British drama funding could be heading for a “sub-prime mortgage moment” if fresh financing models aren’t found, according to Sky Vision boss Jane Millichip.
Speaking at the RTS London conference, Millichip said that broadcaster’s commissioning tariffs weren’t increasing, although the ambition of film star-laden dramas was.
“There is a gap appearing in the international deficit and we need to be a little bit wary. If we’re not careful we could be heading towards a sub-prime mortgages moment - if we don’t invest wisely and judiciously,” she added.
Sky Vision distributes shows including the £28m Fortitude and will launch second series of Fifty Fathoms’ Arctic drama at Mipcom. It is also responsible for Riviera, the South of France thriller which stars Julia Stiles and is written by Neil Jordan and Roman period drama Britannia, penned by Jerusalem’s Jez Butterworth and co-produced by Amazon.
“The model isn’t broken but we need to source more forms of funding that aren’t deriving their value from the international pot, whether that’s government funding, foundations, branded content or media agencies,” said Millichip.
“We need fresh blood in the funding mix in order to revive it because it’s stressed at the moment.”
The former Zodiak Rights exec highlighted post-apocalyptic zombie drama Z Nation [pictured], which is thought to have a budget of around $700,000 [£540,000] per episode.
The 13 x 60-minute series, which is produced by Sharknado indie The Asylum for US cable network Syfy, was sold to Sky’s free-to-air network Pick by fledgling distributor Dynamic Television.
Millichip said that Z Nation was a “perfectly good drama” but claimed “I bet Pick wasn’t on the business plan when they forecast their UK licence fees”.
Private equity plans
Tim Davie, chief executive of BBC Worldwide, also recognised the risk, and highlighted the 1,310 international drama series which launched this year.
“It’s a game where you have to watch your amort and what cash is going out the door,” he said. “You have to incredibly creative about who owns what and how funding gets in.”
Davie is also hunting ways to fund high-profile dramas and considering whether lessons can be learned from the private equity sector.
“We’re looking at ways in which we can create drama funding by using third party money at the moment,” he said. “I’m working on a few ideas at the moment in that area. There’s lots of capital out there.”
However Davie added that he did not expect drama funding to run dry any time soon. “The party’s going to continue for a few years,” he said.
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