Opinion: Reflecting on the relentless hustle of 2023 & why next year will be better…

Siobhan Crawford

TBI’s format expert Siobhan Crawford reflects on a tumultuous 12 months for the global market and picks out green shoots that suggest 2024 might offer better pastures.

May next year be merrier and brighter…

If ‘Catch-Up London’ re-affirmed anything, it is that the bright spot in our professional lives is the people (and that post-market flu is every market, not just MIP!).

If we thought MIPCOM was a damp squib, we are going to have to come up with a whole new term for the shit-show that was 2023.

We got less than we deserved this year, that is for sure. Come December our spirits are a little crushed and we are overdue a break, but we are going to throw ourselves back into the shit-show come January as if the bumps and bruises never dented our shiny exteriors.

I was debating how we finish out this year, dear readers, and the answer is: reflection, praise and resolutions (with a sprinkling of sarcasm).

Fairytale of Formatland

Our industry, by the nature of being creatives, is driven by hope and optimism. That is how we forecast and budget after all, right?

This year was, for most, a challenge, and for others it may have been the end of the road. Copenhagen Festival in August already gave us insight into what life post-media looks like; florists, funeral directors, therapists, yogis. Perhaps you’ve already considered your exit career?

In our industry, we’re really great at rebounding, but it is our resilience – and not luck. It could be worse, but we work bloody hard to make sure it is not

And the unfortunate reality is that 2023 opened that door for many people earlier than they planned.

For me, this links to thoughts of gratitude and how we look at gratitude because it is personal, but I have always found the bar incredibly low.

People say “it could be worse” or “at least we have our health” and I get it, but honestly, aim higher! It is not luck – it is hard work, it is hustle, it is being supported by a friend (sod the ‘colleague’ term, these people will be at my funeral for sure).

In our industry we are really great at rebounding, but it is our resilience – and not luck. It could be worse, but we work bloody hard to make sure it is not.

Silver linings

I asked friends if they could think of highlights this year that we all felt – remember hecklers, this is unscripted format world only – and I admit there were not so many we all felt in the same way we felt the negatives of the economic pressures.

But there are things that raise my dented shiny heart;

• UKTV has made their first foray into international formats by acquiring the Something Special format Battle In The Box, opening the door to foreign formats. BUT the bigger joy is UKTV have also hired ex-Sony exec Tracy Jean as commissioner. TJ is part of the international format family and so by British standards, is basically a unicorn in the UK!
• There are some people who – without press and praise – keep going; Tanja, Sergio, Luci get the notable mention because they are smashing it. Tanja officially launched AllRight Media this year and the only primetime ent show of MIPCOM; Sergio with Phileas Productions left MediaPro and has diversified into scripted seamlessly; and Luci launched 53 Degrees North after existing Storylab and is everywhere talking branded content. Inspiration for your energetic January!
• There are a lot of markets right now. A lot. We never expect to see results so tangibly, but CIMIx Austria launched in January 2023 and fastforward to MIPCOM and only the second Austrian format ever has been launched by RedArrow, Smart10. Proactive producers who want to be a part of international, that is joy for people like me.
• Talpa seems to be reputation-rehabbing their way into 2024 and I am here for it. Companies who have grown reputations as sharks are changing the way they partner. Add to this the news that Discovery is opening up their paper development pockets and it means we have two outlets for our dreams, I mean formats. Applause (and form an orderly queue folks).

‘Hold please’

The balanced side of this are the negatives we all felt, but I feel like we all know what they are: low risk commissioning; no commissioning; recommissions; delayed decisions; and GHOSTING!

No one is too busy to reply.

Say it again. As in dating, no reply is a reply (they are just not that into you/your pitch) but in this climate perhaps we could be kinder and more constructive? We can be reactive or proactive with a ‘no’, but we are just left daydream strategising with no answer.

Survivor (Source: BBC)

Don’t get me started on ex-commissioner prodcos that keep popping up in a crowded market. We knew the shit show already saw group companies control up to 70% of the market in some countries and now these golden handshake companies will be controlling another few per cent. The 2023 buzzwords beginning with ‘C’ – co-financing, co-producing, co-operating – must be spelt differently.

And let’s not hate on reboots, I know we have seen a lot this year but if the BBC can find £30m for Survivor this is a juicy endeavour we all just need to find a way to co-operate (me-operate) in!

The holidays offer us a chance to stop and I truly hope you all do, because the relentless hustle costs us all something and it should not be time with our loved ones this 2023, as likely they got the stressed version of you in 2023 anyway.

Next year is yet to be labelled but I live in hope… hope that we get what we deserve.

Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2024 x

Check out Siobhan Crawford’s columns from 2023:

TBI Weekly: Reliving the ’90s and the ‘everything that came after’ in Formatland

Opinion: ‘MIPCOM 2023: The One Where We All Got Together & Didn’t Buy Anything’

TBI Weekly: How to do MIPCOM 2023 right

TBI Weekly: Ahead of MIPCOM, does anyone actually have any money?

TBI Weekly: Why not all press is good press for TV formats

Opinion: Mapping the Nordic market & what it means to Formatland

Opinion: How fatigue has hit formatland

TBI Weekly: All eyes on MIPTV 2023

Opinion: MIPTV 2023, Cannes we talk about it?

Opinion: ‘High Hopes’ for formats as MIPTV beckons

TBI Weekly: Devil’s in the detail – IP sharing in today’s grabby world, Part 2

Opinion: Devil’s in the detail – IP sharing in today’s grabby world

Opinion: Eight New Year’s ‘evolutions’ for the format business