Cecilie Olsen, SVP for global content, non-scripted, at ITV Studios, joins ScreenMDM Talks to discuss how the company has curated a MIPCOM lineup focused on buyers’ needs for brands, access, and premium quality.
“A lot of audiences now, their attention span might not be quite what it used to be, when maybe they were lulled into something for a bit longer,” Olsen says. “Now, it needs to be something that grabs them straight away, even when they’re scrolling through to find a program.”
One quality that helps grab attention, Olsen says, is access. “When you turn on the television, you want to see something you wouldn’t have access to, you wouldn’t be able to see, unless you actually turned on that screen, whatever the screen might be. Access is so important to everybody. And now that everyone can produce video, ultimately the best programs are still the ones that have reputable, trusted producers, and the talent is really good both in front and behind the camera. The production values still need to be really strong.”
The lineup for Cannes is broad, from 70 Up, the final installment of the late Michael Apted’s celebrated 7 Up series, with Asif Kapadia on board as director, to Wonderhood Studios’ new four-part BBC series Jesus Christ: The Man, The Mystery, which, Olsen says, covers his life from a brand-new perspective.
“This is not just a religious series; it’s built on archaeological facts. Whether you are religious or not, we cannot take away that this man changed the course of history. How do you talk about this man from a new perspective? Each episode will come from a different viewpoint and cover different parts of his life, from his birth to his death. And again, all underpinned by archaeological findings and also expert testimony from people from different faiths, who are, of course, exploring who he was as a man.”
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ITV Studios also lands in Cannes with an extensive true crime offering, including Richard Madeley: Inside the World’s Mega Prison and Spy Next Door: The Anna Chapman Story; and new takes on history, such as Mysteries on the Nile with Sir David Suchet.
Olsen also showcased ITV Studios’ natural history lineup, which at MIPCOM includes Plimsoll Productions’ Force of Nature and World’s Wildest Cities as well as Ages of Ice, a three-part series produced by Northern Pictures for PBS and ABC Australia, narrated by David Tennant.
Entertainment also features prominently on the ITV Studios slate, with the new Channel 4 reality competition Apocalypse, the returning juggernaut Love Island, and a global spin on The Chase with The Chase Around the World.
“We are here to try to help find programming for every slot on every channel all around the world,” Olsen says. “If you’re a buyer and you come and talk to us at MIPCOM, you may come wanting to talk about one show, but you might actually leave with another 10.”
