Features

Spongebob: The most enduring kids title in TV

This article originally ran in TBI’s MIPCOM issue. We’re republishing it today in honor and memory of Spongebob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg, who died Monday. Spongebob Squarepants is by far the most ‘demanded’ title among children worldwide, according to new data by Parrot Analytics. Data from May to July 2018, highlights that the chirpy yellow sponge […]

How Brexit will impact the TV sector

As a Brexit deal hangs in the balance in the UK, TBI revisits what the TV industry has to consider in a handy breakdown. Andy McDonald reports. As the UK inches ever closer to its European Union departure date, there is still a huge amount of uncertainty over how Brexit will affect the audio-visual sector. While the […]

Op-ed: Putting real words to true crime in ‘verbatim drama’ The Interrogation

Four actors. One room. An interrogation based word-for-word on real transcripts. Story Films co-founder Dave Nath tells us how they brought a 20-year-old case to life for Channel 4. Tom Hardy carries the entire movie Locke on his own for 85 minutes sat in a car. It was bold, evocative and original – an approach to […]

On the set with Vice’s first game show

TBI speaks to Vice Studios exec producers Dan Louw and Yonni Usiskin on how the brand known for its subversive content came to produce Beat the Internet with John Robins, a family-friendly game show for UKTV, due to premiere this Thursday (15 November). If someone said a new format would be coming to UK […]

Op-ed: SVT’s immigrant-focused catch-up service is a lesson in inclusion

Can a public broadcaster’s vast archives of premium content be used to help accelerate the integration of immigrants into host cultures? Missing Link Media’s Jan Salling explains how Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT is leading the charge. It’s long been acknowledged that learning the local language is one of the best ways for immigrants to integrate […]

Op-Ed: Look to Asian drama remakes for creative renewal

Amanda Groom, MD of co-production specialist The Bridge, explains why Asian remakes such as SBS Korea’s take on Miss Marple, Ms. Ma, Nemesis, are breathing new life into Western drama IP. A growing trend across Asia is seeing remakes of Western drama resulting in exciting adaptations of characters and story lines we think we already know. […]

Op-ed: A female Doctor Who can’t mask entertainment’s off-screen problem

October may have seen one fabled entertainment glass ceiling smashed, with Jodie Whittaker nailing it as the first female Doctor Who, but the UK television industry still faces a major diversity problem both behind and in front of the camera, says Philip Large, CEO of entertainment career site The Mandy Network. Whittaker’s casting was a milestone […]

Distributors: the new producers?

A growing number of distributors are involved in activities that look more like development, production and commissioning. Andy Fry investigates At its core, the primary role of a TV distributor is still to sell programmes to the international market. But these days a growing number of distributors are also involved in activities that look more […]

Op-ed: Think outside the slot

Richard Melman, managing director and executive producer at Spring Films, argues that broadcasters need to think outside the common one-hour slot when it comes to factual titles. Broadcasters have told us for years that one-hour factual slots work best for viewers – and by default schedulers and advertisers – hence the almost complete lack of […]

Richard Yee: Getting Karl Pilkington into scripted

Sick of It director and co-writer Richard Yee tells TBI how he convinced The Idiot Abroad’s Karl Pilkington to take on the challenge of scripted drama in a two-part role reflecting his everyday conversations with himself. Sick of It is the new Sky drama about London cabbie Karl, a man attempting to get over a […]