BritBox chief eyes opportunity amid UK turmoil

BritBox is positioning itself as a partner to help ease the funding “crisis” in UK drama as it looks to “step up the calibre of shows” on the BBC Studios-owned service, its chief has claimed.

Robert Schildhouse, general manager of BritBox and president of BritBox North America, referenced the cadre of UK series that have been greenlit, principally by the BBC, but remain in funding limbo, and made a call to UK producers that BritBox could be the solution.

“Once upon a time, if you had a commission from a broadcaster in the UK, that show is getting made. That’s simply not the case anymore,” he told delegates at the Banff World Media Festival.

“There are a number of shows that have been commissioned where risk [appetite] in the market isn’t there to deficit finance, and if there aren’t buyers in key markets like North America, then the shows just aren’t getting made.

“For us, not to downplay the challenges in that market, but it’s opening up a lot of opportunities because while we are a smaller player, we’re incredibly creative and don’t have a ton of rules or religion around how we bring content onto our service.”

He said that this has enabled the company to work with “very significant producers” on shows “a bit upstream”, citing upcoming dramas such as Left Bank Pictures’ The Lady, Bad Wolf’s The Other Bennet Sister, and Sally Wainwright’s Riot Women.

“We’ve got a pipeline full of ambitious shows and we’re taking swings. We’re excited about stepping up the calibre of shows on BritBox,” he added, with series such as Mitford sisters drama Outrageous set to debut next week.

When asked by Broadcast if this included high-profile BBC greenlights such as Shuggie Bain, which has reportedly hit financing problems, Schildhouse demurred, but reiterated BritBox’s intention of expanding the aperture of its best-of-British focus.

“I’m very familiar with those shows. The challenge is, as I’ve said before, that this is a very specific lane we play in. We evaluate every show that comes to us. We can’t solve every problem, but we’re pretty good at what we do,” he said. “There are… reasons why we’d co-produce a show, [one of which is] if a show isn’t going to get made [otherwise].

“And I would say for a number of shows in our pipeline, if it wasn’t for the decisions that we’re taking, and the co-production capabilities we have, then those shows would probably not get made.

“We’re taking pitches from every producer, every studio in the UK, but everyone who’s got a project will try and visit us.”