Donald Trump talked about slapping a 100 percent tariff on all foreign movies to make a “troubled” Hollywood great again.
But judging by the conversations at the Banff World Media Festival — both among content creators and acquisition execs and during panel and keynote speeches — global collaboration to create new partnerships and content across borders and tackle mutual financial challenges is the byword this week in the Canadian Rockies.
“Collaboration is the one word that keeps coming up. I’ve never seen people all over the world — buyers, producers – more open to finding ways to get projects made and over the line,” Allison Wallach, head of unscripted programming at Fox Entertainment Studios, told a Banff fest panel on unscripted content.
The discussion on the evolution of unscripted fare took place against the backdrop of Trump’s talk of a foreign movie tariff quickly pivoting to a discussion of Americans possibly taking part in official international co-productions for the first time. And that plays directly into the wheelhouse of Canadian and other international producers that have been doing multi-passport films and TV series for decades.
“Deals I never thought I’d get away making, all of a sudden 50 percent of something is better than 100 percent of nothing,” Wallach added about recent dealmaking.
Sharon Scott, president, A+E Factual Studios, added during the unscripted content panel that global collaboration has moved from the sidelines to front and center for recent dealmaking. “I love a coproduction. I didn’t used to, but they definitely help on the financial side, and you make new friends and partners,” she said.
Scott also touted the benefits of tapping film tax credits, including in Canada. “Anything that can be done anywhere, should be done here,” she said of shooting content in Canada, whether TV shows or just expert interviews for an unscripted series.
The result in Banff for an entertainment industry looking to cut content budgets and produce for and with the world was more deliberative conversations between potential partners.
“Everything is a conversation now. That’s a really good thing. We just want to get the best content for our customers and we want to work with fantastic partners from all around the world to do that,” Anais Baker, head of international formats at Amazon MGM Studios, told the unscripted TV panel.
Michaela Di Mondo, executive vp of distribution, international at Fremantle Canada, at one point directly addressed producers in Banff and urged them to take advantage of American and other international producers looking to forge new partnerships.
“For you guys in the room, producers, this is your time. Here’s an opportunity where the world is kind of saying, where else can we work? Where else can we do hub structures. Where else can we do co-productions? How can we cost save where it doesn’t mean ‘that’s too Canadian,’ versus look how amazing that was, and the cost was even better,” Di Mondo said.
