By Claire Runham 23-02-2024

As the London Screenings ramp up next week, Claire Runham, head of acquisitions at BossaNova Media, discusses the changing role of distributors in these economically challenged times for the industry.

In a matter of weeks, I’ll be celebrating my first year at BossaNova as head of acquisitions. And what a year it’s been in this turbulent world of telly.

When I signed on the dotted line in March 2023 to return to work with many of my old colleagues from what was TCB Media, the tail of the post-Covid content rocket was burning out. None of us could have predicted how severe the crippling commissioning drought that followed would be. The subsequent squeeze on content supply has not only called for acrobatic levels of flexibility but also a change of strategy in order to help keep our producer partners in business and our own targets on track.

In the not-so-distant past, a distributor’s success was measured in terms of quantity rather than quality. The competition to ‘pick up everything’ was intense, frantic and relentless. Our slate of new content was never ending. We wanted everything, now.

This approach, of course, generated significant unseen costs and a lot of work for the back-office team in terms of legal, contracts, finance and marketing. Every acquisition comes with layers of infrastructure and support, and producers rightfully expect this commitment from their distributor partner. But with new content now in shorter supply, that model is no longer sustainable. Today, we need the space and time to create realistic opportunities for our producer partners, so that they can develop alongside us. We need to concentrate on shows with real ‘grunt’ — shows that buyers see as treasures rather than fodder; shows that sell well rather than just occupy space in overblown catalogues.

Back in the day, a lot of our energy was invested in finding that final piece of the financial jigsaw necessary to get a production over the line. Such projects do still exist but they are increasingly few and far between. Fortunately for us, stitching together an entire budget from scratch has always been part of our skillset. Our team is brilliant at starting and, most importantly, delivering multi-partnered productions. That’s one reason why we remain a popular destination for both broadcasters and producers looking for support with pre-sale and co-production.

With fewer boutique distributors in the field, we’re building a steadier and more sustainable business. We’re more confident about what we want and what works — and we’re much better at saying ‘no’ to projects that fall outside our area of expertise. We’ve always listened to our buyers, but now it’s become critical that we put their requirements front and centre, not just produce something approximate and hoping it’ll stick.

So how does that work on the ground?

To end on a positive note, it seems to me that those producers who are blessed with a returning series or who have diversified into other forms of content creation — podcasts, digital shorts, branded plays — are managing to do pretty well, despite the challenging times. It also encouraging that some buyers are still pre-buying. The likes of Nat Geo and Discovery, for example, are investing in concepts and leaving some rights on the table.

That’s another reason we feel our Development Days have an increasingly valuable role to play. Many buyers now want to be that bit closer to the creative process — and our producers want to create the programming that channels need and audiences want to watch. Through our Development Days, we provide the resources and infrastructure needed to kick-start mutually beneficial relationships between producers and buyers, creating an environment of transparency, trust and goodwill.

With slogans changing as fast as the business models, ‘Survive til ’25’ might not be so impossible after all.