Croeso I Gymru!
Content Without Borders
Last month I was delighted to welcome 63 UK indies, 20 broadcasters and commissioners, and representatives of our sponsors, to a very sunny (really!) South Wales, for two days of networking, roundtables, one-to-one meetings, panels and more, in the lovely St Pierre Hotel.
This was the first edition of the event to be held in Wales, the ‘land of my fathers’ (and mothers), and indeed, in the nations. We welcomed broadcasters and commissioners from around the world including Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, the UK and the USA.
I want to say a huge thanks to all the attendees for their energy and positivity, it was their willingness to engage that made it such a fantastic event and all the feedback so far has been resoundingly positive (if you haven’t filled out the survey that you received from me, please do so now!).
The Crystal Challenge (definitely not ‘Maze’) team building activity seems to have gone down especially well – I had to resist the urge to pull on a bald cap and do my best Richard O’Brien – and congratulations to the team that I think won (there was some confusion at the end…).
Attendees of CWB 2024, pictured after completing The Crystal Challenge
Our industry may be going through some tough times right now, but Content Without Borders not only helps to deliver that much needed burst of positivity to keep us all inspired, but it also actually works. As a returning commissioner, Federico Ruiz (Vice President, Commissioning Editor Unscripted Originals for Channel 5 & Paramount+) told me over breakfast, he was eager to join the event for a second time as the 2022 Stratford-Upon-Avon edition led to him commissioning four UK indies, directly because of meeting them there. I sincerely hope and believe that this edition will also result in similar success.
A big thank you to Pact Project Manager, Aimee Shimmin and the Advisory Board for all their support. And another massive thanks to our sponsors who made it all possible.
Onto
Other Things
A quick mention for the six successful indies who were selected to attend the inaugural Troya Film Platform in Çanakkale, Turkey in September. Representatives from Archery Pictures, Bart Film, Hello Deer, Sandstone Global, Sensethefuture Pictures and Ten66 Television travelled to the new event with the goal of fostering new collaborative opportunities between the UK and Turkish film and TV industries. The companies enjoyed four days of co-production meetings, pitching, panel discussions and networking. Thanks to everyone who applied to participate in the event.
Looking forward, I’m delighted that on Thursday 7th November Pact will again be partnering with KOCCA, the Korea Creative Content Agency, on the Series on Board: London UK-Korea co-production event. This year, eight Korean scripted and two non-scripted companies will present their slates to an audience of selected Pact members, followed by one-to-one speed meetings and networking. At the time of writing, our KOCCA partners are still sifting applications from Pact members, but we hope to inform successful applicants as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who applied. The feedback from last year’s event was very positive and I’m pleased that this time we have been able to expand the opportunity to include non-scripted members. We will be holding a pre-event briefing webinar on Thursday 31st October, where I will be in discussion with members who have experience of working in/with Korea. The webinar is intended to help prepare attendees for the London event, but is also open to anyone within the wider membership interested in learning more about the Korean market.
Closer to home, we are holding our first in-person Meet the Distributors Summit on Tuesday 19th November at the Everyman, Kings Cross. Pact members are invited to join us for an event designed to help producers navigate the evolving world of content distribution, with panel discussions, case studies, one-to-one meetings and networking. We’re putting the finishing touches to the agenda, but this will be an essential event for those looking to better understand the distribution landscape and sharpen their own strategies.
Moving further ahead, please keep a close watch on newsletters and emails for details of another Canada/UK co-production day, to be held on the cusp of Content London. We are still confirming the agenda, but Pact will once again partner with the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) for panel sessions and networking between UK and Canadian producers.
On Content London, which will take place from Tuesday 3rd to Thursday 5th December at Kings Place, London, we have a heavily discounted rate for first time attendees and a 15% discount off the standard rate for Pact members. With more than 30 international delegations in attendance, the event is a great opportunity to meet and network with production, commissioning and finance executives from around the world.
Welcome to
Miami
Pact's Ross Lewis and Aimee Shimmin at the entrance to the UK Indies room at Realscreen 2024
We will start 2025 with our annual Realscreen delegation. Situated in Crockett and Tubbs’ jurisdiction for the first time, this year Realscreen runs Monday 3rd to Wednesday 5th February and is co-located with NATPE Global, which runs Wednesday 5th to Friday 7th February. It’s an opportunity for UK indies to target the lucrative North American non-scripted sector. At last year’s Summit, over seventy UK indies attended as part of the Pact-led delegation, generating a reported £58m+ worth of business.
UK indies who are part of the delegation enjoy a discounted Realscreen Summit registration rate of $1425, and we also offer an exclusive Pact Combo Pass at the discounted rate of $1725 for both events, should you wish to also attend NATPE Global. You can find out more and register to be part of the delegation up until 5:00pm on Thursday 28th November.
The delegation is again supported by the Department for Business & Trade, and we will be holding the always highly anticipated UK Reception on the evening of Sunday 2nd February, which I can neither confirm nor deny will be a ‘party in the city where the heat is on, all night, on the beach till the break of dawn…’
Finally..
I continue to engage with international partners new and old to unlock opportunities for members, so follow the weekly newsletter and other Pact notifications for details as they emerge. That engagement continues next week at MIPCOM, where I will be attending from Sunday 20th to Thursday 24th October. My diary is pleasantly full, but there’s still some room for any members who would like to meet and discuss all things international and upcoming opportunities. Please reach out at [email protected]. Let’s get connected.