Commissioning Briefs

Context:

Over the next couple of years we will be marking some major historical anniversaries in our schedules with a range of BBC content. The start of the Troubles, 50 years ago, is the singularly defining date in the history of this place for this generation. And we have prepared a rich and textured slate of content that will offer analysis and insight into the political and human impact of this particularly dark period of our history. Most recently, we have seen network dramas on the Warrington Bomb in Mother’s Day, journalistic endeavour and re-examination in Searching for Shergar and The Funeral Murders, as well as the touching human cost of life in Paddy Kielty’s My Dad, The Peace Deal and Me. In the coming weeks, on BBC Northern Ireland we have films on Eamonn McCann’s 50 year campaign for Civil Rights, a poignant account of the Shankill Bomb 25 years on, and personal testimony wrought from the hands of injustice from the Maguire family.

Equally significant in the history of Northern Ireland are its beginnings and creation. As we look back 100 years, the inception of Northern Ireland through a period of tumultuous political upheaval followed by uneasy agreement will require both celebration and scrutiny. These are significant milestones that we will continue to mark and need to plan for in the coming years.

As a counterbalance, we need to find more ways to celebrate contemporary Northern Ireland, the place we are today, and to deliver aspiration, celebration, emotional impact and light-heartedness in addition to the analytical study of here and our history.

In this commissioning round we are placing greater emphasis on enjoyment, emotional engagement and celebration - in our schedules you’ll have seen Parents’ Evening – the dreaded but entertaining night in every parent, pupil and teacher’s timetable. Coming up, The Chronicles of Mourne – a gorgeous year in the life of our most beautiful mountain range – and, before Christmas, the hugely popular and hysterical The Blame Game returns. Elsewhere, we have a renewed run of True Norths and a return of Soft Border Patrol, “taking a hard line on the soft border” in the build up to day. We’ll also have the first of our New Perspectives dramas celebrating the strength of local writing and talent skills delivering drama for local audiences.

Finding this balance across the schedule, where we can deliver strong, journalistic, historical and creative analysis, this has to be integral to the celebration of contemporary life in Northern Ireland. The people, the places and the emotional impact of how life unpacks itself for our audiences are central to what we are looking for in this commissioning round.

1 Autumn 2018 Briefs:

Innovation

 This is real opportunity to try and deliver ideas that feel unconventional by BBC Northern Ireland standards. This is an opening to experiment in the TV or Digital schedule and change the tone of voice for the channel – in so doing, we should appeal to a younger demographic. As a guiding principle, we ask you to think about bringing us ‘The ideas you thought we wouldn’t want’, or 'What’s the version of your idea that you would bring to Channel 4 or BBC3?'. A high percentage of proposals we receive are fairly straight treatments of an interesting subject but don’t attempt to push form in a new direction; we are interested and have the latitude to try new formats and ingenious takes on subject matters that will test and challenge our audience. Talent innovation is also key development opportunity.  Given our expectations in terms of tone, we are particularly interested in aspirational ideas - proposals wrought with emotion, that celebrate or bring humour to the schedule and don’t necessarily take themselves too seriously.  To manage expectations, we will reject a fair number of these offers if they are not for us, but we are curious about finding new approaches and treatments, and we are prepared to work with producers in developing the ideas that move conventional form and standards forward.  To help with your development, these ideas by their very nature are likely to skew towards younger audiences, and some may initiate in the digital space only, but the right ideas could progress to TV with the right nurturing.  We appreciate that this is a resource heavy brief but we are keen to work with producers who are prepared to experiment in this territory and want a return for creative investment.

