Tom Fussell, CEO BBC Studios - MIPCOM keynote October 2022

Storytelling is everything to BBC Studios.  Our stories illuminate the unknown; they open hearts and minds.  

So, on behalf of our many wonderful storytellers: thank you for recognising BBC Studios as the first MIPCOM Studio of Distinction. 

It would take a hundred days and nights to watch every programme we made last year.  And five years to work through our full catalogue, which includes our many indie partners.

So instead, today we’ll just do the short tour. 

It’s been 3 years since BBC Studios was last at MIPCOM, and one year since I have been in role as CEO.

We have strengthened incredibly in that time.  And we are back with a new global ambition.

We operate two global lines of business:

1. Today I’ll talk about our end-to-end production studio, with turnover of £1.1bn+ last year and very rapid growth continuing this year
2. We also have Channels & Streaming, spanning 215 countries, with businesses from UKTV and BritBox to global BBC channels and bbc.com

Our customer base is second to none, with global breadth.  

We have a wonderful relationship with the BBC, on shows like Strictly Come Dancing, Frozen Planet II, Happy Valley and Time.

But did you know that this year 75% of our production studio revenue will come from outside the BBC? 

We are delighted to be making for the market, with hits like Prehistoric Planet and Trying for Apple TV+; Surgeon’s Cut, Murder Among The Mormons and The Anthrax Attacks for Netflix; Good Omens for Amazon; and Dancing With The Stars for Disney+. 

We have also powered ahead in Scripted.

Under the leadership of Mark Linsey, previously BBC Director of Television and BBC Studios Chief Creative Officer, we are investing in the UK’s most exciting talent and creative labels. 

I am thrilled to share today that Mark will relocate from London to LA to grow further BBC Studios’ commitment to the West Coast and our shared creative ambition.

That ambition is very real.  Alongside our Drama and Comedy units, we also wholly own Lookout Point, Clerkenwell Films and House Productions: the labels behind Gentleman Jack, End of the F***ing World and Sherwood, and the majority of Baby Cow Productions, maker of Chivalry.  

Through these labels, we are partnering some of the best British writers of today: James Graham, Sally Wainwright, Daisy May Cooper, Sarah Solemani and Steve Coogan.  Two weeks ago we bought out Firebird Pictures: a young indie in production with exciting. scripts from Marnie Dickens and Theresa Ikoko. 

And now I’m delighted to announce the full acquisition of Sid Gentle Films.  Led by Sally Woodward Gentle and Lee Morris, Sid Gentle is home to unmissable returning hits.  Best known for BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning Killing Eve, the future slate is just as exciting. 

Factual is another sweet spot - with a century-long commitment to inform, educate and entertain.  I’m pleased Kate Ward is joining us from Vice Studios to lead this area. 

Our Natural History Unit is the only producer in the world to have made three of IMDb’s top 10 titles of all time.  Keep an eye on the incredible Frozen Planet II - it has the hallmarks of being the fourth.

The Science and Documentary Units also unite creativity with intelligence.  We have collaborations in the factual space with Jon Favreau, James Cameron, Hans Zimmer, Greta Thunberg and Chuck D.  Last week we struck a deal with James Reed, director of My Octopus Teacher, to develop feature docs with the NHU.

Our Factual teams work with Apple, BBC America, Disney+/NatGeo, Netflix, MIGU, NBC Universal, PBS and Warner Bros Discovery. 

Our format teams have bases from LA, Paris and Mumbai to Cologne, Sydney, and Jo’burg, 

And our international customers are enjoying incredible success with our shows.  These include Ghosts, the number one new broadcast comedy in the US, developed through our scripted co-production partnership with Lionsgate, and Rudra: The Edge of Darkness, India’s adaptation of Luther, made with Applause Entertainment, which broke records for Disney’s Hotstar.  They join long-running hits like Dancing with the Stars and Bake Off as true audience favourites.

Our producers are increasingly developing local originals to follow successes like the Emmy-award winning Life Below Zero.  And we are looking to grow our international footprint.  Today we are announcing new hires for Benelux and Spain that underline our commitment to these territories.

We’ve expanded our range of genres too.

Alongside world class capabilities in Scripted, Factual and Formats, we were thrilled to be joined by Kids & Family in April. 

On Saturday, at MIP Junior, Cecilia Persson, Kids & Family MD, shared plans to welcome commissions with partners from around the world.  We are delighted to be co-commissioner, international distributor and commercial partner for the global sensation that is Bluey.  

Which leads me to our ambition for Brands & Licensing, a newly established group led by new-in-role President, Nicki Sheard. 

Building on an established business in merch, live events, home ents and publishing, and with access to the unique BBC archive, we are seeking new partners to grow together in areas like education, metaverse, social video and gaming.  Such as our Frozen Planet II partnership with Minecraft.  The first game launched just four weeks ago and is already one of the most downloaded educational worlds in Minecraft history.  A penguin teaser for it proved the best performing Instagram video in Minecraft’s history. 

So that’s our Production Studio.  Creatively vibrant and growing fast.

Already the largest distributor outside Hollywood and Bollywood, overseen by Rebecca Glashow, CEO, Global Distribution from NYC.  

And the UK’s most awarded producer, under CEO, Productions, Ralph Lee. 

And here we are:

• a business that has doubled in the last five years
• a business with a passionate belief in the BBC and its values. 
• a business that is key part of the BBC’s strategy

We have the backing of my boss, Tim Davie - who you will hear from shortly - as well as our new Commercial Board, chaired by the successful businessman, Sir Damon Buffini. 

And our commercial ambition is to double again in size in the next five years.  Growing not just our scale, but development spend, content investment and creative ambition.

This is ambitious given current economic conditions. 

• But the success of our production studio gives us confidence.
• We have investment capacity to fuel opportunities: both organic and acquisitions.
• And our ownership structure means we can take a long-term view of our prospects.  Because of that long-term thinking, we can invest, hire and commit with confidence. 

We can only achieve this ambition alongside you, as our international partners.  From AMC to ZDF, Nine Australia to Amazon, France Télévisions to HBO, NHK to Netflix and many more.  You help us create bold stories and bring them to audiences everywhere. 

I hope you can see that we are open for business and our future will include more partnerships and deal innovation, recognising that 1+1 can equal more than 2. 

Almost everyone I have named here is in Cannes.  We would love to talk with you about how we can develop our businesses together.

We are all proud to work for the BBC.  Its purpose drives our creativity, and makes us who we are.

And with that I want to hand over to two incredible people.

Tim Davie, BBC Director General, is here to discuss the importance of innovation and high impact content to the future of public service broadcasting. Joining Tim is the wonderful Lyse Douset, the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, whose recent work includes unforgettable reports from Syria, Ukraine and Yemen. It’s an honour to be on the same stage as her