Broadcasters and streamers offered some green shoots of hope for indies at the Royal Television Society London Convention,but all continued to urge caution at a challenging time for the market.
Pointing out that more than 30,000 cast and crew are currently working on 100 Netflix shows in the UK, the streamer’s chief Ted Sarandos highlighted that the UK is his company’s biggest production market outside the US.
The four most watched shows in Netflix’s latest engagement report are all UK productions: dramas Fool Me Once, Baby Reindeer, Bridgerton and The Gentlemen.
In the past week, Netflix has signed a first-look deal with Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd and has recommissioned London-set superhero drama Supacell. Sarandos also stressed that the door is open for Peter Morgan to write further episodes of The Crown.
Meanwhile, ITV chief executive Caroline McCall said the broadcaster is “open for business”, with more UK commissions last year than in 2022.
C4 chief executive Alex Mahon said relations with indies had “improved quite a lot” after a rocky 2023 as the broadcaster picks up the pace on commissions, though she acknowledged that indies in the middle market will continue to find it tough.
C5 president Sarah Rose said streamers’ desire to work with big players is making life difficult for smaller indies, warning: “We need to be very careful not to tell ourselves things are rosy.”
Rose added: “We have to keep the grassroots skillset in work so that it is there to grow to work on bigger productions.”
Her comments were echoed by Sky chief content officer Cecile Frot-Coutaz, who said the UK market had calmed down from the “hubris” of three years ago, with production picking up more slowly than expected in the wake of the US actors and writers strikes.
Frot-Courtaz called on broadcasters and streamers to protect “the specific and unique ecosystem” that has historically been sustained by the UK market.
