Realscreen’s Global 100 for 2015
By Realscreen Staff
This year, realscreen‘s Global 100 celebrates its 10th anniversary. Intended to celebrate innovation, business acumen and of course, great content, the list first appeared in the April/May issue of 2006. As with every year since, it was compiled with input from the industry itself, including producers extolling the virtues of their peers, network executives sharing their thoughts on trusted partners, and various other stakeholders.
Of course, the non-fiction and unscripted industry of 2016 is a far different animal than it was a decade ago. With the explosion in popularity of reality TV in the U.S. and abroad, the list’s appearance changed often, and indeed, with more networks programming non-fiction and unscripted fare, the amount of high-rating programming to factor into consideration also grew exponentially. Now, with new platforms moving aggressively into the space, there is even more great work out there, and naturally, more prodcos worthy of noting. But our intent on providing a snapshot or reflection of the past year in global factual content remains intact.
Some of the names listed this year are familiar faces and have been on the list since its inception. Some frequent G100 prodcos might be absent from this year’s list, with other companies earning a spot for the first time. As then-editor Brendan Christie wrote in his introduction to the 2007 Global 100 list, “Creative churn drives the film and television industries. It’s what keeps viewers coming back for more.”
We have also included a list of honorable mentions in addition to the Global 100, for companies that may not have received as many votes or that were nominated for single programs, but whose work merits recognition.
CANADA
CINEFLIX MEDIA
Headquarters: Montreal
www.cineflix.com
Employees: 135
Recent/current titles: Property Brothers, American Pickers, Angry Planet, The Quest for Gold, Flipping Virgins, Food Factory, Motives & Murders: Cracking the Case, Surviving Evil, Nowhere to Hide season 2
Upcoming titles: American Lawmen, Sin City ER, Detectives Club: New Orleans, Gangland Undercover season 2, Property Brothers: Buying + Selling season 4, Mayday season 16
One of Canada’s largest producers in the non-fiction arena, Cineflix made more inroads into the U.S. in 2015, via such commissions as the eco-adventure series Angry Planet for Pivot; Discovery Life’s Sin City ER, which follows the action at a Las Vegas hospital; and the fact-based drama Gangland Undercover for A&E. Indeed, crime programming continued to pay for the prodco in 2015, with series such as Detectives Club: New Orleans for ID and American LawmeN for American Heroes Channel.
Another genre enjoying an uptick in 2015 was home reno and real estate, and Cineflix had new entries on that front, including Flipping Virgins for HGTV, spun off from another Cineflix production, Property Virgins. And long-running Cineflix series such as HGTV’s Property Brothers and History’s American Pickers continued to perform, with the former landing an Emmy nomination.
In the staffing department, the company bolstered its U.S. team with the hires of Dave Hamilton, ex-Leopard USA, as EVP of development and former Jigsaw Productions exec Dave Snyder as VP of development. In March of this year, the company announced a first-look deal with Becoming Us showrunner and EP George Moll. Barry Walsh
CREAM PRODUCTIONS
Headquarters: Toronto
www.creamproductions.ca
Number of hours produced in 2015: 65+
Employees: 25
Recent/current titles: Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan, Fear Thy Neighbor, The Weapon Hunter
Upcoming titles: Weapon Hunter season 2
With the retirement of co-founder Christopher Rowley in 2014, former EVP of production Kate Harrison was upped to president and partner in the Toronto-based company. Cream has continued a successful run of Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan, with the third season airing this year on OLN in Canada, Travel Channel in the U.S. and Channel 5 in the UK.
Meanwhile, true crime series Fear Thy Neighborreturned to ID for a second season which completed in July, and The Weapon Hunter, following the exploits of history buff and restoration expert Paul Shull (pictured), came to Smithsonian Channel. The company also signed distribution deals with Proper Rights for Justice for MLK: The Hunt for James Earl Ray, which originally aired on American Heroes Channel, and a multi-year distribution output deal with Blue Ant International.
