Crime remains highest in Western Europe for first-run original scripted TV series, with original content still the driving force, especially in Germany, according to the latest data from Ampere Analytics, presented by executive director Guy Bisson at the opening session of the Berlin Series Market on Monday.
The use of IP and original material in the development of new programming was also discussed by Johannes Jensen, Head of Scripts and Business at French giant Banijay Entertainment. Michelle Wolkoff, Creative Director at Ink Factory, based in London and Los Angeles. Alex Medeiros, Head of Content and Fiction at Globoplay and Globo Film in Brazil. Helene Aurø, Sales and Marketing Director at Reinvent Yellow in Denmark said:
Participants generally agreed that even when adapting an IP, tweaks and changes typically need to be made to better update or modernize the IP for today’s audiences.
“It’s interesting to see that creativity is driving the business in a very risk-averse market,” Jensen said. “For us, I think we need both. That’s what we’re focused on.”
He said adapting a book or remaking a movie is an “easy first step,” but noted that the landscape is changing.
“The market has changed rapidly over the last few years. It used to be that you could get a book, market it, and then get a commission,” Jensen explained. “Today is about, ‘So, what do you think about this? Why do we need to bring this old story back now? What’s the new version of it?'”
You need to do the same work for known IP as you would for original material. If you don’t do that, you won’t be able to sell, he emphasized. “So it’s a balance for us.”
Mr. Jensen cited last year’s Netflix show “The Gardener” from Spanish subsidiary DLO Producciones and “Peaky Blinders” from Caryn Mandabach Productions and Tiger Aspect’s group labels as big hit originals.
“For us, it’s like today’s original becomes tomorrow’s IP,” he added. “So we need to focus on creating and capturing new originals.”
The Ink Factory similarly tries to find new angles when adapting John le Carré’s works.
“Adaptation presents a different challenge,” Wolkoff said, noting that simply adopting well-known characteristics does not necessarily lead to success. The challenge, she added, is finding ways to tell good stories that resonate today. “We don’t want someone who can just take the book and arrange it in a very direct way. What we need is someone who approaches the book with an opinion and a perspective.
“The thing about le Carré’s novels that we always talk about is at the root of it. He was writing espionage, but that’s the genre, and he was writing about the human condition. He was writing about relationships between people. Most of his characters reflect relationships with fathers. And there are fathers and sons, and there are issues of institutions and moral corruption, and there are choices that we make. How far will we go? Will we cross the moral line?”
She noted that while such themes remain relevant to today’s audiences, historical stories are becoming less interesting to viewers.
“Customers today don’t really want periodity. The great thing about le Carré’s novels is that they feel timeless when we’re trying to update them because of the themes that emphasize storytelling. So at the end of the day, it’s always about good storytelling, and whether it’s an original story or an IP, you still have to find the character elements that drive the story.”
Period pieces are also proving to be tough for Reinvent Yellow. Regarding the series, Oro said, “It’s mainly crime and thrillers, and they can be criminal in many ways, but it’s very difficult to sell period pieces. Even going back to the ’70s and ’80s is very difficult.”
When it comes to movies, she stressed that horror and action remain popular genres, despite a slight decline in demand.
“I think a few years ago, the demand was higher, or there were fewer horror and thriller movies on the market,” Oro said. “What we’re actually seeing now is that even though prices are coming down, demand is still very high. So the films we distribute are disaster, action, thriller, horror. That’s what we’re hearing buyers want from us.”
Medeiros explained that the strategy is a little different for Globoplay and Globofilm, which are focused on Brazil’s domestic market.
“We only sell our shows internationally, and language is one of the barriers we face.”
While stressing that Globo’s programming is highly liked around the world, Medeiros pointed out that the groups are not actually in the same game. “We make shows to sell. We make shows to drive subscriptions in Brazil. So that’s kind of what’s important to us.”
Medeiros is currently working on six shows, all original IP and stories set in Brazil. “When it comes to originals in Globoplay, the percentage of original ideas is around 75%.”
In the past five years, Medeiros has launched 40 series, 30 of which are originals.
At the same time, he noted that the company has had great success with recent IP-based productions, including the 2015 adaptation of Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s memoir “I’m Still Here” and the 2024 Oscar-winning Walter Salles production.
Looking to the future, Medeiros predicted that crime will continue to be a hot topic.
“Crime is always on that screen, like forever. It’s the most widespread genre, everyone knows it, and there’s crime everywhere. So, yeah, I don’t see it going away anytime soon. There are variations. Sometimes there’s more true crime, sometimes it’s more procedural, sometimes it’s existing intellectual property.”
But Medeiros emphasized that the award-winning shows are distinct and have their own identities. “I think people are really interested in things that stand out now.”
The shows that are currently drawing large audiences, whether based on IP or not, are “very challenging and bold in terms of structure and casting.”
As an example, Medeiros points to Globoplay’s new action-driven medical show “Emergency 53,” which follows a young paramedic and offers a new spin on an established genre. “This is not an ER show. It’s not a procedural show, it’s not a romance show…This is an action show that happens to be a medical show.”
“Emergency 53” is also one of 20 new shows unveiled in this year’s Berlinale Series Market Select section.
