Execs from ZDF Studios, Banijay Rights, Dynamic Television, Beta Film talk market trends

Dynamic Television’s Dan March, ZDF Studios’ Yi Qiao, Beta Film’s Justus Riesenkampff, and Banijay Rights’ Claire Jago share their insights on deficit financing, the creation of high-end dramas and hot Nordic titles on their slates on the eve of the MIPCOM content market in Cannes (October 16-19).

Dynamic Television - Dan March, Founder and Managing Partner
The L.A. based boutique production and distribution indie group has distributed more than 350 hours of new series, 600 hours of content since 2014, and worked on several Nordic hit series such as Trapped, The Sommerdahl Murders and Deliver Us. New shows on their MIPCOM slate include the Norwegian romantic drama Dates in Real Life, the Finnish dramedy Reindeer Mafia and Irish mystery thriller Harry Wild season 2, pre-sold in the Nordics to TV4 Sweden, MTV3 Finland.

How are you experiencing the unprecedented disruption on the market?
DM: There are a lot of concurring market challenges at the moment. Work stoppage in the U.S. obviously was a necessary but difficult shutdown of our activities there. However, I think the advertising downturn in Europe, coupled with high interest rates and crew costs, have created a challenging gap between production expense and program values. Greenlights are happening but at a slower pace, and building sustainable financing models, based on incentives, co-production partners, or solely deficit financing, is a very slippery slope. We have to stay disciplined within our risk profile, which means it might take longer to get new shows into production. But within that environment, we are getting shows ordered and are hopeful this industry recession we are in should abate in the first quarter next year.

How do you navigate between high production costs for top-end drama and the tougher market for deficit financing? Can you give examples on Nordic shows?
DM: It’s a challenge because global values on Nordic content are not increasing. Certain markets, such as Asia, Latin America and even the U.S., have softened for Nordic drama based on the ample supply of shows available. Obviously great shows will always rise to the top, and quality has never been more important, but in order for a Nordic drama series to be financially sustainable, the deficits on these shows really need to be ultimately covered out of Europe. Our most successful Nordic shows, like Sommerdahl Murders, have great partners in France and Germany. Our least successful shows don’t, and you can’t make up that loss in value elsewhere.

What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in today’s global scripted market?
Demand for Nordic drama is still strong, but we are in a quality over quantity market. So the creative has to resonate with global audiences, and that still leans into commercial genres like crime, suspense and thriller. The challenges are that every platform worldwide is fighting to attract audiences to its programs, just based on the sheer volume of options consumers have in every country. That explains the attraction from international buyers for well-known IP and cast. So the chance of a niche Nordic show with an unknown cast resonating to a broad audience are much less likely because there are not organic marketing elements to promote. That is where shows need to exceed creatively and qualitatively so they can somehow rise above the noise.

What Nordic shows are you launching at MIPCOM?
We’re excited to bring Dates in Real Life to the market, which is a high concept romantic comedy from NRK and Maipo in Norway. It’s a story ripped from the zeitgeist about how young people toggle their love lives from the VR world to the real one. And we’re very excited to announce Pirate Bay, the remarkable true story of how three young men unexpectedly launched the biggest file sharing platform on the internet, only to have big Hollywood players come after them in a truly crazy series of events.

ZDF Studios - Yi Qiao, Director of Drama
The heavyweight production, distribution group and commercial arm of the German pubcaster ZDF is a long-standing partner to Nordic producers and commissioners. Headlining the company’s MIPCOM drama slate is the surveillance drama Concordia, jointly handled with Beta Film, after The Swarm. New Nordic shows on sale include Denmark’s Suplex.

How are you experiencing the unprecedented disruption on the market?
I think the market has always been disruptive. The difference this time is the cumulation of various factors all coming together. We can see the challenges in all areas but change always comes with chances as well. Co-producing and co-financing will become even more important and complex in today’s economics for projects to get made, but it will also mean more possibility to retain rights for international distribution.

How do you navigate between high production costs for top end drama and the tougher market for deficit financing? Can you give examples on Nordic shows?
The key question we always ask in every project is what it needs and how does the financing plan come together. There are certain budget levels that are just really challenging to deficit finance, and you would need a global player to be able to cover that otherwise your project might get stuck. With lower high-level budgets, we always look at the economics and see if there are possibilities to reduce the deficit by i.e. re-locating shoots or post in order to be able to tap into certain tax incentives. We have brilliant structures all across Europe which can help significantly in putting together high-level shows and the deficit. At the same time the commercial relevance of the project in the international market plays a big role in how you deficit finance shows.

What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in today’s global scripted market?
Aside from the changes in the market due to consolidation and restructuring and the rise of costs overall, one of the biggest challenges is the vast amount of content that is being produced and entering the market every year. But in there also lies the opportunity going forward: How do we return to a much more sustainable model of producing and financing content? The “traditional” co-production model of i.e., two commissioning partners, a distributor, some incentives seem to be making a “comeback” (though it was never fully gone) after streamers have fully commissioned for years and are now open to carving out territories.