Cream also welcomed Jennifer Harkness, formerly with Jumpwire Media and Temple Street Productions, as its senior VP of sales and development. Based in LA, she’s tasked with amping up the prodco’s business in the U.S., and supporting the company’s push into the digital and VR spaces. BW
MORE GLOBAL 100 COMPANIES FROM CANADA:
Alibi Entertainment
Toronto
www.alibientertainment.ca
Carnival Eats, The Great Canadian Cookbook
Anaid Productions
Vancouver
www.anaid.com
The Liquidator
Big Coat Productions
Toronto
www.bigcoatproductions.com
Love It or List It
Force Four Entertainment (an eOne company)
Vancouver
www.forcefour.com
First Dates Canada, Keeping Canada Alive
Frantic Films
Winnipeg
www.franticfilms.com
Still Standing; Buy It, Fix It, Sell It
Great Pacific Media (a Thunderbird company)
Vancouver
www.greatpacifictv.com
Highway Thru Hell, Game of Homes
Insight Productions
Toronto
www.insighttv.com
Big Brother Canada, The Amazing Race Canada
Media Headquarters Film & Television
Toronto
www.mediahqs.net
Canada’s Smartest Person
Omnifilm Entertainment
Vancouver
www.omnifilm.com
Jade Fever
Paperny Entertainment (an eOne company)
Vancouver
www.papernyentertainment.com
Timber Kings, Cold Water Cowboys
Proper Television
Toronto
www.propertelevision.com
MasterChef Canada, Canada’s Worst Driver
Temple Street Productions (a Boat Rocker Media company)
Toronto
www.templestreetproductions.com
Say Yes to the Dress Canada, The Next Step
UNITED STATES
BUNIM/MURRAY PRODUCTIONS (A BANIJAY GROUP COMPANY)
Headquarters: Van Nuys, California
www.bunim-murray.com
Number of hours produced in 2015: Approx. 175
Number of employees: 500+
Recent programs: I Am Cait, Born This Way, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Dash Dolls, Total Divas, Bad Girls Club, Project Runway, The Challenge, The Real World, Stewarts and Hamiltons, Fix My Mom, Valerie’s Home Cooking, Love Thy Sister
Upcoming programs: Season two of I Am Cait and season 31 of The Real World
The reality powerhouse had a big year with management changes, the media attention surrounding Caitlyn Jenner’s I Am Cait series and several franchises entering double-digit seasons.
As the speculation around Keeping Up With the Kardashians star Jenner’s impending transgender revelation reached a boil last spring – resulting in a highly-rated Diane Sawyer interview on ABC and a Vanity Fair cover – Bunim/Murray was undergoing its own transition behind the scenes. Cofounder Jonathan Murray announced he would step down to focus on producing documentaries, with Gil Goldschein taking over as chairman and CEO.
On the programming front, the Banjiay-owned shop continued spinning off the seemingly unstoppable Keeping Up franchise with I Am Caitand Dash Dolls. Kardashian-related programming now comprises a third of E!’s schedule, according to a presentation by Keith Friedenberg, EVP, Global Insights Group for WME and IMG, during the 2016 Realscreen Summit.
Meanwhile, Oxygen’s Bad Girls Club entered season 14, The Challenge hit season 27 on MTV, season 14 of Project Runway debuted on Lifetime, E! aired season 11 of Keeping Up, and MTV entered season 31 of the show that created reality TV as we know it, The Real World.
Bunim/Murray also branched out with its first commission for A&E: the docuseries Born This Way, about seven young adults living with Down syndrome. The series has been renewed for a second season. The company also received its first commission from the Food Network with Valerie’s Home Cooking, starring actor Valerie Bertinelli. Kevin Ritchie
HALF YARD PRODUCTIONS (A RED ARROW COMPANY)
Headquarters: Bethesda, MD
www.halfyardproductions.com
Number of hours produced in 2015: 100+
Employees: 300
Recent/current titles: The Last Alaskans, Say Yes to the Dress, Brides Gone Styled
Upcoming titles: Iron and Fire, The Last Alaskansseason 2, Say Yes to the Prom
The unscripted genre doesn’t generally receive a lot of love from television critics, and having a docureality series premiere to critical acclaim is a relative rarity. But the response to the premiere of Animal Planet’s The Last Alaskans, produced by Half Yard, was favorable across the board, with Vulture naming it “one of the best surprises of the summer,” the Washington Post‘s Hank Stuever calling it “a reality show with a heart as big as its subject,” and The New York Times praising it as an “affecting” series that defies expectations. But it wasn’t only the critics who loved it – audiences grew steadily over its run and in its first season, it clocked in enough viewers to be the network’s second-most-watched series in 2015, behind River Monsters, and a second season is set for April.