Single and Landmark Documentary

 Given the historical content in play over the next few years, we need landmark docs and single films that will deliver pathos and /or celebration of contemporary themes of this place. With a separate history brief, we want film-makers to think about films that deliver exploration of modern themes that matter to audiences.  Themes can be lighter, celebrating how Northern Ireland has developed or important social issues that are hidden in plain sight and affect many people’s daily lives.  Treatment and form again will be important - how we approach these films will deliver a creative response to the subject matter; we need to be braver in how we tell these stories and explore contemporary issues. Longform documentary is one

2 Autumn 2018 of the few areas where we can take time to push the approach and deliver something special. Younger audiences engage with creative treatments - it’s not always about access – although that’s important too.  Specialist Factual ideas that can explore non-historical themes are also encouraged in this brief. We have enjoyed great success with Wild Ireland and Crash and know our audiences respond to specialist treatments when done well, particularly when unpacking difficult subjects with expertise whilst resisting the ‘Man outstanding in his field, out standing in a field’ approach.

History

 After the 50th anniversary of the start of the Troubles, we have some equally important anniversaries to mark in our content on TV and elsewhere. The next few years offer up some important centenary dates that are both historically significant and hugely resonant for our audience.  The creation of the State – The Irish Civil War, The War of Independence, The Anglo-Irish Treaty, Government of Ireland Act and most significantly the Partition of Ireland 100 years on - all move into focus over the next few years. The significance of these milestones needs our full creative attention. We will mark these centenaries through our output and would like to start garnering proposals, thoughts and ideas over the next few months, even though some are further out, in order to have a considered approach to this significant phase in our history.  We already have a small number of early development pieces on the slate, but we are interested in a range of ideas and approaches. We will develop a slate of ideas closing in on the significant anniversaries.  Big set, landmark pieces that can tell the full history as well as social and lived history proposals will be important in the mix of content. Again, we’d ask you to think about approaches and form.  How we articulate our history to both younger and core audiences will be crucial.  The ability to sell into the network channels will also aid projects considerably, but other partners and co-producers are encouraged. Attaching the right talent will also be an important factor.

Factual /Formatted Series and Obs Doc

 This is a real opportunity to open up and celebrate the people of Northern Ireland. Great access and great formats that can be aspirational and celebratory will rise to the top.

3 Autumn 2018  We have scope to develop series ideas and we’ll be drawn to those that celebrate and explore contemporary NI and resonate with our audience – The Real Farmers Wives of County Tyrone, The Chronicles of Mourne, Keeping ‘er Country, Parents’ Evening, Junior Doctors – sustainable, uplifting ideas that revel in who we are, what we do and where we live.  Smart formats that can explore key NI themes that are important to our audience – issues that really matter, particularly to younger viewers, but can be enjoyed by a wider audience - Beauty Queen and Single, for example.  We have a couple of new formats built around particular talent and we are always keen to see and hear more on new talent and how they might land in the schedule.  In Ob Doc we have medicine and other tougher precincts like Borderland , but where else? What does our version of Valley Cops or The Mighty Redcar look like?  We have the highest percentage of rural population in the UK and we know when we celebrate rural life the audience responds very positively.

True North

 With plans to re-boot our popular single documentary strand in 2019 with a longer run and some renewed support, True North is now established as a firm audience favourite and a really important strand in the mix of content and stories that we share with our audiences. A wider range of viewers come to this strand because it delivers contemporary insights about this place in a particular way.  True North is key to delivering contemporary stories in the present tense – everything happens ‘on the lens’ and shouldn’t be told in retrospect. This strand remains important to our schedules in order to deliver to both harder-to-reach and core audiences.  A vehicle for film-makers with a singular vision built over a period of immersion and great access, these films must have an authentic voice and explore contemporary themes and passions. We cannot put enough emphasis on emotion – these films must have emotional punch.  In any run of True North we will always try and hit a range of different content tones and the 6 markers we look for in a run remain a priority: Impact, Character- Led, Gritty, Super-Local, Hyper-Unusual and Uplifting. When pitching ideas define which sub-set your film falls into and develop it accordingly.  There is potential for a network play-out or re-versioning with the Our Lives strand and we are working closer with producers and network to make that ecology deliver better for both audiences. Think about this opportunity when developing. Our Lives tx’s on BBC One during the summer on Mondays at 7:30pm.

