Local unscripted commissioners re-evaluate usage of non-domestic IP
Australian factual commissioners have dispelled the perception of an over-reliance on international formats and talked up the popularity of local IP.
Susie Jones, head of documentary and specialist factual at Australia’s ABC, was among those speaking at Screen Forever on the Gold Coast this week and pointed to a raft of domestic shows commissioned by the public broadcaster.
“There’s sometimes this concept that ABC is wall-to-wall international formats, but it really couldn’t be further from the truth - most of our slate is original Australian IP,” she said during an unscripted commissioning panel.
Jones highlighted series such as Stuff the British Stole, I was Actually There and Muster Dogs as being Australian IP greenlit by the broadcaster playing on the international stage.
“ABC has always been the home of Australian IP and we’re leaning further into that,” she told delegates. “We don’t have a no formats rule, but we will be doing fewer international formats.”
Format furlough
The broadcaster has had a contentious history with format adaptations, with former director of television Kim Dalton announcing a ban on commissioning such shows in 2010. The ban lasted until he left the corporation in 2013.
SBS’s unscripted chief, Jospeh Maxwell, who was moderating the session, said that he looks to the international formats on his slate - such as Alone - as “audience drivers”.
He continued: “If you’ve got a show that reaches that broader audience, you’re exposing them to all your other outputs.”
Foxtel’s head of unscripted, Howard Myers-Rifai, was also keen to highlight Australian producers’ success at adapting and re-formatting international IP.
“We take formats that may have started somewhere else and turn them into the best versions, and that speaks to the quality of people who make those shows here,” he said, highlighting the well-travelled Australian adaptation of Married at First Sight.
The series, which has aired on fellow panelist Adrian Swift’s Nine Network since 2015, took the Danish ob-doc style format and gave it an entertainment and reality lens, which has since been adopted by other territories over the original.
Myers-Rifai, who’s most recent format greenlight is Apocalypse, commissioned with Channel 4 from ITV Studios Australia and The Garden, was also keen to highlight the need for balance.
“You just want range and if we’re making something that is local IP, it’s probably going to be a better commercial arrangement for us as well.”
Swift, Nine’s head of content, production and development, also noted the financial benefits to home-grown formats. “We’re incentivised internally to develop IP we have a say in… we’re really not here to recycle shows.”
The commissioner was also keen to highlight the strength of locally adapted formats, such as the upcoming adaptation of Plimsoll and ITV’s Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters. “We’ve completely rebuilt that show from the original,” Swift said.
Paramount Australia’s Sarah Thornton added that she was “very keen” on developing original IP. ”I’d say we’re the keenest we’ve been during my time at the network,” she continued, but admitted to being realistic about the limitations of new ideas.
“It’s unlikely, but not impossible, that we would invest in a new prime time franchise that was untested at this point,” she said, “not because we don’t want to, but because there are very few slots available.”
Instead, “lightly formatted, unscripted, factual or procedural” ideas are sought for the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 8:30pm slots for Paramount-owned Channel 10.
“There’s sometimes this concept that ABC is wall-to-wall international formats, but it really couldn’t be further from the truth - most of our slate is original Australian IP,” said
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