The company behind the long-running TLC hitSay Yes to the Dress brought bridal makeover show Brides Gone Styled to the network, and also scored a commission from Channel 4 for a British take on bridal programming, All Hail the Veil. This year will see Iron and Fire debut on History in April, and two Say Yes spin-offs for TLC, including Say Yes to the Prom in May.
On the personnel side, Half Yard began the year by bringing in John Jones and Nikki Taub as exec producers, and promoted Deniz Bicioglu, Janice Mezzetti and Cameron Young in March. BW
HIGH NOON ENTERTAINMENT (AN ITV COMPANY)
Headquarters: Denver, CO
www.highnoontv.com
Number of hours produced in 2015: 89
Employees: Annual average of 225
Recent/current titles: Fixer Upper, Cake Boss, Dr. Dee: Alaska Vet, Mexicánicos, Xtreme Waterparks
Upcoming titles: Good Bones, Penn Vet, Sweet 15: Quinceañera
Just a year shy of its 20th anniversary, the ITV Studios-owned High Noon is flying high. TLC debuted its Sweet 15: Quinceañera series in November; Fixer Upper is driving record ratings for HGTV, which in March of ’16 premiered the producer’s mother-daughter reno series, Good Bones; and the company in January strengthened its casting muscle with a dedicated division. CEO Jim Berger says High Noon – now equipped with a 10-person development team – has been lucky in crossing so many genres, but says the producer treats the property space as a “specialty craft” that’s no different from a survival show. “You’re one-part producer and you’re one-part home renovator,” he remarks.
The Emergency Vets producer is now also dipping its toes back in the vet space with a second season of Animal Planet’s Dr. Dee: Alaska Vet in the works, as well as the premiere of a university-focused Penn Vet series set to bow on the net later this year.
Berger’s next order of business for the prodco – which has a strong track record with cable nets – is to venture into the broadcast space for the first time. The exec hints that several shiny floor formats with High Noon’s “ITV brethren” are in development. Manori Ravindran
JIGSAW PRODUCTIONS (A CONTENT MEDIA COMPANY)
Headquarters: New York
www.jigsawprods.com
Number of hours produced in 2015: 30.5
Employees: 11 full-time, about 70 freelancers
Recent programs: Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, The New Yorker Presents, Cooked, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine
Upcoming programs: Death Row Stories season 3, Zero Days, Parched
Helmed by prolific doc maker Alex Gibney, Jigsaw Productions is becoming a familiar presence on the festival circuit. Just this year, Sundance premiered two episodes of the producer’s flagship series for Amazon, The New Yorker Presents, and also screened an installment of its docuseries The 4%: Film’s Gender Problem, which debuted on Epix in March. Meanwhile, Gibney’s cyber warfare doc, Zero Days, bowed in February’s Berlin International Film Festival, alongside Cooked, a four-part Netflix series with author Michael Pollan.
