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Tag: Call My Agent!

  • Our approach to local language deals is driven by talent: Beatrice Springborn

    Our approach to local language deals is driven by talent: Beatrice Springborn

    Universal International Studios has been leaning into local language productions over the last six months, reveals president Beatrice Springborn at the Series Mania Forum 2022 on Tuesday. The studio has partnered with French-Vietnamese writer and showrunner Quoc Dang Tran who is behind the series “Call My Agent!” and “Parallèles.”

    In a session moderated by Deadline international TV editor Max Goldbart, Springborn outlines Universal Studios’ ambitions as well as the company’s ability to meet global demand. Springborn has been an influential figure in TV for over two decades. She took over the reins at Universal International Studios in October 2020 after the exit of Jeff Wachtel. Before joining Universal, she was associated with Hulu and led the comedy and drama development, co-productions, and casting across Hulu’s acclaimed and award-winning slate of originals.

    Edited Excerpts:

    How has your past at Hulu shaped your experience at Universal so far?

    I was at Hulu for almost seven years. I don’t think I would have been able to do this job without having been a buyer. When I was a buyer, what was appealing to me about the studios that came to us was that they had a point of view and weren’t necessarily dictating to our mandate. I think it is important as a seller to have confidence in what you want to sell. Network mandates change all the time and our executives need to have a very strong vision of what they want to do and stand behind that. I think that’s appealing to a buyer. My experience at Hulu very much helped how I saw creativity.

    What are Universal International Studios’ ambitions to meet global demand in a world that is replete with content?

    Universal is in a unique place because we have a wide library, lots of IP and while that’s an overused word, when you look at the films we’ve made, the shows that we’ve scripted, our distributor networks, we’ve got amazing deals from executives around the world. We’ve been able to take advantage of that. 

    We always talk about how we’re Universal and while that sounds like a catchphrase, it applies to everything we do. I think about how as a studio you can add value. Our deals are the same as anyone else but we need to be great executives where we’re a partner, creative collaborator to talent. We don’t just want to have a business, we want to offer our point of view, our experience and our connections. A lot of the time we’ve arranged marriages across studios outside the studio based on our relationships as well. My experience has been very much based on book-based development. I love getting ahead of the book market and bringing a really special book to a piece of talent.

    What are the big projects coming down the track and something that you’re particularly excited about?

    After having developed nine exciting series for Hulu, I’m excited for us to be doing “Apples Never Fall” for Peacock (streaming service) with Melanie Marnich. She is producing the series with David Heyman.

    We’re also doing “While Justice Sleeps” with Stacy Abrams and she’s been a joy to collaborate with. It is an honour to be talking to someone who’s such a prolific creator and has been able to create a career for herself in novel writing. 

    We have some projects coming down the pipe which are our local language deals. We just did this deal with Quoc (Dang Tran) who did “Parallèles” for Disney+ and “Marianne” for Netflix. He’s also done “Call My Agent!” He’s got an incredibly wide range of genre experience from family TV to Netflix comedy and we’re excited to be working with him. He heads the projects that we’re already starting to talk about.

    Last year you struck a deal with Buendía Estudios in Spain, is this where you see the future, striking deals with top European talent in such a way?

    We’re looking to expand into new territories. We don’t necessarily want to go to Spain or Italy but we ask who’s the great talent there. We’re going to be announcing a few other deals in other territories like Spain but they’re going to be driven by people who we’re excited to be in the business with. The way we’re looking at our local language originals, we’re going to be more focused on talent. With the Quoc deal, we not only want to be in France but we want to be with the incredible writing talent and quality. We pursued him heavily to come and work with us especially because he could work across so many different genres so successfully. The additional deals that you will see us doing, will be driven from talent first and territory second.

    What’s your process to find the best talent?

    Typically, it comes from referrals from another talent. In some of the deals we’ve done across the studio, a showrunner has come to us and said I love this writer, you should get to know them. We love that because it is a referral network of people who have loved working with us in the past. Sometimes it is just sampling, like reading something amazing or watching a lot of films, plays and theatre. It is across the board in terms of how we’re discovering talent. 

    How does discovering talent dovetail with your taste? What are you enjoying at the moment?

    I have a nine-year-old daughter so we watch a lot of cooking shows across the board. Everything from “Nailed It!” where amateurs try baking and it doesn’t end up great. For the past two years, I’ve loved “It’s a Sin,” the Russell T Davies show. It was done with so much joy and has a great cast.

    My experience is from working at Hulu and a lot of the shows that we developed there, have started to come out now. You will see that some of the shows that we worked like “Only Murders in the Building” subvert genre and tone. That’s one of the things you’ll see from across the Universal studio while creating for Peacock. 

