Paramount execs eye UK growth after ‘very bleak’ period

Paramount execs Lisa Kramer and Lindsey Martin have talked up the increasing demand from UK buyers, a year on from what they termed as a “very bleak” period for the country’s scripted sector.

Martin, senior vice-president of international co-productions and development at CBS Studios, was joined on stage at Series Mania by Kramer, president of international of content licensing at Paramount Global Content Distribution, and the duo pointed to an improving ecosystem for producers in the country. 

“The UK is interesting, because in 2024 it started out very bleak indeed,” Kramer said during the keynote, which was moderated by Broadcast International.

“It was a hard time for most of our buyers and partners but it has become quite competitive since, we are now generating a lot of business in the UK. This is irrespective of all brands, so not specifically UK-produced shows, but we are really seeing green shoots.

“In fact, we’re seeing it develop more than that, there’s maybe even grass now appearing in the UK, and green shoots in other countries, some of which were struggling.”

Channel 4 snapped up Iceland-set international crime thriller The Darkness from Paramount Global Content Distribution today, as revealed by Broadcast International, while CBS Studios is behind a handful of UK shows at present including King & Conqueror, an eight-part historical epic coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC1 later this year.

The show is produced by The Development Partnership, James Norton’s Rabbit Track Pictures, Shepherd Content, RVK Studios and CBS Studios, in association with the BBC, with Michael Robert Johnson writing and Baltasar Kormákur directing the opening episode.

It stars Norton, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Emily Beecham and Clémence Poésy, and Kramer said that while it is a “bigger” show on a price front, she was happy for her distribution arm to support it because of talent attached.

“Once you read the scripts, it makes perfect sense, it was a magical package and worth the stretch,” she said.

“The package and scripts were undeniable, and we will see the fruits of that labour [in sales]. We participate in that way, with the hard commercial facts.”

Martin added that English-language shows are her priority but added that projects from European producers were keenly sought. 

CBS Studios expects to have betweeen seven and ten shows on its international slate each year, she continued, pointing to series such as Tuppence Middleton-starring Blood Cruise, which has been commissioned by SVT in Sweden.

“We have a lot going on and the one thing in common across all our projects whether they are in the UK or Europe is that the producers are tenacious and finding ways to get it done.

“No one is sitting around waiting for magic money to appear, everyone is out there trying to be resourceful and to find creative solutions to get things moving and hopefully we are additive to that process.”  

Kramer added that the impending merger of Paramount with Skydance Media was not affecting strategy, responding to a question about the deal by describing the company as being in a “business as usual mode” that doesn’t affect day-to-day operations.