For some time, the prodco was best known for such docs as the Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side and Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief – which in 2015 prompted the controversial church to take out a full-page ad in The New York Times condemning the film and Gibney – but it has also been making impressive strides in the TV space since its partnership with Content Media in 2012. Jigsaw is currently at work on an eight-part, true-crime serialized doc series for A&E, and will this year launch the four-part miniseries Parched on National Geographic Channel. The next piece of the puzzle for the inexhaustible prodco will be making steps into the scripted space, starting with a “death row” drama series with HBO and actor Laura Dern that Gibney will direct and produce. MR
PILGRIM MEDIA GROUP (A LIONSGATE COMPANY)
Headquarters: North Hollywood, CA
www.pilgrimstudios.com
Employees: 1500
Number of hours in 2015: 400
Recent/current titles: Fast ‘N’ Loud, Street Outlaws, Bring It!, Someone’s Gotta Do It, Kocktails with Khloe
Upcoming titles: Ghost Hunters season 11, Wicked Tuna season 5
In late 2015, content studio Lionsgate entered into a “strategic partnership” (reportedly a majority stake) in what was then known as Pilgrim Studios, one of the last major “true indies” on the U.S. unscripted production landscape. Founded in 1997 by Craig Piligian, the prodco, known for testosterone-fueled content such as Discovery’s Fast ‘n’ Loud, as well as the perennial Syfy favorite Ghost Hunters, has spent the last few years branching out into different genres. Bring It!, a dance docuseries for Lifetime, had a big season two premiere with 1.8 million viewers and spawned the spin-off, Step It Up! Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s and Raising Whitley continued to perform for OWN, as did Wicked Tuna, headed to its fifth season on National Geographic Channel.
In 2015, the prodco delivered Discovery’s Cuban Chrome, the first U.S. TV series shot entirely on location in Cuba, and launched a digital platform, 1620 Media. Now rebranded as Pilgrim Media Group, the company’s latest hit, Kocktails with Khloe for FYI, has taken them into another new direction – that of the Kardashian-hosted chat show. BW
RADICAL MEDIA
Headquarters: New York, NY
www.radicalmedia.com
Number of hours produced in 2015:approximately 80
Employees: approximately 200
Recent/current titles: What Happened, Miss Simone?, Whitey: The United States of America vs. James J. Bulger
Upcoming titles: Hamilton’s America, Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru
2015 was another strong year for the New York-headquartered outfit which brought forth the Oscar-nominated What Happened, Miss Simone?– Liz Garbus’s portrait on the iconic singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone; the return of AOL’s Emmy-nominated sleeper hit Park Bench with Steve Buscemi; and earlier in ’16, Discovery Channel’s Telescope, director Nathaniel Kahn’s in-depth account of the people and technologies responsible for creating the Webb Telescope, which broke the network’s Sunday primetime viewership records with an audience of 703,000 this past February.
Forging ahead, Radical’s Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru from Joe Berlinger – in which unprecedented access was granted into Robbins’ annual “Date with Destiny” seminar – will premiere on Netflix in July, while Mars, a copro with Imagine Entertainment using scripted and unscripted elements, is expected later this year on National Geographic Channel. Daniele Alcinii
A SMITH & CO. PRODUCTIONS (A TINOPOLIS COMPANY)
Headquarters: Toluca Lake, CA
www.asmithco.com
Number of hours in 2015: 212
Employees: 182 full-time; 600-800 freelance
Recent/current titles: American Ninja Warrior, Team Ninja Warrior, Hell’s Kitchen, Ellen’s Design Challenge
Upcoming titles: Spartan Race, Basketball Moms
2015 saw the company behind such early reality hits as Paradise Hotel celebrate its 15th anniversary. To celebrate, A. Smith & Co. brought new hits to networks while keeping its high-rating franchises, such as the Gordon Ramsay-fronted Hell’s Kitchen (the prodco was also behind Ramsay’s other long-running Fox hit, Kitchen Nightmares, which wrapped in 2014) and NBC’s American Ninja Warrior.
The latter, a strong summertime performer for the Peacock, spawned a spin-off of sorts for NBCU Cable’s Esquire Network. Team Ninja Warrior, which debuted in January of this year, had the most-watched premiere of any series on the network to date, with 1.3 million tuning in across all its airings.
Last year also saw the debut of Ellen’s Design Challenge, exec produced by talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres and produced in association with Telepictures, on HGTV. The design competition proved to be one of the highest-rated series in HGTV history, and a second season premiered this past January.