    “Apples Never Fall” which is coming out on Peacock shows my love for books. I’ve been really lucky in my career to have people who’ve trusted me and I feel the same way about the executives who work here. It is hard to have confidence in your creative opinion and be surrounded by people who have their point of view. I don’t want this studio to be worn in my image. I want everyone else to be contributing, coming with their input and hopefully getting shows for everyone which is borne from their passion.

    You’re focused creatively on European talent based on the stuff you’ve announced. What do you think is the current landscape for European content?

    When I’m talking to the creative about the studio, I’m talking about television, so it’s all the same and I don’t think people see those boundaries anymore. Everything from the often referenced “Squid Game” to “Normal People” and shows we’re seen across the board, people don’t look at a piece of content and say that’s an international show, I’m not going to watch it. We’ve seen the world open up in a way that is embracing all kinds of content. Shows like “Squid Game” ripped up the rulebook that defined the popularity of non-English language programming. I also think people want to travel after all this time and experience another culture. There’s a real openness in audiences today to embrace other cultures.

    We’re looking for local and foreign-language shows. Local for the global is a strategy but I also think looking global for local, there is a real emphasis on finding stories that you might not think may translate for the audience but people are just interested in the human experience without language boundaries. So, we’re looking for creators first even if they’re coming from a non-English background to speak to them and experience that universal human connection.

    There are a couple of Universal shows where authenticity comes out such as “We Are Lady Parts”. What’s the process for producers to make a show as authentic as it can be?

    Working Title Television, one of our production partners worked on “We Are Lady Parts” along with Nida Manzoor. Nida had such a specific experience, humour and heart to the show that no one else but her could have brought that authenticity. I think the best way to construct a show is by having the right people and the right chemistry. Like “We Are Lady Parts” could not have been made without Nida there are many shows like that which are lightning in a bottle not because it was a piece of IP that was reverse engineered but because of the amazing group of people that went into producing it.

    What are your key priorities for the next few months?

    I’m seeing a few other local language deals. We’re coming out in some bigger territories and some deals were borne out of us being in love with a certain show or having read a script from the creators. We reached out to them and wooed them to come to Universal. A lot of the deals are based on the relationships that we have with creators. There are some people who I worked with at Hulu and some of them were people, other people I knew worked with. All those deals have emerged out of collaboration and from a relationship perspective first. 

  • Digital expansion is beneficial for broadcast industry: Deepak Segal

    Digital expansion is beneficial for broadcast industry: Deepak Segal

    MUMBAI: Deepak Segal has over three decades experience in the film and television industry. His repertoire of work includes key positions to drive content strategy across media giants like Fox Television Studio India, Sahara Motion Pictures, Star India and Star Plus. Now, as head of content at Applause Entertainment, Deepak Segal drives the studio’s vision of building a content hub that tells great stories across mediums, catering to millions.

    Apart from creating good content, Segal is extremely passionate about aeroplanes. In fact, he has an encyclopaedic knowledge of aircraft – be they World War II fighters or more modern airplanes. Segal was in the air force before he ventured into the broadcast industry. As the son of prolific Bollywood director Mohan Sehgal (who launched Rekha in Sawan Bhadon), he had film-making in his veins, and eventually decided to follow in his father’s footsteps.

    With Applause Entertainment riding high on the success of Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, Segal spent some time with Indiantelevision.com’s Shikha Singh, sharing his thoughts on OTT content and the broadcast industry, how it has evolved, and much more.

    Excerpts from the interview:

    On handling Covid2019:

    The Covid2019 pandemic is disrupting every industry. Due to the lockdown we stopped filming Criminal Justice. We have restarted the shoot 15 days back by strictly adhering to all the protocols laid down by the government. The pandemic has slowed down the overall process. We coordinated post production work over Zoom calls. The editing and soundtrack was completed remotely.

    For Scam 1992, we had barely finished the shooting when the virus struck; all the additional work like audio, soundtrack, visual effects and sound design happened during the lockdown. The team that was working on it stepped up during this new norm and we delivered the story in record time. The Applause Entertainment and SonyLiv teams did a brilliant job to make it happen.

    On the studio’s content strategy:

    At Applause Entertainment, we made a conscious decision to invest in creative content rather than make a pilot, develop concept around it and commission it. We have put all our creative and financial minds to make it work. Also, it is like a new way of working in the industry where you get the confidence in the platform as they are investing huge money into it. Now, we are in a position to partner with OTT platforms for scripted shows. In a way, you have proved to them that you can create a premium drama that India requires. So far we have 15 shows on air and it has worked for us in many ways. We are also in the process of developing the Indian version of the super hit British psychological drama series Luther. Currently, we are in the writing process. We are also developing The Seeker, it’s a bigger project than we’re used to and we are working with international writers for this.

