ITV, Newen, ZDF and NBC executives debate ‘US brainwashing’ and the next crime wave – Berlinale Series Market

“I think we need to find a way to prevent American brainwashing,” Rodolphe Buet, CEO of Newen Connect, said this morning at the Berlinale Series Adapting to the Market session.

The head of French distribution urged global buyers “to stop copying too much from US audiences”, as he cited research showing that streamers have far more US and UK shows on their local platforms than they do elsewhere of the world have

Ruth Berry, head of global distribution at ITV Studios, struck a more positive note when she said that stories in foreign languages ​​had become “much more accessible” and that audiences were more willing to watch dubbed or subtitled programmes, which ‘ is a distinctly exciting opportunity. can be.

And Robert Franke, ZDF Studios’ vice president of drama, is “not too afraid” of “brainwashing in the US” given the market’s move from “push to pull” over the past decade.

“It’s really more about finding topics that resonate,” he added. “What I’ve learned from talking to American manufacturers is that they now know that they need to learn what Europeans are actually looking for. If we don’t create content that makes sense to them, they just spend time on Instagram.

Franke brands ZDF and Beta Studios The swarm as a perfect example of the breakthrough of European shows. Kicking off competition at the Berlinale series market, Frank Doelger’s big-budget eco-thriller is being co-produced by a number of European partners along with Hulu Japan.

European quotas would also have forced Americans to “not discriminate against European companies,” Franke added.

Beatrice Springborn, the US-based president of Universal Content Productions and Universal International Studios, said that when her outfit hits, it’s European talent like parallels Creator Quoc Dang Tran, “want them to be our local partners”.

“It’s not just about an American driver going to France or Scandinavia,” she added. “We take a talent-first approach in these areas.”

The next wave of crime

Executives discussed the next crime wave after research showed shoppers were doubling down on the traditional genre.

For Springborn, who oversees a large crime portfolio, this next wave could be a series of stranger-than-fiction shows.

“I don’t want every story to be about murder or the death of people,” she added. “The market has seen enough of this, but realizes that you can commit real crimes, but with, for example, an element of fraud. That’s why stories like FTX are so interesting.”

Both Berry and Franke felt that the “lighter” side of crime represented the future, in which viewers sought to escape the dark news cycle.

“Anyone who wants to see dark things can just turn on the news,” Franke said. “It’s about genre mixing, where you find one particular genre mixed or blended with another to make it accessible to different users.”

Berry hinted at ITV Studios’ upcoming ‘MeToo-esque’ drama Fifteen Love of mandatory line Producer World Productions, with a criminal undertone in the sports world.

The distribution doyens spoke after research by Ampere Analysis, which opened the Berlinale session, showed that both traditional and streaming buyers continue to order tons of criminal content to keep audiences happy. Guy Bisson, co-founder of Ampere, suggested that buyers “reach out to the mainstays of crime and [traditional] Theater.”

All executives agreed that with the massive changes taking place, including mass layoffs in the US, their companies must take an “agile” approach to the global market.

“Studios are cutting back, but does that really mean they’re going to stop producing?” Buet asked. “My main focus at the moment is managing the distribution business to ensure we approach the market in an agile way.”

According to Springborn, NBCUniversal is changing “the way we develop things” to accommodate the changing market, packaging some projects and co-developing others with broadcasters. “It’s about changing the way we manage our portfolio and adopting a positive mindset,” she said.

Berry struck another upbeat note when she said that in times of economic hardship, viewers tend to stay indoors and watch more TV, which is good for global distributors.

Panelists also agreed that European buyers are immune to the current US trend of canceling shows before they air.

Franke said, “We can’t afford not to release stuff in Europe,” while Berry pointed to the “reset economy” approach of those studios across the pond.

“They want to restart the economy and start a clean 2023 with a balance sheet that can look healthy,” she added.