On the way for 2016 is the sports competition series Spartan Race for NBC and a new wrestling format via a partnership with Nashville-based Global Force Wrestling. BW
MORE GLOBAL 100 COMPANIES FROM THE U.S.:
3 Ball Entertainment
Redondo Beach
www.3ballentertainment.com
Bar Rescue, Catch a Contractor
44 Blue Productions
Studio City, CA
www.44blue.com
Wahlburgers, Hollywood Medium, Nightwatch
495 Productions (a FremantleMedia company)
Burbank
www.495productions.com
Party Down South, Blue Collar Millionaires
51 Minds (an Endemol Shine Group company)
North Hollywood
www.51minds.com
Sisterhood of Hip Hop; Below Deck
All3Media America (an All3Media company)
Los Angeles
www.all3a.com
Chrisley Knows Best (with Maverick TV)
Asylum Entertainment (a Legendary company)
Encino, CA
www.asylument.com
Breakthrough (with Imagine Entertainment)
Atlas Media Corp.
New York City
www.atlasmedia.tv
Hotel Impossible, In the Line of Fire
Authentic Entertainment (an Endemol Shine Group company)
Burbank
www.authentictv.com
Flipping Out, Knife Fight
BBC Worldwide Productions (a BBC company)
Santa Monica
www.bbcworldwide.com
Dancing with the Stars
Electus (an IAC company)
New York City
www.electus.com
Running Wild With Bear Grylls
Evolution Media
Burbank
www.evolutionusa.com
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Botched!
Firelight Media
New York City
www.firelightmedia.tv
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
FremantleMedia North America (an RTL Group company)
Burbank
www.fremantlemedia.com
American Idol (with 19 Entertainment), America’s Got Talent
GRB Entertainment
Sherman Oaks, CA
www.grbtv.com
Sex Sent Me to the ER, Intervention
Gurney Productions (an ITV company)
Los Angeles
www.gurneyproductions.com
Duck Dynasty; Tiny House Builders
Herzog & Co.
Los Angeles
www.herzogcompany.com
The Sixties, The Seventies (with Playtone)
Hit the Ground Running Films
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst
New York City
Indigo Films
San Rafael, CA
www.indigofilms.com
Wives With Knives, Unlikely Animal Friends
ITV Entertainment
Los Angeles, New York
www.itvstudios.com/us/home
The First 48, Rich Kids of Beverly Hills
Jupiter Entertainment (a Sky company)
Knoxville, TN
www.jupiterent.com
Snapped, Fatal Attraction
Karga Seven Pictures (a Red Arrow company)
Los Angeles
www.karga7.com
Booze Traveler, Hunting Hitler
Kinetic Content (a Red Arrow company)
Santa Monica
www.kineticcontent.com
Married at First Sight, Little Women LA
Leftfield Pictures (a Leftfield Entertainment company)
New York
www.leftfieldpictures.com
Pawn Stars, Alone
Lighthearted Entertainment
Burbank
www.lighthearted.com
Are You the One?, Dating Naked
Loud TV (a Leftfield Entertainment company)
New York
www.loudtelevision.com
Tiny House Nation, Food Porn
Magical Elves (a Tinopolis company)
Los Angeles
www.magicalelves.com
Top Chef, Cold Justice
Magilla Entertainment
New York City
www.magilla.tv
Diesel Brothers, Beachfront Bargain Hunt
Matador Content
New York City
www.matadorcontent.com
Lip Sync Battle
Mission Control Media
Los Angeles
www.missioncontrolmedia.net
Face Off, Hollywood Game Night
Monami Entertainment
New York City
www.monamient.com
Love & Hip Hop (with Eastern TV)
Optomen (an All3Media company)
New York City
www.optomen.com
Mysteries at the Castle
Original Media (an Endemol Shine Group company)
New York City
www.originalmedia.com
Swamp People, Comic Book Men
Original Productions (a FremantleMedia company)
Burbank
www.originalprods.com
Storage Wars, Deadliest Catch, Bering Sea Gold
Orion Entertainment (Now Dorsey Pictures, a Red Arrow company)
Denver, CO
www.dorseypictures.tv
Building Alaska; Tiny House, Big Living
part2 pictures
Brooklyn
www.part2pictures.com
This is Life with Lisa Ling, Belief
Profiles Television
El Segundo
www.profiles-television.com
The Amazing Race
Prometheus Entertainment
Los Angeles
www.prometheusentertainment.com
The Curse of Oak Island, Kendra on Top
Relativity Television (now Critical Content)
Los Angeles
www.criticalcontent.com
Catfish, Car Matchmaker
Renegade83
Sherman Oaks, CA
www.renegade83.com
Naked and Afraid XL
RIVR Media
Knoxville, TN
www.rivr.com
Escaping Polygamy, Fat Guys in the Woods
Ryan Seacrest Productions
Los Angeles
www.ryanseacrest.com
Shahs of Sunset, Keeping Up with the Kardashians (with Bunim/Murray Productions)
Sharp Entertainment (a Core Media Group company)
New York City
www.sharpentertainment.com
Hack My Life (with True Entertainment), 90 Day Fiance
Shed Media U.S. (a Time Warner company)
Los Angeles
www.shedmediaus.com
Real Housewives of NYC, Who Do You Think You Are?
