Features


Taking Bull by the horns

Mark Goffman runs the top-rated freshman drama of the 2016/17 season in Bull. In this exclusive interview, he tells Jesse Whittock about keeping control of a major network series, his grounding as a writer on The West Wing and how his Hollywood career almost didn’t happen thanks to a spell in Brussels. Considering Mark Goffman […]

Branded with an indie label

The LA Screenings was set up initially as an opportunity for the major US studios to show their scripted series to international buyers. However, over the years it has evolved to the point that it is starting to resemble markets like NATPE, MIPTV and MIPCOM. While the likes of Disney, Fox, CBS, Sony and Warner […]

LA Screenings 2017: Military procedure

International broadcasters are desperate for American procedurals, and this year the Hollywood studios believe they’ve got the supply to satisfy demand. Jesse Whittock reports from LA Major international networks have been demanding more procedurals from the US studios for years. The ratings stability the format offers is not matched on a consistent basis by the […]

How Loaded went from Israel to Channel 4

Hillbilly TV co-founders Kate Norrish and Polly Leys recall how their UK drama business begn, and what had to change in order to Channel 4 to commission new scripted series Loaded, a remake of an Israeli format about a group of friends who become millionaires overnight It was while lying on the beach on holiday […]

In-demand chart: France (May 7-13, 2017)

Netflix holds a domination position in French digital demand expressions. The streamer takes all ten Digital Originals spots in our latest chart, and three of the Overall TV Shows rankings, including a top-two position. Angsty teen mystery 13 Reasons Why leads the way on the digital front. Its 7.28 million average demand expressions across the […]

Show stoppers

The golden age of TV drama has meant more programmes in production, and with resources increasingly scarce, American showrunners are coming to Europe to find work and vice versa. How far have the lines become blurred. Words: Jesse Whittock Though the US has been the dominant force in global television for decades, its model of […]

Comedy at the crossroads

Comedy has not had the same uplift in budgets and ambition as straight-up scripted fare, but half hours that are as big on drama as laughs are in demand and, increasingly, on-demand. Just don’t call it ‘dramedy’. Stewart Clarke reports. For comedy writers and producers, recent proclamations from industry heavyweights are no laughing matter. “It […]

Emerging kids studios

In spite of the challenges, some studios that had been offering services on a work-for-hire basis are starting to build content creation into their business models, reports Jane Marlow. The fact that a company with the global reputation of Framestore started to “covertly” road test the idea of content creation two years ago gives an […]

In-demand chart: Greece (April 23-29, 2017)

Greece is yet another territory in which Game of Thrones rules over rival factions. The HBO series just beats Fox drama Prison Break in the overall charts despite season seven not debuting until the summer. The series has been on hiatus since April last year, as filming in colder climates as dictated by plotlines has […]

HBO Europe: Root’s cause

HBO Europe is well established as a producer in central and eastern Europe, and has now restructured to produce programmes from the Nordics and Spain as well. Original content chief Antony Root tells Jesse Whittock about the plan. While HBO is best known for its agenda-setting US programmes such as Game of Thrones and Westworld, […]