Opinion: How fatigue has hit formatland

Siobhan Crawford

Je suis fatigué. There is a reason that from all those French lessons this is the phrase we remember. After the rush of the spring, MIPTV, London Screenings, the state of the market… aren’t we all just a little bit tired?

Tired of the fact that paper formats have become so damn hard to get picked up; that companies making redundancies don’t assess staff for a transition to new roles but instead just let one half of the business go (bye HBO); that people resent the reboot era we are in but don’t appreciate how much work goes into refreshing heritage formats for those reboots. Or that people think distributors are magicians who can sell any ‘formats’, that Zoom and Teams have not learned that the ‘share audio’ setting on shared screens should automatically be on and that people can’t just accept what is reasonable in contracts. Say it with me: Je suis fatigué.

The market today is not recognisable from five years ago. So let’s reflect on why, perhaps, we are not all ‘shiny happy people’ (sing the song if you choose).

Redundancies, strikes & reduced hour contracts

You cannot currently look through LinkedIn without seeing a job exit article or an ‘open to work’ label on a profile. Everybody knows someone or multiple people who have lost a job. I was reading recently that there is an “unprecedented lack of work” in the unscripted sector in the UK for freelancers – many are reporting not working since January. Do we know if Netflix wants to bring back their covid freelancer fund – because now seems like a good time. Disney cuts, Netflix cuts, Paramount cuts, ITV cuts, Vice administration. The rise of consultants – realising they have more job stability and satisfaction as self-employed, rather than the pressure businesses are putting on employees to meet targets with less content or on reduced hour contracts with a hot desking system!

However, there is money somewhere; everyone has money for FAST channels or how about billions to invest in Korean content or minority backing of the new prodcos of exiting-employees or the growth travel budgets to accommodate even more sales markets.

Paper format hell

There has never been a tougher time to get paper formats picked up. Never. People don’t have time for paper, they prioritise their fully-owned content rather than develop someone else’s good idea. There is a need to invest more in content prior to pick up, meaning development is now an activity for the wealthy and funded, not the average Joe. And when it is created, if you can hang on to 50% you are winning, because ‘time is money’ has never been more true.
Also the drive toward the next The Masked Singer and the next Married At First Sight has spawned a lot of sub-par attempts at primetime entertainment that do not travel. If you have a good paper idea (and a good lawyer for the contract) talk to Fox, Talpa, TF1, Mediaset… your friendly neighbourhood distributor. But know the market has changed and half-baked won’t do.

Distributors, not magicians

During a time where content is light and there are fewer slots, there will be a grab for content. As a distributor this is frustrating. It means prodcos are being over-promised to get access to their content, or an advance cheque will make the decision for you. The unrealistic expectations of lots of sales means prodcos will blame distributors for lack of movement/quick sales and not MARKET CONDITIONS and THE IDEA. Remember there are thousands of formats in the market and not all of them are good enough or international enough – but to have someone champion your format in the long term is a success. And moving the format to a new distributor after it has already been pitched widely – we cannot perform magic. MARKET CONDITIONS and THE IDEA. Manage your expectations and pick a distributor wisely.

So if you are one of the many independent prodcos full to bursting with productions or distributors lining up your titles for autumn already, your reward is almost here: the Scandi summer shutdown is coming. Je suis fatigué of today’s formatland but holidays are helping.

Siobhan Crawford is co-founder of Glow Media and has worked in the format business for almost two decades at firms including DRG, Zodiak, Banijay and Primitives