Sirens Media (a Leftfield Entertainment company)
New York City
www.sirensmedia.com
Killing Fields, Real Housewives of New Jersey
T Group Productions
Santa Monica
www.tgmstudios.com
Mystery Diners, Storage Hunters UK
Thinkfactory Media (an ITV company)
Los Angeles
www.thinkfactorymedia.com
Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars
Tremendous! Entertainment
Eden Prairie, MN
www.tremendousinc.com
Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern
True Entertainment (an Endemol Shine Group company)
New York, LA
www.trueent.net
Real Housewives of Atlanta; Vanity Fair Confidential
United Artists Media Group (an MGM company)
Los Angeles
www.hearst.com
Shark Tank, Survivor
World of Wonder
Hollywood
www.worldofwonder.net
RuPaul’s Drag Race, Million Dollar Listing
Zero Point Zero Productions
New York
www.zeropointzero.com
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown; The Hunt with John Walsh
UNITED KINGDOM
KEO FILMS
Headquarters: London
www.keofilms.com
Number of hours produced in 2015: 34+
Number of employees: 45 full-time
Recent/current titles: Excluded, The Romanians are Coming, Hugh’s War on Waste, The Enforcers, Skint season 3
Upcoming titles: Exodus: Breaking Into Europe, Year Zero
The London-based producer’s 2015 output spanned a variety of genres, from ob-doc and lifestyle to factual and survival, but continued to be united by ethical and socially-minded themes.
Chef-turned-activist Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of Keo’s River Cottage franchise challenged supermarkets to reduce waste in Hugh’s War On Waste, while Channel 4′s Skint – about people in the town of Grimsby who live on long-term unemployment benefits– entered season three.
Other social issue-focused series included BBC3′s Excluded: Kicked Out of School, which looked at what happens after kids are expelled from school, and The Romanians Are Coming, a doc about migrant Romanians in Britain. Meanwhile, Keo globetrotted with adventurer Ed Stafford to investigate natural mysteries for the DNI series, Ed Stafford Into the Unknown.
As it enters its 20th year, the company has two big buzzy projects lined up for 2016: the three-part Exodus: Breaking Into Europe for BBC and Canal+ will chronicle the journey of 70 migrants attempting to enter the UK and other European countries; and the Scotland-shot reality competition Year Zero for Channel 4 will follow 20 contestants as they build a life from scratch in an isolated locale. KR
MINNOW FILMS
Headquarters: London
www.minnowfilms.co.uk
Number of hours produced in 2015: 18
Employees: 10, with 35+ freelancers on productions
Recent/current titles: SAS: Who Dares Wins; Breaking Into Britain: The Lorry Jumpers; The Detectives
Upcoming titles: Abused (w/t), Spies (w/t), Lagos to London (w/t) and second seasons of SAS: Who Dares Wins and The Detectives
At a time when studios across the globe were rushing to develop series within the true crime genre, London-based indie Minnow Films quietly put together one of the BBC’s most successful series in 2015. The three-part docuseries The Detectives, which pulled in an average of 2.02 million viewers for the UK pubcaster last May, follows a set of Manchester detectives specializing in sexual offenses as they investigate disgraced radio DJ Ray Teret, who was accused of offenses against schoolchildren throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and later sentenced to 25 years in prison for a series of rapes and indecent assaults against underage girls. The program also offered unprecedented access into myriad investigations in the Greater Manchester area, including child exploitation, domestic violence and rape.
