Ahead of Series Mania Forum’s official kickoff, ScreenMDM Talks catches up with Dan March, founder and managing partner at Dynamic Television, on negotiating the scripted financing jigsaw and leaning into feel-good series amid a fast-changing international drama landscape.
“Chaos is opportunity in disguise,” March says of navigating the drama business as an independent, boutique operator today. “There are opportunities in the world for the things that we do. If you look at the tens of billions of dollars that’s being spent by streamers—Netflix, Apple, Amazon, obviously others—that business model is really specific. Where they’re developing shows, they’re still fully financing them, owning those shows, and exploiting them globally. Those are in a higher-budget range. And there are fewer of those. The other part of the market, where we’ve been able to really thrive, is linear/digital platforms, and the streamers that maybe aren’t at that level [as the global giants]—they still need really good original content, but at lower price points. And they might need those shows produced in a co-production model. They’re not taking the world. And that’s where the opportunity is. One of the things that we’ve learned how to do over the years is make a really strong commercial show at a really attractive price point.”
Watch the podcast on YouTube below or follow us on Spotify.
The strategy is working, March notes, with a slate that has never been stronger—”we had 11 shows last year that we either produced, co-produced, or distributed in some manner. That’s a reflection of being able to capitalize on the opportunities that are out there and make premium content, but at the right price point.”
The diverse slate at Dynamic includes Apple TV’s Drops of God, which producer Klaus Zimmerman will be discussing at Series Mania Forum; the Swedish thriller Till Death Do Us Part from Harmonica Films, alongside TV4, SF Studios, and Film Stockholm, which ZDF recently boarded; Paris Is Always a Good Idea, based on the Jenn McKinlay novel with Clapperboard Studios for Hallmark+; Ms. X from South Pacific Pictures for Three; and You’re Killing Me for Acorn TV.
While challenges still exist in the market, March remains optimistic. “It’s never been harder because margins have never been tighter. Commissions have never been harder to secure. Financing is still really challenging, and it’s risky. But I have this underlying confidence in our team and our ability to make great shows. You can make an argument that there’s still too much content in the marketplace. There’s still a lot of change happening. There’s still a lot of pressure. So we’re not settled. You would think that after going through this restructuring of our industry over four years, we’d have a more solid footing. We have more solid footing now than we did 18 months ago, but it’s still unsettling.”
Dynamic’s success has come from not being overly prescriptive, opting for a strategy that seeks to understand exactly what individual clients’ needs are, rather than developing for a specific market need. “75 % of our development slate is really targeted towards the needs of the people that we work with and have a good relationship with. That’s why you’ll see us doing multiple shows with our partners. We’re making a new show for Hallmark. We’re making new shows for AMC. Obviously, we’re in a creative business, so we also have to keep a percentage of our slate for things that come to us that we’re passionate about, like Drops of God—nobody was looking for a Japanese manga set in the world of wine!”
Across genres, March is keen on leaning into “fun,” he notes. “Whether it’s genre, sci-fi, crime, romance, we want a feel-good tone for the audience. We still want them to be elevated, suspenseful, and exciting. We’re leaning away from dark, that’s for sure. The world’s dark enough.”
