows of 2014
CREAM OF THE CROP
Company
1
2
3=
3=
5
6
7
8=
8=
10=
Love Productions
The Garden
Red Production Company
Twofour
Raw
Kudos
Wall to Wall
Keo
Studio Lambert
Blast! Films
1
35
25
24
24
20
18
15
13
13
10
Indies were asked to name their top three. They were then ranked, with three points
awarded for first, two for second and one for third.
BEST OF THE REST
Aardman Animation
“Consistently brilliant
animation.”
Arrow Media “Truly independent, with
bold, stand-out programmes…
Ambitious, smart – and it delivers.”
Drama Republic “An outstanding start
for a drama start-up in very tough times.”
Icon Films “A fantastic example of a
British independent that makes superb
programmes across a range of
international channels.”
Maverick TV “The most innovative
company in formats.”
Tiger Aspect “Bold and visually
distinctive productions for all
broadcasters, which are innovative,
current and creative.”
True North “A commitment to production
outside London to ensure the whole of the
UK is reflected in its programme-making.”
True Vision “It makes high-quality
programmes without compromise – and
makes money.”
36it| Broadcast
Indie Survey | 21 March 2014
Windfall Films “Quality creative
innovators.”
LOVE PRODUCTIONS
Points
Last year’s ranking 2
“Clever formats about important issues”,
is how one rival summed up Love’s
output, which spans two of 2014’s
biggest and most talked-about
shows: BBC1’s The Great British
Bake Off and Channel 4’s Benefits
Street. The former is a one-of-akind hit blessed with a strange
alchemy that rose to its position
at the top of 2014’s ratings with
barely a tweak to its style or format.
Overshadowed by these two
noisy shows were another two gems:
C4’s terminal illness reality format My
Last Summer was praised for its sensitivity, while The Cruel Cut, its FGM doc for
the same channel, won plaudits for tackling
a tough subject in an accessible way.
A runner-up for the past two years, Love
is a comfortable winner this year thanks to
the breadth of its output and ability to sit up
and get noticed. And its peers were in tune
with Broadcast: Love was recently crowned
Best Independent Production Company at
the Broadcast Awards 2015.
2
‘Love was a comfortable
winner this year thanks
to its breadth of output
and ability to get noticed’
THE GARDEN
Last year’s ranking 3
The factual indie rises one place
in this year’s survey, with its
flagship, high-volume title
24 Hours In A&E still going
strong on Channel 4, and now
complemented by 24 Hours In
Police Custody.
But it was the Broadcast and Bafta awardwinning C4 mental
health series Bedlam
(pictured) that
really stood out in
2014, applying the
“thoughtful, intelligent, populist”
traits of the indie’s
best programming
to that most diffi-
‘Whether in terms of
the subject or the
scale of the series,
“it always goes big”,
as one rival put it’
cult of subjects, with impressive access to the previously
closed world of mental
health clinics.
Other 2014 series
included BBC2’s The Motorway: Life In The Fast Lane
and Posh People: Inside
Tatler. Whether in terms of
the subject or scale, The
Garden “always goes big”,
as one rival put it.
Sponsored by
3=
RED PRODUCTION COMPANY
Last year 7=
The Manchester-based drama
indie fired on all cylinders in
2014, growing its revenues by
two-thirds thanks to a mix of
new shows and returning
favourites. Rivals marvelled at
its “writer-led ideas”, the diversity and quality of its dramas –
and their sheer number.
Sally Wainwright was at the
helm of three of its shows:
returners Last Tango In Halifax
for BBC1 and Scott & Bailey for
ITV, plus BBC1’s all-conquering
word-of-mouth hit Happy
Valley. ITV’s Prey, starring John
3=
Simm, also made its mark,
giving a bit of edge to the commercial broadcaster’s drama
output, while BBC1’s The Driver
gave it a run for its money in the
action stakes.
This is a firm-footed indie
that delivers to a broad range
of audiences and has kept its
feet firmly on the ground after
coming under StudioCanal’s
wing at the end of 2013. In 2015,
it has already delivered striking
companion pieces in C4’s
Cucumber and E4’s Banana.
Expect to see great things again
from Red in next year’s survey.
Happy Valley
TWOFOUR
Last year 1
It was another strong showing for
last year’s number one, which
remained one of the most talkedabout indies. Rivals admire it as
“the strong regional company
that started above a lawnmower shop in Plymouth
and took over the world”.
Twofour could have
rightly continued to
bask in the glow of Educating Yorkshire, but continued to take bold steps
in 2014. Educating rolled
5
6
on into the East End, while the
indie took the rig into new
quarters with Channel 4’s
Royal Marine Commando
School (pictured) and staged
ambitious entertainment
for The Jump.
“These are quality
franchises,” said one
indie. “An incredible
range of well-executed
programming – over the
past couple of years, its
shows have been goldstandard UK productions.”