Founded by BAFTA-winning director Morgan Matthews in 2006, Minnow has established a reputation of delivering such high-end documentaries as the BAFTA- and RTS-winning The Fallen; BAFTA-nominated Scenes from a Teenage Killing; celebrated Afghanistan series Fighting on the Frontline; the assisted suicide obs-doc How to Die: Simon’s Choice, which received “Best in Show” honors in realscreen‘s MIPTV Picks; and the critically acclaimed survival series SAS: Who Dares Wins for Channel 4, which offers insight into the physically and psychologically demanding military entrance process of the British Army’s Special Air Service (SAS).
The studio is currently in production on Olly Lambert’s 90-minute doc Abused (w/t) for BBC1, about child abuse in the UK and the cultural impact of the Jimmy Savile scandal, as well as the 5 x 60-minute Spies (w/t) and the hour-long film Lagos to London (w/t), both for Channel 4. DA
RDF TELEVISION (A BANIJAY GROUP COMPANY)
Headquarters: London
www.rdftelevision.com
Number of hours produced in 2015: 295
Employees: 30 permanent
Recent/current titles: The Secret Life of Four-Year-Olds, Eat Well for Less, Tipping Point
Upcoming titles: 100 Year Old Drivers, Undressed, Eat Well for Less season 3
What happens when you set up a fixed-rig camera outfit in a nursery housing a group of four-year-olds? Approximately 3.5 million Channel 4 viewers wanted to know, and tuned in to RDF Television’s The Secret Life of Four-Year-Olds, making it the broadcaster’s most successful factual program of the past five years. With an educational neuroscientist and a developmental psychologist also watching the goings-on, the program combined valuable takeaway with a steady stream of cute. The show’s success garnered a series order as well as spin-offs for the five- and six-year-old set.
The prodco also scored with Eat Well for Less, with an average audience of 5.3 million tuning into the first series, and the order for season two doubling the original. The success of the series spawned more budget-conscious fare for the BBC from RDF, including Shop Well for Less.
Looking forward, the prodco, under managing director Jim Allen, has another series of Eat Wellon the way, while its entertainment label, Fizz, will take a crack at racy Italian format Undressed for TLC. BW
TRUE VISION PRODUCTIONS
Headquarters: London
www.truevisiontv.com
Recent/current titles: My Son the Jihadi, Raining in My Heart, No Place to Call Home, Behind Closed Doors
Founded by the husband and wife team of producer Brian Woods and docmaker Deborah Shipley, True
Vision is, with its onus on documentary one-offs, something of an anomaly in the current television production landscape. But in the UK, its name is synonymous with hard-hitting, thought-provoking programs that bring social issues into sharper focus. In 2015, those included Raining in My Heartfor ITV1, which followed three children undergoing experimental cancer treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital; No Place to Call Home for BBC1, which documented the stories of two families caught in the thick of London’s housing crisis; and My Son the Jihadi, which examines the impact a young man’s radicalization has on his mother and younger brother. The latter is up for an RTS award for best single documentary – an honor the prodco has received often with past work.
Another unique facet of the company is its dedication to facilitating engagement with their films’ subject matter and sometimes, subjects. The company established its Aletheia Foundation to channel contributions from viewers to participants in True Vision films, in cases where there were no existing charities in place willing or able to accept such donations.
