Cteea/S5/20/24/A Culture, Tourism
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CTEEA/S5/20/24/A CULTURE, TOURISM, EUROPE AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE AGENDA 24th Meeting, 2020 (Session 5) Thursday 8 October 2020 The Committee will meet at 9.30 am in a virtual meeting and will be broadcast on www.scottishparliament.tv. 1. Public sector broadcasters and commissioning: The Committee will take evidence from— Alan Clements, Managing Director, Two Rivers Media; Neil Webster, Managing Director, Happy Tramp North; Claire Mundell, Creative Director and Founder, Synchronicity Films. 2. Consideration of evidence (in private): The Committee will consider the evidence heard earlier in the meeting. 3. Work programme (in private): The Committee will consider its work programme. Stephen Herbert Clerk to the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee Room T3.40 The Scottish Parliament Edinburgh Tel: 0131 348 5234 Email: [email protected] CTEEA/S5/20/24/A The papers for this meeting are as follows— Agenda item 1 Note by the Clerk CTEEA/S5/20/24/1 PRIVATE PAPER CTEEA/S5/20/24/2 (P) Agenda item 3 PRIVATE PAPER CTEEA/S5/20/24/3 (P) CTEEA/S5/20/24/1 Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee 24th Meeting, 2020 (Session 5), Thursday 8 October 2020 Public Sector Broadcasters and Commissioning Note by the Clerk Background 1. In August, the Committee agreed to hold an evidence session with independent producers to examine the role of Public Sector Broadcasters in supporting the Scottish television production sector. The evidence session builds on some of the recommendations made in the Committee’s report on the screen industry, “Making Scotland a Screen Leader”. A key recommendation raised in the report was the role commissioners play within the industry and the lack of decision making power in Scotland. 2. The BBC will be giving evidence to the Committee on 29 October regarding its Annual Report and Accounts. Today’s evidence session provides an opportunity to discuss the BBC’s role within the sector and the progress of the new BBC Scotland Channel, as well as the wider role of other PSBs. Evidence session 3. The evidence session will focus on three areas: commissioning independent productions, commissioning Scottish productions, and the impact of Covid. 4. The Committee will take evidence, via video conference, from— • Alan Clements, Managing Director, Two Rivers Media • Neil Webster, Managing Director Happy Tramp North • Claire Mundell, Director, Synchronicity Films Supporting Information 5. Alan Clements, has submitted written evidence in advance of the session, this provided in Annexe A. 6. SPICe have produced a briefing on public sector broadcasters and commissioning, available in Annexe B. Mark Johnson Assistant Clerk Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee 5 October 2020 1 CTEEA/S5/20/24/1 ANNEXE A Written Submission from Alan Clements The Company Two Rivers Media was set up in January 2019 with backing. Its current investors are Noble Grossart, and the Channel 4 Growth Fund. We have attracted major talent to a Glasgow base with the intention of building an independent company of scale in Scotland to compete in the UK and international market. Our key creative staff are Mick McAvoy, Head of Factual, Lizi Wootton, Head of Popular Factual, Mirella Breda, Head of Entertainment, Lucy Bacon, Director of Unscripted Development and Marcus Wilson, Head of Drama. The management team is completed by Ross Cowan, Head of Legal and Faiza Mahmood, Head of Finance. In our first 20 months we have won a range of commissions from a variety of broadcasters and have delivered a major drama Susan Hill’ Ghost Story - The Small Hand for Channel Five (a co-production with Awesome Media), Escape To The Chateau – Make Do And Mend for Channel 4 (a co-production with Chateau TV) and Frankie Boyle’s Tour of Scotland for BBC2. In addition, we have provided a range of content to the new BBC Scotland channel including Children of The Devolution and Choose Life. Last week we signed a strategic development and distribution with All3 Media International to represent our shows worldwide. Overview This current OFCOM PSB Review offers a great opportunity to rethink commissioning across the four nations of the UK. Though the new services, Netflix, Amazon, Peacock and the rest, are important, and growing, players, the PSBs will remain the most significant commissioners for the Scottish production sector in the decade to come. In order for the PSBs to retain the progress made in the last decade, two things need to happen. First, the current quotas need to be maintained, in some cases enhanced, and properly enforced. Second, there should be a proper decentralisation of decision-making, and decision-makers. Just as people would no longer think that commissioning choices