Talking Shop: Tough times for TV

TV is undergoing existential change, usurped by a new 'creator economy' as younger viewers flee to YouTube, so what must the industry do to survive? C21TV headed to Mipcom in Cannes to find out, speaking with 'media cartographer' Evan Shapiro, ProSiebenSat.1's Henrik Pabst, World of Wonder's Fenton Bailey and more.

With commissioning budgets squeezed and major brands going direct-to-consumer on social media, Carlotta Rossi Spencer, David Amodio, Luci Sanan and Lisa Cadwallader discuss the future of branded entertainment as the industry targets seamless brand integration without compromising creative integrity or becoming overtly commercial.

Showrunners and writers including Chris Brancato, Steven Knight, Anna Winger, Jeff Melvoin and Suzie Miller break down the origins of the television writing room, how it has evolved over the last 50 years, the impact of last year’s Writers Guild of America strike on the way writers will work in the future, and how this model of producing scripts has been adopted and adapted overseas.

As sports clubs, leagues and players have seen the brand building potential of sports docs, so the lines have become blurred between PR/propaganda, and authentic documentary. While sports stars like David Beckham have simply cut out the middleman altogether by making films about themselves, with certain details conveniently left out. Does this matter? Does the audience care? And where does the genre go next?

Sports documentary has proliferated. Access once so rarely attained in earlier projects such as An Impossible Job on Graham Taylor's England downfall and the extraordinary Orient: Club For A Fiver has now become more readily available as clubs, leagues and athletes have realised the brand-building potential of the genre. C21 meets the people and projects that took sports docs from late night slots for aficionados to multi-million pound streamer mainstream.

While they’re best known for their work in front of the camera, an increasing number of actors are now heavily involved behind the scenes too, from developing story ideas and building budgets to overseeing the final edit. In this C21TV special, global stars including Marta Dusseldorp, Lenny Henry, Alexandra Rappaport and Gabija Siurbyte open up about the types of stories they want to tell and their evolution from actor to producer.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP: Piv Bernth and Lars Hermann, co-founders of Apple Tree Productions, discuss the ITV Studios-owned Danish prodco's market strategy, and the challenges facing the Nordic region following Viaplay's exit from original series.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP: With globally recognised IP more important than ever in getting projects greenlit by risk-averse commissioners, unscripted execs are increasingly looking to scripted brands to inspire premium formats. C21TV catches up with John Douglas of 72 Films, Daniela Neumann of Spun Gold and Julie Pizzi and Rupert Dobson of Bunim/Murray to hear how hit TV dramas and films are being adapted in the unscripted space.