4 Autumn 2018 Comedy & Drama

 We continue to invest in some comedy and drama opportunities and remain keen to work with network in the development of new ideas. We will soon see the playout from the New Perspectives local drama scheme later in the year with Counsel and Ups and Downs to both tx in the coming months; while in comedy, Soft Border Patrol has a timely return in early 2019 and a longer run as we continue to invest in our new comedy output.  Elsewhere, firm audience favourites are back with a Give My Head Peace Christmas special and The Blame Game heading for the studio, as well as further afield, for its autumn run – not sure what either show will have to talk about...!  Primarily, we are interested in keeping a development pipeline of ideas open with a view to opening up the investment and schedules for the right ideas in both Comedy and Drama.  We are almost at year-round comedy output on a weekly basis and both genres are really important to us in switching the tone of our output by delivering irreverence, humour and levity across the schedule.

Events

 We have an opportunity to extend our events output across the next year and event coverage represents a clear opportunity to celebrate the richness and variety of culture, music, food, humour, sport and life in Northern Ireland. Producers should consider what events the BBC can bring into people’s living rooms, as well as being partners in large-scale events that celebrate the best aspects of NI.  We have extensive programming planned around The Open Golf Championship for 2019 – the draw of that particular event demonstrates the reach and impact of a major public event, but we need more ideas beyond golf.  Partnerships are key – many large-scale events rely on a number of creative partners to reach the ambition and scale that makes these proposals attractive and also help to capture the public’s imagination.  We will consider ‘performance-only' events – but we’d also like ideas that will deliver public celebration beyond a stage; Home Ground Live from The Balmoral Show earlier this year delivered event sensibilities into an existing popular strand at a huge public event.

5 Autumn 2018 Ulster-Scots

 With a number of commissions for next year already in production, we still have some slots available to complete our Ulster-Scots slate for 2019.  As always, we will welcome ideas that resonate with Ulster-Scots communities, but which can also reach out to a wider BBC Northern Ireland audience. Our Ulster-Scots programmes have consistently delivered content that is compelling, accessible and informative. As more programme-makers engage with this content, we look forward to hearing fresh ideas across a range of genres. History is not a priority, but if you are thinking about submitting in this area, please think about different voices, surprising perspectives and new ways to engage audiences.  We want programmes that feature lived experience, reflect contemporary stories, people with a future to shape, and not just a past to celebrate. Ideas that connect with younger audiences and can offer co-production and/or multi-platform opportunities will be particularly welcome. Where appropriate and authentic, we will encourage the use of Ulster-Scots language.  Available/for delivery in 2019: . 1 to 2 short series (3 x 30') with broad appeal. These can be presenter-led, but they don’t have to be. This content should feel rooted and local. . 1 or 2 stand-alone programmes (1 x 60'). This could be a landmark documentary that tells an inspiring or unexpected story, or a film featuring a particular event or musical performance.

BBC Gaeilge / Irish Language

 BBC Gaeilge has just completed a commissioning round and is awaiting funding decisions with Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund.  The next commissioning round will be in January 2019, and BBC Gaeilge, TG4 and Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund are delighted to announce that they will be seeking applications again for the arts documentary initiative, AMHARC, in the next round.  AMHARC was created to support the production of landmark creative films on the arts in Northern Ireland today, of which Hammond: Duais an Dorais, produced by DoubleBand Films was the inaugural production. The initiative aims to provide film-makers with an opportunity to make distinctive, ambitious productions which will enrich BBC Northern Ireland and TG4’s main programming schedules and which may also have a cinematic release.  All artistic disciplines will be considered. Priority will be given to contemporary subjects, but contemporary treatments of historical works will also be considered.

6 Autumn 2018  Emphasis will be placed on treatments and storytelling that are creative and innovative, whilst also having an approach that will entice the largest audience possible.  Further details and tariffs will be available in November.

7 Autumn 2018