Sadly, in late 2015, Deborah Shipley passed away following a long battle with cancer, at the age of 60. In a statement, Woods called her the company’s “moral compass,” while the BBC’s Charlotte Moore said, “She was a remarkable woman and I feel lucky to have known her.” BW
MORE GLOBAL 100 COMPANIES FROM THE UK:
Arrow Media
London
www.arrowmedia.com
Sherpa, See No Evil (with Saloon Media)
Blast! Films
London
www.blastfilms.co.uk
The Night Bus, The Supervet
Films of Record (a Zinc Media company)
London
www.filmsofrecord.com
The Murder Detectives, Charlie Hebdo: Three Days That Shook Paris
The Garden (an ITV company)
London
www.thegardenproductions.tv
24 Hours in Police Custody; 10,000 BC
Icon Films
Bristol
www.iconfilms.co.uk
River Monsters, Britain’s Medieval Vampires
Lion Television (an All3Media company)
London
www.liontv.com
China: Treasures of the Jade Empire; Kew On a Plate
Love Productions (a Sky company)
London
www.loveproductions.co.uk
Benefits Street, The Great British Bake Off
Mentorn Media (a Tinopolis company)
London
www.mentorn.tv
Angry, White and Proud; Great British Benefits Hotel
Nutopia
London, Washington
www.nutopia.com
Britain’s Biggest Adventures with Bear Grylls
October Films
London
www.octoberfilms.co.uk
Walking the Nile, Outrageous Acts of Science
On the Corner
London
www.onthecorner.tv
Amy, Ronaldo
Raw TV (a Discovery Communications company)
London
www.raw.co.uk
Gold Rush, Teens
Shine TV (an Endemol Shine Group company)
London
www.endemolshinegroup.com
The Island with Bear Grylls, MasterChef
Studio Lambert (an All3Media company)
London
www.studiolambert.com
Gogglebox, Undercover Boss
Swan Films
London
www.swanfilms.tv
Muslim Drag Queens, Grayson Perry’s Dream House
Thames (a FremantleMedia UK company)
London
www.thames.tv
X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent
Twofour Broadcast (an ITV company)
London
www.twofour.co.uk
The Jump, Educating Cardiff
Wall to Wall (A Warner Bros. Television Productions UK company)
London
www.walltowall.co.uk
The Voice UK, Child Genius
INTERNATIONAL
TALPA MEDIA (AN ITV COMPANY)
Headquarters: Laren, The Netherlands
www.talpa.tv
Recent/current titles: The Voice, The Wishing Tree, The Winner Takes It All
Upcoming titles: Cannonball
In March of last year, ITV confirmed yet another big production outfit acquisition, with this one being a doozy – Dutch format powerhouse Talpa Media. Founded by John de Mol, the shop is behind global singing competition The Voice, an entertainment juggernaut that many cite as the last huge hit to emerge from unscripted television. The acquisition – the largest of ITV’s recent purchases with an initial payment of US$531.68 million (£355 million) – could come in at a maximum total of approximately £781 million (or approximately $1.17 billion), contingent on Taipa delivering “significant profit growth” over an eight-year period, and de Mol remaining with the business during that time.
The Voice ignited a media storm in the UK in 2015 with the news that it would be leaving the BBC, its home for five seasons, for ITV. The UK commercial broadcaster signed a three-year deal for it, with ITV Studios set to produce the new version beginning in 2017, and former producer Wall to Wall providing ongoing consultancy.
The format house unveiled Wishing Tree, in which young children hang “wishes” on a tree to help someone in need, at MIPCOM. The feel-good format, into its second season in the Netherlands, has scored deals in Belgium and Greece. BW
MORE INTERNATIONAL PRODCOS IN THE GLOBAL 100:
Beach House Pictures
Singapore
www.beachhousepictures.com
China from Above (with NHNZ), Wild City
Beyond Productions
Sydney
www.beyond.com.au
MythBusters
Endemol (an Endemol Shine Group company)
Amsterdam
www.endemolshinegroup.com
Big Brother
Gedeon Programmes
Paris
www.gedeonprogrammes.com
Chambord: The Castle, The King and the Architect; Une fleur dans le grand Nord
Off the Fence
Amsterdam
www.offthefence.com
Destination Wild; Supercars: The Million Pound Motors
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Boardwalk Pictures
Santa Monica
Boardwalkpictures.wix.com/boardwalkpictures
Chef’s Table
Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder
Chippendale, NSW
www.cjz.com.au
Go Back to Where You Came From
Left/Right (a Red Arrow company)
New York
www.leftright.tv
Mob Wives
Park Slope Productions
Brooklyn, NY
www.parkslope.tv
Alaskan Bush People
Peacock Productions (an NBCU company)
New York
www.peacockproductions.tv
Hate in America
Warrior Poets
New York
www.warrior-poets.com
Morgan Spurlock Inside Man