‘An innovative approach to a very assured format’
Vice News, BBC & Vice
One of the remarkable aspects of the victorious title in this category is that it marked the first comprehensive partnership between the buyer and the seller. Vice News commissioned this single documentary about the controversial but omnipresent reality show participant and social media personality Andrew Tate.
When it was brought to BBC3, it was viewed as a cultural fit and immediately corporation execs initiated conversations, from the channels and legal teams to editorial policy and compliance, to get the programme cleared for the channel. The result was a triumphant piece of business for BBC3.
It shattered the slot’s average viewing figures, and is on track to be BBC3’s best performing documentary in 2023. The team was able to collaborate directly with Vice News, as well as reporter and filmmaker Matt Shea and producer Jamie Tahsin to create bespoke digital content pieces, new articles and features inserts which appeared across the BBC’s own sites as well as on third-party publications.
So far the film has had nearly 850,000 streaming requests on BBC iPlayer, alongside the 224,000 consolidated linear viewers.
Judges praised the “challenging” aspects surrounding this doc acquisition, but agreed it was “an important story that needed to be told”.
“This was a brave acquisition,” observed one. “Tate is a provocative and fiercely influential character and important to understand his dangerous rise.
“The journalist-led approach and exclusive access over a long period of time was an appropriate way to explore this subject.”
Another added: “A very bold acquisition that drew an impressive viewership towards a subject that needed to be very carefully explored, which Vice succeeded with. Amazing access too and Matt Shea excelled in driving the doc through.”
SHORTLISTED
Brookside
Mersey Television (Lime Pictures) for STV Player & Channel 4
STV Player’s acquisition of classic soap Brookside was a gamechanger for the VoD service. Already a growing service for both new and classic drama titles, Brookside became the fastest show to reach 1m streams on STV Player.
The series has contributed to STV securing 53m hours of viewing, up 6% year-on-year. With five new episodes dropping weekly, the Channel 4 soap has driven over 3m streams in just over a month on the service.
Mystery Road: Origin
Bunya Productions for BBC
The prequel to the hit Aussie crime Mystery Road, Origin depicts unfolding crime stories (armed robberies, a suspicious death, and a visiting lawyer’s curiosity about an unsolved killing), while also providing series arcs for the regular characters. Behind the camera, Origin has yielded a new generation of First Nation filmmakers, including director/co-writer Dylan River and director of photography Tyson Perkins.
The Last of Us,
HBO in assoc with Sony Pictures Television Studios, PlayStation, Naughty Dog, Word Games & The Mighty Mint for Sky Atlantic
Widely regarded as one of the most successful video game adaptations ever, The Last of Us has helped break through as one of HBO’s most talked about new shows. Having transcended its ‘genre drama’ framework, The Last of Us is set to become a key brand for HBO. A hotly anticipated second series has already been ordered.
The White Lotus
HBO in assoc with Rip Cord & The District for Sky Atlantic
Originally created as a standalone event series, The White Lotus’s second outing had a lot of pressure to live up to its predecessor. If anything, the clamour around the Mike White-created show has only increased. Despite moving the story to a separate continent and with an almost entirely new principal cast, the series has maintained its intrigue, its gloss, and its ability to satirise the lives of the entitled.
Trom
Re:Invent Studios, KYK Pictures & True North for BBC
With the Faroe Islands providing a stunning backdrop, this six-part series based on Jógvan Isaksen crime novels, follows journalist Hannis Martinsson (Ulrich Thomsen), who unexpectedly receives a message from Sonja, his estranged daughter, claiming that her life is in danger.
The first ever Faroese original drama, the series was pre-acquired by the BBC at an early stage, proving to be a compelling and intriguing series full of twists and thought-provoking plot lines.
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