    On upcoming original series Call My Agent:

    Call My Agent is the Indian adaptation of French workplace comedy Dix Pour Cent (Call My Agent), originally created by Fanny Herrero and showrunner Cedric Klapisch and represented by TF1 Studio and France TV Distribution. Narrated through the POV of four high-profile agents of celebrities, Call My Agent will tell the behind-the-scenes stories of the magic and the madness that keeps the star system running. Fragile egos, manipulation, shenanigans and insecurities come to the fore as the agents traverse the world of glitz and glamour. The series stars Rajat Kapoor, Soni Razdan, Aahana Kumra and Ayush Mehra and each episode will feature real-life celebrities who play a fun and exaggerated version of themselves. After having directed several films across genres featuring A-listers, Shaad Ali has decided to helm this project and leap into the world of premium drama storytelling. As far as the acquisition is concerned, we get formats from all sorts of markets. Acquiring an international series and adapting it to the taste of Indian audiences is also challenging. The show is set to go on the floors late October.

    On the challenges of adapting foreign IP:

    OTT has created a new set of audience that is looking for premium content. A lot of people have graduated from viewing daily soaps.

    While adapting international shows, you need to conceptualise it a little longer. The scale at which international content is filmed is very different from our scale. Every show has its own challenges. We need to adapt the characters and make it more relatable to Indian audiences. Apart from the main characters we also need to keep minute details in consideration like background, language and people. References have to be appropriate. A lot of things depend on the writing. The challenge is to make the script resonate with viewers by adding local elements. Our primary objective is to stick to the original story line. We want the story to travel across India, which is why understanding the universality of the story is crucial. 

    On the original vs adaptation conundrum:

    From the beginning we have been creating original shows. It is not like we only do adaptations, it is generally a mix of both. Undekhi, Avrodh and many other shows were original. Even when you buy the rights to a book and adapt it, you need to build the characters first and make the storyline impactful.  

    On collaborating with Banijay Asia:

    Banijay is the producer of the show Call My Agent. We are the studio and they are the producer. We have worked with them on Hostages and there are other shows in the pipeline as well. By now we have teamed up on a lot of projects, so there is a trust factor involved. For Call My Agent, Applause Entertainment holds the IP.

    On the rise in demand for OTT:

    OTT got a big boost due to the pandemic. Theatres were shut down, TV production was halted, so the only source of entertainment was OTT content. We churned out content during this period also. There are many studios who are capable of producing a huge volume of content, Applause is one such platform.
     
    On production houses shifting from linear TV to OTT:

    Yes, people are flocking to OTT content, but television shows are still immensely popular in India. Both mediums have different sets of audiences but they are not mutually exclusive. A viewer who watches linear television also watches OTT content. Various streaming platforms have become hugely popular among the Indian audience due to a number of reasons. For production houses it is always beneficial to diversify the segment and expand their footprint in the digital medium. Any expansion of the process helps to maximise the industry. Acting talent emerging on OTT content is quite phenomenal which is usually not available on film.

    On identifying stories:

    Story is one of the key factors, which is followed by the relevance and connectivity of the subject. Then we discuss with the creative team how we pan it out into 8-10 episodic series, keeping the audiences engaged and entertained with strong storytelling at its core. We observe how the characters scale and how much potential it offers us to create shades for them/build room for innovation.

    The irony is, there is nothing easy about selecting stories and how you want to tell them. While family dramedies are highly appreciated in our country, timing the witty remarks and the dynamic of character, the premise sets etc, make it imperative that they flow well. Else the simplest constructs can go unnoticed or not create an impact on the viewer.

    On picking genres:

    We are looking at all sorts of genres as we want to reach out to all buckets of audiences. Today the viewers are open in exploring different genres and as creators we want to have diverse content. With Scam 1992 – The Harshad Mehta Story we have created a financial thriller, Avrodh is a gritty and realistic account of the surgical strike, Mannphodganj Ki Binny is a dramedy set in the heartland and Hello Mini is a thriller. We are open to all sorts of genres.

    Of course, we listen to what the audience has to say. Digital has become a great way to gather insights, understand consumer psychology and their points of view on topics. It gives a leverage to mould out setup, characters and story telling.

    On competition in the content creation space:

    Competition is there in every field; you have to make sure your product stands out above all. A strong content is the deciding factor. If you are telling great stories, you will have an audience.