International scripted surges in the wake of US strikes

For much of 2023, the global industry was hesitant to suggest that the shortfall in US scripted shows created by the Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes would mean a sudden uptick of international drama and comedy programming heading across the Atlantic.

But a few months on, the international distribution industry has been quietly girding its loins in preparation for the opportunity to make up any shortfall.

Numerous European players have told Broadcast they expect US media companies’ scripted content pipelines to slow by the fourth quarter of 2024, meaning their premium titles – particularly high-profile global SVoD shows on which they have secondary window rights – are likely to be in demand come the beginning of next year.

The submissions to Broadcast’s International Hot Picks support this theory. While the same number of distributors (36) as last year have shared with us their priority programming for Mip TV, the number of titles has increased by 25%, from 106 to 133.

The jump has been driven by international scripted. In 2023, a fifth of submissions were in this category, but this has risen to 27% in 2024, with 36 titles offered. UK scripted remains stable at 7% (nine titles). 4

Factual continues to dwarf other genres, making up 47% (62 titles) of the total submissions. Additionally, 23 of the 26 formats submitted are unscripted – the three exceptions being Nippon TV dramedy Trespassers and mystery show Alice In Wonderful Kitchen, and Where There’s A Will There’s A Way from Paramount Global Content Distribution. The 85 unscripted shows make up around two-thirds of submissions (64%), a drop from 72% in 2023.

Last year, 55% of titles were in the factual genre, so their decrease has been counterbalanced by the growth in international scripted.

There are numerous dramas with clout in the mix, including Banijay’s Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light (BBC1), Fremantle’s Prime Video thriller Costiera and BBC1 title Nightsleeper, Newen Connect’s TF1 espionage thriller Unit 8200, and ITV Studios’ Channel 4 series The Gathering.

In keeping with recent trends, Australian drama is well represented in international scripted, making up 13% of submissions (five out of 36). However, France is the most-represented country in the category with 16% (six titles). Besides Unit 8200, the key titles are Beta Film’s thriller Homejacking for pay-TV channel OCS and Federation Studios’ true-crime smash Samber for France Télévisions.

The main takeaway from the shows submitted for Hot Picks consideration is their sheer geographical breadth. A record 18 countries are represented in international scripted, including the first-ever Serbian and Latvian Hot Picks submissions: Beta Film’s political thriller Operation Sabre (Radio Television of Serbia) and GO3/TV3 period political dissidence drama Soviet Jeans.

Of note among UK dramas are StudioCanal-distributed Playing Nice, the debut from James Norton’s Rabbit Track Pictures. Character dramas are in plentiful supply from distributors, among them APC Studios’ Bariau (Inside) for S4C and All3Media International’s Lost Boys & Fairies (BBC1).

Earlier this year, leading specialist factual commissioners told Broadcast that the genre is flourishing – a trend they say is set to continue.

Almost a third (30%) of the 62 factual shows at Mip TV are overtly specialist factual, hailing from the history and science sub-genres. This proportion increases to 45% when categories such as biopic, social impact and current a airs are included.

Among these specialist titles are some high-budget tentpoles, such as A+E Networks’ Michael Imperioli-narrated mobster doc American Godfathers (The History Channel) and Fremantle-distributed PBS title A Brief History Of The Future.

Looking more broadly, other standout Hot Picks include Married To The Game (Lionsgate TV), Paris: A New Revolution (Off the Fence), Escaping Utopia (Fifth Season), The Steal (Abacus Media Rights), Gold: A Journey With Idris Elba (Passion Distribution) and Harry & Meghan: The Rise And Fall (Orange Smarty), while Yes Studios’ #Nova, Paramount Global’s The World According To Football, Hat Trick International’s Inside Ibiza and TVF International’s Fluid: Life Beyond The Binary are among the many eye-catching shows that didn’t quite make the cut.

The format world remains in rude health in 2024, with a recognition by distributors that buyers are on the lookout for fresh programming at competitive price points. Dutch outfit Talpa Studios is presenting four ambitious formats at Mip TV – No Way Back, The Quiz With Balls, The Floor and Million Dollar Island – three of which have US adaptations and a fourth (No Way Back) that has been optioned for North America.

Warner Bros International TV Production is bringing its spin-off FGirl Island and Boys Like Boys to Cannes, alongside Fremantle’s Sense Of Attraction, in a battle of the dating formats.

Unlike previous years, there is a healthy range of shows spanning quiz, studio competition, shiny-floor entertainment, comedy entertainment, adventure and reality. And with 39% of unscripted format submissions (nine out of 23) falling into the comedy entertainment and reality sub-genres, the observation by some execs that buyers are leaning into these areas is being proved correct.

Two comedy entertainment formats are among Paramount Global Content Distribution’s priority titles at Mip TV: The Joe Schmo Show and After Midnight, which is noteworthy as the US giant has historically championed its scripted titles in the global markets.

The industry is “changing daily, let alone quarterly and yearly”, as the chief content officer of one large European producer-distributor told Broadcast recently, so there is always jeopardy in trend spotting. But if the numbers are anything to go by, distributors’ plans for Mip TV reflect the current content trends in the market.