The giant French indie group Banijay, behind iconic brands such as Big Brother, Masterchef, Peaky Blinders, has been ramping up its scripted slate in recent years.

As Head of Scripted since 2020, Blomgren runs a network of around 50 companies working in the scripted space.

He spoke to us ahead of Mipcom where Banijay is coming en force with 250 staff members and talents, ready to welcome TV and streaming professionals at their state of the art 500m2 eco-friendly stand in front of the Palais de Festivals.

At MIPCOM you’ll sit on a panel to discuss 'the evolution of scripted at Banijay'. How many scripted brands are within the group? How do you keep track of the scripted slates across the group and stay on top of the content that can travel?
Lars Blomgren: We have more than 50 scripted production companies across 19 territories. In the Nordics we have several scripted - focused production companies whereas in Australia it’s two. Our set up varies market-to -market. We are well organised at Banijay; we have a great team and have constant updates from our labels. That works very well, and each company runs independently. We keep track of their slates, and when we identity projects we believe can be bigger, we step in and collaborate – we have a special Script Fund for that purpose.

What type of budget do you have in your Script Fund and what else do you use it for?
LB: I won’t say but it’s big! It can be used to lift budgets for projects with international potential, and we can help in the bidding wars for big IP and finance it. And if great writing talent is available to write more than pitch material, then we finance the pilot script or a first draft towards a series to take it to a more advanced stage.

We have also made an agreement through the fund with Maria B Campbell Associates, one of the best literary scouting companies around. To summarise, we try to use the money from the fund to maximise the value of being part of Banijay.

Elsewhere, we’re very proud to work with Steve Knight [Peaky Blinders creator, now attached to Rogue Heroes]. He is a big fan of his home town Birmingham, and with the UK label Kudos, we financed a talent incubator scheme to develop young local writing talent there. We need to secure the generational shift among writers.

What countries are buzzing with soaring volumes and original ideas these days?
LB: Creatively, there is a boom in France. We have, for instance the major series Marie-Antoinette to be presented at MIPCOM.

Spain, and the entire Hispanic world, is becoming super important. The film side has always had strong connections with the US and Hollywood, and now we see a boost in scripted content happening on the TV side as well. Projects from those countries travel well, such as the biopic Bosé about Spanish singer-songwriter Miguel Bosé [a Paramount+ Original], made as a Spanish/Mexican co-production. It will come out in the fall.

We’ve just partnered with [Alex de la Iglesias and Carolina Bang’s] Pokeepsie Films, behind HBO Max’s 30 Coins. I’ve always loved the Spanish community, they have a good storytelling tradition, strong concepts and their characters are larger than life.

Then Italy is also super strong. We’ve recently acquired an excellent production company Grønlandia Group [Romulus] and their Netflix show Lidia is creating a lot of buzz.

What type of stories are you looking for? Are there genres still missing on the market?
LB: Well, we are a high-end company, working with the best creative people in the world. They are the ones coming up with great ideas, that eventually become trends. We won’t go to a Steve Knight and say, why don’t you write this? But then of course, we do see creative trends, with genre, horror, biopics, stories based on true crime, and podcasts all really strong on the market right now.

Recently, I attended a Banijay documentary exchange in Manchester where people shared their latest projects, and so many of these stories would be perfect for scripted adaptations. It was overwhelming to see how many true stories can become the best arenas for scripted shows. There are so many opportunities for possible exchanges from one genre to the next, with factual going into reality, or documentaries becoming a drama.

From my point of view, it’s interesting that we don’t get so much demand for cross-country productions these days, but The Bridge keeps getting new versions; we’re set to announce one for a major new market soon. So far, we’ve done five versions, and it’s exciting more are coming.

From the Nordic perspectives, are there shifts in focus, with companies going from reality into scripted for instance?
LB: Not really. People are busy with their core businesses, and non-scripted is of course big in the Nordics. Having said that, companies can grow their strategy, as we have seen with Endemol Shine Finland, there is the opportunity to move from non-scripted to scripted.

In terms of trends, I can see that there are fewer, but bigger projects. Scripted is still the most expensive to commission. You must trust the local producers and their ability to carry the projects to fruition. We’re fortunate at Banijay to have amazing producers worldwide and the Nordics’ slate and quality execution speaks for itself.