should be made only by men, or by white people, they should not all be made in one city or even, in the case of the BBC, ITV and Channel 5, in a single postcode in each of their cases. That change would not only be a material change for producers across the UK, it would be a major step forward in another highly significant way. Solve the N&R issue in British broadcasting and production and you go a long way to solving the diversity issue too. If people believed they could build careers and lives outside London, it would both refresh the voices being heard on our media and would mean that young people without access to the bank of Mum and Dad would be able to join the industry. This would have a transformational effect on not only BAME diversity but on tackling socio-economic exclusion too. 2 CTEEA/S5/20/24/1 All evidence shows that work follows the money. When commissioners with autonomy and budget control live in the Nations and Regions (N&R) then production prospers. For example when Jo Street came to Scotland as a full commissioner of Daytime and Entertainment, it was transformational in the Scottish indie sector. BBC As well as the BBC Scotland channel and its Scottish opt-outs, the BBC is also committed to spend 9% of its network budget in Scotland. In my experience, the BBC Scotland channel has had a very beneficial effect in the nation. In spite of budgetary challenges, Steve Carson and his commissioning team have engaged with a diverse group of suppliers and have ordered a wide range of shows. Likewise, we have had excellent relationships with network commissioners in all the genres, both scripted and unscripted and the new democracy of Zoom has, if anything, made them more accessible. With the BBC, the key need is to see that the targets are met in the spirit as well as the letter of the law, and that brass-plating of all forms is properly policed. As important, more commissioning editors with budget authority should be located in Scotland. They need to have the authority to greenlight shows, not just development: to be one of the two ticks, along with the channel controller, that commissions a show. This would be great for the individuals concerned, in terms of building their authority, and would also be terrific for the Scottish production base. Charlotte Moore, now Head of Content at the BBC, said in a speech at the Nations and Regions conference in Leeds two years ago that the BBC would move towards this organically, but so far there has been little progress. Tony Hall, the former Director General, hinted at a significant change to come at the RTS Cambridge conference last September but again that has come to naught. We would hope, and expect, that the new DG, Tim Davie, will change that. Channel 4 Channel 4 has made a huge commitment to out-of-London (OOL) production, promising 50% OOL by 2023 and 9% in the nations (Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales). Clearly, as a Scottish company we would welcome a specific Scottish quota. And our task as producers is to ensure the Channel reaches those targets. Clearly, Channel 4 has gone the furthest of the PSBs in physical relocation with the new HQ in Leeds and the Creative hubs in Glasgow and Bristol. Obviously the process has been disrupted by Covid 19 but we look forward to working with the Channel to develop its Scottish base. 3 CTEEA/S5/20/24/1 ITV ITV has an OOL quota of 50% but no specific nations’ requirement. Adding a specific nations’ requirement to its PSB commitments would be a significant boost to the Scottish market-place. The holder of the Scottish licences, STV, does very little commissioning from independents and that little amount is at a very low-cost, so any market intervention in terms of quotas is better aimed at ITV. Channel 5 Although it has a small OOL commitment, Channel 5 makes a real effort with Nations and Regions producers, especially smaller companies and is well-regarded in Scotland. However, this is clearly a policy of the current team headed by Ben Frow and not backed by statute. An obligation similar to those held by the other PSBs, and a dedicated commissioner in Scotland would ensure that the progress made could not be reversed by a future management team. 4 CTEEA/S5/20/24/1 ANNEXE B Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee Public Service Broadcasting Commissioning 8 October 2020 INTRODUCTION The Committee has agreed to hold an evidence session on public service broadcasters’ commissioning processes. The Committee will hear from— • Alan Clements, Managing Director, Two Rivers Media • Neil Webster, Managing Director Happy Tramp North • Claire Mundell, Director, Synchronicity Films The Committee has explored the screen sector a number of times this session. Much of the Committee’s work on Screen stemmed from the work of the Screen Sector Leadership Group.