Exclusive: Fox Entertainment Global explores international scripted partnerships

Krapopolis

Fox Entertainment Global is exploring how it can build on the success of the company’s unscripted format fund to grow its scripted slate, with investment into international projects that “don’t touch the Fox ecosystem” also on the cards.

Fox Entertainment Global was launched in 2022 and made its debut at MIPCOM last year, selling shows including Fox animation Krapopolis and soon-to-launch comedy Animal Control, as well as more than 750 movies from Marvista, which it acquired in 2021.

Plans are now being put in place to ramp up investment on projects outside of the US, as the division looks to expand its catalogue.

Fernando Szew

“We are beginning to look at international opportunities,” Fernando Szew, Fox Entertainment Global’s CEO, told TBI at Content Americas in Miami. “We’re exploring how we could cross-trade across different territories – we haven’t activated anything on that yet but it is something we are actively looking at.”

Szew pointed to the 2021 launch of Fox’s $100m unscripted format fund as one route to building out its scripted catalogue.

The scheme sees in-house studio Fox Alternative Entertainment (FAE) investing, developing and coproducing internationally originated unscripted ideas with partners around the world.

At present, these are then sold by Propagate in the US and Incendo in Canada – an arrangement that Szew said would not change imminently – but the Fox exec said the scheme had proven a success.

“That unscripted content fund leads the way, it shows us how we can potentially do something on the scripted side too,” he said.

While Fox’s distribution arm launched with the intention of selling third-party IP, the division is also now set to make bigger moves on investments to secure rights, with gap financing on international scripted series in the works.

“We will put in that financing in exchange for rights that we can monetise, but we are being careful and disciplined. This is all now within the playbook – it’s something we already do, on a smaller scale, on the movie side.”

And despite the distributor’s affiliation to US broadcast parent Fox, Szew said projects could be funded even if they were not destined for the company’s networks or streaming service.

“We’re looking at that actively – if we can find something that fits Fox then that is nirvana, but that filter is pretty small. We are also interacting with Tubi, and there are collaborations to be had over there as well – that filter, by the sheer essence of AVOD and not being linear, is more expansive.

“But we are also open to, and exploring, certain shows that don’t even touch the Fox ecosystem – that we can then monetise internationally.”

Fox has grown rapidly over recent years, following Disney’s acquisition of the majority of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment interests in 2019.

Since then, new Fox has launched production divisions including unscripted studio Fox Alternative Entertainment and Monarch producer Fox Entertainment Studios.

It has also moved into international format development with its ofrmat fund and Ireland’s The Big Deal, while also rolling out Studio Ramsay Global and buying Krapopolis prodco Bento Box.