Intomarkets2

Editor's Notes

• #48: Who we are: Creatives Loop is an award-winning international media consultancy, specialising in International Co-Production. The company was formed 3 and a half years ago, after myself and my business partner, Simon Preston, left Top-50 Management Consultancy Strategem Ltd, based in Manchester. My background is International Trade Development and Creative Cluster Management. Simon, who unfortunately can’t be here today, has a background in International Marketing and Strategy development.So, what do we do? We’re all about connecting people with content – we help content creators to bring a strong creative product to a global audience. That means that our ‘beneficiary’ clients are, in the main, independent producers, but we also work with Broadcasters who are looking for new, innovative product for their channel, and distributors who are looking to add new high quality properties to their portfolio. We have also recently started to work with brand agencies looking to connect with producers for integration, sponsorship, product placement and licensing opportunities.We work across Film, TV and Digital Media focussing on the global economic wealth belt – encompassing Europe, North America and Australasia. We work to an associate business model – meaning that we have a robust network of ground-consultants working in key territories for us – who have good access to their indigenous broadcasters, distributors and producers. This means that we are also able to tap into local knowledge about new sources of development and production finance and we can explore with our clients, how they could best exploit those opportunities in a co-production relationship.Who we do it for? We are often contracted by Screen and Government Agencies, both in the UK and overseas who are looking to develop the outputs of their indigenous companies. That means, that we are often employed in order to add value and fast-track the performance of independent producers at industry markets and festivals. We know that many of you are veterans of MIPCOM and have attended the markets many times, but even producers with established networks will welcome introductions to new contacts.Where we do it: We have worked at Toronto International Film Festival, Strategic Partners (Nova Scotia), MIPTV and MIPCOM (for the past 5 markets), Cannes Film Festival, Broadcast Asia and the Berlinale. Aside from scheduled industry events we also run ‘market immersion’ events both into and out of the UK. We completed a very successful 3-day immersion to Denmark and Sweden in March this year – where we took 18 independent producers from Berlin for an intensive programme of meetings, panel sessions, site visits and seminars around co-production and co-operation with Scandinavia. We have a delegation of Film and TV producers visiting London & Manchester in November, from Germany.
• #49: In the UK, Financing for Television Programmes is now likened to financing a feature film - where a list of international partners and co-producers are needed more and more, just to be able to get a programme into production and on air. Indies are reacting in different ways to recent market conditions. Some are focusing on advertiser- funded programming (AFP), while some are looking outside the UK for growth, and we are here to help you do that. Now that cash-flow advances from Broadcasters are getting fewer and fewer, Indies have to investigate other sources of gap/deficit finance; these can include: securing advances on DVD Sales, advances from royalty-collecting companies or bringing a brand on board (for Advertiser Funded Programming) or looking to involve other creative and financial partners in a co-production. Raising finance from co-production is becoming an increasingly popular source of finance and has been common in particular genres for the last decade. Animation strands for example, as well as Music, have traditionally suffered from a low investment in production cost from the broadcaster. Getting a partner in Australia for example, where an Australian Broadcaster (ABC3 Kids for example) could be willing to invest, could be very beneficial to you. Yes – there is a division of rights but it also presents a significant sales opportunity in 2 keys territories on opposite sides of the world.
• #50: We are very happy to be working with Pact to organise a Co-Production Breakfast event on the UK Indies Pavilion on Tuesday 5th October, and a Digital Media event on Wednesday 6th October.The focus will be International co-production on Tuesday and Digital Media on Wednesday. 10 UK Indies @ each event will have the opportunity of 4 meetings (lasting 30 mins each), starting at 9am – though until 11 am. These meetings will be with buyers, distributors and potential co-producers from your target territories. Preparation & Registration : we emailed a call-out to all Indies represented on the Pavilion at the end of July, but due to holidays – the response rate has been a little slower than we would like – so if you would be interested in registering for a place at either event – please do so very quickly! The reason for this is preparation. We need to be approaching your target meetings NOW – I have sent ‘Save the Date’ invitations to many broadcaster contacts already and a few have come back to say that their diaries are filling up quickly so you really need to sign up this week!To sign up, you need to go to the Creatives Loop website – www.creativesloop.com and to the ‘UK Indies’ tab at the top of the home page, where you will find the registration forms. I have emailed you all a direct link to the registration forms. When you have completed registration, I will contact you to confirm your place. I will then need to receive a one-pager (synopsis) of each project you wish to discuss during the 4 meetings at MIPCOM, so you need to give some thought to your objectives. These might include, trying to secure international pre-sales from a broadcaster, finding an appropriate distributor, meeting financiers or talking to a screen agency about their funds/incentives for foreign producers. You should be open to having a two-way conversation. That means that, in the case you are meeting a producer from Canada for example, they may also wish to discuss a project they would like to produce with the UK – so 30 mins would be divided between yours and their project. By supplying as much information as possible to us prior to the meeting, we can confirm interest in your project and ensure that when the meeting contact sits down, you can get straight to discussing a particular project with them (i.e they already know who you are, what you do etc)Who will attend: this will be the 5th MIP market at which Creatives Loop has been commissioned to run this type of event. The key to developing production to the next level in the sales process is usually identifying the most suitable contacts who have the wherewithal to help you to progress – an essential resource which cannot be underestimated. Creatives Loop will use its ever-evolving network to approach key contacts to attend this event and commit to meetings. The network includes on the ground consultants in key territories as well as industry partners and direct relationships with broadcasters such as BBC, Channel 4, FIVE, ITV, Canal Plus, WDR, ZDF, Kika, SVT....Potential outcomes can include; investment in programming, a commission (if they producer is very lucky), pre-sales, confirmed interest in a co-production, a deeper understanding of how one might fund one’s project working with a particular territory, the beginning of a relationship with a key broadcaster / distributor – possibility of further meetings during the market or to follow up at the next key market such as the AFM or KidScreen...