RAW TV
Last year 4
“Raw makes one show extremely well in
multiple spin-offs and has turned that into
a global business,” said one rival producer.
“Raw shows that we can play the Americans
at their own game,” added another.
Yes, there’s continuing love for the Gold
Rush indie, which secured commissions
across the US factual networks in 2014.
Syfy’s Paranormal Witness and History’s
Revelations added to its continued success
with parent company Discovery, with both
its flagship series and Unexplained Files.
Closer to home, it mined social media data
to analyse The Secret Life Of Students, a
groundbreaking series for C4.
Raw’s rule-breaking and genre-blurring
output won much praise from its peers,
with one indie celebrating its “good returnable formats and innovative documentaries
and drama”.
The Secret Life Of Students
KUDOS
The Smoke
Last year’s ranking 10=
The Broadchurch indie has long impressed with
its bold take on drama. One peer praised its
“great production values”, noting that it was
“always ahead of the curve and with an impressive ability to develop and retain writing talent”.
Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall is a case in
point, signing a first-look deal with Kudos in
the wake of the ITV drama’s success.
In 2014, the indie’s output spanned The
Tunnel, Sky Atlantic’s adaptation of
Scandi hit The Bridge;
the second series of
Dennis Kelly’s provocative C4 drama
Utopia; Sky 1’s bigbudget firefighter
drama The Smoke;
and Gracepoint
(pictured), the
US remake of
Broadchurch,
with David
Tennant reprising
his lead role.
➤
Indies 2015
Sponsored by
PEER POLL
WALL TO WALL
7
Last year 5=
“A peerless producer across multiple
genres” is how one competitor summed
up Wall to Wall, which continues to
stride the two main channels with a
sub-genre all of its own. Who Do You
Think You Are? and Long Lost Family
are established bankers for BBC1 and
ITV, strengthened further by The Voice
UK’s third series in BBC1’s Saturday
night schedule. These formats, plus
C4’s Child Genius, point towards an
unscripted dominance for the producer,
with BBC1’s New Tricks now on its way
out. “It is smart at business and has a
huge quality of ideas and production,”
said one rival.
8=
‘Wall to Wall is
smart at business
and has a huge
quality of ideas
and production’
The Voice UK
KEO FILMS
10
Last year 5=
In 2014, Keo’s productions took it to Australia, Rio,
Scandinavia, the rainforest and back down to Earth
on a Grimsby estate. Clearly, the culinary adventures
of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are but one string to
the bow of this much-loved indie.
“Keo are true craftsman,” said one producer.
“It makes top-quality programmes and won’t let anything out of the edit unless it’s really strong.”
Popular, accessible programmes with an intelligent
eye have become its forte, and rival factual producers
admire how Keo tackles some challenging issues: “It
has worked out how to mount campaigns that don’t
make you feel bad,” said one.
8=
Welcome To Rio
STUDIO LAMBERT
Last year 9
This was the year when Gogglebox usurped
former hits such as Harry Hill’s TV Burp,
The X Factor and Inside Nature’s Giants as
the rival show controllers said they most
wanted for their own channels – and for
serious factual producers to namecheck
when talking about how to make documentaries accessible.
Now ensconced in its 9pm Friday night
slot, it’s become C4’s window on the world, a
meta-sketch show that touches in the lightest
possible way on race, class and gender
through the prism of telly. Indies held it up as
a prime example of Studio Lambert’s brilliant
way with casting, which also shines through
in Four In A Bed and Undercover Boss.
Gogglebox
BLAST! FILMS
Sexting Teacher
New entry
Admired by rivals for its “integrity, independence and focus on storytelling”, Blast! Films is
one of those stalwart companies that grinds
away at the factual coalface without fanfare.
But its C4 output alone in 2014 speaks
volumes about its mission to inform and
provoke debate on a range of
contemporary social issues,
from CCTV: Look Who’s
Watching to Cops And
Robbers and Sexting
Teacher. The Supervet
(pictured) also rolled
on, while the indie
made Web Of Lies
for Discovery ID.
“It makes
first-class programmes and
doesn’t exploit
contributors,” said
one rival.
30 YEARS IN
THE BUSINESS
GLOBAL REACH WITH
WORLDWIDE OFFICES
INDEPENDENT AND
FINANCIALLY SECURE
PRODUCER
FOCUSED SERVICE
COLLABORATIVE
PARTNER
WELL-CONNECTED
EXPERIENCED TEAM
IMPRESSIVE SALES
PERFORMANCE
www.beyonddistribution.com
Michael Murphy: General Manager 0207 323 3444
Caitlin Meek-O’Connor: Head of Acquisitions 0207 079 0451
Munia Kanna-Konsek: Head of Sales 0207 079 0459
41/42 Berners Street, London, W1T 3NB, United Kingdom

Survey 2015 - ACF Investment Bank

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