Frank Spotnitz, CEO and executive producer at Big Light Productions and Lars Blomgren, head of international at Media Res Studio have had reverse career paths.

With his X-Files hit in the bag, US-born writer/showrunner/producer Spotnitz moved to Europe-London, where he set up his thriving drama powerhouse in 2013, credited for Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle and the Netflix/Rai show Medici among others. He also helped European writers hone their skills via the Berlin-based Serial Eyes training programme.

Swedish-born Blomgren just took up his job as head of the international TV unit for L.A.-based Media Res (The Morning Show, Scenes from a Marriage), after decades of experience in drama production in Europe, first at Stockholm’s Filmlance International and most recently as head of global scripted at Paris-based Banijay Group.

The two executives said they didn’t foresee the massive writers/actors’ strike in Hollywood.

“I started building a slate and came to hand-shake level when suddenly the strike broke out. I had to temporarily move focus, and set eyes on the other side of the pond-[ie Europe],” said Blomgren.

Spotnitz said he was obviously relieved when the writers’ strike ended, but the movement came at a time when the drama bubble was already bursting. “It’s a perfect storm and it’s been bad for everyone as we haven’t been able to make up for lost time after Covid. We are waiting for commissioners to open up their wallets again in 2024. But looking back, what is clear is that the drama business needs to reset,” he observed. “We have been in unreality for years. Now we’re waking up, and sobering is a good thing,” he claimed.

Blomgren concurred: “The business is going through a correction. After the spending years, it’s about making money [for commissioners]. Traditional co-productions are back, which is good as we’ve always worked that way.”

Asked by Deadline journalist and moderator Max Goldbart how he had experienced the drama hype, the Swedish drama pro said: “from a producer’s point of view, we saw the quality of crews coming down, salaries going up. It was too easy to get a job. But now things are steadier and we have professional teams again.”

Spotnitz added: “A lot of people came to the industry the last few years, now we see some leave. But the good thing is that we have a more diverse industry compared to 13 years ago. There is a boost of confidence and excellent drama coming from France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. The Nordics and the UK always had great drama. A lot of good came out of the drama bubble that burst. We need to capitalise on this.”

For Spotnitz, Europe is full of opportunities and talents on both sides of the camera, but the industry needs to become more professional. “I don’t want to be ‘the ugly American’, but there is a massive need to professionalise and improve the quality level across the board. It is wildly inconsistent in Europe. Our diversity can be our strength. We have to talk about it and encourage conversations,” he insisted.

Asked to reflect on the streamers’ revolution and its impact on drama creation and financing, Spotnitz said he has witnessed at Serial Eyes the drastic improvement in European screenwriting. “I have been teaching 11 years in Berlin. The kind of shows Europeans write today is unrecognisable, and this is thanks to the streamers. Local broadcasters were too conservative before but they were pushed by streamers and competition to do better. “

Blomgren added: “For a long time, we went from local to global, but today people want local for local. Projects end up with a local budget, so how can you bypass this trend and do local shows that still resonate internationally? Finding the extra 20% financing is as hard as ever. We have to be more clever and inventive,” he admitted.

Both Blomgren and Spotnitz say navigating through commissioners’ new conservatism is harsh.

“It's very hard to pitch these days as commissioners are waiting for a reason to say no. That forces you to develop further and to have big pockets in the meantime,” Blomgren underscored.

“There isn’t much excitement these days from commissioners who are going through a tactical retreat. But we hope that won’t last,” Spotnitz said. “They love stories and if you can deliver good ones, then you’re fine. Audiences want to be surprised, delighted, invigorated, refreshed. It’s our job to bring something unexpected that the audience doesn’t know they want. So let’s get some fresh air and get to work!”

Asked if was he pleased with the New8 initiative from eight public broadcasters announced at MIA market (see our story here) the US showrunner said: “Amen-yes it’s great” The initiative goes in the right direction but it needs to scale up and shouldn’t be a simple exchange of money. “The challenge is that Europe is made up of different markets, and every market has different needs. The New8 alliance will have to do something that works across the borders but it might be hard to avoid euro-pudding,” he warned.

Blomgren feels it’s a question of picking the right project, but finding a hidden gem, like Normal People might be hard, he also reckoned.

Quizzed about AI and its use in drama creation, Spotnitz said the industry should embrace it. “If you don’t, others will. It can be a fantastic tool if it serves human beings,” he insisted.

Blomgren notes that AI technology has been positive for instance for the dubbing of foreign language content into English, where there is the highest demand. “A lot of people believe Casa de papel is an English-language show as the dubbing is so good,” he underscored.

So is there light in the tunnel and how does 2024 look like?

“Things will improve,” says a reassuring Spotnitz. During a crisis, people tend to develop a social conscience, become more inclusive. We should therefore be telling stories for different audiences and with diverse talent on both sides of the camera, he advised.

For Blomgren, the industry is going back full circle. We had short, limited series, now we’re going back to returning series, long runners, commercial breaks. Storytelling is still king - a lot of good things will come,” he said.