UK indies lead KI unscripted commissioning drive

Fulwell 73 and Arthur Essebag’s Satisfaction Group are among an 18-strong group of international indies invited to pitch at Keshet International’s third unscripted commissioning initiative. 

After Broadcast revealed earlier this year that the producer-distributor had expanded the scope of its Greenlights: Factual & Formats to seek social experiment and reality ideas, it received 130 submissions, 55 of which (42%) were formats. The rest were factual, but KI had specifically tailored this round to seek specialist factual pitches.  

Anke Stoll, senior vice-president of acquisitions and co-productions at KI, told Broadcast that of the 18 indies pitching “over a third of the presentations on the day will be formats”. Although details are under wraps, the formats include a show which combines reality with gameplay, a couple of straightforward reality formats, an entertainment title, one involving AI, and a dating show. 

“There’s a huge demand for format and we are keen to get more formats in our catalogue, as well as premium, shorter-run specialist factual shows, three-to-four parters which seem to be selling better at the moment,” Stoll said. “We’re following the trends of what we see happening in the market and what the buyers’ demands are, what their budgets are.” 

The rest of the 30 shows are a mix of true crime, history and specialist factual series. 11 of the 18 indies (see full list below) are from the UK and, besides Fulwell and Wag, include The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist outfit Double Act Productions, previous KI funding recipient and Murder At First Swipe indie Woodcut Media, and The Flight Attendant Murders outfit Flicker Productions. 

From the rest of the world, Australia is represented among others by Perpetual Entertainment, the indie behind Seven smash format Nothing to Declare: Australia (aka Border Security: Australia’s Front Line), while the US (19&9 Media and DG West Inc), Israel (Blumenfeld Pictures) and Spain (Thinketers) are also in the mix.  

Sony-backed French unscripted outfit Satisfaction, with which KI recently forged an unscripted co-production pact, rounds out the labels. Greenlights: Factual & Formats aims to greenlight up to three English-language projects a year without a commissioning broadcaster, either through KI fully funding or through piecing financing together – such as using tax breaks. 

KI will fully fund up to £60,000 per hour for 10 episodes or £50,000 for 20 episodes, while Perpetual’s Hitler’s Treasure Hunters, which was a higher price point, was financed by KI and by taking advantage of tax breaks. 

Stoll noted that in a financially restrained market “everybody wants to pay less”, so the initiative aims to keep the budgets under £100,000 per hour before seeking out a pre-buyer or buyers to bring the tariff up to £150,000 per hour for premium and specialist docs. 

The indies will pitch their ideas on Monday 2 December