True crime is no longer a volume business for commissioners, Woodcut Media’s Koulla Anastasi tells ScreenMDM, requiring a shift in focus to “quality and distinctiveness,” she says.
Anastasi, commercial director at Woodcut Media and MD of its Woodcut International business, shared with ScreenMDM the company’s unique take on true crime as one of the U.K.’s biggest producers of the always-in-demand genre.
How do you assess the global market for true-crime content right now?
The true crime market remains steady—it’s a genre that has matured in programming terms and is now generally regarded as a content staple for broadcasters and platforms. True crime is still one of the most consistently commissioned categories in factual television, but the days of commissioners or buyers chasing volume for volume’s sake are behind us. What I’m seeing is a focus on quality and distinctiveness; buyers want unique access, a strong narrative, and a clear reason a story needs to be told now, not just another true crime title to fill a slot. At Woodcut, we apply these filters to every special or series we have in development, and have done so for a while now.
What are some of the key evolutions you’re witnessing in the genre?
Three things stand out. First, there is a home for all iterations of true crime content: the anthology formats for the traditional true crime nets and, increasingly, FAST channels; premium one-off specials focused on a high-profile case or anniversary work for all, including public broadcasters; the box-set limited series made famous by Netflix and HBO but now highly sought after by all platforms. Second, there’s a real pivot toward celebrity- and public-figure-adjacent stories—cases the audience already has some cultural entry point into. Third, “realness” has become a commissioning currency in itself: verified access, primary sources, i.e., as much video archive as possible. Participation from people close to the case now matters more to buyers than production polish.
What hybrid techniques (e.g., science and crime, history and crime, etc.) are gaining traction among commissioners and buyers?
Genre-blending has always existed in true crime storytelling but what is popular tends to ebb and flow. Forensic science and crime remains a durable combination, but we’re also seeing a real appetite again for crime crossed with medical/health investigation, true crime intersecting with celebrity and scandal, and historical cold cases reopened with modern forensic or digital investigative techniques.
How are you working to ensure stories are victim-focused and not lurid and sensationalized?
At Woodcut, producing true crime that is responsible and sensitive to victims of crime is a central tenet of our production ethos and led to the formation of the Association of True Crime Producers (ATCP) in 2023. This is something the genre is being held to a higher standard on, and rightly so. In practice, that means engaging victims’ families and survivors as active participants and gatekeepers of the story rather than subjects to be mined. We are really disciplined about what details actually serve understanding versus what’s just sensational, but also maintaining a duty of care to those contributors at all times, during the production process and after it.
Are buyers looking for volume, which can play well in on-demand and FAST environments, or the one- to four-parters?
Both, but for different reasons and different platforms. FAST channels and linear weekday schedules still require high-volume, cost-effective returnable series. But premium streamers and event slots are leaning toward tighter, one- to four-part limited series with a stronger authorial voice and higher production value. The true crime universe has matured and evolved rather than settled on one model.
How do you see the demand for closed-ended, fully resolved cases versus lingering unsolved mysteries that drive ongoing social media engagement and fan-led investigation?
Unsolved cases have a distinct commercial advantage right now because they generate their own marketing—audiences keep the conversation alive on social media long after transmission, which streamers and broadcasters value. This is a marked change in editorial, as historically, I would have avoided unsolved cases because audiences tend to shy away from stories with no final resolution. Demand for closed, adjudicated cases still prevails, however; they offer a satisfying, complete narrative arc that a lot of viewers still prefer. I’d say buyers want a mix in their slate rather than choosing one over the other.
How are commissioning and acquisition models shifting to accommodate digital-first formats, such as podcast-to-screen pipelines, short-form social investigations, or YouTube-first journalism?
Podcast-to-screen has become one of the most reliable pipelines into true crime commissioning because it arrives with a built-in, proven audience and IP that’s already been stress-tested. At the same time, short-form and YouTube-first investigative content is increasingly being treated as a legitimate development ground rather than a lesser cousin to television; commissioners are scouting there the way they used to scout podcasts five years ago. Our two owned-and-operated YouTube channels, True Crime Uncut and Underworld Uncut, feature original medium- and long-form videos produced specifically for their own distinct audiences alongside finished documentaries to create a unique digital-first experience.
Armchair detectives are very vocal on social. How is this insatiable audience appetite to comment on ongoing cases and be part of the story impacting the true crime landscape?
It’s reshaping the genre in real time. Audiences no longer just watch true crime—they investigate alongside it, on TikTok and Reddit and Facebook groups, sometimes surfacing genuinely new information. That’s a huge engagement asset for ongoing or unsolved cases, but it also raises the stakes for producers: we have to be more rigorous than ever, because our work is being fact-checked or commented on by a highly motivated, highly vocal audience in real time. At the same time, however, we work hard to differentiate Woodcut’s digital presence, via the Uncut network, as a home for well-researched, reliable, and responsible true crime content. Armchair detectives with a large social media presence injecting themselves into live investigations or active crime scenes has been a worrying recent trend that causes terrible upset for victims and their families, and has been hugely damaging for the true crime production community as a whole.
