Innovative ways to bring projects into production were a topic of discussion for a group of top American and European producers, networks and streamers during a debate at the AVP Summit in Trieste.
The panel brought together Rachel Egebein, CCO of Amplify Pictures, Lars Blomgren, Head of Media Res International, Marco Chimenz, Co-CEO of Cattleya, Nicola Serra from Palomar, David Nardini of Prime Video, and Morad Kaufen, Head of International Scripted Series, France Télévisions, who explained how their operations can help finance and produce projects.
Beginning the session, Eggbein talked about Amplify’s model of “advanced acquisitions.” It means independently financing, developing and greenlighting a project for production before selling it to a buyer who will still be able to “put their fingerprints on it and be involved.”
To date, Amplify, which was founded as an indie last year by former Amazon Studios owner Joe Lewis, has produced two seasons of HBO doc series. 100 foot wave using the model. Former Netflix EMEA executive Agebein, who recently joined Amplify as chief content officer, said: “Our next hurdle is applying this model to scripted.”
He revealed that Amplify is working on a project that will shoot in Italy about “two young American girls who love the country”. “Our plan is to either fully finance indie using our model or use some combination of pre-sales to produce shows,” he added. “The goal is to build things quickly, in an innovative way, and we kind of have agency over how they’re built.”
Chimenz, whose company is behind shows like Cattleya zero zero zero And Gomorrahsaid streamers are becoming more flexible in their approach to rights as they are “triggering and in some cases more cautious about what they spend.”
“It is interesting for producers who have the expertise to turn around the world for financing… there is the possibility of retaining rights, which is very desirable in the long term. Only by retaining rights can a company achieve long-term growth.
Chimenz said withdrawing from all-rights deals with streamers has brought distributors back into the game. “Sales companies once seemed to be a thing of the past, but they seem to be part of the present and the future,” he said.
Blomgren, who joined the morning show Earlier this year, producer Media Race, as Banijay’s international head, said many international producers see the streamers’ change in strategy as a “return to the comfort zone” of piecemeal deals and working with overseas partners.
He added, “When streamers started making money, it changed everything for us.” “They started to field [in their deals] And not paying for things they didn’t need. It is a challenge but also an opportunity. Creators are like bumblebees, it’s amazing how high we can fly.”