Are there new co-production trends with the Nordics?
LB: We do a lot of creative brainstorming sessions within our group to encourage collaboration and strengthen relationships between producers, as it would be easy for companies to build silos, focus on their own slates and territory. But everyone shares the same challenges; with consolidation, there are fewer, bigger buyers, and decision-makers.

In May for instance, we had a meeting with Southern European production companies. Around 50 producers were in the room. There are lots of co-productions between Spain, UK, Italy, France etc. We do encourage internal co-productions within the group and exchange talent. Now in a few weeks, we’ll have a new scripted event for Northern Europe with Benelux, Germany, Austria, Poland and the Nordics. We will invite broadcasters, talent, and try to have people open up, and they do!

The world of content is being challenged on many fronts. Within the industry-with uncertainties among streamers following the merger of Discovery/WB and subsequent removal of HBO Nordic as major commissioner, Netflix’s business readjustment, and outside the industry with high inflation etc putting pressure on VOD subscription. From your end, how are you experiencing these turbulences?
LB: Of course, like everyone, we’re impacted. We had shows in development with HBO for instance, but we know local content drives subscriptions and there is plenty of opportunity with other players in the market. It is indeed a bumpy road for streamers, and they aren’t buying at the same speed. But we can take positives from this as co-productions are coming back. There, you have issues with public broadcasters struggling for other reasons. But we see that all people, including streamers, are opening up for new business models.

A very good example is the co-production between Netflix and Yle on Endemol Shine Finland’s Dance Brothers, which worked really well. We did the same kind of alliance in Sweden between Netflix and SVT on Caliphate. It’s a good model [first window with a global streamer and second window with a public broadcaster] and I think we’ll see more of that going ahead.

I’m obsessed with early signs. For instance, in the US, streamers have had a tradition of buying comedy specials. They used to buy all rights in perpetuity. Now, I’ve heard of deals where streamers buy comedy shows for a one-off payment of $200,000 for two years! This means going back to the old model. Will this trend spread in other genres? There is definitely change going on.

In the public service space, do you feel you get the support needed?
LB: The network of public service broadcasters and their partners need to be loyal to each other. If we want a project made, we need both to support each other. I’ve seen amazing ideas struggling to get the rest of the partners on board to finance the remaining 10-20%, as big co-production partners are changing strategies. And if you take away 20% of a budget because it’s hard to raise the rest of the top financing, then it’s simply not the same show anymore quality-wise. It’s important for us to know the kind of money we can raise from the start, to stick to the [artistic] promises we can make. What would help as well is for public service partners to open up to streamers, to new models.

Denmark in particular is in a crisis, with streamers in a fight with right-holders unions. Are you affected by the situation there?
LB: We’re not affected as we don’t have a big scripted business in Denmark. Our ambition is to have good relations with all our buyers. We are platform agnostic and have good relations with everyone. That said, I understand it is a tough situation from everyone in Denmark.

What are your priorities looking ahead?
LB: We want to constantly upgrade the company and be part of the times we’re in. Diversity and inclusion is extremely important and we need our programmes, and the people who make them, to reflect the society we live in. We’ve seen the streamers spearheading change in this area, and on our side I’m proud of the amazing work in the UK, one of our most important markets. I mentioned earlier we’re investing into the next generation of talent there, with incubators in Birmingham to grow the local workplace.

And green production seems to be on Banijay's top agenda-the Finnish show Dance Brothers was fully produced with the ‘albert’ eco-friendly tool...
LB: Yes. Producing in a green way needs to go from the top to the bottom. Our management is very involved in this in a hands-on way.

What shows are you looking forward to launching on global screens?
LB: In the Nordics, I’m thrilled about the new Swedish crime show Fallen [Filmlance for C More/TV4] from the writer behind The Bridge Camilla Ahlgren, starring Sofia Helin, and of course Ronja the Robber’s Daughter [Filmlance for Viaplay] written by Hans Rosenfeldt is exciting. These are great examples of how talent often return to work with our labels on new projects.

Then I must mention again Netflix/Yle’s upcoming show Dance Brothers. It’s for the new generation, produced and created by the talented Max Malka [Endemol Shine Finland’s Head of Scripted]. It’s an opportunity for her to grow the company.

And let’s not forget Yellow Bird UK’s Netflix series The Playlist is starting this week.