Unsteady World Fuels Appetite for Small Screen Solutions as TV Biz Asks ‘What More Can We Do?’
05.04.2024 - 08:41
/ variety.com
Ben Croll An acute sense of instability will inform much of the content bought and sold on the MipTV floor, though the symptoms might manifest themselves beyond doom and gloom. Somewhat unsurprisingly, given an unrelenting remit of climate anxieties and global unrest, this tendency has left no genre untouched. “Obviously the world in which we live is quite dramatic at the moment, and that has created an appetite for stories that offer solutions,” explains international distribution expert Beatrice Rossmanith.
As head of global business for consulting firm Glance Ltd (formerly known as TAPE Consultancy), Rossmanith monitors content across hundreds of channels in 45 territories worldwide. And lately she has noticed a pervasive trend. “There’s obviously a thirst for truth nowadays,” Rossmanith says.
“[And a thirst] to tackle modern anxieties by asking what more can we do?” In the lifestyle space, celebrity profiles are increasingly linked to some sort of activism and political engagement – (“It’s not just about a celebrity,” says Rossmanith. “It has to say something more”) – while sports docs now emphasize physical and mental health. While true-crime points toward dramatic resolutions, high-end science docs accent hopefulness and positive reinforcement, stressing what we’re getting right.
(“If we’re going to protect the environment, we need to fall in love with it,” Rossmanith adds.) K7 Media’s Clare Thompson echoes those findings, pointing toward ITV’s galvanizing civic activism drama “Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office” in the scripted space, and – perhaps most surprising of all – BBC’s factual entertainment format “Sort Your Life Out,” which simply finds people clearing out their household clutter, and has already traveled
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