Sales Talk: BossaNova’s Paul Heaney on surging content & ‘The Tinder Swindler’

Buyers, hungry for new content, are in the UK capital for meetings, presentations and drinks – or logging on from across the globe – for London TV Screenings all this week.

With so many new productions being showcased, TBI has been checking in with execs from international distributors of all sizes as they share the best new shows on their slates, along with the top trends to watch out for in 2022.

The Ripper Speaks

PAUL HEANEY, CEO, BOSSANOVA

What’s your standout show for London TV Screenings and why?

This is a tough ask amongst the dozen or so new releases, but if we are looking to highlight a title that has just arrived, that would The Ripper Speaks. A world exclusive – a chilling interview with the Yorkshire Ripper himself, unaware he was being recorded.

What show are you most looking forward to in 2022 (not including your own)?

Looking forward to watching The Tinder Swindler and shouting at the TV in frustration, not about the creative execution – possibly more about the protagonists.

What single distribution trend will define the next 12 months?

No single trend – there will be a surge in delivered content plus another in production so the pinch points will define the industry for us internally – who will be able to fund and sell to balance the cash? Externally it will be the slow move towards being platforms in a fully-fledged sense and having a tightly focused slate rather than a flabby catalogue.

The Tinder Swindler

Three words to describe the global distribution industry right now are…

Polarising. Consolidating, Bouncebackability.

Which country’s programming will boom this year & why?

I have to say the UK as the sector is truly humming with activity right now so I expect that will bear fruit -content pipeline wise- later this year.

Rewind to this time in 2018. You have the same knowledge as you do now – what would be the first thing you’d do?

Believe me we have reviewed 2018 and moved on accordingly! Having a clear joined up business plan with Night Train, our partners, for starters. Building a slate, or rather curating one, rather than a more vague catalogue, with respect to what we were doing at TCB.