What new Nordic shows are you bringing to MIPCOM?
We are thrilled to be taking out a new Danish mini-series called Suplex together with Nordisk Film. Produced by Drive Studios and created by Adam August (Follow the Money III) and Jens Dahl (Pusher), the series follows married couple Charlotte (Josephine Park) and Lars (Jakob Cedergen) facing the secrets they kept hidden from themselves and each other when Lars is falsely charged with murder.

BANIJAY RIGHTS - Claire Jago, EVP Sales & Acquisitions, EMEA
The global distribution arm of the French giant content group Banijay Group is bringing a varied portfolio of scripted formats to MIPCOM, such as the British shows This Town from Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight, the female-led Three Little Birds, Swedish crime drama Fallen, Finnish crime Murder in Hanko, French thrillers Brocéliande and Rivière-Perdue.

How are you experiencing the unprecedented disruption on the market?
It’s certainly a challenging time in our industry as a whole, with production costs and rising inflation affecting everyone. But as a company with strong brands and an extensive multi-genre catalogue of titles, business is continuing well. The strength of our content – both format and finished – as well as our established relationships, enable us to continue to work with Nordic broadcasters to provide the content they need. It’s about working together to find solutions and being quick to adapt.

What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in today’s global scripted market?
There will always be a desire for content, and at Banijay we have a wealth of talent at our production companies making fantastic shows across the globe. The changing distribution landscape of course throws up its own challenges and opportunities – plus navigating through the increasing costs of scripted in recent years (all while our industry continues to operate at a time of economic uncertainty) is no small feat. But our mantra is that we will always strive to get the best deals for our titles, producers and broadcasters, and we’re fortunate to have such a strong existing catalogue that can help us navigate through any difficult times. We certainly saw this during the pandemic when there were several delays to production in the scripted world.

What new Nordic shows are you bringing to MIPCOM?
We have a diverse mix of drama and comedy titles that hail from Banijay’s extremely talented production companies in the Nordics. Filmlance’s crime series Fallen from creator/head-writer Camilla Ahlgren (Bron) is certainly one to highlight. Starring Sofia Helin and Hedda Stiernstedt, this cold case crime drama is set in the small southern town of Ystad. Another stand-out title is Jarowskij Finland’s Murder in Hanko, which brings author Matti Remes’ Ruben Waara novels to our screens. Meanwhile, we have Supporting Actor (Kurjen Kirous) from Endemol Shine Finland, also for Nelonen and Ruutu, and of course, the returning seasons of favourites Beck, The Sandhamn Murders, Detective Maria Kallio, Gåsmamman, Solsidan and Backström.

BETA FILM - Justus Riesenkampff, EVP Nordics & Benelux Beta Film, Co-CEO Beta Nordic Studios
The Jan Mojto-owned German production and distribution powerhouse is coming to MIPCOM with over 20 series and new seasons from 15 countries. Drama highlights include the surveillance thriller Concordia from multi-Emmy-awarded EP Frank Doelger, and the maritime drama Estonia from Swedish concept director Måns Mansson.

How are you experiencing the unprecedented disruption on the market?
Despite the overall challenging situation that the industry is dealing with, we are very confident about the future as this year’s Beta lineup is stronger and more diverse than ever. We are presenting four full pilots of high-end drama in Cannes in a dedicated screening event in the style of a studio presentation: Intaglio’s Concordia (ZDF, MBC, France Télévisions), Estonia (TV4, MTV3, ProSieben, Telia Estonia), La Storia (Rai), and The Couple Next Door (Channel 4 UK, Starz US). While global streaming platforms are trying to reduce their spending, traditional broadcasters are, in part, compensating for this as they want to consolidate and expand their presence in the market.

How do you navigate between high production costs for top end drama and the tougher market for deficit financing? Can you give examples on Nordic shows?
Everybody wants and needs high-end drama shows and that presents opportunities to establish new partnerships for programs with substantial reach. One of the best examples from our line-up is the TV series Estonia which secures funding from networks in four different countries: Sweden's TV4, Finland's MTV3, Germany's ProSieben, and Estonia's Telia. However, as you can see from our other high-end shows, different models of collaborations have also proven successful.

What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in today’s global scripted market?
As single networks are struggling to finance big shows on their own it is an opportunity to form new alliances between networks and broaden the current business model, by generating more successful shows that can make a greater impact. However, the challenge lies in effectively managing the timing to sustain the production volumes amidst the trend of increasing production costs.

What new Nordic shows are you bringing to MIPCOM?
The standout of our Nordic lineup for MIPCOM 2023 is Estonia, the drama about the tragic sinking of the MS Estonia, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and garnered outstanding reviews. A much-anticipated newcomer, the YA/LGBTQ drama Stockholm Pride is also set to make its way to Cannes and additionally, we are excited to present new seasons of two highly successful series: the third season of crime drama Wisting and the second season of conspiracy thriller Helsinki Syndrome. Lastly, we are thrilled to showcase the action-packed thriller Operation Napoleon which received widespread critical acclaim upon its theatrical release.