U.S. Unscripted Producers Head For International Market To Combat Work-For-Hire Drought

Last month at MIPCOM, many regulars at the Cannes TV market noticed more American accents on the Croisette than usual. They weren’t wrong: A batch of small to mid-sized U.S. unscripted producers had made the journey across the Atlantic to find new business that simply hadn’t been necessary before the ongoing market contraction began hitting budgets and reducing their revenues. “The Americans were back for the first time in a while,” says one international exec reflecting on the week.

Indeed they were. “We were excited to come to the market,” says Kim Woodward, co-founder of 60 Days In producer Lucky 8 after attending for the first time.

The company is known for Netflix series Unlocked: A Jail Experiment and A&E’s 60 Days In, Nat Geo’s long-running To Catch a Smuggler and new spinoff To Catch a Smuggler: Tropical Takedown, and has a number of newer shows in with streamers and networks. However, market realities mean cable and streamer orders alone simply won’t cut it. “As a U.S. production company, we have been focused on working with client collaborators through full-on work-for-hire deals, but as clients are facing greater and greater budget issues, we want to be able to offer solutions,” says Woodward.

There’s simple logic to the strategic shift to the international market, which many are making: People need work to survive this period. In March, Deadline’s Hollywood Contraction report on the unscripted sector revealed Emmy-nominated producers were taking jobs as delivery drivers or selling family heirlooms to keep the lights on, and things don’t appear to have improved. Just last week, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said the company’s “disappointing” second quarter results were in at least in part down to its unscripted business “feeling the effects of a continuing market correction.”

There isn’t a ton of official data available on unscripted prodcers, but the combined effects of lower budgets, shorter-run series, a reduced number of cable network buyers, and networks doubling down on classic formats have led many producers to shut up shop, downsize, reduce overheads or, if they have the constitution for it, look beyond the U.S. borders.

Woodard and Lucky 8 co-founder Greg Henry had experienced the “doom and gloom” of the U.S. market first hand, and had decided international partners could be the answer. They had MIPCOM plans to strike co-production agreements that could lead to domestic and global franchises, and explore how rights they own could be better exploited. However, given that Lucky 8 has spent most its life in the U.S. creating unscripted TV for cable networks, they understandably didn’t have the expertise to do it all themselves. In the week before MIP, we revealed the company had hired UK-based international industry veteran Sarah Bickley to help the effort.

Besides selling new feature doc Grizzly 399: Queen of the Tetons and beginning negotiations around formats, Bickley has been able to hasten conversations with potential new partners. “It’s been wonderful bringing someone in who can represent what we are trying to achieve with our existing IP,” says Woodward. “She can speak the language of distributors.”

Celebrity chef, presenter and producer Andrew Zimmern’s Intuitive Content is another case in point. The Minneapolis-based company is known for shows such as upcoming PBS fishing series Hope in the Water, The Zimmern List, What’s Eating America, Road to the NFL and How to Survive a Murder for U.S. buyers, but first made the trip to MIPCOM last year. It headed into this year’s confab having struck a co-production deal with Singapore’s Hazelnut Media for culinary series Eat Like a Local. The show will see Zimmern experience different cities’ ‘souls’ through the eyes and tastebuds of local people.

“We met Hazelnut last year, and immediately knew we had a lot in common,” says Intuitive’s President, Patrick Weiland. “We’re looking at building on those business models, and have other co-pros in development. We’re in a good position because we’ve survived this year.” The plan is the make the produce the 10-part show ahead of a 2025 bow and pre-sell rights globally as they go.

“We have a superpower”

Weiland says that being Minneapolis-based means Intuitive has always understand the necessity to work with partners hundreds or thousands of miles away, and is now planning to use the state’s 25% film production credit to supercharge international co-productions. With many below-the-line workers struggling to find jobs, the notion of international productions staying on U.S. turf will be welcome. “Minneapolis is now a superpower,” says Weiland. “If I spend over $1M [n a consecutive 12-month period on production costs], I can compete with Canada.”

Canadian companies have sat up and taken notice of what’s happening south of the border — and must now assess whether that is an opportunity or a challenge for the local production ecosystem, which is set up with various incentives and production grants to stay competitive domestically and internationally.

Kate Harrison Karman, President and co-owner of Canada’s Cream Productions, is among those that have identified the shift in U.S. producer thinking. “As a Canadian unscripted company we have a long history of putting together international financing and are noticing that many U.S. companies are becoming more active in this space,” she says.

“As the landscape continues to change and buyers are constantly looking for ways to reduce costs, partnerships between producers will become even more vital. We’ve begun to increase these partnerships with U.S. companies as they reach out as the move away from full price commissions they’re navigating becomes the norm. Understanding the benefits — and pitfalls — is critical and finding the right partner will be the key, but with change comes opportunity.”

Formats and franchises

Like Lucky 8, Jenny Daly’s Critical Content hired an international markets specialist to oversee a strategy switch away from simple work-for-orders. In December last year, the SK Global-owned biz hired former Zodiak exec Stéfanie Gelinas as EVP, Global Formats and Development to work on show such as Korean series Immortal Songs and Discovery’s Survive the Raft. “She is very connected in the market, and has exceptional experience and connective tissues,” says Daly.

What has followed is a string of what Daly calls “best in class” international co-production and co-development partnership deals with the likes of Belgium’s Be Entertainment, ITV Studios France, Korea’s Something Special, Singapore’s Refinery Media, Warner Bros International Television Production Australia and Dubai’s Blue Engine Studios. “We’ve been very deliberate,” she adds. “They’re all establishment companies in their territories.

Daly says the partnerships are vital, “as a means to ensure success — not only allowing for a lower-cost model to be possible, but the ability to place formats outside the U.S.” That in itself is “not novel,” she admits, “but in the climate we are, it felt like a smart way to align with territories outside of the U.S. We’re not a global company with multiple satellite entities. This has given me committed relationships.”

Critical — known for shows such as Storage Hunters, which we hear could be due for a 2024/25 refresh —will look at genres that travel easily, such as lifestyle, where softer formats than those that cut through in the U.S. can be pitched. Social experiments, for example, are “prevailing across the world,” says Daly, but many territories will eschew those with more “shocking” elements. “Thoughtful cerebral ideas are breaking through,” she adds. Critical believes partnering with overseas companies also allows for U.S. companies to access different talent bases, with the local partners able to attach local stars to formats.

“I started this initiative about a year ago,” says Daly. “It has been quite a strategic direction and one that doesn’t just grow overnight, but the market is seeing why this is a good opportunity now. My fellow counterparts all are probably looking at this type of model. Some have more seeds planted than others.”

Jessica Sebastian-Dayeh, President and founder of Maven, the producer behind Max’s true crime series Taken Together: Who Killed Lyric and Elizabeth?, takes those words to heart. “To succeed in today’s marketplace, producers have to be entrepreneurial in both thinking and execution, exhausting every possible avenue and financial model to get our projects over the line,” she says.

Maven was launched after Sebastian-Dayeh had spent several years running ITV American label Sirens Media. Maven was originally part of Canada’s Boat Rocker, but is now fully independent and working through what that means in the current market.

“There’s a necessity now to always be thinking globally – you can’t solely rely on the U.S. market,” she says. “I’ll be in the UK later this month meeting with buyers about two Maven formats, one of which has already premiered in the U.S. For one of our other upcoming series that’ll debut next year, we brought in a Canadian partner, which helped us reduce production costs and create a quality series that fit the network’s budget. We all know what the challenges are for the foreseeable future; co-pros and the international market are a big part of the solution.”

Rights angle

Of course, everything ultimately comes down to rights ownership. If you’re not pocketing a large production fee, you need to retain something that will make you cash in the long-run. The U.S. studios have known this for years and built their businesses around it. Fox, which is now arguably the most ‘independent’ of those with a U.S. broadcast network, has made international partnerships the name of the game since launching Fox Entertainment Studios (FES)’s unscripted business.

Allison Wallach, Head of Unscripted at FES, says they are “critical” for several reasons. “An international production strategy is a smart business decision, allowing for us to uphold creative excellence and standards and be first class partners in every aspect,” she adds. “Creatively they allow us to tap into fresh perspectives and innovative storytelling that resonates with both U.S. and international audiences. 

“By partnering globally, we’re able to scale concepts that might start abroad and localize them to fit the American market, and vice versa. We’ve also created an international hub [in Dublin, Ireland] for some of our unscripted series that allows us to use the same set for multiple countries’ versions of a show like Next Level Chef.”

Of course, Fox isn’t the only studio marking out international business. NBC will soon premiere its remake of Belgian format Destination X, which was originally ordered alongside the BBC through a joint commissioning pact that sees them co-develop shows for the UK and U.S. market simultaneously. They followed the same model for The Traitors. Sony Pictures Television has been striking unusual partnerships with the likes of Guardian Media Group to find newspaper and online articles as the basis of programs.

“New business models are what our business is built on,” says Fox’s Wallach. “Especially over the past few years, we are seeing independent producers and networks experimenting with different business models, from hybrid licensing and distribution deals to format ownership arrangements. At Fox, we’re actively working with our partners to continue developing models that reflect the changing economics of the industry.”

For Lucky 8, a company led by two former PBS journalists in Woodward and Henry, the plan to is secure commissions from cable networks such as Nat Geo — we understand a number of projects are underway — and landing international partnerships that allow it to exploit deep ties with American institutions such as prison system and the Department of Homeland Security.

One series, which will see producers embed with the U.S.’s toughest law enforcement agencies as they tackle the worst offenders, offers opportunity in their inherent international nature. “All the cases are immersive, global stories with transnational criminal ties,” says Henry. “It could start in the U.S. and end in Colombia or Paris.”

New recruit Bickley will be Lucky 8’s dealmaking “Swiss army knife,” but going forward each project will require assessment on the best arrangement for the content,” says Woodward. “If a distributor can do more for it, then we will then absolutely we will be doing working with them.”

Ultimately, survival for many producers will come down to their business smarts. New business models are available, but they’ll take time to develop and will often require equal amounts of give and take. Woodward, who before Lucky 8 launched Nat Geo Television’s office in New York, takes a positive approach to the situation. “When I came into the business, co-pros were common and Nat Geo had plenty of them,” she recalls. “Then the market pace moved drastically against them and a couple of years ago I wouldn’t have thought we’d been in a position of talking about deals where we retains some rights. But I don’t think that will go away again. People are working together positively to get deals done.”

Fox’s Wallach strikes a similar tone. “We’re optimistic about the future of U.S. unscripted market,” she says. “We’re seeing a shift towards more collaborative partnerships and co-productions, especially as networks and streamers seek greater creative input and control. For Fox Entertainment Studios, it will always come down to the best creative and we will figure out how to make that show work whether it’s here or abroad. 

“The one constant you can bank on is that unscripted will continue to evolve, adapt and find new ways to engage viewers.”

Sounds like more companies are headed for the Croisette in 2025.